Christmas Morning Tradition

Merry Christmas to you!  I hope those of you that celebrate Christmas are enjoying a wonderful day of celebration.  We spent Christmas Eve here at home with DH's dad, brother, and brother's wife and kids.  Then it was Santa prep!  This morning, we continued our Christmas morning tradition. After the gifts have been opened, we load up the dogs and head to Big Talbot Island State Park. We're usually there by 9am.  It's the perfect gift for the dogs...they run and run without worry of anyone else being out there.  Big Talbot is usually pretty quiet on a normal day, but on Christmas, it's pure solitude for furry friends. 

Each year it becomes more and more of an adventure as the bluffs continue to change shape.  There used to be a wooden staircase that led down to "Boneyard Beach," but it was washed away in a storm and the state decided not to replace it.  Now the beach is accessed purely at your own risk.  With its 10-15 foot bluffs, Big Talbot is truly unlike any other beach in Florida. The park itself is at the confluence of Nassau Sound and the Atlantic Ocean and encompasses a gorgeous live oak hammock. Over the years as the bluffs have shifted, oaks have fallen to the sea, creating a beach full of massive driftwood trees, thus the name Boneyard Beach. It's really spectacular.  You can take a look at all the pictures I took this morning here.  DH and I started doing this before we were married, and short of the three years when the girls were too small to go, we've done it every year. 

And hopefully, we've creating a little more around the house now.  Sarah asked Santa for a guitar, and since Mama is a (not very accomplished) guitar player as well, she thought it was a great idea.  Olivia didn't want a guitar, so Santa brought her some percussion to play along.  Here's a little improptu performance for you, bits and pieces of Sugarland's Stuck Like Glue. 

Again, the merriest of Christmas wishes to you.  May you remember the true reason for the day.   God bless.