Fading into Fall and Our First Army Anniversary

I must take a time out on recounting our cross country adventure back to Alabama.  Since there are far too many fun memories, cute quotes, and special visits with family, I will definitely be coming back to it but today my goal is to catch up on all our Fall fun so far.

In love with my seasonal pillows!

If you ever read my Facebook you may have seen some references to "fading into fall."  While, Arthur was the one who took the liberty of adding that status onto my page for me, it was quote that was heard all around our house the last week of September.  I tried my hardest to wait until the first of October to put up all my autumn decorations.  But I will be honest, I didn't make it much past the first official day of fall.  I love the way swapping out a few couch pillows changing up a few pieces of decor can completely change the feel of a room.

My attempt at camouflaging my melted candle

Unfortunately, I did learn a valuable lesson about storage in the south.  A garage attic in a place where temperature remains over 100 degrees all summer long is not the appropriate place to store candles.  Unless of course, you would like them to take the shape of whatever they are being stored around.
October also makes me feel like it is time to start seasonal baking.  Fall baking (at least the recipes I have) require at least one if not both of two ingredients: canned pumpkin and fresh cranberries.  I wasn't too surprised that local groceries stores are not carrying cranberries yet, but I became quite frustrated to find that canned pumpkin is considered a "seasonal item" and I guess the beginning of October is not far enough along into the season.  But I must remind myself, this is the State of Convenience and I must just roll with it.  Luckily, the grocery store on post carries canned pumpkin so all was not lost and last week my family was "forced" to eat pumpkin corn bread, pumpkin muffins (Jake helped me with those and referred to his job as the "grabber" since he had the important task of grabbing handfuls of dried pomegranates and throwing them into the batter), and pumpkin pancakes (however, no one realized that that is what they were).  This past weekend I also found fresh cranberries on post, so maybe I will try that white chocolate cranberry cake this week.  It is more of a Christmas recipe, but I have to practice at least once to make sure it will make the Christmas baking cut.
Fall festivities are not the only reason the month of October is special to our family.  The first of the month has always (or the last 24 years) been a day for celebration because it is my little sister's birthday.  She is amazing and I am grateful everyday to have her in my life.  I still remember the day she was born and walking into the hospital room to meet her for the first time.  23 years after her birth, October 1st took on another special meeting by becoming our families Army anniversary.

Ama and Jake one year ago waiting for Daddy to get sworn in

Daddy's in the Army now.  Just a few hours before we had to say goodbye.

Anniversaries generally cause me to reflect and this one was no different.  I spent the day thinking back to where we were a year ago, and appreciating how far we have come.  Having Arthur away at Boot Camp and then WOCS school was so difficult.  We missed him terribly, and the time and events Arthur was absent for were a huge sacrifice for all of us.  However,  I am cannot express my gratitude or pride in his decision.  It has and continues to bless our family is countless ways.  My favorite part is that it has allowed me to stay home full time and raise our baby (soon to be babies).  I also know that his decision to serve his country has created a legacy of honor and duty that our sons will look to as they grow into men.

One year later wearing Daddy's helicopter helmet

We didn't do anything too special to commemorate the day, Arthur just enjoyed spending the day at home.  Actually most of the day was spent in the garage with Bridger working on and experimenting with derby cars. This was followed by dinner at a Mexican restaurant and a local high school football game.  Luckily is didn't take much to make the day a million times better than his first day in the army.  But the best gift happened just a few days later, when almost a year to the day of joining the army, Arthur finally started flight school.  He officially starts flying this next Monday.  After all this time we are so excited to have him back in a helicopter again!

Love and a Little Shopping

The rest of our time in California was spent sharing as much quality time with family as possible...and maybe a little shopping. :-)  Forgive me if this post sounds a little like a third grade vacation journal, but for memories sake I would like to quickly document our last several days before we started our road trip.

Jake and I spent most of Saturday with Ama and Apa.  We had breakfast with the whole gang (Ama, Apa, Tio Lui, Tia Jessie, her boyfriend, Tio Frankie, and his girlfriend...although truth be told, Jake is pretty convinced that Jordan is actually his girlfriend) at Black Bear Diner.  Oh how I have missed their sweet cream pancakes.  Then we headed across the street to the Davis farmer's market.  It is strange how visiting places that you once frequented makes you forget how much time has passed or that you ever left at all.  As I watched Jake play on the play structure the past six months almost disappeared.  That is until Ama and Apa worriedly watched Jake go down a slide by himself, and then I remembered how much he has grown up in the since we moved.

I had done pretty well.  At this point I had been in California for a week and a half and I had stayed clear of all my old "shopping" grounds.  Alabama is a beautiful state, but its shopping options really leave something to be desired.  Well, Saturday would mark the end of this good behavior.  Ama, Apa, Tio Frankie, and I all headed the Vacaville Outlets.  Ama and I did some damage at...yep you guessed it...Osh Kosh.  Jake will be all ready for fall when it finally gets here.  And Ama spoiled baby James with some adorable new clothes from Carter's.  I guess he will get to be the original wearer of some things.  Shopping for him made this new little boy feel even more real and made me even more excited to meet him.  Ama has certain colors that she pictures him in when she thinks about him, and they are very different than the ones she has associated with Jake since before his birth. Jake has always been dark teals and browns and this baby now has a wardrobe of greens, baby blues, and yellows.  I don't know what it means exactly, but she has that same sixth sense that her son has, so it will be fun to see if it is a premonition about his coloring, personality, or both.

I stayed clear of anything for me, but that was taken care of Monday when my mom, Jake and I headed to my shopping heaven, Nordstrom.  While in California, Jake and I slept most nights at my parents house so we had already had some nice time together just hanging out at home.  Grandma Risse and Jake re-bonded over silly computer game voices, animals cards, and medical "procedures."  You should see this boy put on a band aid.  Do we see surgeon in his future?  But having a girls' day out (with Jake) was really nice.  While getting clothes is always fun, especially when your mom buys some of them, the best part was just hanging out with my mom.  Eating at the Nordstrom cafe and searching the sale racks together (she is way better at it than I am) just brings back fun memories from the many times we have done this together since I was a little girl.  Aside from Jake's melt down in the Brass Plum dressing room, it made for another great day.  And the drive there and back gave us lots of time for girl talk.

On Monday night my dad took Robyn, Ethan, Jake and I out for Pizza.  Pizza has been Ethan's favorite food since he could eat solids so it is the easiest way to get Ethan to join a family outing.  Ethan is great with Jake despite Jake announcing shortly after our arrival to California that "Ethan is scary."  But this was quickly overcome when Ethan set up his old Play Station (even walking down the street to pick up a missing piece from a friend) and let Jake have at it.  Before our order arrived the two of them hung out in the little arcade game.  I think Robyn made Jake wash his hand's nine times before she let him eat, but I loved watching the Ethan and Jake "play" the arcade games together.  The arcade is still really cheap when you are two.  The sounds and colors of the game preview are perfect...no quarters needed.  I love laid back evenings like this with my family.  Now that we live so far away, I appreciate these moments even more.

Tuesday was our last full day before we started our Tour de United States.  I killed two important birds with one stone as I ate at Pluto's one last time (my favorite restaurant in the world) with Fiona and her sweet Baby Will.  Jake was playing with Apa, so we were able to really talk and since Gap was just a few steps away, we may have gotten a little more Jake shopping in too.  Fiona is one of the friends I miss most so it was nice to get to see her several times over our trip.

Tuesday night was our last night, and since Aunt Robyn decided to head back with us, it was her last night too.  Debbie and Todd invited Ama, Apa, Jake, and I to join in the goodbye dinner they were making for her.  It was a lovely evening and the food was great!  Debbie never disappoints when she enters a kitchen and she even bought Jake new cars and a magna doodle for our long drive home.  Debbie is hard not to love anyway, but how much she loves Jake makes me love her even more.  The party they put together for Robyn was beautiful, but like all good things it had to come to and end as everyone had to get ready for the upcoming work day.  Saying goodbye to my in laws was sad.  The hardest part of the move is how far Jake is from family.  Luckily Arthur's family will be heading down for a visit at the end December and I'm hoping my family will be able to do the same early next year.

I thought Wednesday morning would be nothing but packing up Robyn's little Jetta and saying a few more goodbyes.  But I was in for a surprise.  One of my best and longest friends, (really more like family) Laura, drove all the way from the Bay Area just to go to breakfast with us.  She really lives in Utah, but she flew in late the night before to visit her family and meet her brand new nephew.  I felt pretty special that she came to see me before she even got a chance to see him.  That is a true friend.  I love you Laura, and you better head to the South soon.

And that was that.  After a few more hugs and goodbyes to my Mom and Dad and one last stop so Apa could give Jake one more hug (unfortunately he had already passed out) we were off.  Off on our great and very long adventure home.  Luckily we had lots of fun stops along the way, but more about that later.

A Day in the City with Grandpa Dave

With almost everyone in work or school during this week, days were drastically slower than the previous weekend and to slow us down even further was Jake's first fever in over a year.  I'm sure a 5 hour plane ride combined with four continuous days of fun and little sleep created the perfect storm for some little virus to overtake a normally stellar immune system.  Since he wasn't particularly uncomfortable, I restrained from giving him anything so that the fever could do its job.  Jake was a trooper about it and I actually enjoyed getting to cuddle the day away as he napped and I monitored his little body temperature.  The cutest part of the day was when we woke up from a nap as his fever spiked to groggily announce, "I have a fever again."  Within 36 hours Jake was up and running again, and we were ready for another long weekend of crazy busy fun. 

Friday morning Grandpa Dave, Aunt Robyn, Jake and I got going bright and early (okay not too early) to head into San Fransisco for a visit to the California Academy of Science.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are trips to museums with my dad and since I believe one of the best parts about being a parent is getting to share the things you loved with your children, I was very excited to take Jake and experience his reaction to such a fun place.  Jake could pretty much give tours at our aviation museum here on post and I already mentioned his love for zoos, but I knew a place like this would be taking thing to a whole new level of awe for my inquisitive two year old.

The museum did not disappoint...any of us.  It has been completely renovated since the last time we made a visit as a family.  If it hadn't been for the albino alligator tank, I don't think I could have made any connections from the museum of today with the museum in my memories. When you walk through the entrance there is a huge replica of a T-rex skeleton. Dinosaurs have been on Jake list of favorite things list for a few months now, but reading about them in books and playing with plastic action figures cannot translate the size of them the way standing right next a life size skeleton can. Seeing the look of wonder on Jake's face as he gazed up at this great creature, I knew we were in for a great day. 

We spent most of the morning in this large sphere that houses the "Rainforest."  Jake was all into it as we walked through all the levels of this ecosystem.  We analyzed all the exotic animals, incects, and spiders (luckily all in tanks).  A frog even took interest in Jake as we passed by.  Yep, you read right, the frog liked Jake.  He couldn't take his eyes off him.  He would move around the tank to ensure a clear view as Jake changed location, and at one point the frog even jumped up to be at eye level with him.  Jake was so startled that he jumped almost as high as the frog.

Things started to fall apart at we made it to the top of the rainsforest.  You see, Jake has inherited this really sweet trait in which as his blood sugar drops so does his mood.  Since my dad is one of the "carriers" of this darling feature, he had complete patience and even sympathy as my sweet little boy quickly deteriorated into a near tantrum screaming, "I'm hungry!"  At this point I realized that no rainforest bird or butterfly was going to distract him a minute longer.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and since Mommy left the bag with snacks in the car, this meant buying a 7 dollar organic hot dog. Within minutes of getting food into him, Jake's transformation came full circle as he turned back into a fun cute boy.  The hot dog gave us several more good hours.  We spent most of that time in the large aquarium that takes up nearly all of the bottom level of the museum.

Jake couldn't stop giggling as he watched this silly looking fish

It is amazing all the interesting and unique creatures that grace the waters of this beautiful planet so the three of us took turns trailing Jake around as he ran from exhibit to exhibit taking it all in.  It was such a fun morning!
Jake was worn out.  I imagine it takes a great deal of energy to process so much new information all in one morning.  As I carried him out of the museum and we started our trek back to the car, I felt his little body go limp in my arms.  He was out...true to form Jake gave 100%.

Unfortunetly, this left me carrying three people to the car...I guess it is good news that James (Baby Orr #2) barely weighed a pound and still doesn't require arms to be carried. :-)

Of course our day in the city was not over.  An overpriced hot dog was not going to cut it for my dad, so he spoiled us girls with a trip to the Cliff House, an amazing restaurant that over looks the beautiful California coast (that I have missed so much now that we live in the South).  The food was incredible and if your have never eaten a crab melt, I recommend it.  The clam chowder was delicious too.  Jake missed most of lunch to the land of dreams, but it is a nice to have meal out every once in a while that doesn't involve crayons.

After living through my first summer in the South, I was not anxious to leave the cool breezy weather of The City.  Jake, now awake from his nap, was also ready for a new adventure so the three of us headed down to the beach.  We ended up near some caves, and I was surprised when Jake wanted to venture in them.  It only took one near death experience as I tried to hold Jake, balance my pregnant body, and traverse the slippery rocks in flip flops in order to get to the cave entrance.  Luckily Aunt Robyn came to our rescue, and we made it without any cuts, bruises, or a sprained ankle.  Actually, I think I impressed my dad a little with how agile (if you will) I still was 5 months pregnant.

The caves were worth the effort.  Hearing the waves crash onto the cliff as you stand inside it is awesome.  There was even a little break in the rock where you watch the swells.  Jake was enthralled by the entire experience.  He still talks about the caves as he acts out the waves crashing into the rocks with his arms.  

It was such a fun way to end our afternoon.  Thank you again Dad (Grandpa Dave) for such a special day!

Weekend 1 In Nor Cal

Now that we had made it safely back to California, it was time for Jake and I to hit the ground running.  We had a little less than two weeks in our home state and we were ready to make the most of it.

Ama had taken that Friday off work so we decided it would be the perfect time to head to the Zoo.  The Sacramento Zoo became Jake and my "place" while Daddy was away at "Soldier School" last year and we would make a visit almost every week.   It was such a special place for us, one that Jake still talks about all the time, so I was anxious to take him back there and relive some of those beautiful memories.  It made it even more special to return with Arthur's mom and two brothers.

 

 Jake had a wonderful time.  It was obvious that time had not faded his memory or love for the animals and even more importantly the family we had to leave behind.  There were very few moments when Jake's feet touched the ground as the loving arms of his Ama and two tios passed him back and forth.  From before he was born they have treated Jacob like a little prince, and this time was no different.  At one point I caught Jacob lovingly touching Tio Lui's face as he was carried from one exhibit to the next.  After watching them all that morning, there was no doubt that Jacob missed them just as much as they had missed him.

After the Zoo we headed to Pancho's, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the world that is actually owned by Apa's sister and husband.  So not only did I get to eat way too much amazing food, but I also got to see several members of the family while we were there.  Unfortunately, Jacob was too worn out to really enjoy it, but I know Ama didn't mind having her grandson snuggle and fall asleep in her arms.

Friday evening was spent surrounded by Arthur's family and Aunt Robyn.  And for those of you who know Jake, he is always happy to be the center of attention.  So he kept us all laughing with his music styling and his sibling like behavior with his Aunt Robyn. What can I say, they did share a room for 5 months. :-)

Saturday was just as busy as Friday.  The day started with a swimming lesson for Jake with Aunt Robyn.   She was teaching her last three year old class, and Jake was the right skill level to join the other little girl in the class.

Robyn, of course, was great with him and true to Jacob style he said all kinds of ridiculous things to her.  But it was the big picture that I couldn't quite get over.  Having my baby take a lesson in the same pool where I taught for so many years, seeing him the same goggles that countless little eyes have looked back at me through, having him wait on those same steps, and hearing his sweet little voice give the same excuses that I have heard so many times I could never count;

it was a surreal moment in which I realized how much my life has changed.  I am now the Mommy sitting and taking pictures at the side of the pool and I love every second of it.

After a fabulous swimming lesson with tons of bubbles, floats, and up and unders, it was time for the three of us to head over to my beautiful friend Fiona's.

She had put together a little lunch in honor of the second Baby J.  To make it even better, Bethany drove from the Bay Area to be there.  Between the cute decorations, delicious food, and time with dear friends, it was a perfect afternoon of talking, laughing and catching up.  Thank you Fiona, Bethany, and Robyn.  You girls made me (and this new little baby) feel so special and loved.

Since it happened to be the weekend of the County Fair, our day was not yet complete.  After leaving Fiona's, it was time for Robyn, Jake and me to check out some live stock and fair food.  Jake, as expected, was captivated by all the animals.  I think we went through each area at least three times.

At first I would have said that his favorite animals were the cows, but that was before it came time to feed the pigs.  They got so loud and worked up that Jake couldn't take his eyes off them as they pushed and wrestled one another for the food. After and little while, Grandpa Dave met us there, and we spent a fun evening together listening to the mediocre live music and eating award winning tacos.

It was a fun filled day, and Jake was asleep before were out of the parking lot.

Of course, no trip home would be complete without going to church with your parents and letting them show off their grandson, so that is just what we did.

 

It was a wonderful weekend where Jake and I were able to reconnect and share so many fun experiences with the family and loved ones that we miss so much while we are in Alabama.  Luckily for us, this was still just the beginning of our trip.  Unfortunately, for Daddy this Sunday also marked his last day of "freedom" or communication with the outside world before the 0400 formation that started his 3 long weeks of SERE-C. The "longest three weeks on earth."

And so our trip began...

Today marks a week since our little family has been all back together.  As I'm sure can be gathered by the theme of this little blog, we kind of like each other and we really enjoy our time together so the three and a half weeks apart were hard on all of us.  Jake and I got the fun part of the separation.  We headed out to California for some quality time with family.  Arthur, on the other hand, was sentenced to a three week SERE training.  While he was one of three who finished the course with honors, I can honestly say that he had very little fun surviving, evading, resisting, or escaping so I will leave you with one quote that I believe summarizes Arthur's  feeling about his experience, "I would evade for one thousand years before I spent one day as a POW."

Moments after being released from SERE

Now on to California...

Arthur and I decided several months ago, that it would probably easier on Jake if Jake and I left Daddy rather than Daddy leaving us.  While it left Arthur home alone for a few extra days, we definitely made the right decision.  Jake did make it clear that he missed Daddy.  Whenever I caught him in a game of make believe the theme was always centered on some animal, car or tractor "looking for his Daddy."  And there were several nights (generally ones where he was up way too late after a full day of playing) where he would have a small melt down and start crying, "I just want to go home."  Other than that we had a great time and Jake was well distracted by all the love and attention he received during our trip. 

Of course no trip (that involves me) can begin without some sort of dramatic event, and this trip was no different.  Since we live very close to the middle of nowhere, we have to drive a few hours to get to an airport. So after getting up super early for our 10 o'clock flight, I was greatly disturbed to find the airport abandoned and hand written signs stating that the "Airport was Closed."  Immediately I burst into tears saying, "But I bought tickets."  Luckily, Arthur is a little more level headed than I am and calmly suggested that this must not be the correct airport.  Of course he was right and within minutes we were at our desired location saying our goodbyes and Jake and I were on our way.

 I would like to say that this was the end of the drama but that would be much too easy.  Our first layover was in Nashville.  Since we had a long wait we were excited to be in a place with live music.  It kept Jake and I entertained for nearly the entire time.  One musician loved Jake's enthusiasm for music so much that he dedicated a song to him and gave him a CD...a CD that was promptly thrown away after a few minutes of listening.  (The lesson learned: just because someone can do decent covers does not mean that have any talent for original songwriting).

We headed to our gate with plenty of time to spare.  Jake did get a little restless waiting and after taking off his shoes and socks, ran around a little and attempted to get everyone's attention and smiles.  He was pretty successful and I was only mildly embarrassed.

By the time we lined up to board, I was feeling very good about how our travels were going.  That is until I heard, "Jillian Orr, Jacob Orr this is your last call for boarding at gate C20."  C20 was of course the opposite side of the terminal.  Somehow in my rush to get Jake fed I hadn't noticed that Southwest had two flights heading to California within minutes of one another and I obviously had seen the wrong one.  Seriously, after a 3 hour layover we were going to miss our flight?  I grabbed Jacob and threw him on one hip and attempted to evenly disburse the weight of our three carry-ons around my body.  I had no choice but to make a run for it if we were going to have any chance of getting to the gate in time.  "Baby, I need you to hold on tight to Mommy," and with that we were off.  Somewhere in this decision making I had forgotten that I was 20 some odd weeks pregnant and that I haven't run in months, but there was no way we were missing this flight and hearing our names once again over the load speaker made me run even harder.  Like a scene from a movie just as our gate is coming into view, I saw a flight attendant closing the door.  Without thinking I start yelling from 50 yards away, "Wait!!! Wait!!  Jillian Orr and Jacob Orr are here!"  My throat was on fire, my legs were like lead, and I could feel my eyes begin to brim with tears.  I should have been embarrassed by the scene I was causing, but the thought of missing our flights and having to explain myself in order to board the next one was more than I could bare.  Then out of nowhere the pilot showed up.  "It's okay," he assured me as he unloaded me of my baggage, "We haven't even started the safety speech."  We found our seat and the rest of the trip went smoothly.  Better than smoothly actually.  Exausted from a late night (he was too excited to sleep), an early morning (he did not go back to sleep after being put in the car at 5am), and a day of traveling, Jake was asleep 10 minutes into the flight

...and he stayed asleep when the plane landed in Colorado...when people got off the plane...when new people got on the plane...when the plane took off again...

and through all but the last 30 minutes of our flight.  I think the people around us thought that I had drugged him.  My only real mistake, however, was that while I had bags of things to keep Jake entertained, I brought nothing for myself.
Without any other craziness we landed in Sacramento and were met by a very excited Ama and Tio Frankie.  They were a little taken aback by what a big boy Jake has become over the last 5 and half months, but he didn't hesitate running to them and giving them both long tight squeezes.  And so our trip began...

It's a...boy?!?!

That is exactly how I felt during my ultrasound last Monday as very clear little boy parts appeared on the flat screen monitor in front of me.  I had joked with my sister a few days before, that if they told me it was a boy, I would tell them to look again.  But even my untrained eyes couldn't deny his obvious gender, and I guess he was pretty sick of being referred to as a girl because those little knees were wide open. 

I had been so sure it was a girl...we all had.  This pregnancy has been so different than my first.  I felt sick all the time and I had strong food aversions among other physical symptoms that I never really experienced with Jake.  Not to mention how emotional I felt/feel with this baby.  I can cry at the drop of a hat, and I just assumed this was because my body was coursing with all sorts of extra estrogen from a baby girl.  Then you add how I was feeling to the fact that Jacob kept telling us we were having a girl.  It didn't matter how many times we asked him or how we phrased the question, for the last 4 months his answer has always been the same, "It's a girl"  Who argues with that?  Remember he did tell me I was having a baby before we told him.  He was right about that, so I just figured his little spirit remembered who was next in our family.  However, knowing Jacob, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the first joke of many that my boys are going to play on me.  And don't think Daddy won't join right in on that fun. :-)

To Arthur's credit, a few weeks before the ultra sound, he did have a dream about our new little boy very similar to the one he had had with Jacob.  However, even that wasn't enough to sway us from believing Jacob.  We just figured Arthur's subconscious was playing the "what if" game.  But we should have known better, Arthur's dreams always come true.

The funny part is that people have misinterpreted my insistence that was a girl for some great longing for a girl.  So many of our family and friend have asked if I am sad or upset that I am having another boy.  I am the opposite actually.  I am ecstatic to have another boy!  Having Jacob has been the best thing that has ever happened to us, how was we be anything but excited to do it again?  I love the idea of Jake and his brother growing up together (not to mention the money we will save by reusing all of the cute clothes we got for Jake) and I hope and pray that they will be the kind of friends my sister and I have been throughout our lives. 

They already look like brothers!  Baby Boy #2 on the top, Jake's 18 week ultrasound on the bottom...I could look at these profiles all day!

Arthur is also trilled to have another son.  Due to his training, he was unable to come to the ultra sound with Jake and I.  So after my appointment I went to store to enlarge some of the photos and bought a blue gift bag to put them in.  When I arrived home, he was already there and dying to find out.  As I handed him the bag I said, "I guess I will be staying home by myself while you boys go hunting."  No man has ever smiled so big. 

A Day in Destin

Since Jake was born we have been blessed, and maybe even a little spoiled with how much time we have been able to spend as a family.  Even being in the army gave us almost 4 months of nearly 24 hour 7 day a week time.  However, since Arthur has started training again this past June, we have all had to transition Daddy being away during the days.  We are all excited to be back on track and getting closer to when Arthur will finally get to fly again, but needless to say we really miss all that "family time."  So this past weekend we decided it was time to take an overdue trip to beautiful Destin beach for some quality time...just the three (and a half) of us.

It was an awesome day!  The last time we visited Destin was during Aunt Robyn's visit back in May, and Jake had no interest in even putting his feet in the water.  So this trip we made sure to come fully equipped with a bucket full of sand toys with the expectation that Jake would not be leaving the beach (at least not willingly).  However, I was pleasantly surprised when, after just minutes, Jake asked me to take him to follow Daddy into the water.  I guess our trips to the pool have really paid off.  That and Jacob has really grown up this summer.  He is a little less cautious and has much more confidence trying new things and doing things by himself. 




While Jacob did great, as a California girl, there are several things about the Florida Gulf that I had to adjust to during this trip.  

First, the water is crazy warm which would amazing except that this appears to provide the perfect environment for green algae...lots and lots of thick green algae.   Second, it is strange to be the ocean and not have any real waves.  While I missed that amazing sound of crashing waves, the calm water does make playing in the water with a toddler much easier.  Finally, after spending time along many of California beaches all along the coast I cannot recall many times when the temperature has exceeded 90 degrees and even then the heat is usually accompanied by a nice coastal breeze.  Nope, no coastal breezes here...just 100 degree hot sticky air.  Nonetheless, I shouldn't complain, we had such a great time playing in the ocean as a family and a little (or a lot) of algae wasn't going to ruin our fun.                                 

However, even with our trips into the water and our frequent water breaks, Arthur and I were ready to get out of the sun after about an hour and half.   

Jake on the other hand, would have stayed and played in the sand all day, but his flushed cheeks were tell tale sign that his little body was also ready for air conditioned climates.  

Destin is a vacation town so we had no trouble finding thing to fill the rest of our afternoon.  We made a stop at Bass Pro shop for the boys.  Arthur left with a hat, and Jake left with a shirt, a fishing pole, and a bag of licorice.  We don't mean to spoil him...it just happens.  Then after an overpriced lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, it was time for some sale shopping at the outlet mall.  I can't pass up a trip to Oshkosh.  If your look at our pictures closely, you will notice it is all Jake wears.  Luckily for our bank account, we did not yet know the gender of Baby #2, but I had no trouble finding some cute things for Jake.  We ended with trip at the Stride Rite outlet, where both Jake and Arthur walked out in a pair of new shoes.  As you read this you might be asking yourself, "Mom, what did you get?"  My answer, a perfect day with my two favorite people and a really quite drive home.  I love family days.