Final Florida Fun

Boy, have we been busy! My sister Jenna and 8 month old nephew Logan have been visiting from Arizona. She arrived on Saturday and left today. It may seem kind of silly for her to fly all this way to come see us when we will be moving out there THIS weekend, but she bought her ticket and planned this trip before we found out about Sean's deployment and our move. So, we figured it shouldn't go to waste! We really enjoyed her visit and shared a few final Florida activities.

On Monday we went to Treasure Island Beach. I will be perfectly honest, I am NOT a beach girl! I'll take the mountains and desert over the sand and surf any day. I hate the grainy, course sand that gets everywhere, the water with unseen creatures lurking in it, the bright sun, and the unrelenting heat. It is just not my idea of a good time! But all that being said, I really did want the girls to experience it before we left and my sister, who is different from me in SO many ways, is a beachy kind of gal. So we loaded up the car and the kids, slathered on the SPF 100, and made the 45 minute trek to the beach.

True to their like mother and father nature, Cassidy HATED the beach, just like her mama, and Candace was mostly indifferent, much like her dad. Granted, the girls were both cranky due to a missed afternoon nap, but I can safely say that Cassidy is NOT a beach bum. She hated the feel (and taste) of the sand, the screechy gulls, and the rushing waves. Candace was content as long as she had some Cheerios, but was not a fan of the bright sun and didn't really seem too enthralled with the water or sand. My nephew on the other hand LOVED the beach, just like HIS mama, lol! He crawled right towards the water and birds, investigated the shells and sand, and observed all of his surroundings with eager curioisity. All in all, it was an exhausting trip and I can still confidently say I am not a beach person. I will not miss it at all!!

Yesterday we took on Seaworld. It was free for our family because of the "Here's to the Heroes" program for military, but unfortunately my sister had to pay. The babies all did amazingly well the whole day, including during the 90 minute drives each way, but we did not really get our day's worth of "fun." Seaworld is NOT a baby-friendly facility! EVERY show and exhibit does not allow strollers, which means that you pretty much have to carry the babies around all day, and if they fall asleep in the stroller (which was the case with us) there is nothing you can see or do. We were there for about 5 hours and Sean and I only managed to see two shows and none of the exhibits. My sister Jenna saw a few of the exhibits while we took on baby-duty, but it was overall a waste of time and money. The highlight of the day was the pet show. All of the babies and Aidan loved watching the cute animals, Cassidy especially enjoyed the kitty cats! Seaworld is definitely a better place for older children. We took Aidan and my step-son Chase last summer when they were seven and we all had a great time. It was a much different experience with infants!

We also enjoyed a few visits with friends and their babies while my sister was here. It was great that she got to meet some of my friends and their babies! She even did a photo shoot of Damiane's twins for their first birthday at the end of this month. She got some great shots of Indira and Arjun!

It has been an exhausting, but enjoyable, week. Even though some of our activities didn't go as well as planned I really enjoyed my sister's company and the time with my adorable nephew Logan! I'm so glad we will be moving so close to them and will be able to see them on a regular basis!

The next two dyas will be busy with final moving arrangements and packing and then I will be busy getting settled in, so don't expect another post for about a week!


Beach Pics
(There are more pics of Candace because Cassidy was being held by me and whining most of the time!)



















Our ONLY Three Seaworld Pics






A Sample of Arjun & Indira's Photo Shoot
(Isn't my sister an AWESOME photographer?)