Florida, Day 2: More Beach and Pool

Today was another gorgeous day in Siesta Key. It was in the 70s and sunny for most of the day. Perfect for spending the day at the pool!

First, in the morning, we went down to the beach to go for a walk. Cameron was the line leader.

Daddy took off his shirt to try and get some color, and Cameron had to follow suit.

Walking down the beach - Daddy, Cameron and Omi

There were a bunch of dolphins in the water while we were walking. This is the best picture Tim got. You can't tell, but it was pretty neat!

Leah got to ride in the stroller and she really liked looking all around. For most of the walk, she was pulling herself forward in the stroller so that she could see everything and everyone.

Mama and Leah on the beach

Leah has been doing some fancy crawling lately. She still uses her "wounded soldier" technique when she needs to get somewhere quickly, but her new trick is to crawl up on all fours like a little bear!

Leah the baby bear

Smily girl! Leah was so proud of herself here because she had gone from laying on her belly to doing her bear crawl to sitting up! I think she was a little surprised to find herself sitting.

After lunch time, we headed back down to the pool. Leah is ready to swim!

I'm sure this is just a small glimpse of what is to come... poor Leah!

Cameron going fishing

Leah really loved being in the pool. She always likes her swimming lessons, but I think she really enjoyed being able to sit on the step and splash all on her own.

We were in the pool for about an hour. It was so warm!

Happy girl, laughing at her silly brother

Cameron swimming around the pool on his noodle

Hello, brother!

She could also stand up on the second step and hold the side, and splash, splash, splash!

After a long time in the pool, Cameron climbed out and asked if he could lie down and take a nap. I can't think of a much better place to sleep then curled up under warm towels in the sun! He slept for almost two hours, so I guess he agrees!

Leah has been eating like a champ while we have been here. Tonight for dinner we had schnitzel and she ate a ton of it! She is such a good eater!

Tomorrow we are going to Tampa to visit the zoo with our friends Erin, Reagan, Jason and Colin. We are really looking forward to it!

Florida, Day 1: Beach and Pool!

We are in Florida, hooray! We are here for our annual visit to Omi and Opa in Siesta Key. The flights were very early, the first one at 6am, but the kids did well and neither flight was too terrible. We were on JetBlue, so that helped with Cameron; he watched a bit of TV when he wasn't busy playing Angry Birds on the iPhone. Leah slept, ate and stared at other people on the plane like the nosy little girl she is. She was very good.

When we arrived in Sarasota, it was WARM. Warm like 70s. At home, we left snow and freezing cold. We were soooo happy to see the sun! We went to the condo and had lunch, then Cam, Daddy and Opa headed down to the pool and beach. Mama, Leah and Omi came about an hour later when Leah was done with her nap.

Needless to say, Cameron LOVES the pool. He was probably in there for at least two hours today, and we didn't even get down there until 1:30 in the afternoon. He stayed in tonight until his lips were blue and he was shivering.

Miss Leah, checking out the pool for the first time

A big goofy smily, which (if you zoom in) showcases her two teeth!

Cameron with his nice short haircut, ready to head down to the beach

Such a cutie!

Pudgy little tootsies - gotta love those ankle rolls!

After an hour swimming in the pool, Cameron requested that we head to the beach. Can you tell that he is excited to be here?

Leah checking out the Siesta Key beach for the first time

Opa and Leah

Cameron, digging away in the sand. Something he could do for hours, if we let him. It was actually pretty chilly and windy down at the beach so I was surprised he stayed out there as long as he did.

Opa showing off his newest great-grandchild to all of his friends

Cameron's favorite thing to do on the beach - dig a hole and pour water into it. Over and over and over again. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

The beginnings of a sand castle. This was as far as it got because Cam dumped a bucket of water on it.

Happy boy in the Florida sun!

Back in the pool again, Cam decided to show off some of his tricks. This one was pretty good, until he rolled over off the edge of the step he was lying on and went under. He came up sputtering and said, "I didn't like that trick!"

Cam loves jumping into the pool to his noodle. We love taking rapid-fire photos of his jumps.

Mid-air!

The landing!

While Cam and Daddy swam and Mama took pictures, Leah hung out with Omi and Opa

Cameron had a very elaborate game for their time in the pool. Certain parts of the pool were home and other parts were school. The correct thing had to be done in each part of the pool. At home, they had to sleep in their beds. At school, they did math problems and learned things. There was also the "good 5" and the "bad 5" - Cam's designators for the two five foot deep signs on either side of the pool that he was swimming back and forth between. Not sure what made them good or bad, but he really liked swimming between them!

Warming up the little swimmer!

Leah Lovelies: Breaking News!

Breaking news here in our house... literally breaking through Leah's gums - she finally got her first tooth! She has been teething for months now, it seems. I really thought around five or six months her first tooth was coming. Last week, it finally broke through. It is her bottom left front tooth. We don't have a picture of her new tooth yet - we have barely seen it ourselves because she keeps it hidden! Tooth number two might be right on the heels of the first, it feels like the next one is about to pop through too. We will put up a picture as soon as we can get it!

Skating on the Pond

Back in December when we were in Swansea, the pond that Tim learned to skate was frozen solid. It hadn't snowed at all in Swansea, but it had been really cold. That meant that the pond was frozen to perfection - the best anyone in Tim's family has seen in a very long time. We decided to take Cameron down there skating on Saturday morning. Leah stayed back at the house with Mimi while Mama, Daddy, Grandpa and Cameron went down to the pond. It was perfect skating - the pond was frozen solid and as clear as can be. The ice was so clear we could see right down to the bottom. It was fantastic skating and we were out there for an hour or two.

Getting Cameron's skates on

First steps out on the ice - our little Bruin!

He got his skating legs pretty quickly and was all over the ice. Here he is taking on Grandpa

Grandpa showing off his super slapshot

Going for the puck, he chased it all over the ice like a crazy boy

After a bit of free skating, Cam was ready for some serious hockey. He knighted Mama as the referee and demanded face-off after face-off with Grandpa.

Fighting for the puck

He shoots!

The follow through is always the problem

Still smiling though

Our little skater

Time for a Grandpa vs. Daddy face-off, with Cameron as the ref

Taking a break, while making sure to hold tightly on to both pucks

Daddy steals the puck from Grandpa!

Mama, Cameron and Daddy

Cam wanted a picture of us all standing up too.

Tuckered out from a fun morning of skating

Cam looking through the ice checking for fish

Cam loves the pond!!!!