Florida - Day 5 - Back to the Beach!

It was another beautiful day in Florida and the perfect morning for a swim!

After Drew's nap, we headed back to the beach.

"Yay! I'm going to the beach again!!"

Drew loves his Aunt Whitney :o)

More fun in the sun!

For the first time since we arrived, it rained...while we were still at the beach. So we took cover at a restaurant right on the beach and had dinner. Drew had a lot of fun playing in the rain. He may have liked the rain even better than the sand and ocean!

I wonder what tomorrow will hold???

Florida - Day 4

Tuesday morning, Jon, Drew, and I got up and headed to the Imaginarium. We watched a 3-d movie, checked out some wildlife, played in Toddler Land, and fed the fish and birds. The funniest moment was when Drew was checking out a parrot. When he got a little too close, the bird let out a loud shriek and it scared poor Drew to death. Jon and I laughed and laughed. Too bad we didn't have the video camera rolling b/c it was hilarious!!

Me and Drew -- he loved the big fish hanging from the ceiling.


Patiently waiting to feed the swan. He looks so cute with his little hands behind his back!


Daddy and Drew -- he thought it was funny when they threw the fish food in the water and all of the fish would race up to the surface to get it!


Checking out the wild life...

We came back, had lunch, and then Drew took his tap. While he slept, me, mom, and Whit hit the beach to do a little more shopping.


We then decided to go out to eat at Snug Harbor. Since we were all "cleaned up," we got a few pictures before we went.



Then it was off to the restaurant. And how do you keep an almost 2-year old entertained while you wait for your food? You get creative with stickers of course!!

Back at the house...

Then, Jon and I went out for a bit by ourselves. Awww...


Doesn't the mini-van with the bullet on top just scream tourist?!?!


And I just couldn't finish my day 4 post without including this pic of my sexy hubby -- ha!

Wordless Wednesday!

Florida - Days 1 thru 3

**UPDATED WITH PICTURES - FINALLY!!**

We made it! I had planned on writing every night but once Drew hits the sack, the pool and hot tub start calling my name! Anyway...

As for the flight here, Drew started off being "that kid." You know, the one that you hear/see and say to yourself, "I'm sure glad that's not my kid!" OK, so maybe he wasn't that bad on the plane, but there were a couple of sizable meltdowns since he didn't like being constricted to that little seat on my lap. He got so worked up once that I thought for sure he was going to puke! But, he had been up since 6:30am and by the time the plane took off, he was desperately needing a nap. After the major melt-down, he finally gave in and went to sleep and slept peacefully for the remainder of the flight-whew! When we landed, Jon said to the girl in front of us, "Sorry he was such a bear." To which she replied, "That's OK. It's good birth control!" Drew also received a certificate and his own set of wings!


Bobby, Mom, Colby, and Whitney drove down and arrived early Saturday morning so they had already been at the house and went swimming. They picked us up at the airport around 4:00 and we headed back to the "Sunset House." It is beautiful! And the view...gorgeous! Check it out...


After getting settled in, me, mom, and Whitney decided to go on a "quick" grocery run. There ended up being nothing quick about it as we just couldn't seem to find the one we were looking for and then we ended up getting lost. Fortunately good 'ol Tom (you know, the TomTom) pulled us through and while taking a detour, we finally spotted the place we had been looking for! Since we had already been gone so long, we made a mad dash through the grocery store and headed back to the house. When the guys asked what we had bought for dinner that night we said, "Nothing." Everything we had bought was breakfast food, snacks, drinks, and some lunch meat. (We did drive through Sonic and get Drew a grilled cheese though!) So we ordered dinner from "Pinchers Crab Shack." Jon and I shared a Pinchers Platter for two and had shrimp, scallops, grouper, veggies, coleslaw (Jon not me), and garlic bread. For dessert...carrot cake that we had picked up at the store! Hello vacation and good bye diet :o)

Drew just amazes me with his adaptability sometimes. I laid him down in his pack-n-play on the first night after reading some books and he feel asleep almost immediately. Never mind that he was in a strange bed and in a strange place!

With Drew in bed, we all put on our swim suits and enjoyed the pool and hot tub (Drew swam while we were on the grocery run).


Day 2: Sunday, June 14th, 2009 - Today was all about relaxing! We swam, went on another grocery run (Jon, Whit, and me this time!), and then had dinner on the patio. We had steak, shrimp, potatoes, broccoli and carrots, and garlic bread -- all thanks to Jon! (and a side of Easy Mac for Drew!) For dessert tonight was key lime cake.




Day 3: Monday, June 15th, 2009 - We woke up this morning and all got ready to hit the beach! We are literally just a few minutes from the beach and tons of restaurants and shops. We rented chairs and umbrellas and got there early enough that is wasn't super packed. Drew liked the ocean and sand, but it definitely wore him out. A little before noon, he was passed out in mom's arms! Jon and Whitney had just rented a jet ski, so I hit the streets and did a little shopping. I might have even bought something for my give-away...



After a little more fun in the sun, we headed back to the house for a late lunch -- grilled hamburgers, brats, and hot dogs -- all cooked by Jon again!

Shortly after that, Jon, Drew, Whitney and I headed to Sun Harvest Citrus which is advertised as "Florida's Finest Citrus, Fresh Squeezed Juice, Gifts, and More... We hit the jackpot here! You could sample all of their fabulous juices and we came away with some orange, strawberry orange, and cranberry orange juice as well as a *free* citrus sampler pack thanks to me bringing a coupon I had seen in one of our books! Drew also got a stuffed alligator and we all enjoyed ice cream. The high-light of this stop, however, might have been the little playground they had. Drew LOVED the slide. Check out his face!

One of Drew's (and Whitney's!) favorite things about the house is the little elevator. Jon said that we are going to have to buy them a new motor for it before we leave b/c they are going to wear it out! He also likes the hammock!


Tomorrow we are heading the the Imaginarium!!!

A Give-Away of My Own!

I had so much fun participating in Heather's give-away (there's still time to enter so go right now and check it out!!) that I thought I would do one of my own. Nothing major...but since I'm vacation bound, I thought I would pick up a little something from Florida for one of my blog readers!
I'll also throw in a bar of lavender goat milk soap that I ordered from the same place that MckMama gets hers! The bars we've used so far have been great! Jon uses Oatmeal Milk & Honey, I use Honeysuckle, and we use Purity on Drew.



You can get up to four entries and here's how...

1. Become a follower and leave me a comment about becoming or already being one.
   
2. Leave a separate comment telling me what your favorite vacation spot is.
   
3. Leave another comment telling me where your dream vacation would be to.
   
4. Finally, go to wwww.goatmilkstuff.com and come back and tell me what you favorite scent is.

Contest ends a week from today (6-17-09) and I'll announce the winner when I get back from vacation on 6-21-09.

Easy enough, right? And I promise I'll make the prize something good (nothing cheesy like those trinket boxes pictured above-although that orange is kind of cute...), so get to commenting! I mean, if you want to that is :o)

One Word -- BUSY!

Things have been so busy lately, but I wanted to take a minute to post! Jon, Drew, and I had a great day on Saturday. First, we went to the park. Drew had fun playing and just walking around. The weather was just beautiful! After a quick stop at the library to return our books, it was off to Wal-Mart. Drew does pretty good riding in the cart...if you keep it moving, so you have to have a list and stick to it when you take him!





We'd been having some issues with Drew not eating very good, but Saturday night, he ate his entire Kid Cuisine meal! It was fish sticks, corn, and mac and cheese. I know it's not the healthiest thing, but hey, a frozen dinner here and there can't be too bad right??

Since he ate so well, we decided to treat him to a little DQ -- I think he enjoyed it :o)


That is until he fell and this happened...boys will be boys!!


Things around here have definitely been busy! For starters, me and a co-worker presented a 4-hour CPE course at one of my firm's other offices and we're doing one on Thursday too (both at offices out-of-town). And "public speaking" is definitely a weakness of mine, so I practiced this weekend and even went in on Monday (which is usually my day off) to work on it. My presentation today actually went pretty good so I'm not as nervous about Thursday now!

After the presentation, I went shopping for Drew's birthday. His birthday is the 25th and his party is the 27th and since we are leaving for FLORIDA ON SATURDAY (!!!!) I want to get all of his party supplies and presents before we leave (plus get his invitations out, which turned out really cute by the way). So work stuff, planning a birthday party, and trying to pack for myself and Drew for an entire week is keeping me very B-U-S-Y! But I'm not complaining -- I just keep envisioning myself relaxing on the beach (and reading the 4th Twilight book...).

Hopefully the house we are staying at in FL will have internet access so I can journal about our trip everyday. If not, I'm sure there will be lots to post about when I get back!!

The Tale of Two Dinners

I am a VERY picky eater. I'm actually not near as bad as I use to be, but I am still pretty picky. For example, I prefer my sandwiches plain and I didn't start eating salad until college. I'm also really bad about saying I don't like something when in fact, I've never even tried it -- like tea or tomatoes! So, needless to say, being a picky eater is one trait that I do not want to pass onto Drew. I've tried to be very diligent in always serving a vegetable with his lunch and dinner and I usually give it to him first. Also, if he doesn't eat his dinner, he will usually see it again. Thus, the title..."The Tale of Two Dinners."

Last night, we had baked chicken and veggies. For Drew, I made some cheesy rice that already had carrots and broccoli in it and then I cut his chicken up and added it to the rice. When he just sat in his chair refusing to even try it, I knew exactly what I would do. First, I would just let him sit there for a bit while we ate. Then I would let him down, wrap up his plate and give it to him again after his bath. As always, he ate every last bite after his bath -- and even used his spoon most of the time! (As a side note, we eat dinner late -- it was actually 6:30 last night and he hadn't even had an afternoon snack, so he should have been hungry!)

This is a very different strategy from what my great-grandma would have done. While watching him last Friday afternoon while my mom took Whitney to a softball meeting, Mama L said Drew "didn't like" what mom had fixed him, so what does a loving great-great-grandma do? Fixes him biscuits with butter of course!

The moral of my tale -- don't give up on giving your child food if he refuses it the first time around. I mean, I don't know how many times I served him green beans before he ever ate them!


(This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but I thought it was cute!)

Why I Work

...so I can buy lots of super cute clothes


...for my super cute little boy!


I think his summer wardrobe is shaping up nicely, don't you?!?!

Saturday Night Fun

Saturday night, our friends Jeff, Braci, Kesli, and Kase came over for a cook-out and to play. Jon and I had fun visiting with Jeff and Braci.

Kase had fun trying out Drew's jump-a-roo.


And Drew had a BLAST playing with Kesli!


It's always great to have good friends over for a fun evening! :o)

Earlier that day, I was on a mission to get a picture of Drew for his 2nd birthday party invitation. I found a lady on Etsy that makes invites and she has one that is the same theme as the party supplies we are getting. It's a good thing Jon can always make him smile b/c I think I got a keeper!!