Florida 2009!

The blog is in desperate need of an update ... I just haven't had the time to do it lately. Especially since I know how many pictures I need to post from our trip to Florida! We left on June 26th (also Peter's 30th birthday) and flew to Jacksonville to stay with my brother and his wife. A few days before we left we heard from my parents that they were no longer going to make it down - as had been planned previously - my Dad was swamped at work. We were disappointed, but planned to enjoy our vacation anyway. The day after we arrived, we got a phone call from my parents who were in their hotel room about 10 minutes away! Things had worked out at the last minute, so they flew down and surprised us! I was very happy that they could make it .. I really wanted them to see Ainsley and have her spend some time with her Grandparents.

But - back to our vacation ... so, the first few days were spent shopping, and swimming. My brother, my Dad, Peter, Sharon and myself all came down with a weird 24 hour bug of some sort which required constant sleeping! It was awful, but it was good that there were extra hands around to help take care of Ainsley. We're still not sure if she had it or not - she had one rough night and I am thinking that perhaps she did have the same stomach ache that the rest of us had. Thankfully that was over with fairly quickly and we were able to get on with our trip. Here are some shots of our first trip to the pool ... of course, we played in the playground a bit before our swim : )






During the first week we took 2 days and went down to Orlando, about 2 hours away, so we could do some more shopping and hit the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. Aside from the heat, and the crowds it was a fantastic day. Ainsley was able to go on many of the rides and also had a nice long nap in her stroller.






Ainsley had a lot of fun exploring 'Poohs Thotful Spot', a little play area for toddlers. When a bigger kid tried to push past her as she walked through the little tree house, she just pushed him right back - he looked at her, and then gave her the right of way!!






On the 4th of July we went to the beach in the evening to watch the fireworks .. we, of course, had a swim in the ocean first! Ainsley wasn't too sure about the waves, or the taste of saltwater (she swallowed more than we would have liked!), but she sure loved walking along the sand and flinging it in every direction!







We also made a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo with Ainsley. We saw giraffe feeding time up close, and Ainsley also got to help Peter brush a little goat. Peter also took her into an aviary where she watched several birds fly around, and was particularly fascinated by the lorikeet (we didn't get any pics of this though). I think Ainsleys' favorite part of the day was when she was able to get out of her stroller to explore the kids play area on her own two feet!









On our last night in Jacksonville (my parents had left the day before), we went out to the beach for one last stroll - and some dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. It was sooooo good!!






Now we are home again and back to our usual routine ... Peter has been super busy playing baseball for two different teams. Our church team 'Soul Swingers' is playing in a tournament this weekend and we've won the first three games! We've got at least one more game today, and if we win, they'll play one last game for the championship!

As you could see in the photos, Ainsley is now walking! She started just before we left for Florida and is getting very quick. She loves to 'run' away from us and loves when we chase her! She is also very much into playing peek-a-boo these days, saying 'hi' and waving (at absolutely everybody we see!), and she can say what a monkey says - 'ah ah ah' ... we're working on what a dog says : ) She continues to love books and will now bring one to me so I can read it for her; another favorite thing is music of any kind - she will clap and dance as soon as she hears it. It could be something as simple as a cell phone ring tone - very cute! Its amazing how much she can understand what we are saying to her too. If I tell her to go get her ball, she'll go get her ball. Or if I ask her if she's ready to go to bed, she nods and walks towards her room! She is picking up on things very fast and is smarter and cuter everyday : )

We have another trip to Cincinnati in a few weeks for a wedding, so I'm sure there will be lots more tales of our adventures after that!

Team PM & Ainsley