Wednesday, June 22, 2022

PCB... Where. To. Begin- Day 4

Panama City Beach- Day 4 
Dolphins, Crabs and Stingrays Oh My! 
Tuesday, June 7, 2022 

A day that starts AND ends at the beach is a GOOD DAY! 

Morning
We were able to sleep in a bit and catch up on our sleep which was fabulous. We made some breakfast in the condo and then hit the beach before 8AM. The beach was not crowded at all at this time and we were able to sit in our chairs we rented from Burke's Beach Service. TIP- Be sure to rent your beach chairs ahead of time if possible. This company was sold out on Monday and I called and immediately booked 2 chairs and an umbrella for the remainder of the week for $142. The cost for a full week rental was $240. I know some VRBOs/ ABNB offer FREE beach service with their rentals but not all. 

This is absolute perfection! 


I could start the day right here EVERY DAY! 


This is my happy place for sure! 

While the kids were swimming and enjoying the insanely calm waters, we were able to spot a pair of dolphins very close to the shore. They kept jumping up and it was so cool. The kids were even closer than us as they were 20 feet into the water on a sand bar. We also saw several F35(?) flying above from a nearby Air Station in Pensacola, FL. 

We loved this morning at the beach! 


Look closely and you can see the pair of dolphins jumping out of the water! 

We stayed at the beach for a little over 2 hours and then hurried back to the condo to get ready for our Double Header day at the ballpark. We made some sandwiches to go and we were out the door by 11AM. The traffic to the PCB Publix Sports Complex was a bit heavier during the day and our commute was 28 minutes plus the 12 minute walk to our field! 


Morning picture on the balcony before baseball! 


We are ready for this DOUBLE HEADER! 

Afternoon
Once at the ballpark Luke made his way to the cages to warm up with his team and then went to Field 9 for our first game. While he was getting to the field, he was stung by a wasp just below his left eye. He was in a lot of pain but toughed it out as we have trained him that there is "no crying in baseball". We gave him some Aleve and Benadryl from our Team Nurse mom and he was ready to play.
WAY TO GO LUKE for being so TOUGH! We are so proud of you! 

Game 2 vs Gulf Coast Marlins (Gulfport, MS)- Luke the Duke 
During game 1 Luke sat out the first inning so he could catch the 2nd inning, which he did. He also was able to play 3rd base (his favorite position) in this game. He was moved up in the line up to bat 10th. He got on base 2 times with 2 walks and then a RBI single to tie the game. This was his biggest clutch hit of the tournament. Unfortunately Marucci was not able to walk away with a win but rather ended the game in a tie. 

Luke the Duke Game 2 Highlights

He was SO PROUD of this hit to TIE THE GAME! 


He LOVES playing 3rd base! 

Game 3 vs Fungeauxs (Covington, LA) - Luke the Duke 
During game 3 Luke shared his time between catching and 3rd base, including resting innings prior to catching. This Fungeauxs team was a well-developed 10UAAA team and their pitching was fast and precise; however, Luke did well against these pitchers and got a line drive single and a hard hit ground out. As the game progressed, we were hopeful Luke would be able to pitch but he remained at catcher since the 3rd inning so we knew this game/ day was not going to happen. Hopefully he will get to pitch at least an inning or two during the week long tournament. We paid a LOT of money to be here.
 Marucci came up short again and lost 6-4. 

Check out LUKE the Duke Game 3 highlights! 

Game 3 was hard fought but we came up short! 


One of the BEST pictures of the entire week! Safe by a MILE! 


Luke's best game behind the plate! Way to go Luke the Duke! 

It was insanely hot at these games and despite all of us drinking LOTS of water, we were all very dehydrated and weak. Especially Natalie who was suffering from a severe sunburn. Her and her friend, Kate, stayed under the main concession pavilion the entire time to avoid sun exposure but she was very weak and lightheaded. The walk back to our car felt much longer than the .52 miles it really was! It was SO HOT! 


We are so grateful for Kate and the Haberkamp Family! 


Big sister cheerleaders of Marucci! 
Natalie, Kate and Abby Claire! 


They survived the DOUBLE HEADER in the 100*+ heat index! 

Evening
By this time it was nearly 5PM as we made our way back to Sunnyside to our condo. We stopped at Publix to get more items for our Taco Tuesday night in the condo and order Luke's birthday cupcakes for Thursday. Once back at the condo we got changed and I made an easy taco night dinner. TIP- I was not really excited to cook while on vacation but this saved us a LOT of money. Prices for restaurants in PCB were $25-40 per PERSON. We decided to cook 3 of the 7 meals in our condo and this really did save us a lot of money. Luke was in an exceptionally good mood and that made for a very pleasant evening. 

After dinner we waited 30 minutes (wink, wink) and then went to the beach around 7PM, just in time for the sunset. The kids had a great time playing the sand and burying Luke plus the boys played football. The sunset was absolutely PERFECT and it was a GREAT evening!


Time to bury your brother! 


A view from our condo's beach! 


This is my happy place! 


Absolutely NO FILTER needed! 


God sure does paint a pretty picture! 


It had been a bumpy ride thus far but we LOVE PCB! 


My whole heart! 

The kids and I waded in the water near the shallow sandbars until the sun went down and then we made our way to the pool. Pinnacle Port was hosting a Family Movie Night with a HUGE projection screen at the pool area. This meant a LOT of kids, many of whom were loud, rude and unruly. I tried REALLY hard to ignore it all but eventually after some teenagers kept jumping over us to splash in the pool, my TEACHER VOICE came out and I was done! (On a side note... What has happened to parenting today? I mean it is almost like it doesn't even exist.) These kids were literally RUNNING or sprinting around the gigantic pool playing tag and kicking or tripping other kids and adults. Their parents... Who knows where they were or on their devices on a lounge chair. THIS is what is wrong with society today!!! Trust me... I see it in the classroom too. Each and every single day! C'mon parents... STEP UP! 


I really appreciated the effort put out by our Condo! 

After our annoying time at the pool we decided to change and then go "crabbing" at the beach. Once we got back to the condo the AC was set at 72* and it was 75* in the condo. I quickly let the property manager know who requested a technician come and take a look at the unit. 


I am SO TIRED OF THIS! This is miserable! 

We didn't know when the tech was going to come so we left to go crabbing. Luke had been looking forward to this for a while and we had hoped to be able to do this with teammates but since we were all staying at various locations and beaches it was hard to narrow down a time and place so we opted to try it out on our own first. This was so much fun! I mean a little terrifying at first but it was so much fun! Chris and Luke found countless small crabs and several LARGE crabs. Not to mention we were there when another lady found and caught a baby stingray! This was one of my favorite nights of the trip! TIP- Be sure to have a large net for crabbing and LOTS of lights! We had 1 light and then the lights from our phone but really wish we had an additional flashlight or two! 


We had no idea what was coming at this point! 


We were looking for "Mr. Crab". 


This was so much fun! 

Check out our crabbing adventure at Pinnacle Port! 
We had so much fun with this! 

Once we returned to our condo around 11PM, we learned that the technician had come and looked at the AC and said there was a sliding door that was left cracked open which what was causing the AC issues. This seemed a little odd to me since Chris is so anal about shutting the doors but mistakes were made. By the time we were getting into bed around midnight, the temperature on the AC was reading 73* so we were moving in the right direction. 


We saw this note in the elevator lobby! 
More issues at Pinnacle Port... Good Greif, we need to catch a break! 
I guess it will be early beach and early showers tomorrow morning! 

It was a long, hard and HOT day of baseball but ended with the gorgeous crystal clear waters of the Gulf! 

Up Next was Marucci's last game of Pool Play and another fun day in PCB! 

God is good... ALL THE TIME! 

 Check out ALL of our LAND travels:










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