Yes, this is finally me writing in the blog…. Ken has been bugging me for so long and after about a 20 minute tutorial of what I needed to do… well, it might be awhile before I write on this thing again. 🙂 I do not have the computer skills of my husband, nor do I necessarily want to get them. 🙂 But since Jonathan and I just got back from our trip to Florida to see my parents, and Ken wasn’t able to come with us 🙁 , that leaves me to be the one to write the post.
We left the day after Jonathan’s birthday and flew right out of Chattanooga to St. Pete/Clearwater airport. It was only a hour and ten minute flight… somewhat of a luxury compared to the 2.5 hour flights we were used to out of Denver. Jonathan was a great traveler and he LOVED every minute of being on the plane. He sat right by the window and never stopped talking the whole time.
Papa and Nanny picked us up and then we drove the hour or so to their park in Frostproof. We had absolutely beautiful weather the whole time we were there… pretty much 80’s and sunny. It was a little toasty for the pregnant mommy at times, but I wasn’t going to complain too much because last year when we went it was 50’s and cold. Jonathan had a great time swimming in the pool at the park and also going in the “hot bath” as he called it. Jack was excited to see us, but I think he may have been a little worn out near the end of our stay from all the lovin’ from Jonathan. Papa and Nanny take such good care of Jack (thank you!!!), and he has gotten used to the slower-paced lifestyle free from a 3 year old. 🙂
We were able to do a lot of fun things while we were there (seeing the goats, making OJ with Papa, making brownies with Nanny, swimming, shopping, going to the park and the library, out to eat, etc…) but one of the highlights of the trip for Jonathan was going to Sea World for the first time. He had no clue who Shamu was prior to our trip, but once he arrived at the park he was VERY excited! We watched the sea lion and dolphin shows first and then went to see “Shampoo” after that. Jonathan sat completely still on Papa’s lap (as he did for all the other shows) and laughed with complete glee once Shamu came out and did a big jump. It was so cute! The only part he was very concerned about was when Shamu splashed all the people in the front rows… Nanny and I explained to him that those people wanted to get wet, and then Papa told him that when he gets bigger and comes back with Daddy that Daddy will sit in the Splash Zone with him. 🙂 He made sure to tell Daddy all about it on the phone that night.
Those of you who know our son well, know that he sometimes gets fixated on some interesting things… Like he has a stinky blankie, he loves goats, he has to run and jump into his bed every night, etc… well, he was very interested in the Park Map. He had to have his own copy and would sit in the stroller and talk about where we had gone and where we should go next. We took home extra maps and the entire rest of the week he would take it out and tell us everything we had seen, including which bridges we had walked over and where we had eaten lunch. 🙂 He was also very happy about getting his Kid’s Meal for lunch in a Shamu lunchbox. He carried it around the rest of the day at Sea World and is still carrying it around at home. It did get searched in airport security when we were coming home, and he was very concerned that the men weren’t going to give Shamu back. The TSA people did chuckle a little bit to find it full of tractors and matchbox cars.
On our tickets we had gotten a second day free so we went back for a second day just to see the Shamu show again and to see some other things we had missed the first time around.
We had a great time visiting Papa and Nanny… and thank you to them for hosting us for ten days!! Daddy was definitely ready for us to come home and we were excited to see him too. One of my favorite and most precious moments as a mother happened at the airport when we were getting off the plane. I had Jonathan in the stroller and told him to be looking for Daddy… well, he spotted Ken from probably 50 feet away and started calling “Daddy – Daddy- Daddy!” Then as soon as I pushed the stroller to where Ken was, Jonathan was crying big tears down his cheeks and yet laughing all at the same time, still calling his Daddy’s name. It was so special to see his absolute joy and excitement to see his Daddy – who he hadn’t seen for 10 days.
Ken has also been bugging me about writing about the pregnancy… It has gone very well, and I am feeling great. I am still working about once a week and it is nice to stay busy and active. We will be 31 weeks along tomorrow and so things are closing in fast for baby brudder’s arrival. I went about a week early with Jonathan and so my doctor is thinking it will probably be either the same again or a little earlier this time. We are actually a bit more prepared this time than with Jonathan. I think Ken finished Jonathan’s crib and we got it all set up about the week before he was born. The crib is actually ready and waiting this time… and it has been for about a month or so. 🙂 Jonathan is sleeping in the queen size bed in his room and is very excited to have his big boy bed right next to brother’s bed. Ken has been itching to put up some pictures of my belly so I am sure those will be coming soon. 🙂
Well, Ken is giving me grief that this post is longer than anything he has ever posted before so I better wrap it up…. but like I said at the top, it may be awhile before you hear from me again… Ken is very busy the next few weeks with interviewing RA staff for next year… he and the other RD’s have 55 one-hour interviews to do between tomorrow and next week Tuesday. But he is still loving his job and as a family, it has been a great place for all of us. Love to you all!
Here is a link to the rest of the Florida pictures if you are interested.