I have warned you before, if you don't like pictures of CJ, to just close your browser window. This is another one of those posts. While we were in Florida, we went non-stop, but had lots of fun. The end result is lots and lots of pictures...
We got in late last Thursday, and hit the ground running on Friday morning. Scott's favorite restaurant is McGuires, and that was a must for lunch; we hadn't been since we first got back from Japan. Since it is near the beach, we also decided to head down to the beach for a quick dip.
I wasn't going to get my feet in, but after a little convincing, I went in. It is amazing the things you would never do but then when a sweet little face looks up at you, and he signs "please" at you, you cave.
Then we headed to Uncle Buddy's house because we had special plans for the evening. CJ and Jayden played and played. (I love them looking in Kayley and Lexi's old toy chest that says girls only...so funny.)
And once CJ was in bed, we went to the main event. Even though Kayley is only in 7th grade, she is in advanced band. Once a year, they get to play with the high school band, and we couldn't miss that! It was so fun to watch her march in and play. She is already so good, and I'm not just being a proud aunt. She is the cute blond one in the front row of the first picture and she is playing right behind the color guard girls in the second picture. We were (and are) so proud of her!
Even though it was a late night, we were off again early Saturday morning. Scott hadn't been to Ft. Pickens since he was little, and we all thought it would be fun to explore. After a quick stop in the gift shop where CJ found a fun musket replica, we were off.
Scott was our tour guide and did a good job of informing us of what we were seeing at each numbered stop...
And even Nannies got in on doing things they never though they would because a little guy asked. Daddy and Papa went down into an old bomb bunker, and when CJ wanted to join them, Nannie, albeit not totally willingly, took him down a dark, damp spooky tunnel.
After that we figured out that when the boys decided to go exploring, CJ needed to leave with them. So the next time, CJ went with papa to explore the old tunnel system.
He also spent a lot of time holding onto his nannie's finger and being carried around by her. He had lots of fun playing with both his nannie and papa all morning long...
And he did some great exploring in the dry moat around the fort.
(Doesn't he look like such a big boy in this picture?!?)
And this is the face and arms spread wide for his nannie when he got back from exploring with the boys. So sweet.
Here are a few pictures of the fort. It was really cool, and I see us going back again when CJ and Biscuit (still to be named) are bigger.
When we went to the top of the fort, nannie had to put CJ down, and he was NOT happy about it!
But we got to see a really big cannon and got a great panoramic view when we got up there.
Here are a few more shots from the top of the fort that I couldn't help but share...
If you were at our wedding, you will recognize where we went next. Flounders. It was the perfect place for our rehearsal dinner and a great spot for lunch.
CJ got a "surprise" with his kids meal. I'll let you be the judge if he liked it or not...
Then CJ and daddy walked down to the water and went in for some more fun at the beach.
He really liked the waves. They would come in and he would try to catch them. It was fabulous to watch...
Then nannie came down, and the exploring was over. He only wanted to be held...
After the beach, Scott and I headed back to Uncle Buddy's to play with cousins some more.
Sunday morning we went to church and then met nannie for lunch because she had to go to work. When she got home, she and CJ played a little duet together...
That evening, we went down to the river walk. Bobbie got the boys each a brick with their name, rank and branch of service at the veteran's memorial park down by the water. Scott had never seen it, so before his rank changes again in December, he wanted to go look at them. Scott, his brother, dad, uncle, cousin and granddaddy are all together. It is really special.
While we were down there, we got to hear a bagpipe group, and have lots of fun exploring some more.
And with those cute faces, our busy weekend was over. We had a quick dinner, and then hit the road back home while CJ slept. It was a busy, but fun weekend.
