FLORIDA (in reverse)

This post is just entirely too long for me to organize the pictures in chronological order, so this is how I loaded them. Its basically in reverse order.

We visited Pensacola's Naval Air Station, as we always do. This was Sydney's 3rd trip to NAS & she basically gave us the guided tour herself. She wasted no time going to exactly what she wanted, which was the planes she could "drive". (So he doesn't feel left-out someday when reading this historic blog, Brody was there too, but slept the entire time in his stroller. Although super cute, it wasn't necessarily picture worthy)

(Jeff showing off his legs...one of his best assets!)

Reece had this talking bird in his room. Sydney thought it was the best thing ever-someone who likes to talk as much as she does! It repeats everything that you say twice while flapping its wings. She managed to wear the batteries out in a single morning.

The drive between Pensacola & Destin is about 45 minutes-1.5 hours depending upon traffic. We were lucky enough to borrow Ally's minivan while in town. Syd loves this because she knows she gets to watch movies in this van-a special treat! Its a nice treat for Jeff and I as well. This is one of the few times she is quiet.While walking on the beach one morning in Destin, we came across a Great Blue Heron. Well, it was more like he came upon us. There was a school of fish just off shore & he was eyeing it. He let us get surprisingly close before flying off.



Sydney liked chasing the birds on the beach.

No matter how fast she ran, they always managed to escape her.




Brody enjoyed walks on the beach as well. In fact, he enjoyed them so much that he slept the entire walk!

Sydney can talk her Papa into almost anything: jumping on the bed, extra ice cream, saying up past bedtime, and the old "1-2-3 swing" move shown below. I think they got a good work out that morning!
My girl loves the beach! Funny story, so sorry I don't have pictures to correlate: after an afternoon of sandcastle building in her swimsuit, we came back inside for dinner. I decided it was a good idea to change her into clothes before eating, so I started to strip her 1-piece off. As I peeled it down her tummy, I noticed some sand inside, so I took her outside on the balcony to finish the job. Little did I know that there was literally an entire bucket full of sand crammed in the bottom of the suit & in the bottom of my little girl. She had a sand wedgie! She didn't mind the sand until I tried to remove it. We left the pile of sand out on the balcony & I took her to the shower to wash all her unmentionable places. I could have used a bidet, but I had to make do.

We took family pictures on the beach in coordinating blue shirts, similar to 2 years ago. We had to go a little earlier this year because of the kids mealtimes & bedtimes, so the sun wasn't as ideal, but we're a good lookin' bunch none the less. The pictures leave a little to be desired. If we were ever going to hire a professional to do the job, this would have been the year to do it. Getting 4 kids under 4 to cooperate for a family picture is pretty much impossible, especially when they're hungry!

Speaking of good looking, here's Reece practicing self photography. The "Big" kids being troopers as the sun burns their retinas.

Brody wasn't really a fan of smiling for the camera. He was thinking this was more like his meal time. Here's me in one of my not-so-fine moments. Who knows what I'm saying...I'm probably barking an order at my husband or daughter from the looks of it.
Meghan, Ryan, Jeff
My handsome father, the amature photographer
Brody giving up on trying to figure us crazy adults out. What the heck are we doing out here anyway!!!???
The Hunts: There were less kids for this picture, so the odds were in our favor.

The Morgans: 4 kids + lack of professional photographer = (see below)

We'll go back in 2 years & do it again. Brody will be the youngest (unless someone is VERY surprised between now & then), and he'll be 2, so I'm sure we'll get a stellar picture next time.
The KC 4some:
Sydney, feeling similar to Brody... are we done yet? Can we go now please?? A mid-week storm brought in jelly fish, but the pool was enjoyed by all. This float was one of my best summer purchases ($15 @ walmart). Since the middle is just mesh, it fills up with water & Sydney thinks she's in her own little pool. This night it was a boat being rocked by Jeff & Meghan.
This was a close as Brody got to the pool. Too bad that bar was right in the way of the picture. I can't believe I walked around in a bathing suit with my postpartum body. One day I'll use the pictures of me as my "before" pictures in my weight-loss story!My dad was the martini making king for the week.

Trevor & Sydney had so much fun playing together throughout the week. Its nice to have cousins so close in age. Trevor is 16 months older than Syd, so she admires everything he does & wants to have the exact same things as him. Drew is 11 months younger than Syd, and the girls are starting to play together more & more.

Jen Cross gave me this shirt & it was just too funny not to wear! Sydney should have had a shirt that said "Caution, my butt will eat sand!"And infant sandals.....adorable! (They stayed on for a total of 27 seconds!) The morning before we flew out: You can see our house was an upheaval of laundry in preparation. Good thing Jeff stayed home a few days after us to clean up! Yes, that's right, I flew down & back with both kids by myself. Yes, I'm on crack. Okay, that's not funny, but I must be crazy. Sydney's wearing a monkey backpack w/ a tail for a leash. It was actually not that bad (on the way down). The kids were both wonderfully behaved & totally made me proud. I just needed a few more arms & hands to hold bags, her tail, and push the stroller. The way home got a little u-g-l-y. The kids were tired from 13 days of vacationing & we flew in the afternoon, which is totally Syd's naptime. To top it all off, we had to change concourses in Atlanta. Syd had a meltdown while carrying her buddy & tripping on it. She refused to wear her shoes (I didn't have spare hands to enforce it). I ended up carrying her while pushing Brody in the stroller. Brody's ears had trouble popping during the landing & he wouldn't nurse, so he just screamed uncontrollably for a few minutes. Boy, were we happy to see Jeff when we landed in KC!
Jeff changing a nice poopy diaper. Oddly, they both have a similar grin on their faces.

Brody, chillin' in the swing.
Sydney & Brody's first bath together.

A clean & happy boy