Two Weeks Ago...

...Mark and I were in Ft. Lauderdale, FL! Mark surprised me with the trip two months prior on Valentine's Day. It was fun to look forward to!

We flew down early on Friday morning and were walking on the beach by lunchtime. (The beach is across the street from this restaurant.) Mark had picked out a darling little hotel just a block's walk from the beach and shopping/dining strip!

Our first day was the sunniest and we took advantage by walking on and laying out (for about an hour). The water was still just too chilly for me to really get in but Mark braved it.

Not sure if you can see it, but our hotel is the short third building back. It was totally charming; I'd recommend it!

Saturday we purchased day passes for the touristy Water Taxi. This may have been my favorite thing we did! It was fun to ride in and out of "Florida's Venice", gawking at HUGE homes (and being told who lived in them, such as the inventor of Alka Seltzer :) and yachts and who owned them (such as the founder of Yankee Candles, owner of the yacht "Paraffin").

Aboard the water taxi, on the way to a popular shopping district along Las Olas Blvd.

Our favorite meal atmosphere was at a restaurant called Mancini's. It was outdoor seating under twinkle lights with live music. Yummy Italian food, too! Our last full day, Sunday was really rainy so we enjoyed a museum, caught a movie, and stumbled across a neat little ethnic restaurant that was once featured on Rachael Ray's "40 Dollars a Day"'. It's specialty was Argentinian empanadas. The weather wasn't ideal for visiting the beach, but we were still thankful to enjoy some time away for just the two of us!

The Zoo

Two weeks ago, we decided to take James to the zoo! There was a great forecast--sunny and warm but not too hot. We talked up the zoo all the way there but were pretty sure James didn't know what to expect.

His reactions weren't as 'big' as we were anticipating, but we know he enjoyed it all the same! There was just so much to see!

James' first favorite animal was this tall giraffe statue. I think he was just excited to get really close to something at last.

Checking out the lemurs, just like in the movie Madagascar! I'm not sure he made the connection, although we pointed it out.

It was really tough to get him to sit still for even a second! We had taken a picnic lunch, which worked out great! Sitting at a table next to the train tracks was also a highlight for James.

This little monkey was really active (maybe more than James :) and swung really close to the glass, which was perfect for James.

You can't really go wrong with a petting zoo. In this photo James was pointing at his eyes, mouth, nose...

As we guessed, James was zonked out about one minute after pulling out of the parking lot! What a fun outing! I'm sure he'll love it even more next time around, as he'll know what to look forward to!

Spring Flowers

On Easter Sunday we ran to the hardware store to pick up some flowers to plan around our little trees in the front yard. Mark built the nice stone circular beds around them last year and we were looking for something that would add a little color and have nice coverage. We decided on creeping phlox. James REALLY got into the digging part. He was grubby from head to toe. Literally; in the hair, in the toes. He even sampled some of the dirt (which really grossed me out--I don't care how typical it is of little boys).

I ended up taking photos and attempting to corral and manage James. Planting flowers 'family style' probably wasn't the most productive way to accomplish the task, but it was memorable!

James had a hard time keeping from chewing on or throwing the mulch.

His favorite part (by far) was learning that water comes out of the hose! And that he gets to drink it!! It takes a lot of coaxing to get him to drink much water out of his sippy cup (he loves milk) but he will chug it out of the hose or a straw. Funny boy...

Easter!

A sampling of photos from our Easter weekend....James heard the magic words "wash dishes" and scooted his chair over to the sink at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He LOVES to splish splash. What a pill.

I know I've said it before--18 month-olds come with LoAdS of personality!

James really enjoyed shooting hoops with his daddy.

And now I'm joining the scores of parents who must post Easter-egg hunt photos. Here's James with his basket--not quite sure what to expect. My parents, Mark, and I made quite the ordeal out of it, with two cameras and a video camera to document the whole process.

James was really into it--for the first six eggs or so.

But 12 eggs later, he was starting to fizzle. I could just imagine him thinking, 'why are they making me clean up all these eggs?'

Two baskets were required to hold all of his eggs--a good sign that there were a few too many. It was fun, though!

Miss Annie

James and I got to spend several afternoons with my brand new niece Annie last week. What a blessing that was! She's (obviously) adorable and turns seven weeks tomorrow. We were so glad to finally meet her!

What's not to love?

We've had such a big week. Between a huge consignment sale (that I volunteered and shopped at multiple times) and the wonderful blessing of my brother Joel and his family visiting we've had a lot going on! My mom (and James) and I also got to babysit sweet baby Annie a few times. During those times I snatched a few moments here and there to take pictures of this sweet little girl. Okay, I took a few hundred pictures this week. At one point I believe James was feeling a tad left out and more or less asked me to take his picture! (a first--trust me). He even posed and sat really still for this picture above. What's not to love?

Annie will have her own post, coming soon. But here's one picture of her from earlier in the week, at exactly 6 weeks old.

James was a little curious about Annie. We've been practicing her name a lot in the weeks leading up to meeting her and he does a pretty good job pronouncing it!

Here he is going in for a cousin smooch.

I'd have to say that Uncle Joel is wildly popular with James. He lets James hold his I-Phone. That's a pretty big deal, considering I don't usually let him touch my own wimpy cell phone. Uncle Joel's phone plays music! We've so enjoyed spending time with you Joel, Elizabeth, and Annie!

The Park

I've been meaning to post new pictures for weeks and just feel quite behind. James is VERY into the park lately! He loves to run free outside and spent hours outside over the weekend. These photos are from two weekends ago.