goodbye Florida.....til next time

As I said earlier, the weather was getting nicer as the days went on.  As we were loading up the car to drive to the airport, Henry and I were begging Phil to stay another week, but he didn't go for it, bummer.  We had to come home to the worst winter ever!!  

Our last morning there, we made one last trip out to the beach.  Aaahhh, memories :)

my favorite day

Aaaahhhh, sunny and 70 degrees, my kinda day!  Lydia couldn't come all this way and not get her swimsuit on to take her first dip in the ocean, right?!  She has the clammiest little feet, therefore they were magnets to that white sand.  She and I sat on the beach and watched Henry and Phil play around - that water was cold, cold, cold.  At the end of our trip, I asked Henry what his favorite part of Florida was, and he replied, "jumping over the BIG waves with Daddy."  I loved that answer - such a simple thing :)

By far, the cutest beach bod I saw out there :)

Look at that hair, just blowing in the wind!

The cold water sure didn't stop this guy!

Henry was able to "touch" in the pool, and it wasn't a zero-entry pool.  He's getting TOO big!

Up on the 16th floor, we all sat on the edge with our feet in the hot tub, a nice way to end my favorite day :)  

can't get enough of that beach

On the second day we were there, we drove down the coast to visit a different area, Madeira Beach.  I had found an aquarium online that I thought we'd check out that morning, but unfortunately it was no longer there, bummer.  We still managed to check out the beach, however.   

This was the pier on Clearwater Beach, quite near our hotel.  We took a trip out as far as we could go one morning, but couldn't go all the way to the end as it was reserved for people who were fishing.  

Here's where we stayed, the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa.

We got outside one evening just in time for a beautiful sunset :)

Clearwater Beach - part 1 of 4

The Krump Krew flew to sunny Florida last week for a lovely vacation.  Overall, we said it could have been just a little warmer (for more swimming time), but hey, it was dry, at least 60* each day, and pure sun, so we won't complain a bit!  It did get progressively warmer each day we were there, so of course, we didn't want to go home when it came time.  

Henry and Lydia were seriously the best little travelers on the airplane - I couldn't have been happier.  Henry is old enough now where he can stay busy for a much longer period of time (and thank God for iPads, huh?) and Lydia slept a little, ate a little, and smiled a little - her normal routine :)  The people around us were all giggling when Henry kept asking, "When are we going to blast off?" or "When are we going to blast down?" for the takeoff and landing.  

Henry WOULD NOT take off his hat and sunglasses for the entire trip, seriously, he even swam with them on one day!  So, he got these new sunglasses for the trip, and they had holograms of a skull-and-crossbones on them.  He loved them!  He got numerous compliments on them as soon as we got to Florida (note: we were already IN Florida when these conversations were occuring) - in the airport, at Target, and at our hotel.  Each conversation went like this....."Wow, those are some fancy sunglasses you have on" and then Henry would reply, "Yeah, we're going to Florida today."  Some people thought it was cute and some were just confused!

I just love how at this age, we don't have to plan anything big on a vacation - all we need is a huge open space to play (aka, the beach).  

Our days pretty much consisted of the following - go for a walk, play on the beach, go swimming, watch the surfers on the surf simulator, go out to eat - yep, that's it - pretty low key.

We stayed right on Clearwater Beach, which is voted one of the top beaches in the US, and that white sand really was beautiful!     

On the first morning we were out there, Henry "fell in" the Gulf of Mexico as he was running around - brrrrrrrr.

Each day, we would have our snacks out on our patio.  We had an ocean-view room, so it was very peaceful out there.  

They had this small kiddie pool, and on one of the colder mornings, Henry, of course, couldn't wait to get in.  He had the pool all to himself that morning!  Note - can't take those sunglasses off.  

Up on the 16th floor was a hot tub and a beautiful area to lay out and relax, or eat your snacks/lunch as we did here.

The first evening we were there, we found a mini golf course, good times.  

Lydia pretty much lived in the Baby Bjorn for the entire trip, and took it all in like a champ.

The mini golf course had a huge tank of live alligators that you could feed - about 25 of them, and they were 2-3 feet long.  They ate chicken hotdogs, yummy.  Phil had to help Henry hold onto the pole.  I did enjoy watching this!

This pic was taken at the Mexican restaurant we visited one night - which we decided was the best eats we had on the trip.  Note - hat and sunglasses are ON, ha!

4 month stats

Miss Lydia got to visit Dr. Sakkal today for her 4 month check-up.  Henry came along too and was singing Doc McStuffins' "time for your check-up" song the whole time (you moms of toddlers who watch the Disney Channel out there will know exactly what song I'm talking about)!  

Length: 24 1/2 inches

Weight: 14 pounds

Head: 16 1/2 inches 

All are right around the 50th percentile.  

Dr. Sakkal said I must have some high-calorie, nice and fattening milk for her.  Must be my evening bowl of ice cream every night, right?!  He said it was totally up to me if I wanted to start her on any solids but he didn't think it was necessary right now with how well she's doing, and I agree.  Maybe I'll revisit it in a month, we'll see?

Here's a picture from yesterday's walk outside.  It was 40 degrees and beautiful.  We were out for an hour.  Lydia was loving just sitting in the stroller like a big girl and Henry was loving sledding with the neighbor boys! 

I'll leave you all with the chorus from Doc McStuffins herself - "I'm gonna check your ears, check your eyes, find out how much you've grown......time for your check-up"!  Ha!

4 months

Little sister (as Henry and I refer to her too often during the day) is 4 months old already?!  

Unprompted and out of the blue one day,  Henry says, "I just love my baby sister.....as much as I love hot dogs.....and cheeseburgers!"  

Here are a couple of my other favorite quotes from that special big brother:

"You're just as cute as a little berry!"  

"Sweetie, you're just getting SOOOO big!"  

Her 3-6 months clothing is getting pretty small for her, and she's mostly in 6 month clothes now.  Size 2 diapers.  Still eating 5-7 times/24 hours.  

I'm definitely noticing more hand control with her toys now - reaching for them and bringing them to her mouth.  She's getting a little drooly too, or as Henry calls it - "she's dripping!" 

She's developed a lovely (and quite loud, for that matter) squawk, which I remember Henry doing as well.  Gotta love testing out those vocal cords, right?!  I love how her eyes light up when she does it, like she's saying, "Hey, do you guys hear this?  This is awesome!"  Well, they must get their loud talking from their Mother!

I think her night-time sleeping habits may have gotten worse over the last month :(  She's pretty much in bed by 7:30pm every night and she used to last until 3, 4, or even 5am at times, before needing to eat.  It seems like lately, she's been up around 1-2am instead, boo.  I'm ready for more sleep!!  She takes 2-3 naps each day and when she's not napping, she's as content as can be still :)  (as I write this a few days after her 4-month birthday, I've started giving her a pacifier at night and it's making a huge difference = more sleep for Mama, yessss, let's hope it continues)

swimming lessons

Henry is about half way through his session of swimming lessons at the Shoreview Community Center.  Now that he's 3 years old, he no longer needs a parent in the water with him - wahoo!  Lydia and I just sit back and sip our coffee for 35 minutes - it's fabulous!  He really is a fish and just loves the water :) He's in the preschool class, but his teacher said he should sign up for Level 1 next session.  

This is a perfect picture of him - he's kicking/splashing like a crazy person, the other kids are shielding their eyes and he can't stop smiling and probably screaming too!

Ring Around the Rosie :)