Festivities

How many fall festivals can you attend in one weekend?  We crashed 3!!  Seabreeze was fun, but we only caught one picture.  One worth catching…Isla leading her brother over to the fun zone. 

The Zoo spooktacular was, well, spectacular!  Isla was ready to go with her hot pink pail and Leo was feeding off of her excitement.  Once we got there, however, it was a different story.  Leo sat frozen in the stroller while Isla trick-or-treated and danced her way through the zoo. 

(The Pnut was ready too.  And was cuter than any owl on display)

Brannon, Heather, and Ava came along as well and the cousins had a wonderful time together looking at the hundreds of carved pumpkins and the kids dressed up in their costumes. 

Riding the carousel wasn’t bad either…

Like I said, sat frozen the whole time. 

The next night we headed over to Beaches Chapel for their fall festival.  They had bounce houses, face painting, cake walks, hotdogs, cotton candy and more.  Leo, bless his little heart, still needs a year or two before he’s brave enough for all the crazy fun but Isla jumps in head first.  He will, however, be the first to step up to a craft table.  It’s safe and grounded.  They painted cards and pumpkins for Mommy and Daddy. 

Palmer was once again strapped on to Mommy but he loves it and loves Coach too….

Because the pumpkin patches will be gone next week I had to take the boys for one last hurrah.  And this time, Leo climbed the haystacks and slid down.  One small step for him, but huge in Mommy’s eyes.

This one….he’s going to be 6 months old tomorrow.  Seriously?  How can that be?  It’s about time for us to have another one right?  Ha, that’s everyone’s response.  But, Me?  I’m enjoying these 3 miracles God has blessed me with and loving every second of life RIGHT NOW.  Palmer is amazing.  He is such a happy baby boy and smiles at everything.  He “talks” himself to sleep and even starts while he’s nursing.  It’s hilarious.  He loves peas, green beans, pears, and prunes.  He sits up and even lunges for toys.  He still wont roll from his back to front but maybe he’ll just skip that all together.  Isla and Leo didn’t crawl until they were 8 months old so he’s got 2 months to prepare.  In the meantime he’s busy grabbing mommy’s hair and lips while I’m feeding him.  I kiss his precious palm and he laughs every time.  I love this age and cherish every second of him.

Halloween is Monday…we can’t wait!!!

Fort Clinch

Sunday morning we woke up and decided to take a family adventure somewhere out of the ordinary.  Our choices were St. Augustine or Fernandina.  We chose the latter.  This is mainly because it also came with a Ferry ride and the kids had never been on the Mayport Ferry before.  After Palmer’s morning nap we suited up and headed out.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  The Ferry ride was a lot faster than I ever remember it being.  We didn’t even have time to unbuckle the kids to let them out of the car.  Not that they would have gotten out anyway especially after the Captain blew the horn.  Everyone jumped and it made poor Palmer cry.  It was fun though and I know the kids enjoyed it.  Once on the other side of the ditch we started seeing a lot of cyclists on the road.  Come to find out we picked the wrong day to drive up to Fernandina, the day of the 2011 Fernandina Triathlon.    The cycling/running portion ran the entire drive up there.  It was almost laughable how slow we were driving as to not hit the hundreds of cyclists on the road.  We finally made it to the entrance of the fort but we weren’t out of the woods yet…this was the running portion of the race.  At least the race provided entertainment for Isla and Leo.  They just watched the athletes out of their windows and never once asked for us to put in a DVD.  After an hour of driving we were finally able to get out of the car and stretch our legs.  Everyone got to pick out a treat for being so patient on the drive up (and because we were all starving)!  John got some nutter butters, I chose a Snickers ice cream bar, Isla picked a strawberry shortcake bar, and Leo devoured his ice cream sandwich before we even stepped inside the fort.  The fort was really interesting to see.  I thought maybe Isla and Leo would be bored after like 5 minutes but they were the ones wanting to see every single room in the place.  They loved it!  My little history buffs.  We climbed stone walls, discovered secret tunnels and passage ways, saw the old jail, the cannon ball chamber, the laundry room, the outhouses (Isla was very inquisitive about how they went potty without a toilet), the hospital where they amputated people’s legs after giving them whiskey as anesthesia, the Captain’s quarters and more.  It was so peaceful being out there on the ocean with the breeze blowing and learning about the history that took place at Fort Clinch…

(like I said, DEVOURED it)

(The pnut even enjoyed himself)

After our history lesson we drove to a little outside café for lunch.  We sat under a tin roof while a million acorns fell one by one overhead.  It was hilarious and we jumped every time one landed with a thud.  We decided to take I95 on the way home and Isla, Leo, and Palmer were out like a light as soon as we took off.  It was such a great family outing  and really one of my favorite days.  We’ll be back, Fernandina!