Trip to Panama City Beach

We got back from our trip to Panama City Beach, Florida late Saturday night. It was a great trip filled with beach time, family time, and relaxation. We spent the week in a rented beach home with Dan's sister's family. Amanda and Katie really enjoyed Hunter, Hailey and Hannah, as well as Jill and David. ELLIE went with and did great as well. She was a little wild the first time at the beach (since that is where we let her just be a dog at home) but she settled down nicely after she realized it wasn't playtime (dogs are not allowed on the beach in PCB so we had to have her vest on to have her with us). When nobody was looking though, we took off her vest and let her be silly in the sand and waves. The longer we were gone, the more settled in ELLIE became. She really is a super service dog!

Amanda and Katie loved the beach. Katie snorkled around finding shells while Amanda and I jumped and played in the waves. Since Amanda loves sensory stimulation, she really liked it when the white wash from the waves crashed against her -- lots of giggles. Every time we got up to walk, she would pull me toward the waves. She is definitely a beach bunny. The water there is so clear that on calm days, you can see your toes very clearly. It also made for good shell collecting. In addition to a lot of cool shells, we found several sharks teeth. We also played with lots of hermit crabs.

On the last day, we rented a boat and went snorkling off shore. There we found more hermit crabs, starfish, sea urchins, sand dollars, sting rays, etc. We kept a few empty shells from that adventure but enjoyed seeing all the live stuff. Katie really enjoyed being on the boat and snorkling "in the middle of the ocean." The boat was a little too much for Amanda's senses (wind, rain, waves, kids, etc) so she went to sleep in Aunt Jill's arms while everyone else swam.

Today we get back to Amanda's normal summer therapy schedule. I think the vacation did everyone some good in the R&R department, but it is also good to be home. We have a little less than a month to go before school starts up again so soon we will be back in the classroom. This summer has been a wonderfully relaxing one though - much different than last summer with all the medical drama. We are so blessed that Amanda is doing so well and that we can enjoy relaxing time as a family. I will post pictures from the vacation as soon as I find the camera :-)

Susan