Florida, Family, and Fun! ...and only a few Fevers... (Summer Vacation, Part 2 of 2)

So after brunch at the hotel in Georgia, we packed up the minivan (and when I say "we", I mean JARED) and headed out to Pensacola to visit my sister Meg and her family! 

This drive was much shorter ( I think maybe like 6 hours or less?) and went pretty smooth. There was napping, and movie watching, and LOTS of snacking. And general excited-ness to see everyone :)

So, anecdote.  As soon as we crossed the border, here's how it went:

Me: (Pretty much singing) "We're in FLORIDAAAA!"
Holden: We are!?
Me: Yep!
Holden and Bridger: Yaaaaaay!!
Holden: Where should we park!?
Me: (Laughing) Well, we're not AT Jossy's house yet. We'll park there.
Holden: But we're in Florida? Where should we park!?
Bridger: I don't know. (Which comes out as one word sounding like I-no-no.)
And then for 5 minutes Holden continued to yell "Where should we park?!" and Bridger would yell back "I don't know!" While I laughed. Silly, super excited boys.

But yes, we got there, parked, and our visit was absolutely wonderful. It was sort of cloudy some days and rained at night once I think, but during the days we never got rained out or anything. ALL the kids slept very well, I thought, and we got to do lots of fun things. The beach a few times, out to eat (ON the beach once, it was really neat... and *I* for one was really excited... even if no one else was showing much enthusiasm. Right, Meg?;)), the Air Museum again, grilling out, the park, the guys got to lift together a few times and Megan and I got to go shopping and out to lunch once, and just lots and lots of hanging out... laughing... It was just really fun.

And everyone got ALONG so great! Joss and Felix were seriously little champs at helping and sharing all their toys and things with my boys. They all played and watched movies together really really well.

I mean, there were a few bumps along the way... like how each of my children, at different times, all required medicine at some point for fevers... but they were all unrelated and passed quickly. They didn't seem to really ruin the whole trip or anything. (And Graham now even has a top tooth as a souvenir from one exhausting, Tylenol-sponsored night! Ha.)


And oh, the beach. I was nervous about how it would go - the heat, the SUN, all the sand, the waves... - but it really went great. Holden wasn't at all hesitant (like I thought he would be) and the second time we went it was so calm he didn't even need to hold onto anyone some of the time. Bridger liked it, too - playing in the sand and floating around in the big tube with Aunt Megan, just relaxin'. And even Graham enjoyed his first time at the ocean - although he wasn't allowed to be too independent... way too much sand for that.

But yea. Overall, we just had such a great time. I feel very very lucky that we were able to have that time together and that with 5 young children in the house we were all still able to actually enjoy our visit. We are so thankful to Megan and Corey for letting us stay with them, loving our kids even when they were trying, and always making us feel welcome.

They still live much too far away, for my liking, but at least for now, I suppose amazing ocean vacations and visits will do. ♥

Packed in and all excited. This was during the above conversation - once we crossed into Florida

 

  Our first morning there! All the boys. 

 

    Holden really like all Jossy's dress-up clothes. 

Oh Felix, don't even pretend like you don't do it, too. ;)

Playing outside after breakfast

Chasing each other♥

These two crazy kids LOVED it there

                Tree Frog Hunt with Aunt Meg

Got one!

He said he was "tickeling" it with the grass. Haha.

Our first trip to the beach!

All the pretty water babies

He liked it :)

Holden showing Graham the shovel and sand

                            Daddy and Bridger!

Everyone playing in the water

Me and Baby Graham

Daddy gives the best "lifts"

The guys. Trying to figure out how to pose together...

... Got it. (Ah, self love. Ha.)

Sorry Meg. But I love this picture. 

I think you belong on the front of some women's sports magazine. 

FIERCE.

And if you're gonna pose like this... I mean, ya gotta accept the consequences... :)

                    Playing in the sand.

White Lightening - keeping covered up from too much sun.

"... it feels good to be a gangster."

More playing in the water

I asked for a picture and Jared did this. I think it's pretty cute ♥

Home from the beach and we finally got to do the one thing I had been promising Holden for weeks....

Bath Time with EVERYBODY!

Rub-a-dub-dub, FIVE kids in the tub!

(And getting them all to look in the same direction for a photo is a bit of a challenge.)

And that night for supper.. grilled corn on the cob!







The next morning. Playing outside again after breakfast.

Uncle Jared's cool.

Me and some of my favorite kiddos.

♥

These two were amazing little hosts.

And then day two at the Beach!

The water was so warm and calm

    

Joss. So grown up.

I love this silly boy.

 

Everyone together.

Megan and the kiddies

And sweet baby Graham

 

                  Feeling the sand and water

He loved his first time at the beach 

Swimming with all the kids

Our family relaxing in the warm ocean

Bridger Dean - cheesin' with his sucker treat   

                                    Group shot

I love these guys.

Daddy and Graham, enjoying the gorgeous white sand

                  Playing in the sand, too.

Jared's Aunt Karen loved the beach.

And after her funeral, we were all asked to take a seashell from a bowl in the lobby. They said to keep the shell safe, just hold onto it, until the next time we were each able to visit the ocean. Then, to take the shell with us.

Take a minute. Toss it in the water. And remember her.

Her strength and her beauty. Her love and her heart. Her courage.

Her life.

We remembered.

My beautiful ornery boys... not wanting to look at me because it was too bright.

So I turned them around and got much more cooperation. 

Handsome, handsome, handsome.

               Felix's Mommy tells the best stories.

Hammin' it up huge with his daddy

                             More sucker treats

The Himes Family, Beach Edition :)

And then one day we all went to visit the Naval Aviation Museum to see the planes!

                          Sitting in a real plane!

The co-pilots :)

And Naval Aviator Bridger (getting some smiling tips from his wingman, Joss)

It worked... I see a little grin behind that Binky Face :)

And another picture. With Mommy.       

              I made him sit in one, too....

... but he mostly just wanted to jabber at me.

And all together now!

(ps. WHAT a difference one year can make!)

Holding hands. 

She was SUCH a help this day. Meg said she thinks maybe Joss thought she was "in charge" of Holden while we were at the museum. 

Fine by me! She did a great job keeping track of him :)

Three kids and The Blue Angels

Jared and the grandfather of all Jeeps. Givin' it the point.

And one of all the Himes boys with the Jeep thing, for Daddy

And these two ornery boys... they thought they were steering a ship, I think.

Holden, listening to an urgent message from the President 

(or something, I have no idea what the recording really was....)

She better hear it, too. We can't trust Holden to remember any of the details... ;)

And Baby Graham! Finally got to get down and stretch at the play area.

So big.

The old captains again. On the lookout.

The Park!

 Ah... the Reynolds family. Up to their usual shenanigans.

I like to think that here Corey is thinking, "Yup. That's my wife."

  Follow the Leader

 Jossy, practicing her balance beam skills

I love this picture.

Their matching expressions are fantastic.

 We only did it cuz usually the boys ALWAYS do whenever they're together and THEY both have cameras....

 We're like an ad for Starbucks.

 Climbin' boys

    Look at this crazy big kid. Happy Felix♥

Snuggly Graham having a bottle break with Aunt Megan

And then the strong Daddies had to show off with some pull ups.

                 ..... and congratulate each other.

Jared took it up a notch, though, and had some serious showing off - of his lovely gymnastic skills :)

And Bridger, the ol' one-handed fireman. Haha.

(He had no idea why I was trying to get him to hold the pole.)

Sliding!

(That slide went FAST.)

 

 Hold on tight, Joss!

It was a fun time at that little park. All together. ♥

And on our last full day there, we finally got to ALL go out to eat. We went to a really fun restaurant, right on the beach, called Crabs. We went during sort of a down time (between the lunch and dinner crowds) and we had a HUGE bench table outside on the patio. We could watch the people on the beach and see the ocean while we ate. And it was already outside and noisy, so it was perfect for all the kids.

I LOVED it. I was seriously so excited the whole time and kept trying to get everyone else as excited as I was. Ha.

The Girls. (And Bridger.)

Tickling Holden to get him to smile for me :)

You wouldn't know it to look at him, but I promise, this boy likes sucking on lemons.

And this just makes me laugh. I think he was watching Graham and the lemon. I don't even know WHAT he was thinking, but this is like the most serious side-eye I have ever seen.

Don't hate, Uncle Corey. ;) ♥

A couple of my handsome guys

And the waitress took one for us of everyone! It was seriously such a fun (and perfect) place for all of us to eat.

And then we walked out to the beach for a few minutes. 

Just for one last time. (And to take just a couple more photos.)

The way I feel about this girl, makes me truly wish that every woman could have a sister.

And these two little look-alikes... Oh how I love these kids.

       The whole beautiful and incredible Reynolds family

"These are great days." - Winston Churchill

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” 

-Jacques Cousteau

The sun and soft, white sand. The crash of the powerful waves. 

Shopping and joking. Car rides and sharing.  

Talking and playing games. Laughing late into the night.

My boys giggling and squealing, literally bouncing with excited energy. 

Coffee with my sister.

Feeling like a part of their world.... even if it was only for a few days.

I won't forget it.

 

 

Ten (and Talking?)

My baby is ten months old.

And he's funny and smart and happy. I love watching him play with his brothers and follow them around. I love watching him learn new things. And I love how much more independent he keeps getting.

(But sometimes, especially at night, right after bath time when he's all snuggly and sweet-smelling, while I'm holding him giving him his bottle just before bed - which he really holds by himself now, I just pretend he still needs my help sometimes - in those quiet minutes, when it sinks in just how grown he is now, hanging off my lap, and just how much he's changed..... Well, sometimes it's like someone knocked the wind out of me.)

But yes. Ten months old already.

 And I think he's a smarty pants.... because I think he's already trying to talk.  

So, the other day he was doing his current piercing scream trick over and over... and my ears were starting to ring. It needed to stop. So I quit what I was doing, to just sit down and pay attention to him and pretend we were going to talk. I was chatting away to him - as usual, I'm a talker, folks - and instead of screaming I asked him to say Mama - a noise he's made, I thought randomly and just whenever his mouth happened to be in that position, lots of times before. 

And... he said it. 

So I thought, yea right. Ok, "Graham, can you say Baba (bottle)?" 

Yep, he can. And did. 

So I'm all "Wellllll..... those are really similar lip movements, let's test ya." Can he say Dada when asked? 

YUP. (Like, blew me away.)

And then yesterday he was screaming for more crackers so I asked him to say "More"... and, knock me over, he started making a "M" sound when he was ready for another. 

Ca-razy. Crazy! 

And maybe I've forgotten, but I just really don't think any of the other boys ever even tried to talk or say words this early. 

 Little Smarty Pants. 

 

 

 But here are a few photos from yesterday morning - his 10 month birthday.

                  Checking out some flowers  

 

 The big boy!

        Silly Mommy.

  Standing.                       

 

"A single day is enough to make us a little larger." - Paul Klee

 

A Georgia Wedding (Summer Vacation, Part 1 of 2)

Yay for vacation!!

This summer our family vacation started off with bells - wedding bells! Jared's cousin Ryan got married in a beautiful ceremony in sunny Georgia and we all went down to join them and celebrate.

We rented a minivan (and made a convert out of me in like 5 whole minutes. I'm such an easy sell...) and made the drive down. It was... long... but in all honesty, not terrible. I mean with three little boy all 3 years old or less, even in ideal circumstances there's going to be some grumpin'.

Since the rest of the Himes/Streb family all went down too, we all stayed together in one hotel in a big block of rooms. It was really nice. And I'll be honest, I was very worried about the whole all-of-us-sleeping-in-one-room situation, since we've never done that before...

It could not have gone better if I paid someone.

Truly. The boys did so great. So great. Bridger and Holden together in one big bed and Graham in the pack-n-play. And everyone slept just as if they were in their own beds. Seriously. SO great.

But, yes, back to the wedding. The rehearsal dinner the first night was a bit rough for my kids (read: eating is already like a huge weak point for them and NO ONE wanted to sit still anymore). So there was a lot of whining coming from my table. And lots and lots of food on the floor. So we just finished the meal early and walked around in the parking lot awhile so hopefully everyone else there could visit, hear the speeches, and watch the slideshow in peace. 

When all three boys get to fussin', the Momma and Dad are suddenly very obviously outnumbered....

But yea. So everyone slept great that night (Hey, did I mention how happy I was with the sleeping thing and how great everyone did all in one room together?! Haha.) and in the morning we went out for pancakes, and then came back to the hotel and swam a bit in their pool. It was so beautiful outside and we were practically the only ones there. Graham just slept in his car seat, I sat in the sun, and Jared swam with the big boys. It was really very peaceful..... And finally felt like "vacation" - soaking up the sunshine by the water.

Then we got cleaned up and the boys rested before the wedding. We all took some family photos just before the ceremony, and again, there were a few times when Holden didn't want to look at the camera, but all in all, I think my boys all did pretty great and cooperated very well for the pictures. I know I got some good ones :)

The ceremony was small and really lovely. The church was beautiful, the couple was glowing with love and happiness, the minister was personal and friendly, and there was volunteer CHILDCARE - so I actually got to enjoy all of this.

And then the reception! I think the hall was an old house that had been converted and the set-up was absolutely perfect. There was extra seating off the back of the house - through double doors and under an event tent - and it was right by the parking lot. So we parked the van RIGHT there and just hung out outside for much of the evening. Coming and going, not really bothering anyone since we were practically outside already anyway. And Graham! That crazy kid slept the whole reception! Ah... small blessings.

The next morning we joined the rest of the family and out-of-town guests for a brunch hosted in the hotel and then we were off for the second part of our family vacation: Pensacola, Florida :)

 

 The Breakfast Crew!

(It has become our traveling tradition that we leave at bedtime, drive through the night, and stop at a McDonald's Play Place for breakfast the next morning!)

 

 Sleepyhead Baby - enjoying his oatmeal and fruit

            
 I don't know what Daddy said, but whatever it was, those boys thought it was silly.

 

 Some weary travelers - happy to be stopping for a break

 And for COFFEE. Mmmm.... coffee.....

Play Time :)

 

 ♥

Then finally we made it to the hotel! 

And.... zonked.

With King Holden over there, relaxing in style, while Daddy and Bridger squeeze on the chair.

 Resting on his Boppy. Looking huge.

But really, he used to sleep on this thing curled up when he was new. Where did my BABY go?

 Pool Time!

 Getting some help in from Grandpa

 Chilly!

 Time for some jumpin'

 And splashin' :)

 Snack Break for White Lightening (as I now affectionately refer to my alabaster boy♥)

 And sweet Graham, snoozin' the morning away

 But later it was time for playing -
on the pillow fort Mommy made in the hotel room!

 Yay for pillows!

And then it was off to the church....

The big boys playing on the steps before pictures

        All the Himes babies!

Sweet, ornery boys

Pictures, pictures....

♥

And everyone in the green grass.

And these crack me up. Now, Bridger is not a touch-y kind of guy. And unless he's in the mood, he really rather prefers his personal space.

So Grandma wanted everyone to hold hands and I was just watching to see what he would think about it.


He actually did great... but look closely at his face in these:

Like, "Uh, now we're doing what? Touching? No one said anything about touching..."

"You want touching and smiling?"

"Ehhh, I.... don't think so."

Ha!

And one great one of Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandchildren on the steps of the old church♥

The Bride and Groom! (This is a Streb cousins shot.)

Tyler, Kevin, Kelsey, Rachel, Ryan, Brianne, Jared, Brent.

 

The Rea Brothers and their beautiful wives/families

(And Carson with the absolute quintessential frowny face!)

But he totally redeemed himself - look at that grin!

And this is what we did, while the wedding folks were all taking photos....

 

    Bridger found a stick. Of course. 

 

 



 





   Graham hung out with Uncle Kevin and Naomi a bit.

Look at that face. He did so great.

And then he was feelin' lovey... so he planted a few wet ones on his daddy. 

I absolutely adore this picture.♥

(But to quote Jared here, "That's a lot of tongue, boy.")

          And Holden hung out by himself a bit.
              Doing the ol' Shy Guy routine.















 

Until I made him smile with me, though :)      

My big, handsome babies.

 
And we had Tyler take one of us in front of the church, too.
                     Just the old Mr. and Mrs. ♥

Our family.

It's pretty much impossible not to feel overwhelmingly lucky when I look at all these. 

A handsome, capable, helpful, responsible, strong husband. 

And three beautiful, smart, funny, healthy boys.

Sometimes life give you more than you deserve.

  And Mom and Dad Himes - laughing about something Tyler said

Sealed with a kiss♥


And the gorgeous sound of ringing wedding bells as we exited the church.