Father's Day Fun at the Florida Aquarium

We made our first family trip to a Florida attraction this week by heading over to the Florida Aquarium in celebration of Father's day! The weekend had a rocky start (Lucky the horse trampled a fence and escaped Saturday morning, the air conditioner broke Saturday night, and Mommy's car broke down Sunday morning), but we didn't let that stop us! We headed from church to the aquarium, where, in honor of Father's Day, all fathers got free admission and, since kids two and under are free, Mommy's was the only ticket we had to purchase :-D. Daddy chose our destination with Quintin's enjoyment in mind, and by that standard alone, the day was an awesome success! Quintin loved looking at all of the exhibits, but was particularly excited by the sharks, sea turtle, and rays. He was fascinated by the touch tanks, where he got to feel star fish & rays, and had a great time playing in the shell play area on the second floor with Daddy. When the aquarium closed at 5:00, we headed over to Miguel's Mexican restaurant for dinner with Granddaddy, Nana, Uncle Mike, Aunt Tanya, Makayla, Aunt Trisha, and Uncle Alex. Fortunately, dinner didn't start until 6:30, since Quintin fell asleep in the truck and got in an hour long nap while Mommy & Daddy circled the Tampa restaurant (fortunately, we had lots of gas, lol!). On the ride home from the wonderful family dinner, we called Grandpop & Grammie and got caught up with the New Jersey news :-). We're so thankful for the chance to celebrate the incredible dads in our lives!

Happy Father's Day!

As our country gets ready to celebrate the special fathers in our lives, I'm reminded especially of how fortunate Quintin is to have such amazing male figures in his life! In addition to having a FAB father all to himself, Quintin has two awesome Grandfathers! From day one (and before Quintin even made his official entrance into the world!), these men have been incredibly involved in his life. We are so blessed! Thank you, Daddy, Granddaddy, and Grandpop, for the millions of ways you make us all feel loved! Also, thank you to all of Quintin's "uncles," biological and otherwise, who are such great male role models in his life :-)
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Our First Family Vacation :-)

Over Memorial Day weekend, our family was incredibly blessed to be included in the vacation plans of Coral & Tom Voorhees, dear friends we met through First United Methodist Church. They rented two hotel rooms in South Lido Beach (just a couple of hours from home), and Nana Slicker agreed to stay at our house for the weekend to pet-sit dogs Caity & Buddy, cats Hannah, Saidie, Tsuni, & Tucker, and horses Lucky & Missy! When the weekend got off to a rocky start (There was a fatal accident in our front yard that involved a woman who'd been heavily drinking - Please don't EVER drink & drive!), we were especially grateful for the opportunity to leave the house behind for a few days.

While we didn't log many hours at the beach (Apparently, we were not the only ones in Florida to think BEACH on this busy Memorial day weekend, lol, so the waterways were really dang full!), we had an awesome time relaxing with Coral, Tom & Holden by the hotel pool! The weather was perfect, the company was fabulous, and the food was great (Coral is a Cooking Queen!). We were so lucky to get away from the helter-skelter pace of everyday life for a bit & refocus on the importance of family time :-)

"Fixing" Cars Just Like Daddy!

Quintin's newest passion is "fixing" stuff around the house (mostly, by banging on it with a toy hammer, lol!). The trend started at the book shop, several weeks ago, when I heard Quintin banging next to me and turned to see what he was doing. "I'm fixing the car, Mommy!" he announced proudly, and added, "Just like my Daddy!"

I had to get a picture, lol :-D We love you, Daddy!