Friday, July 10, 2009

Tampa for the 4th

We had a great trip to Tampa last week, full of all kinds of fun. And since it's taken me a week to recover, this post will be another that is best represented in (a TON of) pictures...(Sorry- this probably shoulda been made into several posts, but I was NOT about to reload all these pictures!)
Plane ride down went great- it was Georgia's first time to have her own ticket, and Lincoln's first plane ride. She kept entertained with a monkey movie, and little boy fell fast asleep.

Tampa was literally flooded when we arrived, having the most rain in one day ever. So we just got settled in with Grammie & Grandad, picked up some groceries and enjoyed dinner w/ Uncle Wes. Thursday morning was still a bit wet so we went to the Aquarium...
Georgia loved seeing all the fishies and other creatures, and Lincoln enjoyed the stroller ride & playing with Grammie.

Thursday night Larry & I got a "night off" and headed to a hotel at Clearwater beach. We enjoyed walking on the sand, ice cream, a good seafood dinner, a movie and just time alone. I love my children, but it was really great to have some time off! Also, I just miss the beach, palm trees and wide open water- it was good to see you all again!


Meanwhile, the kiddos enjoyed playing with Grammie & Grandad, going to the zoo and making cookies!
Friday night, many family and friends came by the house to say hi and share hugs. Lincoln loved getting snuggles, as usual, and showing off his latest bruises. Georgia loved getting re-acquainted with Shawn & Maggie's kids, Logan (3.5) and Emma (1.5).

Saturday morning Larry & I took the kids for a quick visit to the local beach. Georgia is a pure beach babe, and rushed headfirst in to the water and sand. We finally had to pry her away with promises of cookies!

It was Lincoln's first taste of the beach, and I'll say he takes after his dad- not a fan! He was fine chewing on (clean) beach toys up on the blanket, safe from the sand, but did not share his sister's enthusiasm for the water!

To get the best view of the 4th Fireworks, we headed across the bay in dad's boat that afternoon. We spent the rest of the day hanging out on the boat deck, swimming and eating, before the "boom boom" (as Georgia called the fireworks) that evening.





Sunday was church, brunch, naps, and dinner with the Waltrips. Monday morning- flew home! Kiddos were great again. Georgia watched Monkey again, and Lincoln fell asleep snuggled against me. (I love that he will still do that, despite being such a busy boy during his waking hours!) When we got to Bham, our bags were some of the first out and we were thinking "this traveling has been too easy!"
Sure enuf- when we got to the car- our battery was dead! Don't know why, but we did find out that a Jeep Grand Cherokee is a pain to get into with no power, as only the driver door will open. Thankfully the airport security came to our rescue with a magical box that made our car come back to life. Then, on the drive home, in more rain, we watched a semi-truck hydroplane, crash into the I-65 divider and jack-knife. Right in front of us. It was crazy and a bit scary. So we were thinking maybe God delayed us at the airport to be able to call 911 for that trucker... He does work in mysterious ways and we were thankful the crash was not any worse.
So we were very glad to get home and get back to our normal ways. Except we've also been busy this week taking care of some old "business" in a new way...
If you want details, check back later!

5 comments:

Shireen said...

Looks like FUN!! How wonderful that the kiddos did so great on the plane, too! I admit I will be anxious abou that, wondering if Rhys will cry and make everyone hate us :) or sleep Lincoln did. I hope for the latter. I like GA's wings...I forgot that they give those away to the kiddies...how nice!
Well, GA EVIDENTLY loves the beach...she is her mama's little girl, huh? :) Your kiddos are so blessed to have such immediate access to the beach...I want that thru family!! :) I love the beach, as you may remember; Russell hates it. :( Oh, well, the mtns are nice...and cooler, usually. :)
Hey, I can totally relate to needing a break for yourselves from the sweet babes!! Jenn kept Rhys for me one day last month and then one afternoon this week! I went and got a manicure and pedicure this week! :) With Russell gone, the break was so nice.
Oh, and I'm excited to see what GA's up to! :) Looking forward to updates!! You can tell her that Mommy has friends cheering her on!! :)

The Phelps said...

Hey! Great recap of the trip to Tampa. I can't wait to hear how potty training is going! Talk to you soon.

Us said...

so glad you guys had great trip home! and good luck with the potty training...i hope it is going well! hopefully we can get together soon! love, jenn

Anonymous said...

It was so wonderful to have you all down here and the only problem as always is you had to leave. I am so thankful nothing happened on your drive home- what a mess with the car. The kids were great little boaters and next time we will definately spend more time in the water section of the zoo plus the beach! Thanks to you and Larry for all the extra hassle I know it was to get them down here and hope you know, it can't happen too often for us! Looking forward to Labor day and Christmas and will let you know when I'm headed back to Bham! Hugs Grammie

Kelly said...

cute pics!! looks like you guys had a blast....hopefully if we ever stay in town on a weekend we can see you guys at MBCC :)