Photo Hunt: Reflection

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Wordless Wednesday: Family Vacation

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Photo Hunt: Ruined

The poor snow man after only a day in Atlanta last year snow surprise.

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Photo Friday: James Bond Island

On our trip back to Thailand several years ago.. way before we had Mr. Z, we went to Phuket and Phang-Nga for a short visit. It was before the tradegy of Tsunami hit Thailand. I haven't been back since but I have heard that everything is now back to normal. The trip was my first trip to visit Phuket myself.. I know.. Shame on me even though I lived in Thailand for over half my life but I have yet to fully experience what my birth country has to offer.

The trip started at Phuket resort and we hired a tour guide (since we also traveled with Mr. Rojo's parents) to take us to James Bond Island. It was named James Bond Island because one of the Bonds movie was shoot here.. I'm not the die-hard 007 fan so I couldn't really tell which one. I don't know if Miss J will remember any of the trip but it was one of the fun trip. We rode on the small engine boat. It was just a bit bigger than a canoe with seats for probably 10 people. We also made a quick stop at the Floating Fishing Village for lunch. I wish we could have stayed longer. I couldn't wait to bring Mr. Z back there one day.

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A Good Day in Destin

Our last day at Destin was a GOOD Day indeed. We woke up to a sunny day. The weather was still a bit cooler than we would love to. But no problem, we could just spend the morning heading down to Seaside and got some lunch before beach time. After breakfast, we got ready and headed out for an adventure. We headed East past Destin and took the scenic route.

It was such a nice and leisure drive along the Route 98. We truly felt like we had been transported to a different time. The little cottages along the beach with different beautiful cotton candy colors lined up along the way. The contrast of the bright blue sky and the green turcoise ocean was memorizing..

After a quick drive by in Seaside, we headed back to our condo in Fort Walton Beach. The kids couldn't wait to head down to the pool. The water was definitely coldddddd.. That didn't stop them from jumping in and out of the pool. We warmed ourselves up with frequent visits to the hot tub. Ah.. Warm and relaxing tub with no one else there. Then we rode on the tube along the lazy river a few times. Then we headed out to the beach for some sand and sea...

Miss J was busy building her masterpiece but ended up spending most of her time catching and riding wave in the ocean. It took a bit of encouragment and convincing to get her into the ocean but once she was in.. It took a lot more to get her out.

Mr. Z on the other hand didn't really want to go into the water at all. He spent most of the afternoon by the beach building his fort or castle or house.. hmm.. I couldn't tell. After seeing how much fun Miss J had in the water, he had a change of heart and joined us. I didn't know how long we were there but it was long enough that my kids started to turn prune.. So it was a queue for us to head back and had dinner. Ah.. A great day in paradise indeed!!!

Wordless Wednesday: The View

The oceanfront view from our balcony during our Destin trip.

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Rain Rain Go Away

During our trip to Destin, we got rained in for a couple days. What to do when you planned a beach vacation but no sun? Luckily, there are things to see around Destin that we could do.

When we arrived, we just took the opportunity to drive around (even in the rain). It was so easy to drive around Destin. You can't get lost.. There is pretty much one main highway that go through Destin from Fort Walton Beach. I was so impressed with the emptiness of the street. I have heard about the traffic during the high season so I'm glad we didn't have to go through that.

The next day was much better. When we woke up, there was no rain. So we didn't waste any second and headed down to the beach. Armed with beach toys, Miss J and Mr. Z started building their own masterpiece. The water was too cold to get in so we just enjoyed the quiet and relaxing time by the beach. I was surprised to see people on the beach. We thought we were the only family in the whole building. Seriously, there was only one car when we arrived on our parking level. Well, we didn't get to spend that much time there because after about an hour the cloud moved in and the shower started. Guess it was time to go sighseeing.

We got back to our room and headed out to check out Baytowne Wharf Village after lunch. It was stilll quite early so there weren't that many people there. I think it would be nice to go there at night. It was a nice outdoor shopping/entertainment plaza with several shops and restaurants. I love that they thought about family with small children because they have one of the super cool playground. It was really big playground with separate area for small kids. The ground are made of recycle tire so it was so crushy to walk on. We literally had to drag them out from the playground.

We also checked out the boardwalk that leads to the dock. It was off season so the boat ride wasn't in operation. It was a really long boardwalk though. It was especially long when it was windy and cold and we were extremely under-dress. I highly recommend doing this for kids who have high energy. :) Mr. Z did run all the way to the end. On the way back, I think he used up all his energy so Mr. Rojo had to come to the rescue. After the boardwalk, I couldn't help but stopped by a few shops. I hope that all these shops and restaurants will survive the economy downturn. The whole village is a really nice place to just walk around, let kids run wild in the playgroun, sit back and enjoy a great outdoor.

Next stop on our agenda that day was to get my Hard Rock Cafe pin. We stopped by Destin Commons which wasn't far from Baytowne Wharf Village. It was yet another outdoor shopping mall. But this one is much bigger than Baytowne Wharf Village. I think Baytowne is more for eat and drink. But Destin Commons is more for shop and shop. After I got my pin, we walked around and checked out a few stores. Then we got on a free tram ride around the property. It was a nice treat for Mr. Z. Then it was a quick break for me and Mr. Rojo. We let them play at the outdoor play area. It was a really cute play area with various sea creatures and a lighthouse.

Before we knew it was time to wrap up and headed back. We stopped by Publix for a quick grocery run and I made Taco for dinner. It was such a nice day even with a cloudy weather. And we didn't even hit all the must-do attractions like Tracks or the Okaloosa Island Pier.. I can say that Destin is one of my (our) favorite destination now.

Photo Hunt: Together

A family that drinks together, stays together? Ok.. Maybe a family that cruises together, stays together. :)

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Photo Friday: Little Bavarian in the South

Even though we are thousand miles away from the real German towns, we have a little piece of the Bavarian town nearby in Helen, GA. It is a little town hidden in the North Georgia Mountain with a unique character. But don't blink when you drive through it as you might miss this town. :)

We went there early this year for our anniversary turned to family weekend getaway. We rent a cabin not too far from town. The kids loved the cabin so much that they are still talking about going back there. There are so many things to do in or around Helen. I also don't want to set up high expectation here. I mean for people who live in Europe this is probably nothing like what they have there. But I think it's a great quick getaway for us to see something different. Plus the people there are so nice!

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