A Trip to Cocoa Beach.

 Well today we went to Cocoa Beach! I have not been there for a number of years...ok a lot of years. We went to Ron Jon Surf shop. The first thing we saw was a diver cleaning out one of the aquariums it was funny to see him in there like that. 

When the big eel came around the tank the girls were shocked!

This is what it looks like on the outside. It's one of those you just can't miss it places on A1A. 

In side there were lots of surf stuff strange...

I like all the boards up like this.

Heidi being a little cheese cake.

Where is your smile?

We met Stef and Aaron there.

I was looking at the tags on the board and had to take a photos of it.

It says that surfboards are fragile! What!? Then why do people take them to the beach and ride them on waves drag them across the sand and slam them against the rocks? LOL I thought it was funny. the price was anything but.

Silly shoes we found.

We all went out and took some picks outside. The day was wonderful.

this is a fence I liked how it looked.

After the surf shop we all went out to eat, then off to the beach. We went to the beach that was just down the road from the house we use to live in when we were in the Air Force. Some of the housing is still there.

It looks just the same but now it is no longer military housing it's for rent and yes you to can live like the ilisted military families of years past for only.

LOL I thought that was so funny that they are now for rent. They are not bad. 3 bedrooms 2 bath family room, living room and screened in porch just feet from the beach. But after driving around there it is deffanetly not the best of neighborhoods any more. sad day. I have so many happy memories of my children growing up here.

The best thing we found is they have done a major upgrade to the beach we would go to. It use to be just a small tilted parking lot that only 4 cars could fit into and no bathroom. Big problem with little's in tow. Now its all fixed up!

This photos is looking down towards the base housing. They have torn all of the homes down that were on the left side of the road but there are still about 40 on the right side.

We then all had a lot of fun on the beach the wind was up but that did not stop the fun.

 Fun running from the waves.

Alas it was not all fun and games. Poor Heidi she was caught by a monster wave and the fun was over for her.

Heidi running up the beach to safety.

Cursing the sky! Why? Why? Why?

Then the tears and a wonderful big sis to help wring out her clothes. Josh gave up his shirt for her for the drive home so she would not freeze.

All in all we had a wonderful time and loved doing something different for a change. We hope to see more family soon.

Oh Halloween how I love thee.

I think Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays for as long as I can remember. The thought of getting all of the candy was just pure ecstasy! We generally made costumes digging though an old box in the basement full of old dance outfits and other miscellaneous items. It was so much fun planning for what we were going to be for weeks sometimes before Halloween. But I think some of my best outfits where ones I just tossed together at the last moment.

This year most of the kids wanted to carve a pumpkin. Will even got into the act and found a squash in the store over a week before Halloween. The is always a risk due to the heat and humidity things like pumpkins go bad fast.

Josh was not really interested in carving a pumpkin but he agreed to be the carver for Heidi.

So the best part came first the part that everyone looks so forward to each year. The traditinal gutting of the pumkins.

 

Yes that is Autumn eating an ice cream cone she was a little slow with snack and so was trying to do both at the same time it was funny.

Here is the treasure everyone was digging for. They epically loved how it would cling to their fingers and would not come off. We had pumpkin guts flung all over the table.

The carving began. Everyone designed out their own pumpkins. Heidi directed Josh on what she wanted and she wanted a scary witch. The all also cut out their own. I think some of them learned that the more complected the harder it is to carve.

 Josh working on Heidi's

Will working on his rotting squash. Never fear it turns out but you will have to see at the end what it looks like.

Abby started with wanting a bat but decided to go for the spider instead very ambitious.

With the carving completed it was time to get dressed. Josh and I got dressed as well. Yes I did also carry a bag and I got my own candy. Yummy. Sad thing is that I don't like candy as much as I once did but that might be a good thing. 

Josh is a carpenter, I'm Queen Elizabeth the first. Autumn is a ummm she kept changing her mind so I'm not 100% certain what she ended up calling herself, but she loved spraying her hair all purple. She has been begging me to let her die it in real life. Let me think about it...NO! Hannah is a witch. Heidi is Tinker Bell and Abby is a Dead Bride. lol. They all came up with their own things. It's never the same from year to year.

We headed off to get the good stuff leaving Ben and Will to hand out the candy and light the pumpkins. Here is what our front porch looked like.The bats hanging down flash. The purple thing off to the left is a big spider that moves and then there is the orange web above it.

Here is everyone's pumpkins.

Abby's. It was a lot of work and Will ended up having to help cut out the legs. She was very happy with the result. Also I don't think she will do one like this next year but then you never know.

Hannah's masterful mermaid. I would have never thought of doing something like this. I'm amazed at how creative they all are.

Autumn's she was very happy with it and enjoyed the fact that she did not need any help with any of the cleaning or cutting.

Heidi's and Josh's creation. Heidi loved it and said that is just what I wanted Josh!

Benjamen's It is so artistic I liked how it was so original. the nose I my favorite part.

This is Will's creation. it is a squash and so had the top part of it and the bottom part. He had this planed out for day's and he was so excited that he had Halloween night off so he could carve it and that it turned out just the way he had envisioned it.

We had a lot of fun. Not much candy this year. A lot of the homes we usually go to did not have their lights on. Oh well we got enough to keep us in candy for a few day's anyway.

Happy Halloween post a few days late. LOL