Our Last Full Day in Florida

Saturday morning Ty decided he wanted to run with me so I had Carter wake him up once I was ready. Paul had gone out kayaking earlier in the morning and was returning as we were leaving. He decided to come with us. He and Ty ran up in the sand and I ran down in the waves as they splashed up on the shore. The waves were much bigger than they had been the other 2 days I ran. On Friday I was down much lower on the beach so I could run along in a little bit of water as it splashed up. There were small walls spaced out on the beach with about 4 segments. I was jumping over the 2nd segment of the wall on Friday, but on Saturday the tide was so high I was able to run to the side of the wall or jump over the 4th segment. With such a high tide I didn't see any cool sea shells like I had previously and was a bit bummed because I brought Carter a sea shell back from both of my previous runs. We did see a couple jellyfish washed up on the shore though.

Back at the beach house we were discussing whether we wanted to spend the morning at the beach or find an attraction to check out. Paul reminded me of the big waves and I figured Carter would be afraid to get in the water, so we decided to check out an Alligator Attraction. There were lots of 1-2 year old and 2-3 year old alligators and one big 10 year old alligator. We even got to see some 2 week old hatchlings. They had poles with bits of hot dog for us to feed the young alligators and Carter loved it! When we'd seen everything there was to see we decided to drive around for a bit and came across a playground. We stopped to let Carter play and after a while he decided he wanted to check out the beach where he was amazed by the waves and we saw a jellyfish washed up on the shore.

Feeding the alligators

Playing at a park by the beach.

Walking across a bridge to the beach.

After Carter's nap, Ty and I took him for a walk on the beach. He walked some on his own, stopped and searched for sea shells, and I carried him into the waves with me. We ate Mexican for dinner and then got in the pool at our beach house when we got back. Carter floated in a special toy his grandparents got him and laughed as his grandma went under the water. I took him up for a bath after swimming and Uncle Paul brought glow sticks up and turned off the lights so Carter could play with them in the bath. I put Carter down in grandma's bed and he was going to sleep with her, but he woke up when she came to bed and couldn't fall back to sleep so he came to bed with me and Ty.

Ready for a walk on the beach with mommy and daddy.

Loving a shoulder ride!

Such a beautiful view!

Checking out the high tide.

Searching for sea shells.

Braving the waves!

At dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Another Day at the Beach

Tuesday morning I again got up and went for a run. The day before when we walked to the beach I realized it was a short enough distance that I could run barefoot to the beach and then run along the sand in the water as the waves washed up. It was less than a tenth of a mile across pavement before I reached sand and it was so worth it to run barefoot so I could get down into the water. There were short walls every once in a while on the beach and I enjoyed jumping over them and landing in water on the other side, pretending I was running the steeplechase. I found a huge shell which I tucked into my shorts so I could take it back and show it to Carter. He was in awe!

After my run we ate breakfast and played in the pool for a while as everyone got ready for the beach. Carter hadn't slept very well and woke up multiple times during the night to play with my hair and roll around. I thought that contributed to him being afraid of the water when he hadn't been the day before. He spent most of his time in the sand. I finally made the connection that Carter had the most fun when Ty was in the water with us the day before so I asked Ty to come out with us and sure enough Carter was back to splashing and laughing rather than crying and screaming for mommy to pick him up. I totally get it, there's just something about your daddy that makes you feel safe!

Trying out a beach chair in Amanda and Paul's beach tent.

Love his little legs crossed!

Such an amazing view!

Getting all the sand sprayed off before going inside.

The highlight of the day came in the evening as we were making dinner. I took Carter outside to watch Ty grill and Paul said he saw a dolphin in the ocean right by our backyard. We had seen dolphins in the water, but never up too close. Paul went running for the dock and I looked out at the water realizing the dolphin was right up against the pier by our beach house. Rocky carried Carter and we all stood around watching as the dolphin swam up and down the pier. As it would surface we got a good look and were even able to make out scars on its side. At one point the dolphin surfaced and blew water out of its blow hole right by Carter, startling him. It was so cool to hear it blow water and to watch it swim. We were all transfixed and even sat and waited for it to return long after it was gone. I was too busy enjoying the moment to take any pictures. I thought about running for my phone to get a video, but I didn't want to miss out on seeing it for a single moment. Before Carter went to bed we watched family videos from when Ty and Paul were little. Carter stood right in front of the tv and would point at the screen saying "baby!"

Snuggling his blanket during naptime.

Watching daddy as a baby.  He couldn't get close enough!

Carter Sees the Beach

Thursday morning I woke up with Carter cuddled against me in the bed. As I rolled out of bed to go to the bathroom, Carter rolled over to snuggle up to Ty. It was adorable! I came back to bed and worked on a blog post until Carter woke up. Then I got him ready and headed out for a 3 mile run. I took the road leading from our beach house up to John's Pass, ran along the pier and then down onto the beach. It was so cool to run along the ocean with the waves splashing up onto my shoes. I saw a horseshoe crab and a jellyfish washed up on the beach and even picked up a seashell for Carter. It was the most fun I've had on a run since Washington D.C.!

Carter all snuggled up into daddy!

I came back to Carter wandering around in Uncle Paul's shoes. We ate some delicious French Toast Casserole Amanda made and then prepared for the beach. I was so excited to see what Carter thought of the ocean and the sand and couldn't wait to get there! We were the first ones ready so I took Carter out to the swimming pool as we waited. When it was time to go Carter cried because I made him get out of the pool. I explained where we were going would be even better!

Trying out Uncie Paul's shoes.

Doesn't get any cuter than that!

Ready for the beach!

Carter immediately loved the sand. I had put his swim shoes on because I figured he wouldn't like the sand on his feet. We might try it barefoot later. It took him a long time to get to the water because he would stop to grab handfuls of sand and throw them in the air. When he finally made it to the water he laughed and his eyes bugged out as he got hit by waves. Anytime Ty swam by he laughed and when Amanda would swim away he would yell auntie after her. 

Grabbing hand fulls of sand.

Running out to grandpa in the ocean.

Not sure about the waves at first.

He loved the water when it was calm.

He preferred to have a hold of someone on each side.

After a while in the water he got distracted by birds on the shore and took off chasing after them. It was so cute to watch him run along after the birds. Once he was in the sand again we played with some sand toys Leina and Rocky brought for Carter. He had a blast using the sifter to find seashells in the sand. It was getting close to lunchtime at that point so we headed back to the beach house, ate lunch, played in the pool, and then Carter went down for a nap.

Chasing birds.

Screaming typically lets them know to fly away.

Digging in the sand with toys grandma and grandpa packed.

Grandpa helped him build a sandcastle.

When Carter woke up we played around for a while and then headed back out to John's Pass to walk around, shop, and eat ice cream. I let Carter pick out a sea urchin and a starfish at one store for souviniers and Leina bought Carter a shirt. Leina and I got ice cream and were walking back to meet up with everyone else when a sea gull dive bombed at Leina, attempting to knock the ice cream out of her hand so it could eat it. Back at the house Amanda made vegetable chili for dinner and then Carter and I played in the pool while everyone else went to a wine tasting at a local liquor store. While we were in the pool we saw lightning in the distance so we got out and headed up to the balcony to watch, hoping the storm would roll through and we could get back in the pool. Unfortunately it was time for Carter to get a bath and go to bed before the storm let up. He fell asleep really quickly after our busy day!

Trying out the ice cream truck.

Taking a bite of my ice cream.

Shoulder rides with daddy are the best!

Waiting for the storm to blow by.

Our First Day in Florida

Wednesday morning Carter slept until 8 am Florida time, 7 am our time. Amanda was teaching a Barre class and invited me to go so he got to enjoy the morning with daddy and Uncle Paul. They played at the park, got wet, and ate a bunch of raisins. By the time Amanda and I got back around 11:00 Carter was referring to Paul as Uncie. We all played while Amanda packed for our trip to Mediera Beach. Ty's parents flew straight through with no layover, picked up a rental van, ate lunch, and arrived a little after noon. We loaded up the van, installed the car seat Amanda had borrowed from a friend, and headed to our rental house at the beach! Poor Carter man woke up about an hour after falling asleep for a nap just screaming. We stopped and I realized he had horrible diaper rash as I changed his diaper. The only thing we could think of was that he had a lot of apple juice on the plane which may have irritated his skin.

Checking out the motorcycle with daddy and Uncie Paul.

Playing a the neighborhood park with Uncie Paul.

His new thing is hanging onto things without help!

Asleep in the car seat Auntie Amanda borrowed from a friend.

We got to the beach house around 4:00 and were so excited to check it out. We made up a grocery list and headed out to eat dinner and pick up groceries. We went to an area called John's Pass and walked around for a bit before deciding on Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co for dinner. I really wanted fish since it was a seafood restaurant and decided on Jenny's Catch with Lobster Butter Sauce which was tilapia and was delicious! After the meal our waitress asked if anyone at our table was a Forrest Gump Trivia Expert. I said I wasn't an expert, but loved the movie. She started reeling off  trivia from the movie and I shocked myself and everyone else when I knew almost all the answers. Paul later told Ty that when I was getting all the answers right he was sure we were going to win a free dessert!

Ready to check out John's Pass in his beach attire!

I took the sunglasses along just for him to play with, but he loved them!

After dinner we walked back along John's Pass and then headed to the grocery store to pick up food for the rest of the week. Carter did amazingly well during our shopping trip even though he was tired and was having diahrrea. He started calling Amanda auntie while we were shopping. He would see Paul and Amanda and yell "auntie, uncie!" Once back at the beach house Carter wanted to check out the pool and the ocean behind the house and then it was time for a bath and bed. When I went downstairs after putting Carter down I was excited to see everyone sitting around watching Forrest Gump. The trivia questions had made them all want to watch the movie. I stayed up for a while and then was struggling to keep my eyes open so I bowed out early.

Walking along John's Pass with daddy and grandpa.

Fist bumps for grandma.

Enjoying time with Uncie Paul.

I love it when Carter grabs onto your shirt with his fist, so precious!