Day 2: Conquering the Beach

Our mission for Day 2 was Conquering the Beach, but we had to start out slow. So the day started like all others, up at 7:00, breakfast, walk with grandma, nap (this time only 1hr 1/2) followed by more pool play time. But first we had to walk down to the pool. Here's one of my favorite vacation pictures so far:

Once we made it to the pool we played with the ball...

Played with Mommy and Daddy...

Then we worked on some bubble blowing (or water licking)

Then right before lunch we played with Megan (Trey's sister)

Then we headed in for lunch where Eli found a plum on all on his own and took a huge bite. He proceeded to eat about 3 bites and then throw it. The good news is it was delicious, so I finished the plum for him!!:)

It was time for our Sand Challenge. We started out slowly (we learned our lesson yesterday... DO NOT take him directly to the ocean front... that causes massive screaming) We started with me sitting and him standing on the sand.

Then he sat on my lap.

Here we are watching the people on the beach

Then he moved to squatting in the sand all by himself...almost a sit :)

Next we brought in toys. Within 2 minutes, he was shoveling like he was a pro.

Now that we were comfortable with the sand, we tried the ocean. He did GREAT. My dad even buried his toes.

After about 45 minutes, he had conquered the sand. :) Then it was time for nap time. Boy oh boy did he scream when we made him leave the beach. He was COVERED from head to toe with sand, so we had to hose him off. I think he liked this just as much as the sand itself.

After his afternoon nap, we played at the pool again and then got ready for dinner. We drove down by our old hotel last night for dinner. Then we went down to the pier where Eli got a balloon doggy in which he proceeded to bite it's head and pop him. All these pictures are still on the camera which is downstairs in our room with the sleeping Eli, so I'll try and upload them tomorrow. Sweet Dreams Eli :) :)

Day 1: Conquering the Pool

After a good nights sleep (he actually slept until 8:15 :) we were ready to take on the day. Down here, after breakfast Eli's day always begins with a walk on the beach with Grandma. We sunscreened him up and they took off. During that time, Nico and I went for a run... needless to say Nico was in WAY better shape and I told him leave me in the dust. By the time we all got back it was about 9:45 and Eli was just about asleep on my mom's lap by the pool. So we took him and and he took a TWO HOUR nap... he was still tired.
We he woke up our task was to get him out to the pool. And of course, we used his favorite toy... a ball. We got him on the porch, then down the path, then by the pool, then I got in the pool and he threw it to me and then finally we got him in and he LOVED IT!! Here are some pics:

After all that intense swimming, we ate lunch and then it was time for Eli's nap. Again he took another good 2 hour nap. Nico and I were so excited (but we paid for it later that night) This time when he got up, no need to coax him to the pool... he RAN there. After swimming for a bit, he got out and had a grape Popsicle. He chomped that thing down... you'd think he eats Popsicles every day watching him eat that thing.

The we tried the beach... No dice there. He's pretty anti sand, so that's our job tomorrow... conquering the Beach.
He came back to the pool area and luckily we were watching him because he basically just climbed in. :)Here's Eli with his friend Trey.

We just stayed in that night and had pizza with everyone. By that point it was 8:00... time for Eli's NORMAL bed time, normal being the key. We laid him down and watched the games. He wasn't ready for bed and proceeded to watch the games with us standing up in the crib, clapping and saying "Go go" occasionally. He didn't end up going to bed until like 10:15. So we hoped he'd sleep in the next morning, but that didn't happen... up at 7:00, back to normal.
It was a GREAT first day in Florida! Today we conquered the pool.... Tomorrow the beach!!!

We Made It!!

Yes, we made it. We got into Florida about 2:00 yesterday afternoon. Eli did pretty good on the flights. We got to the Ft Wayne airport Friday morning at 6:15 to find out our flight was delayed 20 minutes. The good thing was that the airport had toys. Eli LOVED it!!

He did GREAT on the flight from Fort Wayne to Chicago. Because our flight was delayed in Fort Wayne, we almost missed our connecting flight to Ft Meyers. They were calling final boarding as we are running down the halls of O'Hare. Needless to say we made it in time. But we weren't able to get anything to eat or to give Eli his dose of Benadryl before the flight. The previous flight he didn't sleep one bit, so we were really hoping he'd sleep this flight.... he was very tired, but fighting take a nap.... the medicine helped him calm down to sleep. We slept about 45 minutes. Here's a picture Nico took of the 2 of us right before we fell asleep. He thinks awesome!! After he took it he said "Look out Bobbi, I could be a professional photographer" It is pretty good though. :)

The roughest part of the trip was the decent into Ft Meyers. Eli stopped swallowing and so his ears went nuts!! He let out a few blood-curdling screams... it was horrible. We tried to make him drink, eat fruit snacks, suck a sucker... ANYTHING!!! Luckily each time he got so upset, he'd suck his thumb and fix the problem. But he didn't catch on that if he just kept the thumb in his mouth he'd be fine. Needless to say we were all happy once we were on the ground.

We had a pretty calm evening... we were all EXHAUSTED from the trip so it was an early night for us all. We did try and take Eli out to the pool, but he wouldn't have any of that... he was just too tired. We'll try tomorrow!!

Easter Egg Hunt

My mom and dad created an Easter Egg hunt for Cora, Keenan and Eli. The big kids were SO EXCITED to hunt. Nico and I both were thinking that Eli was still too young to get the point of it, but it was worth a try.
BOY OH BOY were we wrong. He started collecting eggs even before it was time. Looking back I don't know why we thought he wouldn't get it, he's our little human vacuum cleaner... anything on the ground he picks it up... and usually puts it in his mouth :(

HE LOVED IT!! Keenan and Cora did a wonderful job too letting him collect his own eggs and being very good about helping him. The are WONDERFUL cousins to him.

It was SO HARD to pick pictures to put up because there are so many good ones.

After the hunt, we dove into the Easter Baskets my mom got each of us. Nico was pumped, ours had football cards for him. Eli wanted to try just about every piece of candy possible :) but it was Easter so we let him have some.

Here he is eating a Peep

It was a WONDERFUL Easter!! It made me very grateful for such a wonderful family and for God's ultimate gift he gave us when Jesus to die on the cross so we can have eternal life.

GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!!

P.S. Yes, I'm wearing a black shirt over my dress... self preservation. I knew that if I didn't I'd spill most of my dinner or some chocolate on my dress and be very angry. I look like a dork, but I'm a clean dork!! :)

Easter: The Grapes in the Pew

We have a tradition in our family courtesy of my mom. The boys (little and big) all wear the same color to church on Easter Sunday. This year Keenan got to pick the color and he picked purple. So we got all the boys, my dad, Nico, my brother, Keenan, and Eli all purple dress shirts and ties. Normally the girls then just find something "Eastery" but not necessarily the same color as the boys, but this year we all found something purple. We looked like a big bunch a grapes in the pew.

We also were lucky enough to have Andy and Andrea come to our church for Easter and Easter dinner... don't worry we told them of the mandatory color and they joined right in.

They still have those wedding poses in their heads :) :)

While I felt like the biggest cheese ball in church, we got quite a few compliments and it was nice, since it was crowded, when we couldn't find one another, we just looked for the purple!!

But all in all, I think we make a pretty good looking family!!

Wheels on the Bus

This video took place after Cora's party and could have gone as part of the other blog, but it is so AWESOME that it needs it own post. Enjoy!!

After the Birthday Party

Andy & Andrea came back to our house after the Birthday party. Eli was ready to run around and play and he had 2 willing participants... Uncle Andy and Aunt Andrea. Actually there was very little running and a whole lot more climbing up on each of their laps to have books read. He's really into books being read to him... I LOVE IT!!

Here Andrea (and really all of us) got excited because we've been working on animal sounds and so when she asked Eli what sound does a doggy make he said "roof roof" and when she asked what sound does a cow make he said "moo" It's the little things in life that make us happy!! :)

Cora's Birthday

Cora's official 7th birthday was Thursday, but we had her BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY on Saturday.

It was a WONDERFUL party. She had ALL her family in the same place... over 40 people there to help her celebrate. She was the star of the show or I should say the star of the High School Musical... that was the theme. :)

Eli's short attention span made it interesting, but luckily we brought some books to read.

Yes that is Andy there... Cora is IN LOVE with Andy and so Andy and Andrea were SO NICE to come to the party and celebrate with us!!

GREAT JOB Amanda for a FUN party!!

Good Friday... it was a Good Friday

We always make Andy and Andrea come to Fort Wayne, so we thought it would be nice of us to FINALLY go visit them. So we drove down Friday morning, stayed the night and then came back Saturday morning. We had a WONDERFUL time. Andy and Andrea were outstanding hosts... too good, Nico and I both gained at least a pound when we were there. Of course Eli had no problems with his weight... his pants fell off!!

Eli LOVED spending time with Uncle Andy and Aunt Andrea. And because we were at their house he got to hang out with their "baby" Gracie, the dog. Bit of back ground, Eli LOVES doggies. It's one of his FAVORITE words... anything that's fuzzy and has a tail is a doggy. It could be a rabbit or even a lion, but he thinks it's a doggy. He's used to dogs because Kenny and Amanda have one and he loves her. He had SO MUCH fun with Gracie. He'd put his fingers in her cage and love to have them licked. Gracie was also a good kisser and Eli loved getting doggy kisses. It was hilarious.

Eventually Gracie was old news and Eli moved on to playing with Uncle Andy and Aunt Andrea. The 3 of them had a GREAT time!!

This is Eli pressing his face against the pack and play... Andrea and I were CRACKING UP!!

After Eli went to bed, we had some adult time and watched the NCAA games and listened to some awesome 80's music. Andy LOVED IT!!

Saturday morning Andy and Andrea made us like a 5 course breakfast that was delicious (helping add to those pounds :) Then we packed up and headed home. It was better than a Good Friday, it was a GREAT Friday. Thanks Andy and Andrea for having us over and feeding us so well!!