A Weekend Getaway...at the BEACH!

We had the amazing opportunity this past weekend to go to Florida for the long weekend. My parents, who are both retired now, decided to spend the month of January there and they flew us down for a weekend. We had such a wonderful time! We decided it was the perfect mix of beach, shopping, eating and relaxing! It was a great 3 1/2 days and we couldn't thank my parents enough for allowing us this opportunity.

When we arrived in Florida Friday afternoon, we dropped our stuff off at my parents rented duplex and headed straight to the beach. It was literally a block and a half down the street so we were able to walk there. We went to the beach in North Carolina when Hannah was six months old, but this was her first real experience. She took her sand toys and was off! She immediately loved digging, covering, looking for seashells and walking on the sand. Here is her first few moments at the beach.

We sat Cameron down in the softer sand and he immediately decided to try to eat the sand or whatever else he could put his hands on (this was a common recoccurance throughout the trip). Right before we left the beach that afternoon, we put him on the harder sand near the ocean and this is what happened...This is the first time he has ever crawled the correct way and headed straight for the ocean! He didn't seem to mind the sand or waves and had a good time crawling around. That evening, we went to a local fish place and had our first taste of fresh seafood. It was really yummy!

The next day was going to be cloudy and cooler so we decided to go to park that our friends told us about and then shopping at one of the two outlet malls. Here is Hannah playing on the huge playground the park had. She had a lot of fun swinging, sliding, climbing and moving.

Cameron had his first taste of a swing (since he was just a few months old) and loved it! I forsee many days at the park this spring and summer!

The rest of Saturday we shopped til we dropped at the outlet mall. There were a ton of great deals on both kids clothes and adult clothes. They already had a lot of winter stuff for sale which is great because it's still winter in Illinois. We were thankful that my mom and dad drove so they can bring the rest of the stuff home with them! It was a fun day and the kids did so great with shopping all day!

Sunday was going to be the pick weather day so we were going to spend the majority of it at the beach. We had a nice leisurely morning, ate a quick lunch, and headed down the street to the beach. It was warm enough for swimsuits this day and we took full advantage of getting some much needed Vitamin D! Our beach babe had a blast! She loved playing with Poppy in the sand and also walking along the edge of the water, even though it was a little chilly. She liked to jump over the "yittle waves" and find "kitty cat paw" seashells.

Cam spent most of his day trying to eat the sand, seashells, leaves, etc. that he could. Every time we would try to clean him off, he would look like this again...

It was a lost cause! He finally tuckered out and took a nice nap in the shade behind the chairs. This boy loves the outdoors! I think pool days this summer are going to be a ton of fun!

Tim wasn't with us on this day (he was at the tattoo parlor adding to one of his tattoos), but we did get one pic of the kids and I.

It was such a great day and overall a great weekend! We are doing a family vacation with my parents to South Carolina this summer and I know the kids will have so much fun at the beach and in the ocean. We are so thankful to my parents for sharing a weekend of their Florida trip with us. It is exactly what the Casey family needed!

A Fine Nine Months

Our mister man is nine months old and getting bigger every day! At his nine month check up, he weighed in at 25 lbs. 3 oz. (97th percentile) and was 30.5" (96th percentile). That confirms our thoughts that he is our BIG BOY! So, he is only 6 pounds heavier and about 6 inchese shorter than Hannah, his big sister by over 2 years! If he were to stay close to these percentiles, the doctors say he will be around 6 ft. 5 in. or so! Other than that, Cam still continues to be a great baby! He is loving his daddy right now and wants to be around or with Tim whenever he can. He is also experiencing a little seperation anxiety when whoever is with him leaves the room, even for a moment. He is eating great -- takes 4-6 oz. bottles and eats all table food at meals. Like his big sister, he loves mac and cheese and applesauce, but eats anything we put in front of him. He continues to move all over the place, but still isn't officially crawling on his hands and knees. That doesn't stop him though! He gets wherever he wants...and pretty quickly! He also is starting to cruise around furniture so my gut says he will be walking by or close to his 1st birthday. He still sleeps well for him getting up around 6:30 to 7:00 each morning and going to bed between 7 and 8 each evening. He usually takes a short 45 minute morning nap and a longer 2-2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. My favorite thing about Cam is his happy personality and his smiles and laughter. When he gets going, especially if it's something that Hannah is doing, he just doesn't stop. He gets so excited and moves his legs and arms around like crazy! He also is working on doing "So big!" while raising his arms above is head! This has been such a fun month and I know it will just continue as we inch towards his 1st birthday!

Peech Dool!

For those of you that don't speak Hannah language, that is "speech school" and today was her first official day. We have been talking about going for a few days and this morning, that is exactly what Hannah was yelling in excitement. Yes honey, and that is why you are going...because you call it "peech dool!" I know one of these days, she will say all her words correctly and this will be another memory of her growing up. She was so excited when she got to school and went straight to Mrs. Beer, her therapist, and walked down the hall. Such a big girl! Whatever happens next year with preschool, I think she will be ready! Here is our big girl with her new bookbag for speech school!