Florida Part 6: Holden's 4th Bday!

I took this picture of Holden sound asleep on the air mattress on his last night of being 3. Wanted to capture the moment. I can't believe my baby boy is 4! I feel like the years are flying. He is learning so many new things and looking/acting so much older lately. He still looks like my same little baby when he sleeps, though.

My sweet boy and me on his birthday! How fun to be able to celebrate in Florida.

Family pic before heading off for some mini golf at Smuggler's Cove. We had gone earlier in the trip and Holden LOVED it, so that was his choice for how to spend the morning. (Hunter's faux hawk is due to sunscreen on his head.) :)

The birthday boy on the green. He scored a hole-in-one on his bday! Daddy had told him that if he did, he'd give him 50 bucks. Needless to say Daddy wasn't planning on it actually happening! Ha! He did pay up and Holden was so pumped.

Memaw, Pepaw, and Aunt Allie came with us to putt-putt. It was a HOT morning but we had a good time. We also got to feed the alligators, which Holden loves.

After lunch, Hunter went down for a nap, and Holden and I headed down to the pool to cool off. Holden's buddy, Aunt Allie, joined us. He has so much fun with her. During the trip, he consistently introduced her to people as, "Allie, my best friend." So sweet! Daddy and Pepaw came down for awhile, too.

After a good swim for Holden and a good nap for Hunter, it was time to get ready for our big night; a trip on a pirate ship!! Memaw and I found these matching shark outfits for the boys in one of the little shops in John's Pass. We thought they'd be perfect for the pirate ship. Love these pics of the two of them, especially the silly ones. So typical!

We headed down to John's Pass to board the pirate ship. We took the evening cruise hoping it would be a little bit cooler. There was a little pirate shop we browsed while we were waiting to board. Holden got a sword and skull cap, and they threw in the eye patch since it was his bday. When boarding, they handed out wooden pistols for the kids to play with. Mike, Penny, and Jason also joined us. Here are some pics of us before and after boarding. (As you can see from lower left pic of Holden and Allie holding their noses, it smelled pretty fishy down on the dock.) :)

The pirate ship was so much fun for both adults and kids! The "pirates" entertained the kids with stories, a treasure hunt, water pistol fights, and face painting. There were quite a few kids on the ship and Holden had an absolute blast. The boat provided unlimited pop, water, and alcohol, so the adults had a good time, too. ;)

Hunter was too little to join the "big kids," so he took turns hanging out on various laps and also investigating the ship a bit. :) A cup of ice was the entertainment of the evening for him. It was still pretty hot until the sun lowered a bit, so I think he liked how cool the cubes were. The pic. of him and Jay on the lower left cracks me up. Can you see how bulging wet his diaper is?? Between the water he kept drinking and the ice cubes, plus the water he spilled on himself and the constant drool, he was loaded!

Some other miscellaneous pics from the evening. It was a beautiful night, and we had so much fun!

My favorite 4 year old enjoying piracy.

We decided this police headquarters has just a slightly better view than Jay's. ;)

After our 2 hour boat ride, we all ate dinner at a pizza place before heading to the condo to call it a night. Holden had picked out cupcakes at the grocery store earlier in the day, so we sang happy birthday and enjoyed those before turning in. As usual, the frosting was his favorite part. :)

Finally, a little video clip from the pirate ship. Everyone sang happy birthday to Holden. He enjoyed it...but not as much as his Cheetos. ;)

Holden Jay, you bring so much laughter and love into our home. At age 4, you have a very active imagination. You love to play pretend, and to act out scenarios you have seen in real life, on the movies, or read about in books. You love all things pirates, dinosaurs, rescue vehicles, and construction. You are starting to get into sports-you love your gymnastics and soccer practice, and will begin tee-ball this summer. You take swim lessons and are getting a lot better about your fear of being underwater. You love to perform-singing with your microphone, dancing like a white boy, :) pretending to be in the circus, making parades with your toy vehicles, and doing flips/stunts off the couches that make Mommy a nervous wreck.

You attend preschool at NCWHS three days a week and absolutely LOVE it. You are actually bummed when you have time off for holidays! You have made a lot of friends there. You are learning new things each day; this age is so neat to watch because you are like a little sponge soaking up all of the new experiences and information.

You are still our picky little bird of an eater, but you are doing a good job of taking "one bite" of new things or foods you don't care for. Some foods that you DO love are pepperoni pizza, chicken nuggets, bacon, yogurt, french fries, Cheetos, bananas, strawberries, watermelon, cheese quesadillas, and of course anything sweet, like cake and candy. Your favorite drink right now is Gatorade. You think you are so cool when you drink it because you are "like Daddy."

Current favorite movies are "Despicable Me," "The Wizard of Oz," (you call it the "tornado movie") "Tangled," the "Home Alone" movies, "Goonies," "ET," and "The Polar Express" among others. TV shows you enjoy are "Phineas and Ferb," "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," the insufferable "Max and Ruby," :) and "Caillou," to name a few. You have too many favorite books for me to name, and I love that you enjoy being read to as much as I love reading to you! The "No, David" series, "Curious George" books, "McDuff the Dog" stories, and "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and companion books are ones that we read over and over.

You still love music and singing. Every night before bed, we read two books and then you insist that Daddy and I each pick our own songs that we want to sing together, and you pick a song as well. Then we say our prayers. Some of your favorite songs are "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "I'm a Little Teapot," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee," (you laugh and laugh at that one!) "Old McDonald," "The Wheels on the Bus," "Jesus Loves Me," and "Baby Mine" from Dumbo. I have sung that lullaby to you since you were a baby.

You are a wonderful big brother. You talk to Hunter and try to teach him new things, you give him kisses and hugs, you try to keep him out of trouble, (if he is getting into something he shouldn't you will grab him around the waist and sort-of hold him in a football type lock and yell for help, which is hilarious because he is not much smaller than you!) and you make him laugh daily. He adores you and thinks you are the coolest. Sometimes he gets on your nerves when he gets into your toys, bites you, chews on your things, or takes our time away from you, but you jump to his defense if anyone tries to bother him. I love watching you in your big brother role. Hunter is so lucky to have you in his life.

You continue to have a huge vocabulary. The things at come out of your mouth are hilarious!! We have to really watch what we say around you because you pick up on everything. You recently started using the phrase, "That pissed me out." We had to hide our laughter while explaining that it is not a nice word, and that yes, Mommy and Daddy need to work on not using that word, either. It was all the funnier that you didn't get the phrase exactly right. Recently, you have started making up "facts" to tell us, and no amount of arguing on our part will change your mind. Some recent "facts" you insist upon are: "Polar bears are NOT bears," "Turtles have 10 legs," and my personal favorite,"Skunks steal coconuts from squirrels." You also insist that the jets that we see in the sky that trail streams of fuel are "rockets." Today you found a rock outside and let out a huge gasp and yelled, "A DINOSAUR TOOTH!" You went running over to show the neighbors and explain to them that it fell out of a dino's mouth "a long, long time ago." You make us laugh when you begin a story with, "Back when I was a little boy..." meaning when you were younger.

We are enjoying every special moment of your childhood, and can't wait for all of the new memories we will make with you at the age of 4! Just don't grow too quickly, okay?

Florida Part 6: Bubba Gump, Jet Skiis, and Parasailing

Yes, it is yet another Florida post! I believe they are winding down. Two left after this...I THINK! Ha! I am 4 years behind in scrap booking (Holden's entire life) and this is my main way of documenting everything as it flies by. :)

The night that we got back from Busch Gardens, Holden and I joined everyone at Bubba Gump for a late dinner while Jay stayed at the condo with an exhausted Hunter. (This is the sugar-coated version; let's just say that the GPS failed us on the way back from Busch Gardens, so what should have been a half hour drive was over an hour, Hunter was BEYOND done with the long day and was letting us know, and Jay and I were not umm...shall we say...seeing eye to eye on how things should be handled. I think if we had a video of us in the van they would be signing us for our own reality TV show for the pure entertainment!!!) I have always wanted to eat at a Bubba Gump; LOVE the movie and watch it every time I catch it on TV. I think I know the whole thing by heart.

We had quite the wait as everyone apparently had the same idea as us. :) Luckily there was lots to see and a cute little gift shop to browse. Holden liked following the smiley face path.

I would highly recommend the restaurant. The food was awesome and had good prices; Holden's kid's meal came in a "Jenny boat" and included a drink, jello, fries, chicken strips, and a dessert for 4.95! I decided to be daring and try something new since we were on vacation. (See top left picture.) I got Mahi-Mahi with smashed potatoes and grilled shrimp. FABULOUS!!! Holden was thrilled with the stacked onion rings (he may be picky but he does appreciate the really good things in life!) and we all had fun answering the trivia questions about the movie that the waitress tried to stump us with.

These pictures are a little out of sequence, since they were taken the same day as the Clearwater Marine. Some fishermen caught a shark and had it hanging at John's Pass. Apparently they hang them with the head down so all the blood can drip out into the bucket. GAG! Picture the fish smell times 10. It was pretty cool to see one up so close. Holden was actually scared of it at first. I had to convince him it was no longer living and could not attack us! He finally decided to poke it with one finger at the very end, so he could tell everyone he has actually touched a shark. Hunter had no clue what we were doing but I thought someday he'd appreciate the picture.

Jet skiing was a new adventure that we experienced on this trip. Jay, Holden, Allie, Paul, Penny, and Jason all went out one day and had a great time. We found out that Jay, Holden, and I could all go together, so we went back and did that another day while Tami watched Hunter. It was SO FUN, even though Holden would not let us go past 7 miles an hour! Ha! In his defense, we took it out in the gulf and the waves already bobbed us up and down pretty well. I am sure to a 4 year old we were zipping along. :) The neatest experience was having dolphins swim so close we literally could have touched them. Besides that, we will also never forget the moment we were close to docking, and Jay decided to let Holden drive. The handles have levers that you push on (kinda like a bike brake) to make it go. Jay did not explain to Holden that the harder you push down, the faster you go. We were floating along on idle, I wasn't even holding on, and we went from that to full throttle in a matter of seconds. I was screaming for him to stop and Holden panicked and clamped his hands down as hard as he could on the accelerator! Jay had to literally rip his fingers off before we hit the dock. I am sure it was hilarious to watch. My heart was pounding so hard!! Holden turned around, gave us a grin, and said, "I was just trying to get us back faster!" Stinker!

Penny, Tami, Allie, Jason, and I decided to go parasailing. Tami and Allie had gone before, but the rest of us had not. I have always wanted to do this! Here is our little group before boarding the boat. (I think there was a bird in the tree that Allie was looking at! Lol!) Holden snuck in. Can you tell he was ticked off that he couldn't go on the boat with us?!

Jason and Penny went first. I love that the parachute was a smiley face.

Tami, Allie, and I

Our turn! It was one of the neatest experiences I've ever had. I thought it would be more of a dare-devil type thing, but it seriously was so absolutely peaceful and serene floating so high in the air, with just the blue sky and water surrounding us. I loved it!! Coming back down was funny because Penny and Jason told the guy to "dip us," which he did several times; dunking us down into the water and back up again. I was soaked by the time we got back on the boat. So fun!

When we got back to John's Pass, we lunched at Hooters. Yes, it's tacky and tasteless, but let's face it, their wings rock! The one thing I forgot to bring on our trip was bibs for Hunter. Not even A bib...I was stuck trying to tuck paper towels or napkins into his shirt everywhere we went. Memaw bought him a Hooters bib. Then Jay decided the boys needed "Hooters Wingman" shirts. They will NOT be wearing those to church or school!!! We did have a yummy lunch and I know the guys enjoyed the scenery. Funny side story that Allie will never live down: she actually got TURNED AWAY from entering by a HOOTERS GIRL! Hysterical!!! She just had her bikini on since we were right on the dock; most places don't care but evidently they have a "no shirt, no shoes, no service" policy. Jay will never let her live down the fact that she was so scantily dressed that Hooters turned her away. I loaned her my cover up (soaking wet from our dip; she was freezing in the air conditioning!) and all was good.

Next up: Holden's 4th bday (mini-golfing and a ride on a pirate ship!) and then a hodgepodge of everything else. Then we will be back to our regular broadcasting. :)

Florida Part 5: Busch Gardens

Tampa was only a 35 minute drive away from where we were staying in St. Petersburg, so we decided to take the boys to Busch Gardens one day of our trip. It was just Jay, the boys, and I, and we had a great day! Neither Jay or I had ever been there before, so it was an adventure for all of us. We really enjoyed it and plan to go again next year.

Jay had picked out these "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" shirts for the boys when we were shopping on evening in John's Pass. I am glad I got a few pictures of them in them before we left that morning...

...because THIS is what happened as we were pulling into the parking lot!!! Yes, those are chunks! Hunter evidently got carsick on the drive there. He had been screaming and crying in his seat, and all of a sudden he threw up his entire bottle of whole milk, as well as his breakfast which had included cheese cubes. NIIIIIICE!! I was so worried he was sick, but he seemed perfectly fine after so we changed his clothes, (thank God I had an extra outfit in the diaper bag and we had Clorox wipes in the van!) borrowed a grocery bag from someone in the parking lot to stick his nasty clothes in, and cleaned up his car seat and the van the best we could. He was fine all day so we are chalking it up to car sickness. Let me tell you how lovely the van smelled when we got back to it after sitting in the heat all day.... But on to more pleasant thoughts! :) One of the first things we encountered when we got in the gates were the friendly flamingos. They are super tame, and let people go right up to them. Holden thought they were pretty funny!

Busch Gardens had the neatest topiaries throughout the grounds. Holden had fun spotting them and pointing out the different animals.

Hunter was too little, but Jay took Holden into the wallaby walkabout area. He got to pet and feed the wallabies, which he loved!

Some family pics

The majority of our day was spent in...Sesame Street World!!! We saw all of Holden's favorite characters, and even got to do"meet and greets" with Big Bird and Elmo. It is so funny to me that a little over a year ago, he was terrified of characters, because he was just beside himself with excitement at seeing them. :) Hunter didn't seem quite sure what to make of them, but he didn't cry.

Sesame World was so much fun! It was just perfect for Holden's age. He loved all of the little rides, the shows, and the play areas. I remember when I was young and we would go places, and my mom would say how much fun it was for her to just watch my brother and me having fun. I never understood why that would be so fun for her until I had my own kids. Watching his delight over everything just made my day.

There WERE, however, a few moments he did NOT care for....such as Grover's "Safari of Fun" roller coaster! I laugh every time I see this picture. Poor Holden. But seriously, hysterical. It was a pretty fast roller coaster for a kiddie ride. Needless to say, Holden would NOT describe it as fun! Ha!

And then there was the moment when he got absolutely drenched from the spray off of a roller coaster/water ride. There was a spot you could stand in to get wet when the ride went by. Jay thought it would be really funny to tell poor, clueless Holden to go stand by the other kids for a surprise. Don't feel too badly for him, though...it was incredibly hot, so he did get cooled off. And I made Jay buy him Dip N' Dots as an apology. :)

Other than those events, Holden had an absolute blast. Jay actually really enjoyed climbing in the Sesame Street "Tree House" with him. It was this huge play area with ropes, nets, trampolines, etc. I don't know who enjoyed it more; Holden or Jay.

Hunter spent most of the day in the stroller or being held, as he was really too little to do much. He was a very good sport and was happy for the most part. The boy is easy to please; give him food and drinks, and he is good to go. He did take a nap on Daddy while we waited for the train ride. And he got to experience his very first kiddie ride at Sesame World (see the bottom right picture). There was one that he could go on with Holden and me; it was like a ferris wheel but the cars were little eggs. I was a nervous wreck the whole time because I thought I could hold him on my lap, but they made me seat him next to me and belt him in. Only the belts were not too tight, and obviously he is too little to understand the danger of trying to climb out of the belt when we are up in the air! He and Holden had a grand time giggling while I clamped my arm over him and prayed!!! :)

We took a train ride to see some of the wildlife. When the boys are older, there are safaris that you can take to get up close and personal with the animals...even feed and pet the giraffes! It was neat to see everything and the scenery was gorgeous.

Back in Sesame World, there was a spray park area. It was in the mid-80's and sunny, so it was perfect for cooling the kids off. They must make a fortune there because I doubt many people (like us!) think to bring swimsuits/trunks. They conveniently have a little shop right there selling all kinds of water clothing/shoes/toys. Yes, we were suckers and bought two pairs of swim trunks. Holden had a blast. Hunter stayed in the water about 2 minutes, got sprayed, crawled out shrieking and mad as a hornet, and just watched the rest of the time. So glad we already have about 12 pairs of trunks for him. Just not there!

We had a wonderful day at the park. Holden got to hug Grover and Zoey goodbye on his way out. We can't wait to go back next year! I know it will be a whole new experience when Hunter can really join in!

Florida Part 4: Clearwater Marine Aquarium

One day during our trip week, Jay, Paul, Mike, and Jason joined some other guys to go deep-sea fishing. Tami, Penny, Allie, and I took Holden and Hunter to the Clearwater Marine. It is a rescue marine aquarium, most well-known for rescuing Winter the dolphin. There is a children's book out about her, and this summer, a movie starring Winter, Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Harry Connick, Jr, will hit theaters. They just recently wrapped up filming in Clearwater. Winter had her tail caught in a crab trap as a baby, and as a result, she lost her tail. She has learned to swim like a fish without it, and also wears a prosthetic tail up to 3 hours a day to strengthen her backbone. There is also another rescued dolphin, Panama. It was neat to see them interacting and performing in a little show.

Love this picture of Hunter in the underwater viewing area. Here is Winter swimming. You can see that she is missing her tail. I was amazed at how fast she was in the water.

Hunter loved watching Winter! He was banging on the window...

...and she swam right up to see us! I just love how friendly dolphins are. They look like they are smiling, and they really interact with people.

She sat at the window for several minutes, and I think Hunter was in awe. He kept looking at her, looking at me, looking back at her, and putting his hands on the window. So cool!

Holden was a busy boy at the aquarium. He enjoyed seeing everything but wouldn't really slow down and focus on one specific thing for any length of time. I just think he didn't want to miss anything. He got to pet stingrays, hold a sea urchin with Aunt Allie, and see all sorts of marine life.

We had a great day at the aquarium! It is a neat little place. We are really looking forward to the movie! I bought the boys the book about Winter, and Holden picks it almost every night for one of our bedtime stories. I actually think he is more interested in her now that we are home and he has heard and processed the whole story of her rescue. I think next year if we go back to see her he will pause a little longer at her exhibit. :)

Florida Part 3: Holden's Big Catch!

Holden really enjoyed the dock by our condo. It jutted out into the intercoastal water. There were often fishermen that he liked to watch. One afternoon after a swim, it was just Holden and me, so I asked if he'd like to go out on the dock before heading back to get ready for dinner.

There was a really nice grandpa with several long poles hanging into the water. He introduced himself as "Mick" and said he had two grown sons that lived far away. He told me to soak up this time with my babies, because "One day they will call you up from some far off place asking for pizza money." He asked Holden if he'd like to help him fish, which of course was met with excitement on Holden's part!

The first bite was a little fish. The man told me the name/type but I don't remember now. Holden was very proud of his catch! Mick asked him if he'd like to throw it back or feed it to a big bird (maybe a heron?) that frequents the dock for this reason. As a child I always felt so sorry for the flopping fish and promptly threw them back in, relieved when I could see them go under the water. Holden's response? Jumped up and down, clapped his hands, and yelled, "FEED IT TO THE BIRD!!!"

Here is the poor little fish before he became the bird's dinner.

I have to admit, it was pretty cool seeing the bird get the fish. It swallowed it whole, and we could see it slowly making its way down his long, skinny throat. Here they are throwing the fish to him. (Her?) :)

After that, Mick noticed one of his poles had a tug. It started to really bend, and we realized it was something big! He was so nice, letting Holden help him reel it in. I was afraid it would get away with the amount of time it took for little Holden to turn the reel, but they got it: a pretty good-sized catfish! Mick said Holden must have been good luck because he caught two fish in a row.

Here is our catfish. Mick told us it was a "sail" catfish because of the spiky fin on top of his back, like a shark. He said the birds won't touch them because they are so sharp they will cut them. Holden was a little afraid of the catfish after Mick told him it was sharp, but we showed him how to hold it far away from his body. He was SO proud!

Moments like these just reconfirm that there really are good people in the world. We may never see Mick again, but he meant the world to Holden that day by his simple acts of kindness and patience. I know Holden will always remember him and their fish adventures. It is one of the memories that he talks about most from our vacation.