Our Favorite Vacation Spot!

Today i am linking up with the Favorite Summer Vacation Spot blog hop, because, well, we are leaving for vacation today!

The blog hop co-hosts are:

Lexa Cain: http://lexacain.blogspot.com/

Melanie Karsak: http://www.melaniekarsak.com/

T.F. Walsh: http://www.tfwalsh.com/blog/

Vanessa Morgan: http://vanessa-morgan.blogspot.com/

Jolie Du Pre: http://www.preciousmonsters.com/

Stuart R. West: http://stuartrwest.blogspot.com/

While i'm not certain it is our favorite vacation spot (i love Disney World, too!), it is certainly our second favorite and the most common one we go to.

Of what am i speaking?

Of the 22nd Annual Cram Everyone in a Two-Bedroom Condo at the Beach for a Week, Family Should Be Close But Not This Close Vacation, of course!

Yes, grab the sun screen and hang on, it's going to be a wild ride!

It's time again for sand in our shorts, salt breezes in the air, and hearing the children yell, "Hey!  Who swiped my beach towel!"

We stay at a condo complex on Perdido Key, a hop up from Pensacola, a jump down from Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, and a couple of miles from the Flora-Bama Bar, where us half-heathen Protestants will attend the Sunday church service.  (Yes, in a bar, 10am every Sunday.  You may never darken the door of a church, but coming to a bar to hear the Word preached just might be downright comfortable for you.  The Catholics among us will attend daily Mass at St. Thomas-by-the-Sea.) 

As per our usual, we will be swimming at both the beach and in the pools, playing in the sand, shopping, going to the zoo (The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, dubbed "The Little Zoo That Could" by The Discovery Channel) and the Naval Air Museum, fishing from the dock for the Friday night dinner fish fry and, my favorite vacation activity -- checking the insides of the eyelids for cracks!

We leave today, come back next Saturday, and in the meanwhile this year's cast of characters is:

Grandpa -- patriarch and vacation organizer, a/k/a Doc, or Dr. Born Organized Clean.  Not just a Mr. Clean, a Dr. Clean who is so hyper-organized that when Hurricane Katrina threatened New Orleans he packed his entire life into 6 small file boxes, a bag, and a valise.  He could easily have restarted his whole life with just what he brought with him.  The big loves of his life are The Good Lord, medicine, murder mysteries, and his family, most especially the grandchildren.

Grandma -- matriarch, a/k/a Miss Prissy.  An artist, singer, shopper, and clothes horse. You don't want to know how much she packed for the evacuation.

Uncle P -- the elder of my two younger brothers.  Has spent several years doing mission work within the US, and is currently doing home care for senior citizens.  It's what he loves, taking care of people!  He will be coming only from Sunday through Tuesday, as he has to get back to work.

Evelyn -- Uncle P's friend.  They met while doing mission work.  It might become more than friendship someday, or it might not, but they are good friends either way.  She will be riding in and leaving with Uncle P.

Uncle J -- the younger of my two younger brothers.  A single dad with primary custody of the two kids, he could have been a con artist as he could sell eggs to a chicken farmer.  It's a good thing he uses his talent for making an honest living, but don't challenge him at video games, he will figure a way to "game" the system!

Bryn -- Uncle J's daughter.  Now 14 and a far cry from the "pest" my children used to think she was.  Although i will admit one of her favorite pastimes is picking on her younger brother.

Bryn's Friend -- as yet an unknown quantity, Bryn is at the age where she wants to start bringing someone to help her stay entertained.  Since i've never met the friend, i can't say anything about her.

Dre -- Bryn's younger brother, Uncle J's son.  At 10, girls are still icky and baths should still be optional.

Bigger Girl -- my and Sweetie's oldest daughter, who will be coming down on Tuesday and heading back on Thursday (that's all she could get off of work).  Musical and artistic like Grandma, she's a philosopher who is brave enough to prod cattle into a chute at the biological research station and gentle enough to nurture baby kittens.  Just don't expose her to small children, she does not do well with them.  In fact, she sometimes dresses somewhat Goth because she says it's "soccer mom repellent."

Little Girl -- our youngest child, who will be coming with Bigger Girl for the three days only.  Straight A student who loves swim team and gets along with everyone.  She also inherited Grandma's artistic bent, and is seriously considering going into medicine like Grandpa.

Junior -- not a relative, but another friend, this time of Bigger Girl.  He loves to cook as long as no one is in the kitchen with him, and you come running in to taste when he says so.  A very hard worker and someone who, as Bigger Girl says, desperately needs a couple of days away from his two jobs!

#2 Son -- the budding chef and anchor of his area in the kitchen at the restaurant where he works.  He also still loves the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and the catching and releasing of snakes.

Friend Becky -- coming along because of the budding of romance between her and #2 Son.  She loves animals, and i guess in some ways he still qualifies (as do most teen boys).

Sweetie -- my husband the musician.  He's not a huge fan of beaches, but he likes this area and all the fun things we do.  Make sure he has his guitar and amp with him, and he's set.

And finally there's me, the one called upon to stay calm in every situation and keep up with the laundry, just like at home!

So remember, folks, if we weren't having fun yet, this wouldn't be the 22nd Annual!

Today is

Anguilla Day -- Anguilla

Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

California Artichoke Festival -- Castroville, CA, US (lots of fun in the Artichoke Capital of the World; through tomorrow)

Dia de Canarias -- CN, Spain (Canary Island Day)

Dia de las Madres -- Nicaragua(Mother's Day)

Einherjar -- Asatru (Modern Norse Pagan) Calendar (a memorial for the war dead in Valhalla)

Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc (Patron of captives, martyrs, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, rape victims, soldiers, WACs, WAVES; France)

Heirloom Seed Day -- While i can't find the history of this one, it's a good one to celebrate, we need to raise awareness of and preserve heirloom seeds

Indian Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago (anniversary of the 1845 arrival of the first Indian laborers to Trinidad)

Isle of Man Tourist Trophy -- Isle of Man (through June 12; two weeks of the finest road racing on earth)

Lod Massacre Remembrance Day -- Puerto Rico

Loomis Day -- because if we are going to honor Marconi, we should also honor the Washington, D.C., dentist Mahlon Loomis, who patented a wireless telegraphy system before Marconi was even born

Missouri State Championship Racking Horse Show -- Stoddard County Fairgrounds, Dexter, MO, US (an afternoon and evening of excellent and elegant showmanship)

My Bucket's Got a Hole In It Day -- this one may be listed on another day as well, since no two sites agree; mercy, just go get a new one already! or go get out your Hank Williams records

National Mint Julep Day

St. Walstan of Bawburgh's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, farmers and farm workers, field hands, husbandmen)

This Day -- Fairy Calendar

Tohoku Rokkon Matsuri -- Yamagata City, Japan (a special matsuri, bringing together six major festivals from the district that was hard hit by the 2011 earthquake; through tomorrow)

Water a Flower Day -- no sponsor or reason given for this day, except that the spring rains are slowing and you don't want your garden to wilt

Wicket World of Croquet® Day 2015 -- The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis, IN, US (croquet tournament fundraiser, includes an Alice and Friends game for the little ones) 


Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Jane Seymore, 1536


Birthdays Today:

Blake Bashoff, 1981
Trey Parker, 1972
Wynonna Judd, 1964
Tom Morello, 1964
Ted McGinley, 1958
Colm Meaney, 1953
Stephen Tobolowsky, 1951
Meredith MacRae, 1945
Gale Eugene Sayers, 1943
Michael J. Pollard, 1939
Keir Dullea, 1936
Clint Walker, 1927
Benny Goodman, 1909
Mel Blanc, 1908
Countee Cullen, 1903
Peter Carl Fabergé, 1846
Czar Peter the Great, 1672


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Paperback Writer"(Single release), 1966
"War Requiem"(Britten Op. 66), 1962
"Odisséia de uma raça / Odyssey of a Race"(Villa-Lobos Symphonic poem), 1954
"Prodana nevesta / The Bartered Bride"(Opera), 1866


Today in History:

Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem; the Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall, 70
19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal, 1431
In Florida, Hernando de Soto  lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold, 1539
Publication of La Gazette, the first French newspaper, 1631
The Pennsylvania Evening Post become the first daily paper in the US, 1783
John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria, 1842
Westminster's Big Ben rang for the first time in London, 1859
Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time, 1868
New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public, 1879
The Treaty of London, 1913, ends the First Balkan War and Albania becomes an independent nation, 1913
In China protests erupt against the Great Powers infringing on Chinese sovereignty, 1925
A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes, 1948
The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened, 1959
launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to achieve landing on an extraterrestrial body, 1966
At the Ascot Park in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row, 1967
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators, 1989
272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies are held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City. The last remaining steel beam is removed and transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, 2002
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel pledges to end all nuclear power within 12 years, 2011