Florida Vacation!!

We're home...finally!  (More about that later).  Anyway, we had a great trip and I am so proud of how well Ethan did traveling!
We started off bright and early last Thursday morning.  Libby and Josh were gracious enough to put us up for the night and watch Max for us while we were gone.  Thanks guys! 
Here we are on the shuttle from the parking garage to the airport (at about 5:45 am).  Ethan thought riding the bus was really cool!

Just having some fun on the airplane!  We had 2 flights both ways so both were fairly short (which was nice).  Ethan loved looking at all the guys outside the plane working and driving around, he asked where they went after we got in the air. 

Airplane #1- Snuggling with Abby

Airplane #2- Naptime

After we got to Ft. Walton Beach and got our rental car we headed to the condo.  My cousin, Micah and Kacey were vacationing about an hour from where we were and they drove over to meet up with us for some swimming and dinner. 

Finely and Abby getting ready for some sun

All ready for the sun!

Ethan and Finley

Grouper sandwiches all around...pretty much.  We went out to dinner with the Puricelli clan to a really great outdoor seafood restraurant on the water. 

Scout and Ethan

The Whole Group (minus my dad, he had gone to pick up Tyler)

After dinner we played outside on a boat and then headed back to the condo for some playtime.

Ringing the bell

Jump!

Sitting on the boat steps

Tyler and Ethan

Scout very proud of covering Ethan up

Day 1: 1st full day
Jim and Shannon weren't there yet since Jim was still working.  But would be in around noon.  My dad had gone to get Tyler the night before so we all suited up and headed to the beach.  Ethan loves the sand (I wasn't worried though, due to his love of dirt). 

Almost there

Digging in the sand

Exfoliation by sand

More digging

Ocean fun with Daddy, Pop and Tyler

We also had access to a splash park that was by the beach (a nice way to rinse off)

After beach time we headed back to the condo for lunch and rest/naptime.  Then more cousin playing!

Josiah (or 'Go-siah) and Ethan

Relaxing on the balcony

Pop and Paige

Crazy Kids...Piling the pillows on top of each other and loving it!

Day 2:  More sun and water fun!  And Birthday party for Paige (she turns 5 on June 14)

Ready to go!

Football under the waterfall

Cookie decorating time

'My do it!'

Birthday Princess!

Later that evening Abby wanted to photograph the sunset, so we took a walk and had some fun taking pictures.

Beautiful!

Our Growing Family

Day 3:  More sun and pool fun.  And goodbye to Grandma & Pop and Jim, Shannon, Tyler, Paige and Josiah.

My parents drove out so they were planning on heading back on Sunday afternoon and finishing the drive on Monday.  Jim and family were also needing to head out Sunday afternoon.  Our flight didn't leave until Monday, so we had the rest of the afternoon/evening to fend for ourselves.

He loved jumping into the water (I think he really wanted to do it by himself)

Jim, Shannon, Paige and Josiah on the lazy river

Ethan and Josiah getting ready for some lazy river action

Cute kids!  Paige (almost 5), Tyler (almost 12), Ethan (almost 2), Josiah (3)

That evening we cleaned up and headed out to dinner and then found a little boardwalk area to check out.

We found a train to ride

Going for a train ride

Feeding the fish

Day 4: The day we thought we would be home.
We got up on Monday, got our things together and checked out of the condo.  After we got to the airport and turned our rental car in we were informed that our flight was delayed, making us miss our connecting flight in Atlanta.  While we were trying to figure out what to do, we were informed again that our flight was canceled all together.  We were given food, taxi and hotel vouchers for that night and told to come back on Tuesday for the same flight times.  So, we tried to make the best of it.  After finding a place to stay, eating lunch and renting another car, we headed out.  Abby found a Science Center that was about 25 minutes away so we went there.  It was small, but perfect for Ethan.  And we were the only ones there!


Blocks



Big bubbles!

Little Bubbles

Since the Science Center was about half way between our hotel and Jim and Shannons house, we decided to head out to see them and order some pizza.  It was a nice evening and I'm kind of glad for our 'bonus' vacation day!

Comparing their Cardinal birds

Paige and Josiah with their new cat

Our travel day home went better than I expected.  I didn't really expect much, actually.  Our first flight out of Florida was delayed again and we barley made our connecting flight in Atlanta...but we made it!  It was a great trip and no one turned into a lobster...that's a plus!  Thanks for making it to the end of this massive post!

Vacation!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...we're just on vacation! We flew down to Ft. Walton Beach on thursday morning for a long weekend of beach fun. My brother and his family live in the area so it's a great visiting time also. They are staying at our condo for the weekend and having a little vacation too. We've had a great time so far and the weather has been perfect. I don't have my computer so I can't upload any pictures, but I promise a full vaca post when we get home. Happy Friday!

Child Labor...

I promise, we don't force these things upon our child :-)

Following Daddy's Footsteps...literally

If it were up to him, we would go broke from the water bill, he is always wanting to water the flowers. 



All Boy...

We spent a lot of the morning, where else, but outside!  I was working in the kitchen when I realized that I hadn't heard Ethan in a little while.  So, I go on the deck to find his socks and shoes laying there and then this...

He had dug up the 'grass patch' stuff that Jared put down so we wouldn't have a dirt/mud corner.  He was rubbing dirt and rocks all over his legs and kept saying 'dirt, legs'.  I don't know why he does the things he does, I'm just attributing it to the 'Y' chromosome.

"What?!?"

This is a hot, sweaty, rosy cheeked little boy.

Mother's Day Weekend Project

This was one of the first weekends where we had nice weather on both, Saturday and Sunday!  We definitely took advantage of it and did some yard beautifying.  A few posts back, I had some pictures of Jared and Ethan moving hostas around the back of the house.  Well, we finally were able to finish that project.  Jared put in edging and mulched the entire back and side of our house.  It looks great!  While he was working on that, I planted some flowers in pots for around the deck and front of the house.  Here are a few photos of our progress!

This is just a cute one of Ethan with Mother's Day flowers from Arikas

Deck planters...once things start blooming and growing it will look better (I hope)

New mulch!!

Front door.  Ethan calls the hanging basket a football...it's the football flowers to him : )

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms in our lives!  Mom, thanks for everything you do- you are the best mom I could ever ask for!  Karen, thanks for raising Jared to be a wonderful husband and an awesome dad! 

I feel so blessed to be a mom to the most energetic, silly, smart, fun and sweet almost 2 year old little boy in the world!  Also, to be the mom to this little baby we have yet to meet, we can't wait! 

Here are a few Mother's Day photos from our family today!

Our photo shoot.  Kind of difficult with a little boy on the move!

Finally...a good one!!

Mommy and Ethan

15 weeks, 2 days- My first Mother's Day with this little guy/girl!

Dialogue with an almost 2 year old...

Ethan is talking a lot and I want to capture some of it on video so I will remember his sweet little voice and also how he pronounces things.  This is a good one!  Enjoy.

Bubble Boy

Ethan has discovered bubbles!  He usually tries to eat them before Max (the dog) can get to them.  I know, a little strange but he's ours :).  Grandma Karen got him a bubble blowing lawn mower for Easter and this week has been the first time I could get it out for him to play with.  He loved 'mowing' and Max loved chasing after him and trying to eat the bubbles.

Mowing some serious grass!

Give me all the bubbles!

A little blurry, but captures Ethan and Max racing for the bubbles

This one is from Easter, but so cute (Thanks Abby)

Quick Jaunt South

My wonderful sister, Abby, scheduled me for a dental cleaning with her as my hygienist.  So, Friday morning Ethan and I headed south.  We stopped in Salem, where I left Ethan to play/work with Grandma and Pop and I continued down to Carbondale.  It was really good to go back to my alma mater, see some old teachers and go to Quatros and QQ Bubble Tea (amazing slushes)!!  Oh, and the cleaning was good too...Abby will be a great dental hygienist.  I didn't have my camera, so all of these pictures are from phones.

Abby in action

Apparently Pop and Ethan were inseparable for the whole day.  My dad was working in the yard, planting and moving things.  And I was told he may not have gotten as much done as he would have without a shadow, since they 'had to take a break' every now and then.  Either way, I think they all had a great day, and I came back that evening to a naked, clean kid running around the house :).

Helping 'move' the dirt

I said inseparable, didn't I??

Little Helper

I know I've said this in the past...but Ethan likes to help out, or try to help out when we're working on things.  Last week, Jared was mowing the lawn and Ethan stood at the window for a long time watching and wanting to help.  And then yesterday, I was washing some windows (dog nose/tongue and toddler mouth/hands make for some dirty windows) and Ethan kept saying 'my do it, my do it'.  Pictures to prove it!

Watching Daddy...

Longing to go out and help

Cute little window washer

Happy Easter!

The Easter 'festivities' started on Saturday morning.  Our church in Salem always has a huge Easter Egg Hunt for the little ones and Ethan ended up with a basket full!  After the hunt they watched the Veggie Tales Easter movie.  It was very cute!  Here are some pictures from our Egg hunting morning.

Not too sure...

Figuring it out with some help from Pop

Watching some Veggie Tales (like a big boy)

After an exhausting hunt

And our Easter Sunday started off with a great church service.  After church Ethan found his Easter basket.  He was excited to find it and more excited to see what was inside!

"Mn's!!" (M&Ms)

Sitting on a soccer ball, hanging out with Uncle Dustin

 For lunch we headed to Jared's Aunt Doss' house.  Everything was wonderful, as usual.  We weren't able to stay too long due to a very tired little boy and needing to head home.  Grandma Karen had a Easter basket for Ethan and he loved checking it all out.

Mowing with Grandma Karen

 It was a great weekend with family!  Easter is a great time to remember the sacrifice Jesus made and celebrate His Resurrection!  I hope that you all had a blessed day!   

Happy Easter!

Cousin time and Birthdays!

We spent the Easter weekend in Salem.  It seems like that weekend is a good one for family to come in and get all the kids together.  We also had a few birthdays to celebrate.  Haley (my cousin, Libby's daughter) will be 3 next week and we celebrated with a cousin party on Friday afternoon.  Even if the birthday girl showed up late (she was napping), we had a good time decorating cookies and just playing.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!

Eating only the icing...smart boy!

 Pretty much directly after the 3 year old party, we had a surprise party for my cousin, Micah.  He turned the big 3-0 last week!  We had dinner and played 'Pin the Nose on the Clown' (haha) and had a great evening.

Finley, helping her Daddy blow out his candles

Timm and Mike getting in on the 'Nose' action!

After we ate dinner, we headed up to the church for another surprise birthday party.  This time it was for Jared's cousin Logan, as he turned 17.  I forgot to take my camera and we were not there for the actual surprise, but I'm told he was surprised!  He had a good turnout of friends and Ethan got some basketball and volleyball time with his Grandma and Grandpa.
I'll leave you with a few other cousin pictures from the weekend...

Jared and Micah with the boys

Callum, he's so cute!!

Ethan and Scout...playing with bracelets and necklaces. (Their fathers are proud)

Haley and Finley