Key West Summer 2013 - Week 1

We are SO excited to be in Key West, especially since we had to cancel last year's trip when Carl broke his foot. There has been a lot of rain so far, which kind of stinks, but we are still having a good time! (How can you NOT have fun in Key West?!?)

Our trip down was a bit tough. We left late and poor Preston got sick on the plane. During the drive to Key West, both boys only slept part of the way and Preston whimpered a lot, which was really sad. Thankfully, we made it safely here. (We also saw three key deer, which was pretty cool!)

Preston had fun for the first few minutes of the plane ride to Fort Lauderdale. Sadly this did not last long. 

Traveling to Key West made Evan super sleepy. (He was also super cute as he slept!)

It was raining when we woke up, so we got our grocery shopping out of the way. Once it stopped raining, we went to Higgs Beach. Preston got in the ocean for the first time and he LOVED it! (It was too cold for him in November, when he went to the beach for the first time.) He puts his face in the water, crawls through the waves, splashes and giggles. Of course, Evan had a great time too. We also had some pool time and later, we went a walk and got ice cream.

It was raining when we woke up on Wednesday too, so we had to stay at the house for awhile. Thankfully, Brooke helped Evan get out of his sad mood and the two of them played, while I got organized and Carl worked. When the rain stopped, we all played in the pool. While the boys napped, I showed Brooke Duval Street and then we all went swimming. We went to the White Street Pier in the evening and someone was kind enough to let Evan use their pole and go fishing!(Evan has been asking to go fishing for a long time, so he was thrilled!) We ended the night with fun on the playground and dinner at Salute.

On Thursday, we woke up to sunshine! I took the boys to play at the playground and then Brooke and Evan swam for awhile before lunch. We then went to the beach and pool at The Reach, where Evan built a sandcastle and Preston had fun playing in the waves. After naps and dinner, we went to Mallory Square, where we saw some pretty cool shows. Evan said he liked them all, but I think his favorite part was the dog that took tips and placed them in the bucket. I really liked the guy that juggled fire while riding a very tall unicycle!

On Friday morning, we all headed down to the marina, so that Evan could see the tarpon. We were able to see lots of fish, including some really big tarpons, parrot fish, and sergeant majors. The best part of our trip to the marina happened as we getting ready to leave the marina. We saw a manatee! The manatee swam slowly around the marina for a long time and we got to see it really well, especially when it surfaced for air. It was SO cool! It was the first time any of us had seen a manatee in the wild and we were so excited to be able to see it!

Later in the evening, Carl and I went to The Upper Deck for dinner and then down to Sunset Pier. It was a wonderful night!

On Saturday, we all went to the beach, so Evan and Daddy could snorkel. Unfortunately, Preston rubbed sunscreen in his eyes by accident and was MISERABLE, so I took him back home. Daddy and Evan were able to snorkel though and had a great time. (Daddy saw an eagle ray!) We then spent the afternoon relaxing in the pool.

Later in the evening, Carl and Brooke ran a race. (I thought I took a picture of them before the race, but I didn't. How sad.) It was super hot, but both Carl and Brooke finished and said they had fun. While they were racing, I took the boys to watch the paddle boarding race and to get ice cream. After eating ice cream, Evan had fun taking silly pictures!

On Sunday, Carl and I took the boys to a nature center that helps sick and injured birds. It was really cool! We saw lots of birds, including pelicans, seagulls, and an egret. Of course, we also saw lots of chickens! We also walked on the nature path, where we saw several iguanas and fed the turtles. (Evan also used the food to feed the chickens! It was so cute!)

While Preston napped, Brooke and I took Evan to Casa Marina, where Evan enjoyed playing in the tide pools searching for sea life. When we came back for lunch and saw a baby iguana in our front yard! It was adorable! We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the pool.

 In the evening, Carl had to work, so Brooke and I took the boys to La Concha to see the sunset. (They are closing the deck soon and making a spa, so we were glad we got to go!) We also had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and Daddy was able to meet us for that, which was nice. On our walk back home, we went to the pier and saw a gorgeous full moon reflecting on the ocean. (Unfortunately, none of our pictures of the moon were any good. Oh well!)

I thought this would be a good point in the post to write about Evan's obsession with catching lizards! He works to catch them each day, but has only been successful once so far. (I am amazed that he caught one! Those lizards are FAST!) When he isn't catching lizards, he also likes to collect snails. (There were a bunch out during the first few days here, since it rained a lot. He now mostly catches the sea snails in the tide pools.)

Preston is cracking us up here at the house. While we are making dinner or trying to get ready he loves to climb the stairs and get into the cabinets. Needless to say, this makes getting ready tricky! At least he is having fun!

 Preston is gaining lots of new skills in this trip, including pointing at things to get our attention, learning to climb down the stairs, dancing, and holding his own bottle!

Fourth of July Fun

We planned to have tons of fun on the 4th of July with swimming, a parade, fireworks, a party etc. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. It stormed almost all day long and there was a chance of flash flooding. This meant no swimming and the parade and fireworks were cancelled. Despite our ruined plans, we still managed to have fun! Carl ran in a race in Anchorage that morning and came home sopping wet. Since he was already drenched, he offered to take Evan to do one of his favorite activities, hike to the creek and look for fossils! The two of them had a ball and saw several turtles and even got close to a deer and her fawn! Later in the day, we all had lunch at El Nopal and then ventured to Target, where Evan got his very first video game. (Skylanders was an immediate hit and Evan is now so excited to have his very own game!) Later in the day, after the boys napped, we had a party. We all had a ton of fun and we even got to set off some fireworks in the driveway. (Evan LOVES fireworks and Preston seems to be a fan as well!) Although we did not get to do all of the things we planned, we still had a great time!

(Carl was off the rest of the weekend as well, and we had lots of family time, which included a trip to Henry's Ark, dinner and fireworks with the Willams family, a date night for me and Carl and a swim meet!)

Evan and Daddy liked finding lots of fossils, as well as seeing the wildlife. (If you look closely, you can see the deer and her fawn in the second picture. Evan and Daddy were able to get super close to them!)

Lunch at El Nopal was a great idea on a rainy day!

Our Fourth of July party was lots of fun, although we did miss the Goff family and Uncle Ron.

 

The driveway fireworks show was a hit!

These pictures were from our trip to Henry's Ark. Evan has always enjoyed feeding the animals and this time, Preston got in on the action! Each time we got close to an animal, Preston would happily kick his legs and squeal with delight. It was adorable!

Evan's First Swim Meet

Evan LOVES to swim. In fact, he spent the entire fall, winter, and most of the spring asking when the pool was FINALLY going to be open again! Evan wanted to be a part of the swim and dive team this summer and so we decided to let him give it a try. He has enjoyed going to practice and he recently had his first meet. Although he is still working on getting enough qualifying dives to dive in a meet, he was able to swim in two races! (Coach Bryce says that Evan is progressing really well for his age, so we are really pleased with his new diving skills.) Evan's first race was a relay race and his second race was freestyle swimming. Although his relay team did not place and he did not place in his individual race, he did his very best and never gave up! We are so proud of Evan and we can't wait to see his progress this summer!

Evan was super excited for his first meet! (Go, HCCC Lightning!)

Way to go, Evan!

Evan had fun at the meet with his good buddy, Jackson.

Evan was happy to receive his ribbon for racing. (We were happy for him! How cute!)

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day was celebrated on three different days, since Grandpa was on call on Father's Day and Heather's family had plans on Father's Day evening, which is when it would have worked best for us to celebrate. It all worked out just fine though, since we had lots of fun celebrating each special dad!

We started off our celebrations on Friday, with Granddaddy. Since Heather was not feeling well, we had takeout at her house. The kids were a bit fussy, but the night ended well with everyone having fun with water rockets!

On Saturday, I started Carl's Father's Day celebration with date night. Carl and I went to dinner at Mojitos and  enjoyed a walk at the park. On Sunday, Carl got to sleep in and then we surprised him with his gifts. The rest of the day included storms, but Evan enjoyed movie date with Bonnie Mom and as a family we enjoyed watching Evan learn to play golf and playing games. Although it was nothing too exciting, it was just what Carl wanted and he said the day was just right.

We were finally able to celebrate Father's Day with Grandpa at the pool on Thursday. We all had a lot of fun, but I think Evan and Preston probably had the best time of all. Evan enjoyed getting thrown in the water by Grandpa, Teddy, and Daddy and Preston LOVED splashing in the baby pool. It was great to get together with everyone, though I spent so much time talking and playing, that I forgot to take any pictures! Oh well! We know we had a good time!


Father's Day with Granddaddy

Father's Day Weekend with Daddy

Evan LOVED getting a golf lesson from Daddy. (Evan ADORES his Daddy and wants to be just like him!)

Evan found this cute baby toad on Father's Day and he was so happy that he was able to catch it!

 

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

Evan has been asking to go to the pool ever since it closed last September, so of course we took him to the pool the day that it opened. Of course, he loved every second he was there, even though he was so cold that his lips turned blue! Thankfully, the weather warmed a bit by Monday, which made swimming much more enjoyable for Evan. (The water still felt cold to me and to Carl!)

When we were not at the pool, we spent a lot of time being outside. We went to Hays Kennedy Park and played on the playground and walked to see the river. Evan and Daddy also went on another hike to the creek to look for more fossils. (Preston and I started the hike with Daddy and Evan, but Preston got too tired and wanted to go home and go to sleep.)

Carl and I also took the boys to Abbey Road on the River. Both of the boys enjoyed listening to the music and eating snacks. Evan knows many Beatles songs and he sang along and danced at times, which was adorable. Evan also enjoyed playing with other children that were there. After a couple of hours, we took the boys to Grammy and Granddaddy's house and we went back to the festival. Carl and I enjoyed our overnight date and the boys had a blast with Grammy and Granddaddy, who spoiled them rotten!

Preston thinks it is so funny to wear sunglasses! He smiles SO big when you first put his sunglasses on!

Preston does not look too happy in this picture, but I promise that he was having fun eating his snack and listening to Beatles songs.

Evan was really happy with his giant pretzel! (He cracked us up when he put it on his face and told us he had a mask!)

Once again, Preston does not look to happy, but he really did have fun!

Carl and I really enjoyed hearing all the bands. Of course, the Beatles music was our favorite, but we also really liked hearing Herman's Hermits.

Brit Beat did an AWESOME show! I loved EVERY second!

After the show, I got my picture taken with The Beatles! =) (Brit Beat was so kind to stay after the show and take pictures with the fans! I wish the picture had turned out better, but it was dark and took it with the phone camera. It is good for memories though!)