We made the trip down in 1 day. 16 hours, in a car, with a 21 month old is a lot different than 16 hours, in a car, with a 9 month old. Sleep is one difference. Screaming is another. Yikes...the last 5 hours of the trip, Cooper screamed the whole time. It was rough, but thankfully, Pops, YaYa, Tada, and all of our friends were ready to greet us when we arrived.
Doesn't this face look thrilled to be at the beach?
Actually, Cooper wasn't a huge fan of the beach. He couldn't stand to have sand of his feet and did okay in the gulf:
This was about as far as Pops got in the water with Cooper and they were right back on the shore in a few minutes.
What Cooper did love was wearing his swimmies and being thrown around in the pool. While he sometimes didn't want to stay in the pool for long (he would rather be running around or looking for lizards), he loved being underwater and would willingly put his own face in the water:
Pops and YaYa gave us passes to the Florida Aquarium for Christmas, so on Sunday, we made the trip over. It was very interesting, but I will say that taking a 21 month old whose attention span is short makes you speed through the tour as fast as you can! Cooper loved the otter playing with a fish and the '70s area that included jellyfish and boxfish, but HATED the alligator and eels. The aquarium had a touch tank and I actually touched a sea urchin and starfish (can you believe it?!?!). Because I was the photographer on the trip, we don't have any pictures of such a momentous occasion, but did get a good one of Pops petting a sting ray:
They would come right up to the tank, flip part of their fin up on the side of the tank- they were so close!
Pops, Cooper, and YaYa checking out the marine life.
Shark tank!
Cooper loved seeing his skin turn green from the lights.
Back at the hotel, all of our friends helped us keep Cooper entertained. Here, you'll see Cooper's "Mamy" (our friends' daughter, Amy), Pops, and Mr. Kent about to help Cooper check out the beach. From afar, you will notice:
Cooper loved looking for the lizards all over the hotel grounds:
And you know what's fun after a heavy rain? Playing in the gutters!
Me with my little sweetheart:
Gorgeous sunset on the last night:
Even Cooper looks sad about vacation ending:
Last year, we stayed with my godfather Mike and his wife Dixie in Atlanta on our way home, but were able to visit with Dixie's daughter Jenni and her son Tilden, who is a few months older than Cooper. It was so cute to see Tilden and Cooper interact with each other. Since then, Mike and Dixie have officially retired to Fairhope, Alabama, so Jenni graciously offered to let us stay with her and Tilden this year. Lucky us, Dixie's other daughter Katie and her son Colin were in town from Denver visiting Katie's husband Mike who is in Atlanta for training. It was just like all the summers we stayed with Mike, Dixie, Jenni, and Katie on our way to and from vacation, but add in a 2.5 year old (Tilden), 21 month old (Cooper), and 6 month old (Colin)!
Cooper and Tilden enjoying a yummy breakfast!
Jenni and Jeff doing a great job of wrangling 3 kiddos under 3!
Jenni, Katie, and me with sweet Baby Colin!
After a quick stop at Einstein Bros. Bagels (my favorite!), we were on the road and made it home around 6pm. I had enough time to get a few loads of laundry done before getting an okay night's sleep and being ready for in-service to start the next day. It's hard to believe the summer is already over and another school year is starting!
So, I leave you with the annual family picture in front of my parents' room:
Our annual family picture in front of my parents' room:
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