First Day of School- 2A

Clearly behind on the obligatory "First Day of School" photo. So, here we are a few weeks late. James officially started in his new classroom mid- August. So far he loves his class, his new friends, is starting to potty train, and his vocabulary and development continues to take off.


Here's to hoping for another great year! We love you and are so proud of you, sweet boy!

Florida...A Speedy Vacation

Post- Labor Day weekend, we had a trip planned to Marco Island for the week with Boo Boo, Mikey and Jacob. If you had been following the news prior to the week, you would have been informed about Hurricane Irma and her plan to hit Florida that week. Of course, my "mom worry meter" was at it's highest just thinking of getting caught in a hurricane but, as you can imagine, my adventure seeking husband saw no issue.

Fast forward to Tuesday, September 4th....

We landed in Ft. Lauderdale about 8pm that evening. I turned on my phone once we landed only to see "Florida declares state of emergency". Great (insert look of panic here). John listened to me freak out the whole way to the hotel and until we went to bed that night. Because, that's what us mom's do. We worry when this stuff comes up.

We got up Wednesday morning and devised a new game plan while James occupied himself with watching airplanes land nearby. :)

With new flight and vacation plans, we headed for Marco Island. But first, a stop for a seafood lunch!

 

We got into Marco Island mid afternoon. A pit stop at Wal-Mart for some groceries and we were at  our condo in no time. We immediately dropped our stuff to head down to the water. James. Was. In. Heaven.

 

In his element. This kid was born to be a beach babe.

Taking it all in!

Since our time in Marco was limited, Boo Boo graciously watched James so we could have an adult evening out.

The resort really was perfect. The view, the water and the beach could not have been more perfect. I had forgotten how calm the Gulf side is and have to say the calm of the water was perfect for him. He would splash around as he pleased without getting knocked over by a wave. 

 

Morning coffee view. Not pictured here, but one morning there were a few dolphins having breakfast and splashing around close to shore. So neat to watch!

Picking up shells.

Post-nap hangout on the balcony.

In the water with Daddy.

"Shells! Back! Watey!" (Shells back in the water.)

  We also enjoyed chasing sea gulls on the beach!

 

  

After about 48 hours on Marco, we packed up and headed to Orlando Thursday morning. We killed a few hours at Gatorland while we waited to head to the airport. I'll admit, I didn't fully relax until we were at the airport. The stress of just getting out of Florida alone was pressing. But, we made it. And although our time in Florida was cut short, it was still fun.



Watching airplanes take-off and land.

A perk of coming home a little earlier than planned was that we got to spend some quality family time together before we had to head back to work on Monday. We enjoyed a family lunch to Chipotle after some errands on Friday. I can't get over how big J looks in this picture. Definitely starting to look more like a little boy.

After we got James in bed, we finally got to enjoy our anniversary champagne in our wedding flutes.

 

We spent Saturday morning playing soccer our back...in our astronaut jammies, of course!

 

And a weekend wouldn't be complete without some time at the park!

 

Beyond thankful for time with my little family! Despite our vacation being cut short it really was the perfect week together!

 

Labor Day Weekend

Well, here I am again playing "catch-up" with blog posts. Here goes....

We enjoyed a late August play date with the boy cousins. They were in town seeing some friends and made an afternoon pit stop for some play time and dessert. They all had a blast together! And their mama's enjoyed embarrassing them with matching outfits.

The boys trying to help James sit still for a picture.

Bryce is clearly not amused with James' antics.

They enjoyed some outside water play. James and Bryce got a good laugh in going after Jack with the water.





Pre-departure boy cousin hugs!

 

We celebrated our 7th anniversary on September 3rd. How is this even possible?! Here are your old rents on the big day!

 

 

 

Despite being busy with some pre-vacation prep, we took some family time to head out to Grinter Farms to see the sunflower fields. I had wanted to do this last year, but we just never got around to it. The sunflowers always seem to peak around Labor Day weekend when we are usually gone. James was up super early, so we took advantage of the timing and drove to Lawrence. It was fun to see and to see James' reaction (albeit he was tired and crabby as he had just gotten up from a nap).

 

Checking them out!

He really did love the "eee- low" flowers.

On the move!

It was another busy, but fun Labor Day weekend in the books with my boys!