The Wonderful World of the Whiteheads: Watch Out Florida Here We Come!!!

It was finally time to go on our family/friend vacation to Panama City Beach Florida. We had waited all summer for this week to come. Mom and Dad packed up the car. I can't believe they fit everything in.

Mom and Dad woke us up at 5:30 a.m. to get on the road to Florida. They put us in the car, and we fell fast asleep. Mom took the morning drive. We woke up and stopped to eat in Louisiana for breakfast.

Dad took over the driving from there.

We drove through some pretty cool places. There was a bridge in Louisiana that lasted forever! We also drove through a really cool tunnel under ground.

When we finally arrived in Florida, we quickly unpacked the car and ran out to the beach! It was beautiful. It had snow white sand and clear blue water. We were in heaven!

Dad and I ran straight to the water, but Ava was nice enough to pose for a couple of pictures for mom.

After the fun on the beach, mom and dad took us to the Still Water Restaurant. We wanted to go because they had a 12 foot aquarium. While we ate, we watched all the fish swim by.

On Sunday it was Maw Maw's birthday, so Ava and I collected seaweed and left her a message in the sand. We text it to her to wish her a happy birthday.

When we got to the beach the water was beautiful. It was flat as a lake and crystal clear. I stayed around long enough to take a few pictures for mom.

By the end of the morning, we were really wishing our friends would get there. Our parents are fun, but we were ready for some kids to play with!

At lunch, I was really wanting my friends to get here. I crawled onto Dad's lap and waited with the little patience that I had left.

The Bell boys were the first to arrive at the beach. I smiled from ear to ear when I saw my friend, Ryan.

Soon after, the Chandlers and Slotts made their way down to the beach. This vacation kept getting better and better!

Ava was just as excited as I was to see her friends!

After playing on the beach all afternoon, we all went to our rooms and got ready for dinner. We decided to go to Pineapple Willies to celebrate Aimee Slott's birthday.

Here we are waiting for our dinner table to get ready.

Mrs. Aimee sure doesn't look very old!

We all enjoyed dinner and then got to bed early for our big offshore fishing trip. We woke up at 5:00 a.m. to begin our day. We had to split up on two boats. On our boat was Dad, Cooper, Mr. Ryan, and me. I couldn't wait to catch a big one. Unfortunately, an hour into our fishing trip I got sea sick. The weather wasn't helping. It was raining and lightning everywhere. I only caught two fish, and then I didn't feel well enough to fish anymore. Dad didn't do very good fishing either. He only caught one fish. The deck hand caught a Tiger Shark. That was pretty awesome to see.

While we were fishing, the girls thought they were going to have a girl's day along with two Bell boys. They began their day in the pool until it started raining.

Ava and Camryn enjoyed a little dance in the rain before the lightning started.

They decided to go up to the room and wait out the rain. While they were on the balcony, mom spotted a water spout. She was so scared because she knew that Dad and I were out on the boat. She said her heart was pounding until she heard we were fine.

When our fishing trip ended, we ended up catching about 90 pounds as a group. Even though I got sick, I still had a good time. I would like to try it again when the weather isn't so bad.

The next day, was rainy again. When the lightning was finally gone, our parents lets us go out to the beach even though it was sprinkling. They all enjoyed each others company under the umbrellas.

When the sun finally came out, the boys headed for the water.

Ava and Dylan decided to play in the sand and build a sand castle.

We enjoyed our day at the beach that day. We played together all day!

We knew it was just a matter of time until Mom made us take family pictures. We all got dressed up that evening and headed to the beach. Here are a "FEW" of the pictures we took.

Last time we were in Florida, we took this picture, but Ava was trying to kiss me and I was pulling away. Mom made us reenact this picture, but the opposite way.

Mom and Dad were acting silly in this picture!

After a lot of pictures, we finally got to get in the water!

We were jumping for joy that the picture taking was over!!!!

Mrs. Lori did a great job taking our pictures, and we appreciate it so much!

On Wednesday, we hurried out to the beach to hopefully beat any rain chances. They boys enjoyed a friendly game of beach volleyball.

The girls relaxed under an umbrella and had a snack together.

The waves were huge that day! We all grabbed our boogie boards and headed out to ride some waves. We were out in the water for hours racing each other on the waves. Mom didn't get any pictures of us riding the waves, but we had fun.

We were all ready for some extreme adventures! We decided to be brave and ride the banana boat. There were too many kids in our group, so we had to split up. The first group were the girls and the youngest Bell boys. Mrs. Lori rode with them to make sure no one flew off!

The boys and I anxiously waited!

It was all smiles and laughter when the first group returned.

We jumped on as fast as we could and held on tight!

The driver gave us a ride of our lifetime! He was growing fast and turning all about. We think he might have been trying to throw Mrs. Aimee off!

My friends and I loved every minute of it!!!!!

The next adventure of the day was Ava and Mom parasailing. I couldn't believe that Ava was being soooooo brave!!!!! They were twenty five stories in the air! They also were dipped in the water three times. She said it was AWESOME!!!!

I decided to not be as dangerous and rent a jet ski with my dad and Ava. Dad did the old "ran out of gas trick" on Ava. She started crying and was scared to death. We had to end up dropping her off back on shore. After that, Dad taught me how to drive the jet ski. We had so much fun. I loved driving fast and turning fast.

The girls were looking like beach beauties posing for this picture!

We can't go anywhere without Ava doing her famous cartwheel.

The next day, we woke up and the sky looked like this.

We were so disappointed that it was going to be another rainy day! Mom had a great idea. We all hopped in the car and headed out to Wonder Works.

It was an upside down house! When we first got there we had to go through a magic tunnel to turn everything right side up. The first exhibit we ran to was a room that you could experience the winds of a Hurricane. We even had to wear safety goggles.

Ava and Camryn stopped for quick picture. I think Camryn was making sure Ava was smiling!

Mom and Dad were brave enough to lay on a bed of nails! Mom said that it hurt a little so we didn't try it.

We enjoyed the pulley station as well.

Ava was glad that this shark wasn't real!

When the boys and I saw the pitching exhibit, we were so excited. We stood in line a long time to get the chance to pitch. My best ball was 43 mph. Even Coach Clint threw some pitches.

While we stood in line to pitch, Mom and Aimee took a ride by themselves. This ride went upside. Mom was laughing the whole time. I decided not to try this ride, but Ava, Dylan, and Mrs. Lori were all braved enough to do it. Ava loved every minute of it!

Ava and Dylan posed for mom in the art exhibit. Do you see columns or people???

They also had a floor piano. Mom taught Ava how to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb".

Ryan and I played a quick electronic soccer game while Ava and Camryn danced in the dance room. The girls could have stayed in there all day!

Ava decided to hang her head out of a giant circuit.

One of our favorite things was a giant wall of pins. We would push our bodies into them, and it would show our impressions on the other side.

Here is what we would look like if we were astronauts!

One of my favorite things was the rope course. It was a three story course that was off the ground. Dad and I were partners, and Mom and Ava were partners. Dad and I went through the whole course without any troubles. However, Mom and Ava didn't last long. They went over one bridge and decided to come down.

The last thing to do at Wonder Works was a game of laser tag. We didn't like the laser tag that much. It didn't have as many obstacles as we were use too.

All in all, Wonder Works was an amazing place. It has so many cool activities, and it was a great place to spend a rainy day.

Luckily the rain had clear up by that evening, so we could go on the Pirate Cruise! We had put our pirate attire on headed out for our last night out in Florida.

We couldn't wait for the ship to sail. Mom made us pose for a couple of pictures before it took off because she knew we wouldn't want to stop having fun to take some once the fun began.

First thing was first, the pirates taught us how to walk like a pirate on a ship.

We then had a huge water gun fight!

I loved squirting Ava!

All the adults stayed on the top deck, so they didn't get wet.

After the water gun fight, the boys had to mop the deck while the girls went inside to get their faces painted.

Ava didn't want her face painted, but I got mine!

Our next activity was finding a treasure. They gave us a clue to spot an orange buoy with a red "x" on it. We spotted it in the water, and one of the pirates hooked it with a big hook. We all pulled on the rope to pull the treasure in.

We all split the treasure up between the kids.

It was then time to celebrate and do the limbo line!

We also did the "Chicken Dance".

The rest of the Pirate Cruise was spent dancing and celebrating until the rain began. All the kids went down into the boat when it started to raining, so we would be protected. Luckily, the pirate cruise was almost over when it started raining.

The Pirate Cruise was one of our favorite things to do in Florida.

When we got home that night, Mom surprised Ava with an early birthday celebration. All of our friends came by and enjoyed a cupcake with us. Ava was so surprised and excited.

The next morning, we woke up at 5:30 and sadly left Florida. We went on the balcony to tell the beach goodbye. The good thing was that it was officially Ava's 8th birthday. Mom had decorated her bunk bed with balloons and streamers. I can't believe Mom didn't get a picture of that, but it was 5:30 in the morning!