Florida

At the end of October and for a couple of weeks in November we were able to go visit my sister in Florida. She lives in Navarre, FL which is in the panhandle. We had a great time. Cody was able to stay for a couple of days but Jackson and I stayed for 3 weeks. We had so much fun and got to see lots of cool things and enjoy the beach.

Jackson watching his Baby Einstein on the plane

Jackson playing at the play area in the Nashville Airport during our 3 1/2 hour layover!!

A father and son nap on the plane!!

Driving the police car at Aunt Sarah's house - we had to keep an eye out for Andrew because he would try to drag Jackson out of the car



My sister lives about 5 minutes from the beach - how nice would that be - if anything ever happens to Cody, Jackson and I will be moving in!!!

The water wasn't too cold - it was pretty nice

Andrew and Jackson enjoying digging in the sand

About to take a walk on the pier

A nice family shot

A lady caught a little shark off the pier. We got to see it and then she threw it back in. It was a long way down back to the water for the poor shark. There were also lots of pretty good sized jellyfish that you could see from the pier. Thankfully no one got stung. We saw several jellyfish parts washed up on the beach as well.

The little shark

There is a little zoo pretty close to my sister's house and she has a pass. Jackson had a pretty good time looking at the animals. Everyday Ainsley (my niece) would ask to go to the zoo.

Jackson and I posing with a giraffe

Jackson being squeezed by a boa constrictor

We were hoping that Jackson would start crawling before Cody went home so he would get to see it. We figured that he would start any day. Well Jackson is a very obedient kid!!! The morning that Cody was getting ready to go to the airport to go home Jackson finally started crawling. I was sitting on the ground and had a cup of water next to me on the floor and Jackson just crawled right over to it like it was nothing. From that point on he has been all over the place!!!

11/1/10 - Jackson started crawling!!!

Caleb had early release from school one day and it was raining pretty hard so we decided to go to Pensacola and check out the Naval Aviation museum. It was a lot of fun and Jackson really liked getting to play in the planes.

Jackson and me in the cockpit of one of the Blue Angel's jets

An F-14

Jackson ready to take off!!

Andrew and Jackson playing at the playground at the museum

2 future pilots

This is a lighthouse in Pensacola that is supposedly haunted. Sarah and I were planning on taking the tour but never got a chance to go back without the kids. Ainsley didn't even want to get near the lighthouse because we told her about the little girl ghost that supposedly lives there!!

Pensacola Lighthouse

The view just across from the lighthouse - we tried to walk down to the beach but the path was washed out from all the rain that day

Jackson ready to drive already!!

Jackson's first time in a swing - he loved it - he just smiled and giggled the whole time - this park was right on the water it was pretty

This dock was just behind the swings at the park

We took the kids to a little gym where they could play on all the gymnastics stuff for a couple of hours. They had fun.

Jackson enjoying the foam pit

Growing up way too fast!!

Ainsley turned 5 while we were there and for her birthday we went to the Gulfarium. It is a little place like Sea World. Little is the key word. They had dolphins, sea lions, a couple of gators, and a few other animals. The shows were pretty fun. Jackson enjoyed it.

This isn't one of the real gators it is a statue - the real ones were pretty lazy in the water

Waiting for the dolphin show to start

The dolphins jumping

The sea lion show

After we were done at the Gulfarium we went to the park. My sister makes her kids pinatas for their birthdays. She made Ainsley an Ariel pinata that turned out really cute. She also made Ainsley's birthday shirt.

Ainsley posing with her Ariel pinata

Jackson playing with a little princess house that we got Ainsley for her birthday - he also liked to play with the Barbie she got!!

Another fun day at the beach - the weather was perfect while we were there

Just before I left we headed out to Pensacola and checked out Fort Pickens. We were pleasantly suprised when we also got to see the Blue Angels doing an air show over the water. It was awesome. I love the sound of the jets screaming overhead. Jackson liked it too!!

The Blue Angels - it would have been awesome to be in one of the boats on the water during the air show

Me, Jackson, Ainsley and Caleb at Fort Pickens

At Fort Pickens looking out at the water

After Fort Pickens we went to the beach in Pensacola. It was a little cooler and windy this time but still very nice.

Enjoying the beach

A nice sunset at the beach

After we left the beach we ate at a place called Peg Leg Pete's. It was pretty good. It was right on the water of Pensacola Beach. I didn't get any pictures of that sorry. There was a wedding reception going on while we were there which was pretty interesting. Not my choice of where I would have my reception.

A couple days before I left Sarah and I headed over to Destin. We checked out the Harbor Walk which was very windy and then let the kids play at the playground at Destin Commons.

Jackson having fun at the playground

Navarre has a shark museum which is basically a junky souvenir shop with 2 sharks in tanks. Ainsley talked about taking us there practically everyday.

In front of the shark museum

One of the sharks

Jackson was really good on the flights to Florida but I also had Cody with me and we had the laptop with movies. Coming home I was by myself and had no laptop!!! The night before we left Jackson didn't sleep very well at all. He kept waking up screaming. The first flight he was fine. We had a row to ourselves so he could crawl all over the seats and look out the window. He had a great time. Plus everyone around us was talking to Jackson and some kind of crazy lady even held him and showed him to her husband (that was a little interesting). Then we had a 3 hour layover in Houston (unfortunately they didn't have a play area). He hadn't slept well and really didn't have any naps so I was a little worried about the 3 hour flight to Phoenix. The plane was pretty full. I had a really nice pregnant lady and her 11 or 13 year old son sitting next to me. This older man got on the plane and sat a row ahead of me across the aisle. He asked if he could hold Jackson and of course I let him. Jackson really liked him. Once the plane took off he fell right asleep on my lap. Unfortunately that only lasted about 10 minutes. He woke up screaming. I tried to get him back to sleep but he wasn't having it. The pregnant lady next to me asked if she could hold him and he stopped crying right away. I was very appreciative but annoyed with Jackson that he didn't want his mother!!! Then he started to fuss again and the older man asked if he could hold him again and Jackson slept on him for over an hour!!! I was fortunate to have very nice people on my flight that were happy to take care of my screaming kid!! When I got home that night he didn't sleep good again. I discovered he was getting 2 more teeth on top!!

Jackson with the nice man on the plane - he was one of 12 children and his wife and him couldn't have kids so they also adopted a little boy who is now 16

We had a great time in Florida. Sarah and Ron are very good hosts. I am already planning my next trip to go back. Unfortunately money wise who knows when that will happen.