Florida

Finally, a family vacation. A REAL one. Thanks to Brye's job, he gained enough Rapid Rewards to get us three free airline tickets to anywhere in the continental USA. So we took advantage and booked a flight to Florida! We figured a shorter trip would be better for the boys so we flew out from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale on a Thursday morning. We spent two days in Ft. Lauderdale just beachin' it up then drove to Ft. Myers and Sanibel Island on Saturday.

The flight to Florida went great. It happened to be timed right at naptime so Beau was tired and slept almost the entire way. We enjoyed shrimp at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. the first night and just strolled along the beach on the way back to the hotel. We spent the next day on Ft. Lauderdale beach, just enjoying each other. Bex loved swimming in the waves although they were pretty high and he couldn't get very far. That night we went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner and on the way home Brye and I spotted a guided fishing boat. We checked out the prices, "just to see" and it so happened the boat was expected to leave for an eight hour tour "right now". It was only $65, which was really cheap. I told Brye to go for it as I knew he'd never get the chance again. So he did! The boys and I strolled back to the hotel and had an early night. Brye didn't get home until around 4:30 AM!! The boys were up on their normal schedule at 7:30. I tried so hard to keep them quiet, but was commonly unsuccessful. Brye eventually got up and took a taxi to the airport to get us a rental car and then we headed to Ft. Myers.

Bex in Ft. Lauderdale

Beau

Bex and Brye building Sand Castles

I had never been to Florida so the drive from Ft. Lauderdale to Ft. Myers was really amazing to me. The Everglades is not exactly what I expected. I don't know why I always pictured more tropical scenery than just vast grass and what I call swamp lands. I was corrected on the last day of the trip that The Everglades is not swamp. We spent the day driving and taking in the scenery and sights of Florida and Sanibel Island. We got checked into our hotel and strolled the beach. On Sunday, we had a wonderful day on Ft. Myers beach. The weather was really great. It did rain for about 2 minutes, but that did not stop Bexley from swimming. The ocean waves were not big, so Bex was able to really play in the water. Beau even enjoyed it a lot. We could hardly keep him out of it.

Bex running along Sanibel Island

Bex playing in the Gulf at Ft. Myers Beach

After our day at the beach, the boys took a nap and I scheduled a Pirate Cruise for us to take. It was so much fun. Bex was very apprehensive at first and even began to cry at one point because he was scared of the pirates. We bribed him with a real pirate sword and he was good after that. He even got to have one of the pirates paint a Jolly Roger tattoo on his arm. He got to pick out "treasures" from the treasure chest, and play games with the other kids and pirates. He was even brave enough in the end to take his picture with the Captain. It was well worth it. After the Pirate Cruise we met one of Brye's old co-workers for dinner. It was so nice to see him again. He was such a dear friend when we were living in the UK. He kind of "took care" of us, showed us around London and really made us feel comfortable with living 5,000 miles away from home. We had such a great time in Florida. The flight home was not as great as the flight there. Beau was just exhausted and didn't want to sit still. He wasn't screaming so much as just constantly moving, which made me and Brye exhausted as well. We were glad to be home.

Beau's First Birthday!!

So this post is way overdue as are many others, but better late than never.

My baby is ONE! I can't believe it. It seems such a short time ago he was such a tiny little infant. I have loved every single minute of his short life and cannot wait to see what the next years will bring. Since Beau was so lucky to be born on May 5 (Cinco de Mayo) we decided to incorporate some culture into his party. Poor guy is gonna get Mexican food on his birthday every year for the rest of his life. Reminds me of when I was young. My birthday happens to fall on Feb. 13th, so I always ended up with a strawberry cake; and many times in the shape of a heart. I used to get irritated, but now I can totally see where my mom was coming from! So we had fajitas, a pinata, and maracas as party favors! We borrowed a bounce house from Jodi; invited 10 of our closest friends and their kids which sounds like not that many but 10 of our closest friends turns into 20 because they are couples. With their kids (everyone has at least two) we ended up with about 40 people at the party! It was a blast. The weather cooperated; Brye was a genius with the food and it was a great day. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was in the moment and just didn't.

We had a second party for Beau at his paternal grandparents over Mother's Day weekend. It was Kemp's college graduation as well. Congratulations Kemp!!! It was nice. My dad and sister, Jennifer got to come with her kids and our good friends, the Grishams joined us. It was short and sweet and a really good time. His second taste of chocolate cake was a little messier than the first, which was fun. Thanks to the grandparents spoiling him as usual, the car was loaded down with toys on the way home.

Beau learned how to walk about two weeks before he turned one. He has gotten really good at it and can pretty much run if he wants. He can also climb the stairs which is very scary, but he loves to play upstairs in his room or Bexley's room. He loves tomatoes, cheese, and grapes. His favorite word is "cracker" and anything in a box is a cracker. He does love crackers too! Banana's are an all time favorite as are Eggo waffles. His laugh is just like his mommas "cackle" and he has eight beautiful teeth that light up the room when he smiles. His eyes are as blue as the ocean and his hair as white as cotton. He is more beautiful than I could ever have imagined him to be. And yes, he looks just like his daddy. I love him so much.