Halloween 2010!

Kinsley and I are visiting San Antonio.  Unfortunately, Louie was on call all weekend so we decided to celebrate Halloween in San Antonio with my parents.  Kinsley wasn't so sure what to think of it at first but after we hit up a few houses and she realized she was receiving a new "toy" from a smiling, friendly face at each door, she started to have a grand time!  Here are a few pics from our evening.

Getting ready to go "trick or treating" with Uncle Andrew, the soccer player.

This time I put a bow on her head, so no one commented how cute HE is! :)

"Let's go Mom!!" 

Not so sure what to think of all this. 

Discovered she kind-of likes this whole getting candy thing.  She likes the candy with the wrappers on! 

Finally busted into a Snickers. Yummmmm! 

She got chocolate everywhere!  

Kinsley's (aka Mama's) loot!

Here's a fun clip of Kinsley trick or treating at my dad's house.  She loved seeing who was going to open the door and this time it was someone she knew! (Sorry it's super dark.)

Happy Halloween!!

Sunday Funday!

Daddy went to pick up fixings for breakfast and this is what he came home to:

I know it's blurry but it was just so darn cute... all the kids waiting for Daddy to come home.

We made another trip to the beach today and Louie got to see Kinsley in action.  She will NOT stop moving when she's at the beach.

Down to the water... 

back to the sand... 

back to the water...

sit for a split second and play in the water...

and finish with some fun twirling and splashing! Ta-dah!! :)

Love, C

Seaside, Shrimp, Sawgrass and Shopping

SEASIDE: Kinsley and I have been spending quite a bit of time at the beach.  The weather has been beautiful - high of 85- and Kinsley absolutely loves the beach.  She's completely gotten over her original disdain for the sand. In fact, the girl won't sit down.  No lounging in the sun and reading a book for Mama. :) Here are a couple of recent pictures and some video of her on the move.

She's all polka dots since we found a new suit at Gymboree on clearance.  It's great to swimsuit shop in October... everything is on sale! 

When she gets tired of walking, she resorts to "Old Reliable," her bear craw. 

Kinsley has been doing so much walking on the beach that she actually has blisters under her big toes. :(

One of the few moments she sat down.  She wanted to look at the oyster shell.

She is becoming more and more fascinated by the shells on the beach and stops to pick up ones she finds interesting.

SHRIMP: This past Tuesday was Louie's birthday.  He ended up working later than expected on the actual day so we waited to celebrate until the weekend.  The three of us went to a nice Italian restaurant and enjoyed some crab cakes, sausage, and homemade pasta with shrimp.  It was delicious! Thanks for the recommendation Maggie and Fred! :)

After dinner with Daddy. 

These two are just a little bit smitten with each other. :)



SAWGRASS: We continued the birthday fun today with a nice family outing to TPC Sawgrass. (Evidently this is a very well-known golf course where a lot of PGA tournaments are played. Now you know. :)) The Nationwide Golf Tournament was happening this weekend and Louie has been slightly (understatement) obsessed with golf since we arrived in Florida.  We walked the back nine, I'm sooooo learning the lingo! and Miss Kinsley did an excellent job of not jabbering too loudly when the golfers were teeing off.  We didn't make it on TV or see any alligators (my personal goal!) but we did get some good exercise and enjoyed the beautiful course.  Louie really enjoyed himself and has decided that one day he'll play there.  He said he has a few more rounds of golf ahead of him before he's "ready" to play on this course. :) 

Happy Daddy and Baby Girl.

I love this picture because it shows what is happening more and more lately... now that she can walk, she REALLY wants to walk- all the time.  "Daddy LET ME DOWN please!"

One of Kinsley's favorite spots.  Best seat in the house! :)

SHOPPING: Last weekend we went to the Jacksonville Riverside Arts Market downtown.  It's a free market a lot like "Thursdays on First" in Rochester with crafts, art, food and drinks.  We got a little lost getting down there but it was another beautiful weekend so we enjoyed our time there once we finally arrived.  I especially enjoyed our walk along the water at the end of our visit. 

The market happens every Saturday under the Fuller Warren Bridge. 

This is the view in the other direction. 

Kinsley hasn't quite figured out the "1, 2, 3... say cheese" yet.  :)

Kinsley and I are headed to San Antonio for a week. We leave Tuesday and will be there over Halloween (Louie's on call).  Our main reason for going is so we can attend a baby shower for my sister-in-law Sarah Caroline.  I'm not sure if I've posted this or not but my brother and his wife are expecting their first!! Yipee!! They will find out what they are having while in San Antonio.  They live in Germany so this will be a real treat!  More posts on this topic to come! :)
Have a great weekend!
C

Very Un-Scary Halloween Party!

Kinsley and I have had a great past couple of days thanks to our friends Lori, Corrine, and Charlotte!  Wednesday we met them for some fun in the sun.  Kinsley absolutely had a blast! She's decided she loves everything about the beach... the sun, the water, the waves, the sand! Here are some pics from one of our many days in sun.

Kinsley soaking up some sun before we got in the water.

Pointless video of Kinsley walking around before the real fun began! :)

Lori, Corrine, Charlotte and Kinsley watching the tide come in. 

Kinsley was all smiles during this video.  The fussing you hear is coming from our friend Corrine who was not happy when she got knocked down by a wave (Don't worry Corrine, I'm not either!!)

I know you can't see Kinsley's face from her gigantic hat but she's definitely happy under there.

I love this picture of Lori and her girls (well, 2 of them... her other two kiddos are at school. :))

So sweet!

This morning we went to the Very Un-Scary Halloween Party at Lori's public library.  We had a blast.  I am aware this ruins the fun of seeing Kinsley at Halloween in her costume but I'm thinking one can never have too many pictures of their child dressed as a cow! :) 

Kinsley became slightly obsessed with cows when she received one as a gift from Louie's parents.  So it was destiny when I found a cow outfit at our local Target.  I'm glad we had a trial run today though because turns out that when you dress a child in a cow outfit, everyone assumes the child is a he!  I will be adding a big pink bow to Kinsley's cow costume!!

Yes, I know this is the same outfit I wore at the zoo! Clothes are limited here, people! :)

She got a little warm with all the dancing and shaking going on!

Starting to get a little bit tired.

Lori and her kids, and Ruth and her kiddos.

Trying to get a photo of all the kids.  Shea is holding Kinsley back and Corrine is on the move covering up Finn on the end.

Oops. There goes dalmation puppy #2.

Everyone's in this shot but only Kinsley is looking at the camera and she kind-of looks like a bump on a log.  I think she's done!

One with all the mamas!

We had a great day! After the party, Kinsley and I made a quick run to the pool before she went down for her afternoon nap.  Now it's time to get some actual stuff done! We're headed to the store. 

See ya soon!!

-C

Water park and more!

Our Internet has been out for almost the entire past week. Which means I have not been able to do my blog updates.  We've been keeping ourselves busy with all kinds of fun and Miss Kinsley has really been practicing her walking.  Now that she knows she can do it, walking is all she wants to do.  If she falls down, as long as she's not tired, she pops right back up.  If she is tired, the waterworks start and she collapses into a pile of frustration on the floor. She's one determined little monkey!
Louie's schedule has been pretty nice since we've been here.  He's generally home by dinner or earlier, unless he's on call.  It's a home call, meaning he's allowed to come home if there is nothing going on, but pretty much every time he's been on call he's had to stay at the hospital.  He has call about one night a week and weekends off!  He has to cover one weekend a month.  I have strategically planned a trip to San Antonio that weekend. Yahoo!
We just don't know what to do with ourselves with all this family time!  Okay, that's not true, we've been finding plenty do.  This past Saturday, Louie got up early to go hit golf balls, came home and made some fabulous sour cream blueberry pancakes (thanks for the recipe Uncle Bub and Aunt Sarah!!) and then we headed over to our friend, Lori's neighborhood water park... Yep, they have an actual water park in their neighborhood. It's complete with two huge body slides, a kids ship area, a lazy river (my personal favorite), fun playgrounds, sand volleyball, a Subway for lunch, and a live band in the afternoon!! Wow!! We were in heaven... and the best part was there was NOBODY there. There were literally 3 other families there other than our group.  How awesome is that?!? Can you tell we had fun?!!? So much fun, in fact, I forgot to take pictures.  Here are a couple that Louie snapped of us on the lazy river.  Kinsley had her own tube with a bottom.  She fit perfectly in it, although, she wasn't quite sure if she liked it at first.  By the end, she was dancing to the music.  Our friend, Lori's little one Corrine actually fell asleep in her tube. Curled over in a heap on her tube... now that's a lazy river! :)

That afternoon, Kinsley took a great nap, Louie watched football and I headed to the pool for some more sun.  I love being in the sun! That night I ate some more frozen yogurt, (I think I have a problem!) and then we hit the sack.
On Sunday, Kinsley and I headed to church and Louie played his first round of golf since he's been here.  Kinsley was a little off on Sunday, they had to call me out of church to come get her from the nursery.  She skipped lunch and went down for a 3.5 hour nap!! After her marathon nap, she felt much better and we were able to meet Louie's Aunt and Uncle for some drinks.  We really enjoyed visiting with Maggie and Fred and hope to see them again while we're in Florida.
That night, we wrapped things up with a Rochester Mayo Potluck at the apartment complex.  It's fun having everyone live so close. :)
Tonight, while I was making dinner, Kinsley managed to climb into a cabinet.  She was so cute because once she got in, she had trouble getting back out. Here are some pics from our cabinet adventure.

I love this first picture bc it was right when I first caught her in the cabinet.  She had a huge grin on her face but wouldn't make eye contact with me and was peaking at me out of the corner of her eyes.  :)

Trying to climb back out.

This video gives you a little glimpse into how she's doing in the walking department.  Nothing too exciting... I'm just documenting the growth. :)

Have a great night! -C

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you?

Kinsley and I hit up the Jacksonville Zoo today.  We had so much fun looking at all the animals.  Although admission for adults was a little pricey, Kinsley was free and it was just the right size zoo for a 3 hour tour. :)

These monkeys were crazy. They had pretty obscene rear ends and looked almost alien-like.

Especially the baby. He had no hair so he was the most alien-like of the group.

This guy was HUGE! The picture doesn't give you any perspective,

but I would guess 3x the size of a large man.

Checking out the Koi pond.

Taking it all in.

The Komodo Dragon was pretty cool too. We got to be right up next to him as he crawled all around.

On the carousel. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it.

(I apologize for my "mom voice." I need to work on that...)

We got to get right up close to the giraffes. 

They have some really long tounges!

Fun, exhausting day!  Now if only she'd go down for a nap.  Darn car nap ruins it every time! :)

Love,

C