Fun in Tampa

We had the great opportunity to go down to Tampa to visit with Chris' brother, Todd, sister-in-law, Anita, and nephew, Martin. We hadn't been able to see them since we got married nearly 4 years ago, so we were very excited to spend some time with them, and introduce them to our little Grant. We had so much fun! We spent some time with them in their home, just hanging out, and then we went out for lunch to a wonderful Mexican Restaurant and to the Florida Aquarium. The aquarium was great - Grant loved it, and I think that Martin did, too. We had the hardest time finding the aquarium, but once we finally did, it was well worth the struggle! Unfortunately, we only got to spend a short time with them, and then we had to drive clear over to Melbourne where Chris' parents have a place to pick up Emma Lou so that Grant and I could come home this week. Chris actually got sick and so we spent the day inside. Luckily, he felt much better the next day, just in time to go to work. We actually left Grant there overnight. Chris' parents came up to Jacksonville on Tuesday morning to drive back to VA with me, so they had some time with Grant by themselves, and Chris and I had a day to ourselves, too, which was nice. After a long drive home, we are getting settled in, and preparing for Chris to come home tomorrow. We're so excited to finally be here together for a while. Chris hasn't been home for any decent amount of time since last February, so we're definitely ready for this!

Fun with Friends

After I graduated from college, I lived out in Washington, DC for about 5 months with another Asbury graduate. She is from Jacksonville, FL, and though she still lives in Arlington, VA, she came down to Jacksonville while we were here to show us around, etc. We had a fabulous time! It sure was good to see her again. So after driving through many beautiful neighborhoods, admiring the live oaks and Spanish Moss draping itself over the gigantic branches, seeing where she grew up, meeting her lovely family, we played at parks, went to the zoo which made for a lovely day, and walked the river-walk one evening. She took me out for lunch and even took a few pictures of Grant (she's a fabulous photographer). I had so much fun seeing her, spending some much needed time together, and meeting her family. Such a treat!

Mommy mishaps

It seems I have been constantly crawling in a hole since we've been down here in FL. I took Grant to a little park here on base a few days ago to get us out of the BOQ for a while. I'd been looking for a "toddler sized" playground for a while to no avail and so we went to the big kids playground. It is a very tall playground, with lots of steep, narrow metal stairs. Once you get to the top, there are many openings where little ones can jump off to the ground. It's pretty high up, and Grant hasn't figured out if he walks off the side of the playground, he will fall very fast and very hard. So naturally I didn't want him up there all by himself. He loves slides and there were lots of very long, very tall slides at this particular play area and he picked the one that was a tube to sit down at and prepare to go down to the ground - mostly because that's the one all the bigger kids were going down. So I helped him get situated at the top of the slide and told him to wait for a moment while I ran to the bottom to catch him. I hadn't taken 3 steps when I looked down at the bottom of the slide and out of the opening of this tube slide comes flying little Grant - completely airborne - landing face first in the sand at the bottom, about 5 feet away from the opening of the slide itself. I was mortified! There's all these other moms around looking at me like I had done something terrible, and little Grant is laying sprawled out on the ground in shock. It didn't take him long to recover, and he didn't even cry, which I was proud of, but I sure was embarrassed. I wasn't sure what to do because Grant certainly wanted to play, but Chris wasn't around to help me catch Grant, so there was another mom kind enough to offer to catch him the next time. But he had learned his lesson. He's learned how to stop himself at the bottom of the slide now. Thank goodness! A couple of days later, we decided to get his hair cut. I had tried, but failed miserably, so we yook him to a place on base, and he got his first military haircut. I have many friends who have good little boys who, much younger than Grant, will sit very still and quite happily, if they have a sucker in their mouth while they're getting their hair cut, so I thought it was worth a shot. The last time I was at the bank, I picked up a sucker, not paying any attention to what kind it was, and stuck it in my purse. So when we got there, I confidently pulled it out and gave it to him. Much to my dismay, it was a chalky blue color. He stuck it in his mouth and the thick, blue colored saliva started flowing clear down his face, down his arms and all over his outfit. And then they started cutting his hair. Here I am, the only woman in the shop, trying to hold my son down in the chair because he is flailing himself all over. He had his sucker in one hand, his head thrown back in a full scream, and a yucky nose because he was crying so hard along with the blue spit that continued flowing. He was a disaster. So we got his hair cut, about 10 big tough military guys stood around watching and laughing, and when we were done, they were there with napkins to try to help me clean him up, but I sure felt like I didn't know what I was doing. You'd think military guys have seen it all - evidentally not, according to the many faces of disgust that we saw when they would take a glance at my son. How embarrassing. Luckily, we were all cleaned up by the time daddy came home, and Chris was thrilled, commenting that it was "military standard." He even said that was his favorite part of his day. Later that same day, I had stepped into the bathroom for a moment. While Grant had been napping, I had eaten part of a Snickers bar and stuck the uneaten part on the bedside table, basically forgetting about it. Well, you can't hide anything from Grant. While I stepped into the bathroom, Grant quickly got it out of its wrapper and in to his mouth. There was about 1/4 of a candy bar left. So when I came out of the bathroom, there was a little boy grinning at me a big, cheesy grin with chocolate dripping down his chin. He was very happy, and he actually ate the whole thing, peanuts and all, before I could stop him. He's a stinker. Sometimes I think I've got this whole thing figured out. And then there are weeks like this one where I think the world must think I'm absolutely clueless, and I must admit, sometimes I wholeheartedly agree!!!

Down in FL

Well, Grant and I made it down to Florida to join Chris last Thursday. It was a late night, and I was never so glad to be off of a plane, and into a bed! I was exhausted. Grant did great, although he didn't sleep as I thought he would, despite the fact that we didn't get in to Jacksonville until after 10:30. Friday was a whirlwind day as I tried to get groceries, figure out my surroundings, etc. and when Chris got home, he said that he had been given Saturday, Sunday and Monday off so we had a three day weekend. So we packed our bags quickly and hopped in the car to head down to Melbourne, FL, where Chris' parents have a place, to visit with them for a few days. We had a nice couple of days there with them, just enjoying the sunshine, swimming pool and putting green. Monday we got up and decided we should go to Sea World. It is only about an hour from Chris' parent's house, and Chris and his dependants can get in one day a year or our choosing to Sea World for free! Granny and Grandpa decided to join us, and we were pleasantly surprised that they let us take them in for free with us as well! The military certainly has its perks! So all 5 of us got to enjoy a free day at Sea World, see Shamu, etc. It was a lovely day. I found myself choked up several times as I watched Grant experience this for the first time. When they brought Shamu out, Grant's eyes were huge and sparkling, he was enthralled with this giant fish jumping out of the water. He stood there and just clapped with this huge teethy grin. I stood there watching him and was amazed. I was seeing Shamu from Grant's eyes, and it was wonderful! I was all choked up as I watched him experience this joy in life. Silly, I know. After we went to Sea World, we went to a restaurant called Giordano's. It originated in Chicago, and every time my family would go to Chicago growing up, we had to eat Chicago style pizza there. I say it is the best pizza in the world! So I was thrilled to know they had opened one only 15 minutes from Sea World. Every bite was wonderful! Boy, that pizza sure is good - just as I remembered it! We didn't get home until midnight. We sure are exhausted today!

Grant's a mover and a shaker!

Grant loves music and any time he hears it, he starts wiggling all over and walking really silly. He sure loves dancing! He makes us laugh, that's for sure!