Waterscape Condominiums

Waterscape - the website sells itself! I love this place!

Rachel, the kids and I just spent our second vacation at this huge complex on Okaloosa Island, immediately of Hwy 98 after crossing into Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It is situated right on the Gulf and within a short drive to all of the main attractions in Destin and Fort Walton Beach.

The architects who designed this place had the upper-middle class family in mind and made sure accomodations would be comfortable and amenities plenty. The horseshoe shape of the building ensures that the main recreation area, complete with "Lazy River", waterfall, gym, BBQ grills, three pools, two hot tubs, and plenty of seating would be protected from most of the wind as well as a lot of the sun. Of course, being situated on the Gulf, the white sands of the resorts private stretch of beach are just a short walk over the wooden walkway. This proximity means that some rooms come with a grand view of the Gulf of Mexico. The architects designed every unit to angle towards the Gulf, so even rooms that are on the inside of the horseshoe on the bottom floor have a good chance of seeing the water. The resort offers free internet in seemingly all rooms (bring a Cat 5 cable just in case your unit doesn't provide it) and a free movie rental kiosk that allows each room to check out one free video at a time.

Here are some tips before visiting:
1. The best rooms for accessibility to the amenities are definitely the interior, bottom floor units. The largest units are closest to the Gulf, though they are a little further from the pools. When selecting a room, remember that the recreation area is two-levels, so the room you would want in the lower level recreation area would be a first level room. However, the upper level recreaction area has second level rooms opening out to it. The website has a terrific map that you can use to decide which room you want. Make sure you pick your own room with the ResortQuest agent when you call!

2. Go after labor day! These are very expensive condos and the rates drop significantly after the peak season. Plus, the amenities are more available due to a smaller crowd. You will lose some access to a lot of the fun things in Destin due to them closing their doors for the "winter", but you will not lose the sun or the relaxing.

3. Call the resort to see what they recommend bringing. Under the auspicious of saving money, they had not stocked the room we were in last time with enough toilet paper or liquid soap (powder dishwashing detergent is provided to wash the dishes in the full kitchen's dishwasher). I also recommend bringing laundry detergent for longer stays.

4. Because you are renting a condo, the management is not run like a resort. There is no daily maid service, room service, or a concierge. The front desk (when they are open) will help you with local area questions and local eateries will deliver.

5. Bring pool toys, floaties, etc as well as beach equipment (don't forget a kite!) Umbrellas and beach chairs are provided free of charge and kayaks are rented out. Also, it may be fun to have a cookout one night at one of the poolside BBQ grills, however an easier picnic with sandwiches is just as fun.

6. Sodas on site are expensive ($2/16.9 oz bottle)! Bring your own, but avoid glass bottles of any variety - they are not allowed on the pool deck.

7. Don't plan too many extra activities off-site. Relaxing by the pool or building sand castles is a perfect way for a family with young kids to save money while enjoying their time together. Other than eating out one meal a day, we went fishing from the pier, geo-caching, mini-golfing, and to a movie. I think anything else would have been too much for the time we were there (5 nights).

I hope you'll take my advice and stay there some day - it is really a nice place for young families to relax, refresh, and build memories.

In Him,
David

Ultrasounds

These things are rock solid! I mean, really, how cool is it that we can lather a belly up with slimy-goo, stick a puck on the belly and see what's inside? Awesome! Just yesterday we saw our fourth baby, barely a peanut right now but well on it's way to growing into another baby, ready to face the world on/about September of this year. The kids got to watch this time and it didn't require much in the way of corrective supervision - they were mesmerized! The only thing I don't understand is why clinics can charge so much for a 4-D ultrasound (the nicer one's). Just to flip a switch on the exact same machine to go from 2-D to 4-D, you have to fork over $150. I'm thinking about having Rachel get one for this baby just to see what happens. Maybe the room starts spinning and dancers come out of the walls to usher in your purchase of this technology. Or, maybe they strap you in to a cradle that gently sways as you "fly" through an IMAX-size image of your innards. Whatever it is - it's got to be really good to fork out 150 clams. Besides, the 2-D is already remarkable enough and didn't cost me a dime!

The Family Christmas Plan

So, today I received an e-mail from my mom explaining the plan for when all 20 members of my family get together in a few days.  Overall, she did what she does best: direct and control (and of course, love).  Not only did she effectively divvy out their 7200 s.f. to the proper sub-families, but she also established standards (e.g. all toys, clothes, etc must stay in the appropriate room, kids room should be returned to its current status prior to departure, etc).  Additionally, there is no question as to what meals are covered, which are "potluck" and which ones are on our own.  I'm a guy that needs black and white - clear boundaries of operation and specific objecives.  I can operate with this e-mail in hand, without a doubt.  I give the directions two thumbs up!

Third Day / Jars of Clay / Rome, GA

We had the privilege of going to the first show for the Christmas Offerings tour with Third Day and Jars of Clay last night in Rome, GA.  It was a blast (of course) and we met up some friends from TN to make it even more fun!  6th row on stage left was perfect - Rachel had the aisle in case she started going into contractions; thankfully that didn't happen and we got to see the whole show.  The baby did get pretty excited, especially with the bass drum the JoC lead singer bangs like its nobody's business! 

OK, it seems important to provide a more critical review than just "It rocked!", especially considering this was our fifth full-fledged Third Day concert.  So here it is:  All in all, the audience was deeply ministered to - as is the case at every Third Day event.  It is impossible to walk away from these guys, whether they are singing or playing or just chilling by the pool and not be ministered to.  I've had more time with them than most fans (in and out of the concert hall) and I can speak of this as fact.  The concert on Thursday night, though had some glitches.  I believe that they were almost completely due to two factors: 1. it was the first night of the show 2. the Forum in Rome, GA looks older than me.  Number 1 seemed to be the apparent reason for most of the problems.  For instance, the words during one of the songs were completely out of synch after the first couple verses.  The soundguy, to his credit, worked feverishly to get the right words up on the screen, however it was at times a little distracting.  Additionally, Brad Avery's awesome story about the adoption of their fourth daughter was followed by a complete darkout that seemed to contribute to an out-of-synch intro between him and the keyboardist.  During Little Drummer Boy, by Jars of Clay (and this may be my own audible deficiency), the lead singer took to the xylaphone like it was nobody's business, yet for some reason, I couldn't hear it save my life!  Nonetheless, the crowd loved the song and got to its feet by the end.  I think the oddest flub of the evening was when Mac tried to direct the follow spot over to Mark Lee so that he could be introduced.  Instead of following the lead's directions, the spot stayed focused (I think on Brad) and just sat there.  Mac had to tell the dude about four times before he started pointing to the operator and waving the light over to Mark.  It definitely disrupted a bit of the concert flow. 

 You know what, though, most of these issues really pointed to one thing: This was a live show!  It was not Milli Vanilli and things happen when musicians actually peform rather than pretend.  I hope that noone gets too offended by this post, as it is written, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Prov. 27:17).  The concert definitely rocked, regardless, and I'm anxiously awaiting the Spring tour dates so I can scoop up some tix for a few close by shows.  God Bless!

Guitar Hero

Just like the real thing - only completely different!  On my business trip to TN, I became wonderfully familiar with Guitar Hero, for Playstation.  In short, It ROCKED!!  I've got to say though, the "expert" level is totally beyond me!  We unlocked all of the 40 songs in Guitar Hero - 2 (I think) on the "medium" level and that was still pretty difficult.  Anyway, it can be quite a workout, though not as much as the Nintendo WII seems to be.  It's really more of a workout for the fingers on the frets - those buttons can build up some serious callouses.   Anyway, I would not recommend buying a PS-2 just to get this game, but I'd definitely recommend hanging out with friends who've already got it!

The Holy Bible: New International Version

The Holy Bible: New International Version, GodFirst, the confession - I haven't read it, cover to cover.  I'm closer now than I ever have been, though.  I started about two years ago reading all the way through the New Testament, for a lot of reasons.  I'm sure I've read everything in there at least once, just never in order.  So, that took a while - too long, honestly, and when I got to the last word of Revelation ("Amen"), I thought, "hm, maybe I should just try to finish this whole thing out."  So, I turned to Genesis 1:1, the beginning of a book I've read many many times and started reading it, once again.  This time, however I was intent on finishing.  For whatever selfish reasons, I got all the way to 1 Chronicles and hit a brick wall.  (This was probably six months ago)  Last night,God gave me the strenth to climb the wall and now He's pacing me through all these really weird names.

God loves us, a whole lot.  I know it's easy not to see that, what with all the war that the Bible mentions and the plagues and the anihilation of those who turned from Him.  But, at the end - He did everything because we are his most prized creation.  We are the only thing on this earth that received his spirit to wake up.  Whether we acknowledge it or not - He is in all of us.  The Bible is not full of heroes or saints, as some may believe.  Rather, it is overflowing with common folk, like ourselves, who only see face value.  Person after person, people group after people group, the Bible shows that a moment of humility and an ounce of faith in His plan, rather than our own flimsy ambitions, equate to mountains of blessings that are heaped upon us like burning coals!

That's what I've gotten out of the Bible so far.  Maybe it will change.  If so, I'll keep you posted.

Cornbread Muffins and Buttermilk

Cornbread Muffins and Buttermilk

Now, I have finally experienced true Southern Livin'.  Only exception would be that these muffins were made from "Jiffy" and not a secret family recipe.  The muffins were just sweet enough to help me choke it all down - buttermilk et al.  You should try it sometime!