Life's Tough in Paradise

So here we are in Florida, visiting Cami and Lily. Jacob is out of town until the end of the week, so we're just having fun, enjoying the perfect mid-eighties weather!

We flew out Tuesday morning, but our trip really started Monday when we left and drove to Provo to spend the night with Jake and Hillary.

Hillary taught Gideon how to blow dandelions all over the yard (see video below) and taught him about the joys of sidewalk chalk. Looks like we'll have to invest in some of those now.

Hillary took us to the airport Tuesday morning. I don't want to talk about getting pulled over, or my first ticket in 7 years, so we'll skip over that.

Gideon did pretty well traveling, all things considered. Our first flight to Denver was only an hour and twenty minutes. Still it was right during his nap time. Even so, he did pretty well until about thirty minutes from the end. That's when he got fussy. Fortunately, the flight wasn't even half full, so even though he was supposed to be on my lap, we actually had an entire row of seats to ourselves. He fell asleep as we were starting our descent into Denver, so he only slept about 15 minutes.

Once in Denver we had some lunch and let him run around. He got really fussy and cranky, but I knew it was just because he was so tired.

Sidebar: The best investment I've made in years was an Eddie Bauer backpack with a leash! It's a little stuffed monkey that straps around him like a backpack, but the tail is a leash. It was awesome because that way he couldn't get away from me. And believe me, he's a runner, so he definitely tried a few times. And he felt like a big boy being able to walk through the airport "by himself."

Our flight into Ft. Lauderdale was four hours long. Munchkin was so tired he fell asleep as we were taxiing awaying from the gate. He slept for almost two hours, which was good because that flight was packed and there was really nowhere for him to run or play or even sit by himself. Still once he woke up he did pretty good. We had some snacks, colored a little bit, read a few books and played with some toys. He didn't get fussy until we hit some really bad turbulence as we were coming down. But then he started laughing the worse it got, because I guess he thought it was a fun ride.

Anyway we landed in Fort Lauderdale about 7:30. We were so excited to be in the warm weather and see Cami and Lily Pie!!!!!!

We came back to their place and let them play while we made dinner. Then it was feed the kids and get them to bed. After that, Cami and I watched TV for a while. It was really fun just to be here.

This morning we loaded up the kids and headed to the park. Cami and I took turns running the path while the other watched the babies. Gideon had a great time on the slides and swings. He just laughed and laughed and laughed. And I realized that this was the first time he's really ever played at a park. Last year he was too little and it hasn't really been warm enough yet this year at home. So it was a really fun experience for him. And fun for me to see him enjoying himself so much.

"Mimi" & Lily Pie

See video of him swinging below! I think we'll have to get a swing for the back yard now!

After the park the babies slept while we showered and got ready for the day. Then we went to the mall so that we could shop for new bathing suits. Cami and I were both in need and we both found what we were looking for (we think) and tomorrow we'll get to try them out when we hit the pool.

So when we put the munchkin's car seat in Cami's car, we must not have tightened it enough because when we turned a corner today, this is what we saw. We started laughing, and he apparently thought that meant it was funny, so from that point, he'd throw his weight against the seat every time we went around a corner and just laugh and laugh!

We got back so late today that it was time to make supper. Then Cami's friend Amy came over to get her hair colored. (We're doing mine later tonight.) And now it's time to get munchkin ready for bed. Neither he nor Lily got a nap this afternoon, so even though it's only 7:15, they should go down pretty good tonight.

And that's it so far. We've got lots of fun stuff planned for while we're here, so stay tuned or the latest updates on our adventures.