Destination Portofino

This time tomorrow, this is where I'll be! Well, hopefully we'll have made it by this time tomorrow. We might still be in the car, trudging along, but who knows? I'm so excited. I am totally ready for some Florida sunshine, sand, and waves. I think I've also managed to get Aidan equally amped about the trip. He loves playing in the water and he loves playing in dirt, so transitioning to sand shouldn't be too difficult for him. He's been to the beach before, but this will be the first time he's really big enough to do very much. It's also the first time we'll be near a beach when he's been old enough not to need to sleep half of the day away. It's time to have some fun!

Of course, we have to do the big drive first. I hope it's not too bad. Please let Aidan stay happy in the car tomorrow! Please let Neely stay happy in the car tomorrow, too. If she decides to throw a fit, I'm the only one who suffers.

Oh, yes, and I (of course) want John to make it home safely first.

Parks and Planes

Ah, the spray park. It may look glamorous and fun, but this particular one is surrounded with mud that could probably swallow a small child whole. Within minutes of arriving, Aidan was stomping around the perimeter and lost one of his fancy new Nike beach shoes that his Granny sent him. It was a tragedy. I thought I knew about where he'd lost it, because he stopped his progression through the puddles and stared at the ground for a minute. That was when I noticed that he only had one shoe on. I and several other mothers and children searched through the gooey mess, to no avail. In one spot, I sunk into the mud almost up to my knee! I did manage to find someone else's missing shoe, so if you know anybody who lost a black Croc with a broken strap at the A.C. Steere spray park, it's there now. You can see it hanging out in the background behind Aidan.

I don't think Aidan had as much fun as he would have if he'd still had his shoes. The ground and the rest of the playground (that was without water) was very hot, and Aidan was pretty much confined to the spray park...where he was afraid to actually play in the water. He was only interested in the puddles. Go figure. That's what got him in trouble to begin with.

When we got home, the fun continued. I gave Aidan some Cheerios for his snack, and without my knowing it, he also got hold of a tube of Ritz crackers. The next thing I know, both are being loaded into his Little People airplane as cargo. Yum! Thank goodness for vacuum cleaners, because that is one mess that I would not have wanted to deal with otherwise. John needs to come home soon! The mischief only seems to escalate in his absence. I love my two year old, I love my two year old, I love my two year old...

Lil' Tiger

I was cleaning up after dinner when Aidan snuck up behind me carrying his little plastic golf club and ball saying, "I show you, Mommy." He pulled me into the living room, where he proceeded to carefully place the ball on the floor and hit it with his golf club. His Daddy and his Papa will be so proud. Of course, I had to get an action shot. This is one of just a couple that I was able to get, because Hank kept sneaking up and trying to steal the ball from him!

And on a totally different note, I have finally heard from John again. They are trying to make it back to Barksdale by Saturday. I hope they really do! I want my baby back (baby back, baby back...).

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone that has called to check on us today for your concern and your prayers. John may be hanging out with the kangaroos for a little bit longer than we expected, but at least I know that he is safe. Please continue to pray for the families and friends of those who were on board the jet yesterday, and for everyone involved with the search and recovery in Guam. All in all though, I really wanted to express my gratitude to everyone who has been thinking of us. It's been a very emotional day.

Girls Night!

It was mani/pedi night with our Caregroup at my house tonight. It was so much fun! Well, when I wasn't trying to keep Aidan from pilfering and throwing bottles of nail polish, I was having fun.

We had five gals crowded around our bathtub soaking their feet at one point. It was quality. My tootsies are so pretty now. I may not need to go get a pedicure before our beach trip after all!

Summer (so far)

Ah, summer. I love it. It's hard to believe that it's nearly August, retailers are already selling school supplies, and kids go back to school in mere weeks. At least that's something I don't have to worry about for a few years yet. Anyway, I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from our summer so far...

We picked blueberries...

We went fishing...

And we've celebrated!

I'm sure most of my posts will be more mundane than this, but I wanted to share a little of what we've been doing lately!