Thanksgiving at Orange Beach

While being a middle-school teacher does not have a lot of perks, getting the entire Thanksgiving week off, however, kicks major bootie! This year, the Perdues and Storms packed up their belongings and headed to the Gulf Coast for the holidays. Being in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach for five days without driving in traffic, waiting in line for restaurants or fighting for space on the beach was a nice relief. Holiday vacations may become a tradition for the family!
1. Brynn and the Beach: Brynn is not the type that just jumps into a new situation. It takes her about 30 minutes to warm-up to new people, places or events. For example, we went to the Alabama basketball game two weeks ago. For the first 30 minutes, Brynn sat in her mother's lap without moving. After this short period of time, Brynn warmed up to the lights, band and crowd. By the end of the game, she was bouncing around and clapping.

The beach was much the same way. Brynn sat on her blanket on the sand, stared around and would not touch her toys. But after a few minutes, she got ready to go and began playing with her bucket and shovel, while tossing sand everywhere. She was having a blast until she did what every baby does with something new... put it in her mouth. From her reaction, sand does not taste like the Turkey-Apple-Sweet Pea combo that Sarah feeds her daily. This ended our first beach trip and not learning her lesson the first time, ended our second trek to the sand, as well. By the end of the trip, Brynn understood that sand=bad taste!

2. Brynn and the Indoor Pool: My daughter loved to swim in the pool this past summer. She would kick and float in her crabbie toy all day. But something about the warmth of the indoor pool did not sit well with my 2020 Olypmic swimmer (watchout Phelps, Perdue is breaking your records). She was ornery in the pool, but this might have been because it was 7 AM or a couple my parents age were being friendly in the hot tub. Brynn did not want to swim, but just hold on to her mommy. Lucky for us, some kid forgot his kickboard in the swimming pool from the day before. We decided to put Brynn on the board and push her around. She thought she was queen of the pool. She loved riding around the pool without actually being in the water.

3. The Blind Side: One of my favorite things to do at the beach is go to the movies. I am not the type to sit outside all day, so I find other things to do. I wanted to see New Moon, but was vetoed by Sarah and Ryan. We decided on The Blind Side, the true story of Ole Miss Alum and current Baltimore Raven Michael Oher. The movie starred Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. I figured the movie would be corny, since it came from a low-budget production. I could not have been more wrong. The movie was very touching, inspring and comical. I would recommend this film to any family.

4. Restaurants: Ranking the places I ate with meals:
    1. Original Oyster House: Paremsan Cheese Shrimp with Baked Potato and Cheese Grits
    2. The Shrimp Basket: Blackened Shrimp Poboy with onion rings
    3. LuLu's: Caribbean Jerk Chicken Sandwich with Chips; half of my sister's Shrimp Quesedilla
    4. Tacky Jacks: Breakfast Burrito with Home Fries
    5. Bahama Bob's: Buffalo Shrimp with Fries
    6. Rafters (twice): Hot Wings with Whirly Taters; Buffalo Fingers with Whirly Taters
    7. China Dragon: General Tso' Chicken with Fried Rice, Hot and Sour Soup, Eggroll
    8. Calypso Joes: Seafood Buffet (NASTY)
-- We ate Tacky Jacks for breakfast; Whirly Taters are homemade potato chips with ranch, bacon, cheese

5. Iron Bowl: Since Sarah came into my life, I have got a lot better at not letting the results of an Alabama football game ruin my day, week or year. In the past, my moods were dictated by the way the Crimson Tide performed on the field. Sarah has brought a lot of peace into my life in that area along with the games that I play or coach. My daughter Brynn, however, has brought me to a new level of peace. Whether it was Tennessee lining up for the game winning field goal or Auburn going up 14-0 in the first few minutes, a quick peek at my daughter can calm all my nerves. Lucky for me, Brynn woke up from her nap during the last 2-minutes of the Iron Bowl. She found her way to my lap and proved a great stress relief as Alabama scored the winning touchdown and knocked down Auburn's desperation heave.

As for the game, it was about what I expected. I thought Auburn would storm out of the gate with some trick plays, get an early lead and hope to hold on late. I was wrong, however, in thinking that we would beat them down in the second half and win by 14-17 points. Auburn played great and had a gameplan to win the game, but Alabama having more depth and better players proved the difference. Now, I am off to Atlanta with Jonathan for the SEC Championship. I am not taking my stress relief, but will have plenty of pictures of her on my phone to view.

6. Random Happenings at Beach: I took Brynn to see Santa Claus. I played tennis with Sarah, Ryan and Susan. I lounged in the hot tub. I got a few new articles of clothing from Old Navy including two head pieces. I watched two Bama basketball games. I changed a flat tire.

I should have a blog update on my trip to Atlanta. With a win over the Gators, this next trip may reach... wait for it... Legendary Status. A loss will lead Jonathan and I into a state of depression.