Our trip to the beach...or whatever

It had been awhile since our last beach trip with Madison so Nikki and I decided to head out to "Huguenot Memorial Park" (a beach where you can drive right up to the surf). As we were driving up there we noticed the St. John’s River nearly splashing up onto the road – we figured it was just high tide. Meanwhile Hayden is in the back seat pitching a fit like you just wouldn’t believe. Everyone in the car was about to go crazy, but have no fear! We were almost there!! We pull up to the entrance and Nikki pays the $1 to get it with a $5 bill. She gets almost all of her change back in quarters – maybe the attendant decided she looked like a college student who needed to do laundry, who knows? Anyway – we drive around to the beach and, I kid you not, there is about 9 feet of beach between the dunes and the water – there was no way we were going to chance it and end up stuck with two cranky toddlers with no way out, so we decided to turn around and head home. What a nice long, whiny-filled drive it was just so we could turn Nikki’s $5 into change!

With two heartbroken little kids in the back seat because we didn’t get to hang out at the beach, we decide to make the most of the situation and head over to Nikki’s dad’s house and swim in the pool. On our way, the sky grew increasingly dark and looked like the heavens would open up at any minute…so we decide that was a no-go. After about an hour of just driving around, changing Nikki’s money into quarters, entering Merrill Road from both sides of 9A and nearly losing our minds, we decide to park it at Nikki’s house to eat lunch and let the kiddos splash around in a little froggy pool. Hayden’s mood improved immensely after eating his sandwich (and half of mine – guess the poor kid was hungry!)

Thanks Nikki and Madison for a whirlwind of a day! We may not have seen the beach – but at least we were in good company!

Hayden...having a cow

...more cow from HaydenMadison...not happy about the cow having of Hayden
Meet "Huguenot" the frog
All's well that ends well!

Fantasy Football and Frogs

Football season is upon us! Mike convinced me to join his fantasy football league and tonight was the draft. Even though I had to pick tenth (which is not good) we still had a lot of fun just hanging out in the spare room at my in-law’s house for an hour or so. We rarely get a moment to spend with each other lately, so this really was a treat. The first game is Sunday – so let the games begin! And may the best woman win!!!

The fun-ness of the evening turned disastrous as we entered our home and a frog followed us in! The little bugger hopped inside, into Hayden’s bedroom, and under his changing table! My first thought was “Get the vacuum!” but knowing that would not be very humane of me Mike came to the rescue! However, he is just as big of a girl as I am when it comes to these things so he comes running in with my salad tongs! He didn’t want to touch it with his bare hands! Since the thing was hiding under the changing table Mike got strategically positioned as I picked up and moved the table. The little guy hopped away again and tried to hide behind the bookcase in Hayden’s room, but there wasn’t enough room. HA! We had him cornered. Mike snatched him up with the tongs and set the stinker free outside.

PHEW!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Cabin fever has already begun and it's only noon!!

Mike went shooting this morning and Hayden was particularly obnoxious today since we were trapped inside so as soon as Mike got home I took the opportunity to get a few things from Publix...alone. On my way there, in the midst of a tropical storm, I see three guys off to the side of the road with (from what I could tell) matching black shorts, running shoes and no shirts just out for a jog! It was seriously the funniest thing and I'm grateful I was able to get such a good laugh.

In other news - Hayden is making great progress in potty training! We're not really trying all that hard yet but so far today he has told me TWICE that he had to "pee pee in the potty" before actually going! Hooray!

How's that for the lame post of the week?

Augh

Great - now it's going to be a hurricane. We thought it would just be a tropical storm...but it looks like it is going farther out to sea than we had previously anticipated so that will give it plenty of time to strengthen. The last hurricane to hit Jacksonville directly was Dora in 1964 – everyone kept saying we were due…guess it’s time! Please keep us in your prayers…I’m sure we’ll be fine – but it does get quite sticky and annoying without air conditioning. To keep an eye on the storm - visit the National Hurricane Center.


So my list for tonight and tomorrow:
Wash all clothes
Make sure we have full gas tanks
Check inventory for batteries and water
Get a gas tank for the grill - burgers anyone?
Tape up sliding glass door...and aparently go buy masking tape.

"WEE" HAVE PEE PEE IN THE POTTY

For the last few weeks Hayden has been letting me know he has a "stinky bum" or "pee pee" a few minutes AFTER the fact. So today he came up and said "stinky bum" and he didn't have anything in his diaper so I plopped him on the potty. I went about my business and checked in on him a few times. He was just singing and playing with his leggos...so I sat down at the computer to check a friend's blog and he comes in to the room and says "pee pee".

We went into the bathroom and lo and behold there was PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!!!

Guess it's time for me to go out and get some stickers!

This One's Coming Right Up Our Driveway

Welcome, Fay - please don't stay too long.

I guess I'd better get my portable DVD player battery charged...looks like we're in for a nice power outage! For those of you who don't know where Jacksonville is:

Thankfully it's just a Tropical Storm...so we'll probably only see a few trees fall and some power outages...but it still stinks!

Fun at the Fire Station

Today was Jace's 3rd birthday so we went and had a tour of the Jacksonville Fire Station. I think the kids had such a good time.

Not quite sure what this heavy thing is, but it sure looks cool!

Shaking the Fireman's hand...learning that they are our friends.

Can you imagine having to climb that thing???Just hanging out in the truck.
Group shot with the friendly firemen.

So sweet

Hayden's cousin, Madison, came over to play today. They play so well together, and I will get the opportunity to have her all day Tuesdays through Fridays! We're just going to have way too much fun!

Mr. Fix-it

Daddy and Uncle Daniel were working on the yard the other day and for some reason the lawn mower wasn't working, so Hayden took a stab at it:

Just doing his job.

C'mon, Mom! Can't you see I'm working here? Get that camera out of my face!

Baking Cookies

While baking cookies with a two year old uses twice the dishes, makes twice the mess and takes twice as long...it's twice as fun!

Our Recipe for Success:

1 cup of Peanut Butter

1 cup of Sugar

1 egg

Bake 350 for 12-15 minutes