Brothers

I was recently looking back at some pictures of Jeffrey when he was about Andrew's age. I think that they look so similar. It always drove me a little crazy when we would look through old family pictures as a child and mom would say, "I think that's Emily", or "Sara" or whatever. I thought , "I'll always know who's who when I look at pictures of my children." But, only 3 kids and 4 years later, I can already see that I will most definitely have a problem telling them apart. Let this be a lesson to me that I need to clearly label all pictures!Andrew - 6 months

Jeffrey - 8 months

Of course, since Jeffrey was a preemie - their sizes have been quite different. In these pictures Jeffrey is 8 months old, and is wearing clothes that Andrew has already grown out of at 6 months old.

Andrew trying solids

At some point recently, Andrew managed to turn 6 months old - crazy! I figured it was time to try him on some solids. It always cracks me up to see a baby's face when they try new foods for the first time!

Travel, travel, travel

Don't get me wrong - I LOVE to travel, but I think I've had my fill for a few months at least. Back at the beginning of May, we made a trip to Lakeland to visit Tish and her family, then went from there to Orlando where Dan's mom was staying with Dan's Grandma Parish. We had a great time visiting with them, and also made it out to Ocoee where Dan's other grandparents live. Some of Dan's family out there hadn't even met Caitlyn, which is pathetic since we've lived in Florida for almost 2 years now. We really do love our family! It was so nice to see them and spend time together. After that pretty short trip, we came home for a few days. Then on May 19, we left for a summer trip up to visit our families.

Atlanta

On our way we decided to stop by the temple in Atlanta since the Orlando temple was closed. We got a hotel in Atlanta that was SUPER nice and about 1/2 a mile from the temple - very convenient!

The kids love riding on the luggage racks.

Down eating breakfast in the lobby.

Greenville

From there we went on to Greenville to visit my family. We were only there Wednesday to Saturday, so pretty quick, but fun. Crystal, as usual, took us out to lunch one day - yummy pizzas and subs (Thanks Crystal!).

Sitting outside at Bellacino's in Downtown Greenville.

We were there for Brian's birthday on the 22nd and the kids loved playing on the blow-up jumper!

Jeffrey, Brian and Kate jumping.

Caitlyn joining the action.

Fun times!

Aunt Geri holding Andrew, who isn't terribly impressed, obviously.

Uncle Nathan thought it was very funny to start letting the air out and then blow it back up. The kids also thought it was fun, except for Caitlyn - but 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

Grandpa always has fun swings around - for all ages.

Caitlyn and Grandpa Leckie swinging. Jeffrey swinging.
Caitlyn riding back home on Grandpa's shoulder's.

Utah - Emily and Andrew; Durham - Dan, Jeffrey and Caitlyn

On Saturday, May 23, Crystal, Andrew and myself flew out of Greenville to Utah. They had really cheap tickets and Crystal wanted to go out since she had a day off of work for Memorial Day. We mostly visited with some family, friends and ate out. It was so nice to see our Aunt Andrea and Uncle Gene before they leave for their mission to Africa. I also loved visiting with Rhonda - an old roommate from our BYU days. Crystal and I also managed to hike the Y, walk around BYU campus (and see TONS of changes!), go to a BYU single's ward (a little odd with 6 month old baby) and swim at the hotel pool. Crystal is a picture-taking-maniac, so I didn't take any pictures. Someday I'll get them from her...

Dallas
We left to come home Tuesday and made it to our layover in Dallas just fine. However, in Dallas, we boarded the plane on time, then ended up waiting for a little bit for some paper work to be straightened out by the airline people. Well, by the time all that was settled, a huge storm had blown in and we ended up sitting on the runway for about 2 hours. After those 2 hours passed, we were told that Greenville had a curfew and we wouldn't be able to fly out that evening. So, back to the terminal where we planned to just get a cot and sleep at the airport. Well, our luggage had been sent to baggage claim - outside - and of course we couldn't get back in through security except through another terminal on the other side of the airport. So, off to get luggage and catch the inner-airport shuttle. En route, we happened upon a girl who also didn't want to pay the $49 a night distress rate for a hotel room that they were offering and asked to tag along with us so that she didn't have to sleep alone in the airport. No problem. When we make it back around to the terminal that is open, they tell us that we can't check our bags until the day of our flight. Well, when we planned to sleep in the airport, we envisioned being in a quiet knook of the airport, not right out front where everyone was coming and going from. So, we decided to get the hotel afterall and split it 3-ways with our new-found friend. We made it to the hotel, and finally managed to get a few hours of sleep before our early flights out. The good news was that I had originally planned on flying back into Greenville, then catching a train from Charlotte to Durham (where Dan had been staying with Jeffrey and Caitlyn while Crystal and I were in Utah). Well, with our delayed flights, I would have missed my train, so they rerouted me to fly into Durham instead of Greenville, which was nice, because it saved me the 4 hour train ride. ANYWAY - it was a long evening and was VERY nice to see my husband and kids again.

Durham
So, we were all together in Durham, where Jeffrey had his 4th birthday. I have a picture of the cake, but nothing else because I was taking pictures with Dan's brother's (Ben) fancy camera. So, again, I'll have to get those pictures some other day...

Jeffrey's monkey cake.

Our kids are really in a game-playing phase, so they love playing games with Grandma Milton and Uncle Ben!

We also went strawberry picking one day. Caitlyn wasn't so good at finding the berries, so her job was to take them to the basked after I picked them. When we got home and were washing off the berries we picked, almost everyone that Caitlyn has carried back to the basket had a little bite taken out of it. Guess I should have been watching the help a little closer...

Daniel and Andrew in the fields.

Caitlyn 'helping'.

Jeffrey actually did a pretty good job. Much better than the last time we tried to take him several years ago!

We also had several big storms during our stay in Durham. The kids are TERRIFIED of big storms, so one night we let them come out and just lay on the couch. Jeffrey will keep his hands on his ears for hours after he hears a single roll of thunder.

Andrew (my first thumb-sucker) was sleeping in a travel bed while we were in Durham. He started getting more mobile, but I didn't realize how mobile until we found him laying on the floor.

Starting to roll out of bed. Almost all the way out. Guess his days in the travel bed are over!

Greenville - mom and kids (again); Jacksonville - Dan
So, the next adventure started on Saturday, May 30. The day before, on Friday, we heard that Uncle Dave had passed out having blood taken during a physical. The actual passing out wasn't terribly uncommon, but he was also experiencing very low blood pressure and several other symptoms, like blurred vision and dizziness. He was admitted to the hospital and on Saturday Sara learned that he wouldn't be coming out until at least Tuesday. Finding this out (and having two children to take care of at the same time), she mentioned that she would really appreciate some help, since it wasn't realistic to stay at the hospital with her 2 kids, leave Dave all alone the whole time, or try to get constant babysitters. So, Saturday evening Dan and Mindy left to drive down to Jacksonville. The kids and I left at the same time to go back to my parent's house in Greenville. While in Greenville, Jeffrey and Caitlyn loved swimming in the little pool that Grandpa made. It is the perfect size for little guys!

Jeffrey and Caitlyn at the pool - it was a little cold at first, but didn't take them very long to get in anyway.

Justin, Brian and Kate also came down a couple times. Standing room only in the pool, but they had a blast!




Jeffrey and Caitlyn just getting into the pool.


As previously mentioned, my dad has swings for all ages. It had been a really long time since I had gone off of one of his big swings, but once I did it, I remembered how much fun they are!



Me going off of dad's latest swing.



Crystal doing it for the first time - notice the ladder clanking from her legs shaking so much! She did a good job.

Jacksonville
We stayed in Greenville, until Wednesday, June 2, when we left about 7 am to drive to Jacksonville. We made it there around 2:30 and went straight to Chuck-E-Cheese. Jeffrey had a BLAST playing with Joshua and trying to make Samuel laugh. They all played really well together and we had a fun time visiting together. We went swimming that evening, then our family went to stay in a hotel so the kids could have some quiet time.

Jeffrey and Caitlyn sleeping in the same bed - they're so sweet asleep.

I tried to get a picture of the boys playing together, but as soon as I showed up, Joshua took off. They really did a great job playing! Of course there were other camera's around, so I didn't take many pictures on my camera. I'll have to get them from Sara someday... Can you tell I have a bad habit of letting other people take pictures and have a hard time actually getting them in my posession?

We hung out again on Thursday, had lunch all together and left to come back to Tallahassee around 3:00 that evening.

Jeffrey and Joshua hugging goodbye.

Wow! What a post. I'm sure only the closest of kin have made it to the end! It was a really nice trip and we had a blast everywhere that we went (except for Dallas :) ), but it's nice to be home. Since our Chicago trip at the beginning of April, Andrew and I have slept in: Lakeland FL, Orlando FL, Tallahassee FL, Atlanta GA, Provo UT, Chicago IL, Greenville SC, Durham NC, Dallas TX and Jacksonville FL. We're ready to stay home for a little while. Although I'm sure I'll be ready to travel again before too long.... :)

Beach Trip

So beach weather is finally here. This past Friday I packed up the kids and headed off with some friends of ours. Although there are nicer beaches a little farther away, we opted to just stay close by and drive the short 45-minutes to Alligator Point. It started off a little chilly in the morning, but by early afternoon, it was bathing suit weather. The kids had a BLAST and could have stayed all day. I managed to keep the kids from getting sunburnt (except for a few patches on Caitlyn's legs and Jeffrey's back), but burned my own face and legs to a crisp. After spending who knows how many hours on the beach and in the sun, you'd really think I'd have learned my lesson! But no, still burning my poor skin. Still, it was a fun trip and we're looking forward to the next one!

Jeffrey and Caitlyn with their friend, Kate. Still managing to have fun even when it was a little chilly in the morning.

Even a cold day at the beach is better than a nice day at home!

Happy Caitlyn at the beach.

Andrew was super calm the whole day. He took great naps and was just content to watch the action.

We broke out the hats a little late, perhaps, but still managed to protect their little heads for the most part.

And finally broke out the swimsuits.

The kids playing in the ocean.

All loaded up and ready to head home from the beach. Below are our friends Max and Kate sitting with Caitlyn. Above is my friend, Jennie, with Jeffrey and Andrew. A very fun trip!

Bowling

After taking the kids to SC for 2 weeks, then Dan and I being gone to Chicago, we thought it would be fun to do something a little different as a family. We took the kids bowling and they loved it. Well, Jeffrey loved it the whole time and Caitlyn loved it for about 5 or 6 frames. It was a fun morning.

We didn't think the kids would need shoes - guess we were wrong. Jeffrey wanted to keep his shoes after we were done. They were pretty nice shoes!

Jeffrey bowling.

Caitlyn was especially excited about the ball return.

After the inital excitement wore off, Caitlyn was content eating popcorn.

Andrew was extremely patient. He slept for awhile, then just stared - not too impressed I guess.

Easter Fun

Yesterday our ward had a little Easter Barbecue - a pot luck with an Easter egg hunt for the kids. We made a quick run to Walmart that morning to get the kids Easter baskets and they had a blast.

They did an 'easy' hunt for the little kids, and another for the older kids.

Caitlyn is so excited about her "Easter basket!"

The kids hunting for eggs.

Snotty nose and a mouth full of jelly beans...she's a mess.

Chicago

This past weekend, Dan and I had a great opportunity to make a trip to Chicago. Dan had a conference where he was presenting a paper, and Dan's mom was beyond kind, and came down from NC to keep Jeffrey and Caitlyn while I tagged along with Dan. We drove to Jacksonville Tuesday evening and got to visit very briefly with Dave and Sara before flying out of Jacksonville on Wednesday. We had pricelined a really nice hotel, which we decided was really too rich for us. The kind of place where the fridge comes stocked with tons of stuff, but if you touch any of it, it costs you an arm and a leg. Internet was pricy too, so we decided to just cut ourselves off from the online world for a few days. It was very conveniently located right off of the "Magnificent Mile" (well, convenient if you like to shop at Tiffany, Bloomingdale or Gucci), and just a few blocks from Lake Michigan and the John Hancock Observatory. We got to see a nice sunset, well, a small piece of it from our hotel room.

Even though we were afraid to touch anything or ask anyone for help, for fear we'd have to tip them, we really enjoyed the super comfy bed .... as did Andrew.

On Thursday, Dan spent most of the day at his conference while Andrew and I hung out at the hotel. Later that evening we got to go have dinner with his old roommate from BYU. He treated us to the local stuffed pizza at Giordanos which was fabulous! It was so nice for us to see an old friend and for Dan to catch up with his old roomie. After dinner we stopped by the John Hancock Observatory and went up the 90 something-th floor and saw a beautful view of Chicago at night. It was really cool, but impossible to take a good picture!

Friday we reserved primarily for sight-seeing and just relaxing. We got up late and just took our time getting out.

Dan and Andrew hanging out Friday morning.

Finally we situated Andrew in the Snugli had breakfast at Einstein Bagels, then took the bus out to the Shedd Aquarium.

Andrew was quite cozy in the Snugli.

Well, it was FREEZING cold and SUPER windy, so when we saw the insane line at the Aquarium, we just settled for a few pictures and took off for a walk up the the Chicago Art Institute.

A little too cold for Andrew to show his face. Here we are in front of Lake Michigan.

Standing in between the Aquarium and the Field Museum. A great view of the city!

Andrew wasn't terribly impressed by the antiques in the Museum, but at least he managed to let us enjoy ourselves!

Quick story about dinner Friday evening. So since we didn't get internet, and hadn't seen any obvious chinese places when we had been out wandering, we called Crystal and asked her to look online and see where a super close place was where we could go get chinese. She found several places, but we went with what looked to be the very closest. She read the menu and it sounded good, so I decided I would give them a call. I was surprised when they said that I couldn't place an order 'to go.' I asked to make sure that if I came by, I could get my order 'to go' and they assured me that would be fine. So we bundled up and headed off .2 miles to find the place. We looked where the address said it was, but couldn't find anything. Finally it occurs to us that it's probably inside the nearby mall. I call to ask them where they were, sure enough, in the mall. We walk in, and there it is - a regular fast food chinese restaurant. Not exactly what we had been expecting, but we ordered and headed back to the hotel. The food was pretty good, but I kept chuckling when I invisioned the employee answering the phone and some goof ball on the other end asking, "Yeah, I'd like to place an order to go." Well, duh, it's a fast food restaurant.

Saturday morning we returned to the John Hancock Observatory to see the city in the daylight. Although it was MUCH more crowded, it was really fun to get a little better view of the city.

Andrew and I standing in the Skywalk at the top of the Observatory.


Even though Andrew didn't do as well as we hoped he would being hauled all over the place in the Snugli, overall he did a pretty good job and was pretty happy.

It was a great trip, but we were happy to get home and see Jeffrey and Caitlyn again. We flew out of the Midway airport Saturday evening and arrived back in Jacksonville around 11:00 pm. Dave picked us up from the airport and after dropping him back off at his place, we headed back to Tallahassee. We got back around 3:00 in the morning. We had a really fun trip and were so grateful for Dan's mom and all she did to keep the kids happy at home!!