Massive Beach & World Series Update / Photo Overload
(and a small Random Tuesday question added on at the end)

Whew...what a week!

We arrived back home from Panama City Beach, Florida, last night after eight days away. It was a fantastic trip and we had ALL sorts of fun, but I'm also sorta glad to be back home (you know, that double-edged sword. Being away is great, but being home is great too!).

I thought I'd share some pictures with you (of course!), but be ready...there are a lot of them (of course!).

We went to Florida because Delaney's travel softball team--the Birmingham Mustangs--was in the 12-and-under USFA World Series. We always love to watch Delaney's team play, but getting to go to the beach was just a wonderful, added bonus (it's probably why they play the Series there, huh?).

The World Series is really a cool thing to experience. The teams get to march in the Opening Ceremonies...




(One of the coolest things about the World Series is that you can trade pins with players from other teams. Delaney always loves to see which pins she can get!)

And then, of course, it gets down to business as the games start to play!

This year, there were 94 teams in the 12-and-under division, so you can only imagine how hard it would be to win the whole thing or to even advance very far. We were really proud when the team did great in pool play (this is sorta like "practice rounds" because the games don't count yet) and won two out of three games. Then, the teams advance to bracket rounds and have a double elimination. By Wednesday night (it all started Sunday night) we had our two losses, but the girls seemed to take it well (part of that could have been that we had the rest of the week to enjoy the beach! LOL).

Because our two starting pitchers weren't able to attend the World Series (one had a planned trip away at camp and the other's Dad had a kidney transplant!), Delaney actually was called upon to pitch several times (she hasn't pitched regularly in three seasons, so it was a little bit surprising to her!).

Delaney did GREAT, though. Her best showing was during our second pool play game. She pitched a no-hitter!! No one got a hit and she gave up only two walks. Plus, we won 5-0. It was so exciting and Delaney was just thrilled (as you can imagine!).

Here are a few pictures of her pitching, and also hitting, and fielding (she also played second base and right field during the tournament)...










Once ball was over, we got to REALLY play!! We had a blast at the beach and with several different groups of friends during the week.

We stayed at St. Andrew's State Park, which has some of the most beautiful beaches you can imagine. It really has two beaches, in fact--one that is blocked in by a jetty, so it's shallow and perfectly clear (Sydney really loved this one!), and a second that is in the Gulf and has much bigger waves. We spent several days there...







And then we also spent several days at the beach further down in Panama City Beach, with a couple set of friends. Delaney and Sydney both had friends to play with, so it turned out great!

(by the way: you probably noticed that McKenna isn't in any of these pictures. She had to work all week, had guard practice, and was volunteering at our church's VBS. I think she had a good time staying with friends, but we sure missed her!)






When you're at the beach, of course, everything isn't just about the beach. There's also food...like some good Dippin' Dots, smoothies, and seafood...





(those delicious crab legs came from Hammerhead Fred's, one of our favorite restaurants there!)

And then there's all sorts of entertainment, like playing Bochi Ball (not sure if that's spelled right, but it sure was fun. In fact, I'm buying a set for us very soon!). The girls played it...

and so did the grown ups...

And there was horseshoes...

some sort of synchronized swimming...

sunning by the pool...

watching the new Harry Potter movie (yay!!)...


playing putt-putt golf at, seriously, one of the coolest courses ever! It was built in 1959 and was a "true" Goofy Golf course...




hanging out at the go-kart track...


where Delaney was involved in a now-legendary blow-out that involved being crashed into and spun around several times, thereby causing a huge pile up (I just hate I don't have pictures of it! LOL)...

and Sydney even doing some bungee-jumping (it was SO funny and I'm afraid it means I have another thrill-seeker on my hands!)...

As you can tell from our pictures, we had a wonderful time! It's the longest I've ever spent at the beach in one spell, but I could have stayed longer (if only I didn't have school registrations, and work, and other duties calling my name!). And, well, we could have stayed longer if we had more money (the beach drains the pocketbook, that's for sure! LOL).

Now we are back home and I'm trying to get into the "swing of things" all over again. I can't believe that July is almost over...the Summer has truly flown by, hasn't it?

I hope you enjoyed your little virtual beach vacation with me, and I am looking forward to trying to get to as many of your blogs as possible very, very soon.

In the meantime, how about a Random Tuesday question for you. This question will give me a glimpse into your life while I was away...

* What was the most interesting, funny, exciting, boring, meaningful...whatever...thing that happened in your life over the last week? I want to know what's going on with you and yours! (So, leave me a comment about it!)

I'll talk with you all again real soon!