Susan’s Journal

The next morning, we wake up a little earlier than the days before, and Scott heads down to get us some breakfast. He comes back with a waffle and a little carton of milk for each of us. Great stuff.

It’s warmer outside today, and the kids ask me if we can head down to the pool. By the time we’re done eating and getting ready, it’s a little after nine, and I think it’s all right to head down to the pool.

There’s Mac Daddy Dylan, waiting in the jacuzzi for all his girlfriends to come down and hang out with him! He’s so adorable. He’s not all into the deep regular pool, so wading around in the jacuzzi is just fine with him. Rainlin, on the other hand, loves jumping in the big pool–as long as she has all her safety gear on.

Daddy gets his trunks on and comes down to the pool to play with the kids. I’m not a big pool person–in fact, I’m not a big water person–so it’s fun for Daddy to come down and play with the kids. Daddy got the swimming floaties on Dylan, but this was about as close as he would get to the pool. If you look reeealy closely, you can see the ocean in the distance behind them, beyond the pool and across highway 90.

Somewhere along the way, we had noticed that they were setting up a carnival at the Coliseum right there along highway 90! It was just a few miles down the road from the hotel. After we played in the pool for a while longer, we headed out that way to grab a bite for lunch and enjoy some of the rides. Years ago, when I used to be stationed here, I had seen Eddie Money play at this summer carnival thing, right here at this same place outside the Coliseum.

The kids rode a half dozen other rides I can’t remember what they’re called, including a little kids’ mini-roller-coaster. They had a blast. We bought cotton candy and hot dogs, and they each won a couple little prizes playing the pick-up-a-duckie game. Dylan was estatic; can’t you tell?

Before we realize it, we’ve spent most of the day poking around the carnival–eating snacks, playing games, and riding rides. The kids even got some of those free advertisement fans with the popsicle stick stapled to them. This is our last full day in Biloxi, and the week has gone so fast… but there’s one more place I want to visit before we turn in for our last night here.

It was getting late, and I tried to get a good picture of the theater, but it just didn’t work. That place holds a lot of fond memories for me–it was the first place I ever saw Rocky Horror Picture Show! That was a midnight while I was stationed at Keesler as an eighteen year old, still in tech school there. We took the bus off base, but we had to walk alll the way back to base, because after midnight that same bus didn’t run.

We bring the kids in and find out that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is playing, and even though the kids have already seen it, we welcome our favorite old theater and buy tickets again. For just about five bucks we get a giant coke and tub of popcorn to share. In the theater we get to sit in comfy chairs around a table, almost as if in a restaurant, while we watch our movie. It was a great time; and by the time the movie is over, the kids are almost falling asleep in our arms, and we have no trouble getting them to bed back in the hotel room.