The Getaway

When we found out I was pregnant in December we started planning our last getaway as a couple before the baby comes and ruins everything. Ted has been dying to take me to Pensacola, Florida because he used to live there and really loved it. We decided to take a long weekend trip and had been looking forward to it for months. Time was taken off from work, bags were packed, the gas tank was filled. I was just waiting for Ted to get home and throw his stuff in the back so we could head out. As we did a double check of the cats, we realized Mortimer hadn't been around in an hour or so. I saw him when I got home from work, but hadn't seen him since I had packed up the car. We started the house search, as he usually gets himself locked in a closet or hides under a bed. He was nowhere to be found. I had been closing the door as I went in and out packing the car, or so I thought. We checked the back yard, his usual hangout. No Morty. We tore the house apart. We drove around the neighborhood. We went into the woods in the back yard calling for him. We got the neighborhood kids involved. Still nothing. We had hoped to get on the road by 6pm with dreams of making it to Atlanta for the night. Around 8pm it was starting to get dark and we had no idea what else to do. After posting on the neighborhood web group that he was lost, calling the animal shelter, and leaving some provisions and instructions with our neighbors, we left town. I was really sad and felt so horrible knowing that it was me who left the door open enough for him to escape. Poor Ethel was crying for him when we left.

We made it to Atlanta at 2am, checked into a hotel, and got some shut eye. We both woke up with Morty on the brain but figured all we could do was wait. Just as we were getting on the road we got a call that he was found: he had made his way back home and was staring at Ethel through the back door window crying. Our neighbors scooped him up and returned him to his sister. We were so happy he was found and that we could stop worrying about the big lug.

Anyway, the point of my story? When we were in Pensacola we went to a book sale and found ourselves in the children's section. I picked up a random book to flip through it, and guess what page it opened up to?!



How hilarious is that? We cracked up.

Anyway, Pensacola! It was fabulous. We had such a great time hanging out together and just enjoying a little time away. We stayed at a gorgeous Victorian Bed & Breakfast, which I highly recommend if you are taking a trip like this sometime. We always stay in hotels and, though they are fine, there was something so much more satisfying and fun about staying at a B&B. The woman in charge was super nice and made a mean breakfast.



We kept ourselves busy the few days we were there: we went to the Naval Aviation Museum, the beach, a crawfish festival, out to lunch and dinner, a flea market, a book sale, took a walk on the pier and watched the fishermen, walked around downtown, met up with some of Ted's friends, and saw a movie. It was a really great trip. I'll leave you with some pictures:



Ted enjoys 3 pounds of crawfish. For real.

Sorry for the gross kissing picture, I just think this is so cute.

We loved this old school Pensacola Beach sign that greets you

For those of you bugging me for pregnant pictures, here's a "not so embarrassing" one. :)

T Bone on the beach

They aren't kidding about flight delays.

We spent too many hours to count in airports on Sunday trying to get home. Flights were delayed and cancelled all day and ours kept getting pushed further and further back. But they weren't cancelled completely and we really needed to get home, so we stuck it out. In the Syracuse airport we found out at 4pm that our 5:15 flight was very much delayed. They gave us a "wheels up" time of 9:15pm. But you weren't allowed to leave the terminal, because if they got an earlier time they would leave without you. So everyone just sat there. For hours. They closed all of the eateries around 6pm, so you couldn't even get a beverage or some food. It was BORING. And, of course, we didn't leave until after 9:10pm. Ugh. We made it home in the very early hours of the morning. I guess we can be glad we made it home, but still. We were exhausted.

At any rate, Ted had a good time at his reunion and I had a riot hanging with the fam. It was gorgeous weather--perfect for hanging out poolside. I also got my trial hair run taken care of for the wedding and it came out a billion times better than I had imagined! So, that was cool.

Here's some highlights of my portion of the weekend:


I came home for lunch the other day and went inside my closet to change. Mortimer was sitting in this basket on the higest shelf in there...just looking at me like "What?"

A cute one of Mindy and Teaguer

Teague and Friends

Bella showing off, and quite possibly traumatizing, a frog she found

G.B. Dub basking in the glow of everyone together for the weekend

Operation: Outdoors.

Mortimer and Ethel are spoiled rotten. As soon as Ted got home from work today he put the kids on their leashes and led them outside exclaiming "I'm a glutton for punishment!" Mortimer was in heaven. He rolled around in the grass and climbed the hill and chased grasshoppers.




Ethel is a little more cautious and stuck by the door, only venturing out far enough to stick her head in the drain pipe.




There wasn't much of a struggle tonight once we brought them inside, though the two of them stuck close to the door in case we decided give them another taste of freedom.




In other news, we got a sweet package in the mail today from Ted's mom. We keep our dishwashing soap in a glass bottle usually used for salad oil or something. Our old one broke recently and Ted's mom and step-father noticed when they were in town last weekend, so they picked us up a new one in their travels! It's the most perfect soap dispenser I've ever seen and matches our kitchen "motif" perfectly! Thanks Pam and Jerry!





We had a Lowe's Date Night tonight and picked up some more grass seed and fertilizer to work on the lawn this weekend. We finally got a lawn mower the other night and have to take it for a test drive tomorrow. We are also dying to organize the garage, so we got a shelf and a tool chest to help with that effort. More pictures as we make progress this weekend!