Family Adventure at The Beach! *Plus A Giveaway*

Be sure to read the bottom of this post- Three families will win a Family Movie Night Prize Package of one of my all time favorite movies!

When I was in my early teens, my parents began taking us to Panama City Beach once every two years or so. Except for my very first beach vacation, PCB is the one I remember whenever I think about the ocean so I was thrilled to be able to take my kids there. This was their second time seeing the ocean also, which made it even more special.

As I mentioned before in a previous post, several months back we realized that our life was growing increasingly more hectic and busy. As a result, even on weekends, we work all of the time! No matter if its a Saturday or not, if I’m home, I feel the inevitable pull of the computer or that mountain of laundry begins calling my name, all the while our kids are still growing – but with decidedly less involvement from us in the process. This just wouldn’t do.

So we started calling a “Family Adventure Day” each weekend whenever possible. We choose a day, get up early, and head out somewhere. Sometimes we know our destination, sometimes we just wing it. Our preferred day trips are those about an hour or two from home where we find something new to explore or discover but the kids ultimate trips are those in which we get to stay in a hotel.

I imagine that for them staying in a hotel is the equivalent of a world cruise for some, but hey it works for them and makes them happy so every now and then (when we can afford to), we like to do this for them.

When Country Inn & Suites approached me asked if we’d like to stay on one of their properties for three nights, my kids were over the moon! JVC got on board as well by providing a HD Everio camcorder to record our trip and I’ll be bringing you that video in a future post. My husband is over the moon on that camcorder. He did most of the filming and he said it is the clearest most realistic video footage he has ever seen.

We had a wonderful weekend at the most family friendly hotel we’ve ever stayed at and while there, I got to do something I’ve only dreamed of my entire life. Hang on, I’ll tell you about that in a minute.


 

It was a very windy weekend but we had a ball!

The Treasure Ship restaurant was a boatload of fun!

Alas, they wouldn’t keep them while we ate… ~sighs~

~grins~

Being silly on the couch in our hotel room.

Me and my boy!

Me and my girl!

The whole family eating at a beach side restaurant where I had the MOST DELICIOUS side dish.

I spoke with the chef and he gave me the recipe! I’ll be bringing it to you along with an interview in a future post.

Now for my dream come true! I’ve wanted to do this all of my life. I used to beg my parents to let me, but back then it was very expensive and we just couldn’t afford it. While at Gulf World (which is AWESOME by the way), I had a chance to “shake hands” with a dolphin!

It was all I could do not to crawl right into the water with her! So sweet, soft, and warm, I’ve waited all of my life to do this!

The photographer said “Wow, you really lit up!” and I told him “My dream just came true!”.

(and the Jordan family loves this hotel!)

GIVEAWAY TIME!

(THREE winners!)

I hope you’ll make YOUR families dream come true by setting aside time just for them. To help three families have a special night of doing just that, I’m giving away three movie night packages, from the Jordan family to yours.

Please note, this giveaway is not sponsored by anyone, it is just a little something from my family.

Nowadays, it is getting more and more difficult to find family friendly television or movies (don’t get me started on the lack of family friendly television!) and so when I happen across a great family movie, I get pretty excited! Secondhand Lions is one of my all time favorite such movies and I can’t even tell you how many copies of this DVD I gave away for Christmas last year (I know it was more than six) so that everyone could see why I loved this movie so much!

Three people who comment below will be chosen at random to receive a Movie Night Prize Pack which will contain:

A DVD of Secondhand Lions

This is the story of a young boy sent to live with his two eccentric  uncles on a farm in Texas. It’s filled with humor, adventure, lessons of integrity, and is just an outright joy to watch. You will literally laugh, cry, and be on the edge of your seat during this film – which is why I bought three more copies to offer in this giveaway  (I just checked and that brings my total copies purchased to twelve) because I LOVE THIS MOVIE!

Popcorn (coz..you know, it’s a movie night!)

Assorted boxes of candy (see above reason)

AND Silly Straws – because everything tastes better when drank from a silly straw. Why? Because I said so.

To enter my giveaway, simply leave a comment below.

Tell me the last time you went to the beach, tell me if you’ve ever stayed at a Country Inn & Suites before, tell me if you know of any family friendly movies I might enjoy – or just say “HI!”. All ya gotta do is leave a comment and you’re entered! I’ll draw three winners on Friday of this week and announce them on this post!

Can’t sleep? Count your blessings.

Submitted by CJ. Submit your quote here or pick up a few more to help you keep that smile on!

FTC Stuff: We were very fortunate recently to be able to spend a long weekend in Panama City Beach, Florida courtesy of Country Inn & Suites, who very graciously provided our hotel for the three night stay as part of their 1, 2, FREE promotion where anyone who stays two nights through May 15th gets a third night free. I have not been compensated for this post but Country Inn & Suites did provide free lodging for my family and myself.  I will be reviewing my JVC Everio further in a future post and have been given one of the cameras for this purpose but received no other compensation. My opinions are entirely my own and you know it wouldn’t be nice to be dishonest about something anyway. Seriously, stick with what ya picked up in those first few weeks of Kindergarten and you’ll be fine. We never outgrow basic life lessons :).

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317 Comments

  1. Hi Christy, this is my first post to your site. I found you about a month ago on Facebook. I love your recipes and your stories are great. Makes for some very interesting reading. I live about 1 1/2 hours from PCB but only 45 minutes from the beaches of Destin with its white sand and emerald green water. I seldom get to go because I work on Saturdays and Sunday is church not to mention my main beach buddy (my daughter, my only child) got married last year to a military guy and moved 8 1/2 hours away and my husband hates the beach. I love the sound of the waves, the scenery and the smell of the ocean. It is so peaceful and makes me think about God and when He created the earth how he also created the tides and how the water is only allowed to go so far. I’m happy your family was blessed with a vacation to your favorite place. Have you seen Facing the Giants, Flywheel or Fireproof? They are movies with good morals and integrity. I don’t watch many movies because most are full of foul language and nudity.

  2. it looks like you had a blast! I’ve always wanted to feed the dolphins, so it looks like when we head to FL in the next couple of years that is what I will be doing, albeit some 30 years later than I would have liked 😉 I will def. be checking out the hotel chain as well, I’ve never stayed there but it sounds like you had a great time and that promotion can’t be beat. Looking forward to seeing your camera review. have a wonderful week.

  3. It has been more than 5 years since I have been to the beach. I grew up in Florida and only went to the beach once or twice a year. I moved to Tennessee 6 years ago, and I regret my lack of beach-going.

  4. We live a little over an hour from PCB. We love to take a short “breather” and spend the day in the sun, will need it to warm up a hair though!

  5. I must admit me and my boys are spoiled.My Husband is a DOLL!! We live in the burbs of Tampa and have a place on St, Pete Beach. Not bad for a Michigan girl. I am a tough mom when it comes to what my boys watch and they cannot stand it! I dont care what the other kids are doing because I want to keep them sweet. Drives the 10 yr. old nuts. I have never heard of the movie or some of the others posted as comments. I am going to check them out. Thank You.
    Andrea

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