Day 1:
Oh how we packed, and packed, and packed some more. We all know Jackie loves her lists, and her packing list was enough for 10 people preparing for Judgment Day (see picture). I also have this “thing” where I like to do things in one trip, like get the grocery’s from the car in one trip, or move from car to hotel in one trip. I call it  the “One Trip Hogan” and from the picture link above you can see I was testing the laws of physics and almost broke my streak, but I did it, in one trip, up 15 floors and through a parking garage. I got some looks, but I did it.

We did the trip in about 4.5 hours with stops, thanks to some very skilled co-workers with their back road secrets, thank you Doug and Kristi. When we go there the first thing we did was hit the pool, the slides and the beach! We wore that poor little guy out. I never seen someone so excited to be in water, because this time it was about fun and not “lessons”. After the beach we ate at Sharky’s (thanks April) and walked the beach. From there we went home. Desmond slept 14 hours! Now that is some serious fun.

Day 2:
When Desmond finally woke up, I noticed he was quickly gathering his bucket, shovel, and shoes, and putting them all by the front door, he quickly ran up and down the hallway putting each item in a pile. That boy wanted to go to the beach! So we did! I was excited to be at the beach to build me some sand castles. The thing I had not accounted for was Godzilla plopping his big fat SUMO butt on each castle I made. So I dug a deep hole and put him in it, this contained him long enough for me to complete my master piece. Of course as soon as he got free, he sat right on it, and we both had a good laugh about it. Good times.

That night we ate Pineapple Willy’s which is now a new favorite for us, and somewhere we will be going to from now on (nice job Char). I got me some ribs, a big boy drink and I was a happy dude. Jackie got her self a nice po’boy sandwich was was big enough to feed two. Desmond tore down on some ribs himself. A wonderful night, on the beach eating dinner with the ones I love most.

Day 3: Shell island! This was a fun time, we went and took a little ferry over to shell island. This was fun for the little guy, his first time on a boat, his thoughts on it? Vroom! Vroom! of course. Shell island is very pretty and secluded (no hotels or anything), although there was a lot more people there then I expected. There are lots of shells, but all the good ones were taken by the time we got there. I am sure if you got there early enough there would be lots to pick from. My advice on this is go early and wear lots of sun screen, because it was hot hot hot!

Day 4: Seaside is one of our favorite places to go, its only about 20 minutes from PCB and we have stayed there lots of times. Its so clean, white and just very small beach town type atmosphere. The water was so blue it was just a beautiful setting. We walked around some gardens, walked over a bridge, and just had a beautiful morning outside.

That night we headed to a hidden restaurant called “The Boatyard”. This was excellent! I had a hankering for a cheeseburger, and they did not fail. It was one of the best, maybe the best cheeseburger I have ever hard. Right up there with the ones in Jamaica. I was so full after it. Desmond tore down on some sweet potato fries, in fact that’s all he wanted. Delicious! We will be going there again.

Day 5: It all comes to an end, we hit the beach one more time, hit the pool, enjoyed some sun, and wrapped it up.

I must say, this was by far one of the best vacations we have been on. It was our first as a threesome. I was worried about it with a small child, but Jackie and I found ourselves doing things we normally would not do on vacation. Stopping and taking a moment to watch Desmond’s face light up on the little things we blow right past normally. Jackie did such an amazing job packing the food, getting the things we needed together so we could go out to eat at some great places. Our meals at home on the balcony were just as enjoyable as a $40 meal out, and for that hard work on her part he got to enjoy so much more. Thanks babe for all that effort. You did an amazing job planning that.

I think PCB will be our new destination spot, it was fun, not too far and really hope we can convince some you all to come down with us sometime, because we will be going lots more often! I have posted all the pictures from the vacation on the gallery. You can follow that link here. I will have some video later in the week

PANAMA CITY 2009

You know that show “Keeping up with the Kardashians“? yeah me neither, only what I see on Talk Soup. I do know its a reality TV show about some weird family who has lots of drama or whatever. I honestly feel that the next time all of us go on vacation as a family again, we need to have a TV crew following us to capture all the stuff that happens. We are the “Nard”ashians, and I can’t make this stuff up. Lets start off with my back, ohh it hurt, and it hurt bad the morning I woke up to leave. I rode in a van for 6+ hours with a back brace and hopped up on boobie relaxer drugs my sister gave me. My breast muscles felt glorious, my back, not so much. I was like an old man. When I finally got to the condo I laid on the floor and prayed for mercy. I was a mess. Below is a picture of me at Universal moments after arriving. I look miserable! I felt it too. As you can also see, Danny is concerned for me.

By day two, we had about a dozen melt downs, then it was the kids turn, hahaa. When you have so many people at a theme park its impossible to make everyone happy. We survived though, and still love each other. The boys did what boys do, we ride the big boy rides, and scream like little girls. I love roller coasters! I totally got on a roller coaster wearing a back brace (nard), I am so hard core like that. Here is a picture of me being hardcore. The youngest manling is the only one brave enough to let go of the rail!

How did Desmond do? That is all what you really want to know, so I will move on to that. He loved it! Sure he had no idea what he was seeing or where he was, he would probably get as much joy going to the mall! It was just fun to see him seeing him so excited. He said “HEY” to about a 1000 people I am sure. (I am working on his HEY! video). He was able to ride some rides, I held on to him for dear life, but he did so good, and never got scared. Here we all are trying to get a picture of us after the Dr. Suess ride, this ride was like a bad acid trip, as you can tell from his face. (I never have done acid, I am just sayin).

Can you tell he is about to expire?

And he is done…..

One night, all the adults got to go out, and it was like we forgot how to go out without children, we were like lost puppies. We almost did not know how to act. One of us humped a fish outside a local quickie mart, I have the photo to prove it but will protect the identity of that person for future blackmail purposes. I also was forced to drink a long island ice tea in less then 3 minutes. That should give you a clearer picture of the kind of night we had.

We had a great time, we laughed, we cried, we almost punched each other in the face at times. All in all we still kinda might love each other, but Christmas is coming, so who knows.

I love the baby so much! Its so weird, I will just sit and stare at Jackie’s belly all the time, waiting, and wanting him to move or something! He has been moving a lot, but mostly he stops when I put my hand there. I think he is tormenting me. Little stinker! We talk sometimes at night when he is up moving around. I tell him to go back to sleep. He usually does. I cant believe it has been over 6 months now! Time is flying by. I cant wait to meet him. he is already cute.

My mom has entered the world of hi-speed internet, ya mom! Welcome to the real internet. It will be lots of fun, VOIP, Webcams, Instant Messaging, Youtube! the possibilities are endless. I installed Google earth for her over the weekend, she found Nana’s house in Ireland on there, that is pretty neat. I told Nana about it, I think she thinks if she goes outside and waves up at the sky I will see her. She told me to send her a picture. She is too funny sometimes. I miss her, and cant wait to see her in December.

Here is a picture of myself and Dad while down in Florida. I didn’t catch any fish, but had fun anyway. I like being on the water. I guess that is why I am a pieces. I do not like the sun and heat though, no thanks.

At the beginning of each month I like to treat myself to a yo-yo from publix. This delicious treat of sugar is most excellent! I usually black out for a few minutes while my body digests the sugar I consume, but it sure is worth it! This one has M&M’s in it, added bonus!

Ohh yea, we went to Florida this weekend, and showed off the new Baby Belly to mom and dad. We got lots of nice new clothes and baby items from my mom and dad. Thanks a bunch! That was exciting, I love new gadgets, like the baby nail clippers, fancy! Dad and I went fishing out in the kayaks, I almost yakked due to the heat. The sun was rough. I did not catch a single fish! They were all around me though.

We got to ride in Mr. C’s fancy new car down there. It has a “Turd Alert” feature. If a bird poops on the window, the windshield wipers go off. How fancy is that?! So about a dozen times down the interstate it would go off, and I couldn’t help but say “turd alert”. Such a fancy ride. That option on the Honda is broken.

Well thats all I got for now,

Today’s blog is brought to you by ” ” you just never can use them enough

This was really just good times indeed. Click Fore Pics.

Going back to

Day Five pictures are posted, for those who were checking out each day. This is the last of the pictures. I hope you enjoyed them.

Greg