Final Beach

Mario and my dad both had to return for work on Monday and had early morning flights. We decided to cash in some free point to stay in hotel rooms near the airport in Orlando. The dads took a shuttle to the airport, and my mom and I had a casual morning. Then we went to Downtown Disney since I hadn't been there. MJ got this new Doc Hudson toy which I LEFT in the condo. We were rushing out Tuesday afternoon to catch our flight. I had MJs backpack packed with his favorite toys to use while we were traveling and on the plane. Yep, I left the whole bag there! I think Bobby can send it to us next week. I'm impressed with how well MJ is handling his lost new favorite toys. I think he only asked about them once today, and didn't even whine about it.

I set the camera on the stroller with a self-timer to take this one.

Monday afternoon after the Orlando trip, we headed to the beach one last time. It was quite cool that day and late in the evening. We could see the "shelf" that is formed by the tide. Joey crawled straight toward the water and when he got to the shelf he turned around to back down just like he does on the stairs. It was so cute!

And here are MJ and Joey Tuesday morning amidst the chaos of my Mom and I packing and cleaning up. They entertained each other pretty well.

Beach 4

I wanted to try to get the family on the beach picture, but really did it at a bad time. It was later in the day, windy and cold. Maybe some other time...

I forgot to mention that Joey is taking a few steps on his own. I guess we should call it walking, but he has yet to really take off across the room. He would like to prove that he is a great climber. He climbed up this step-ladder by himself. Papa took advantage of the Kodak moment.

Oh, and here are MJ and Joey waiting for the cake.

Uncle Bobby and sweet baby Caeli.

Joey's First Birthday!

Our little Joey is now 1 year old (as of Saturday Feb 9th). Who wouldn't like to celebrate their birthday at a beach? Thankfully, we were able to get him to a doctor on Thursday, so after a few doses of his medicine he was happier for his birthday. His first activity as a 1 year old was to play catch with Daddy.

Here is the crew who celebrated with Joey on his birthday.

And, as I promised myself, I asked Mario to decorate Joey's cake. (We were unable to get it out of the glass this time - a few tools short in the condo kitchen). Mario did 90% of it, but made sure we all contributed to the icing in some way. Even MJ added a squiggle for his brother.

Mmmmm... chocolate cake!

Beach 3

There are several pools in Ocean Village (where the condo is) but this one is closest and heated. Sadly, infants aren't allowed in the big pool. This didn't seem to bother Joey who loved the baby pool. It was the perfect depth of water for him to kneel. He could even sit without getting his head underwater.

Here are Joey and MJ totally interested in baby Ceali who is beingheld by Aunt Suzanne. They really liked Ceali a lot, and I'm sad they were too sick to really hang out with her.

Beach 2

Joey was also very intersted in the ocean. It was a bit too cold to swim, but he tried to crawl into the ocean several times.

MJ was excited about the ocean. Then he thought it was cold. Then he liked it again and played in it. Then a wave tossed him over and Grandma rescued him (he didn't like that so much). He was very brave and wouldn't let that scary experience keep him from the water, and sure enough was back in it again the next day.

Beach Trip

I have many photos to share...probably too many. But I guess we've been gone for over a week, so it makes sense. Sadly, I cannot figure out how to upload more then 4 pictures at a time. So this will have to be in MANY installments. (I even tried making the pictures smaller, but that didn't work). Anyway, Monday Feb 4th we headed out very early in the morning to take our 7am flight to Orlando, FL. Mario was flying that morning to Little Rock, so we were able to hitch a ride with him to the airport. The flight went really well. My very tired boys both slept part of the flight (Joey slept for almost the whole thing). The plane was only 1/3 full, so we were able to have 3 seats together. It was quite pleasant.

We stayed with my parents at the beach on Hutchinson Island (near Ft. Pierce, FL). Bobby, Suzanne, and Ceali who are living in Florida now, visited almost every day. It was so nice to spend time with them and to see little Ceali who is 3 months already and growing up so fast. Sadly, we brought colds with us, which got worse while we were there. We ended up finding a doctor for Joey (who had an ear infection). But we are all doing better now. Here are a few pictures from our first day at the beach.

Of course, Joey tried to eat sand, but I was impressed how he wasn't going for it all the time near the end of our trip. He was very interested in a sea gull and crawled right after it.