Where there's a Flo there's a way..

A long, long time ago, our family took a trip to Florida with Josh's entire immediate family and all their children. I spoke of posting about it here, but sadly, was too intimidated to document this week long trip to a place I'd never been. There were 1200 pictures, many days in the sun, sporadic outings to various spots near West Palm Beach..... and I just couldn't bring myself to narrow it down to one blog post.

However, my father-in-law made a point to remind me that I hadn't finished what I started, and I needed to follow through with my promises. So here we go.

Toward the end of June, we flew out to West Palm Beach and met up with Larry, Mayetta, Tasha, Derek, Lori and Bruce.... and everyone's offspring. The resort was beautiful and the air was thick with smells of the ocean that was just a boardwalk away from our swimming pool.

Jack had a plethora of cousins to play with. He had so much fun and could name them all for you. All 9 of them. They ran back and forth from swimming pools to rooms, and playgrounds to the beach and really kept themselves busy.

I was asked to take a family picture, so I did what I could, and we came out with a few. Not to mention one of the very few pictures of our own little family..

There were many beautiful things around us. It was fun to have the lenses I did, and take such great shots.

Each and every day was spent at the pool. The extreme humidity and heat combined- practically mandated it. But it was a really nice pool and we always had a place to gather. It was great. Plus the resort provided lots of fun activities, like for example the Magic Show, which was truly hilarious.

It was Mayetta's Birthday on the 24th, and all the adults got to go to a nice dinner, while a couple of teenage strangers watch all 10 of our children. It was wonderful.

We got out of the Resort one day to go to a Water Park, my first actual waterpark experience. Jack was very hesitant at first, but once I pushed him down the slide and he saw how much fun it was, he was thrilled and couldn't stop going up and down repeatedly. These are my brother-in-laws... posing for next years calendar.

We rented a Kayak for an hour or so and took turns taking it out, which was fun.

All in all, it was a great trip, and a fun time to get to know Josh's family better. We are grateful that his parents gave us the opportunity to have such a fun time and enjoy each other's company.

Till next year!

Old Fogey.

This is a list of the top ten things I frequently say that make me sound, feel, and probably look Old.

1. "Chew your food into small pieces."

I have to say this for a couple of reasons, one, is that I do honestly believe your body can absorb the nutrition it needs by helping out the digestive system by chewing your food well. Also, Jack once had a poopy diaper with WHOLE olives in it, and since then I've noticed he'll typically swallow things whole if he can get them down.

2. "Stay out of the street!"

I remember having this yelled at me. By all sorts of people. A also remember thinking 'Duh, I'm not going to get hit by a car.' But honestly not only is it dangerous, but it's just annoying. I hate driving down the street where there are a bunch of kids and it takes them forever to clear out of my way.

3. "Did you wipe?"

This is something that shouldn't even have to be asked. But for some reason, kids don't mind walking away from the toilet dirty. Nevermind the fact they don't flush, but they take part of the experience WITH them and I have problems with that. So I make a note to ask. Every time.

4. "Kids and their damn cell phones."

Every. Single. Time. I encounter a stupid move on the road, it's usually some teenager texting away on their cell phone. Or they are talking too loudly on it in inappropriate places, or on it during dinner, or any of the other rules I mentioned here.

5. "When I was your age.."

This often comes up when Jack's DS dies, or something. We'll be in the car and whatever entertainment he has gets old, or the battery dies, I have to pull out the 'when I was your age, we just looked out the windows.' Although, this comes out way MORE than just in the car.

6. "Walk! Don't run."

It freaks me out so much to see wobbly little kids who aren't aware of their surroundings, stumbling around on concrete or asphalt and about to fall flat on their faces. Ugh, makes my stomach turn. Road rash is no one's friend.

7. "Don't stand so close to the TV!"

We already have guaranteed Jack some horrible eyes, destined for lasik, but it's the SIZE of the television and the weensie-ness of Jack that makes me think that TV could smash him in a second.

8. "Because I said so."

You really don't understand this one, till you're a parent. Because when you are a kid, you want to know the REAL REASON WHY you were asked to do something. Like, "go wash your hands" for example. Forget the fact that you need to wash your hands, I am your MOTHER and I ASKED YOU to DO IT, and YOU DO WHAT I ASK. That's why.

9. "Don't go outside with your head wet."

I still don't know if this is a proven fact- that you will get sick if your head is wet and you go outside. But I'm not about to take any chances.

10. "Who is Justin Bieber?"

I still don't know if this kid is a singer or an actor or what. But I just figure he is a female version of Miley Cyrus and assume that is accurate.

Yellowstone/Tetons

I could give every detail of this trip. I could. But I'm not going to. So for YOUR benefit, I'm going to narrow it down to the key, best moments. Completely in random order:

We were lucky enough to see Old Faithful faith it up TWICE in one day. Not many tourists do that.

These are the party animals Jack and I went with.

This is a picture I took, that I actually compare to an artist that Laura has showed me, Aron Belka, who Laura commissioned to paint a topographical image of Lover's Point for my dad, shown here:

I thought they were somewhat alike. Though one is my photo, and one is his painting.

Jack had a super buddy on the trip. He loves his Teagers.

This particular Bison strayed from his herd to spend a while rubbing himself on this pole. The kids loved it.

Jack is great at making pictures look like we are filled with joyous emotion.

This is one of those pools.

This is an old gas pump in one of those weird Wyoming towns.

And this is a bear, that we saw in virtually the same place that we saw THIS one last year. It may very well be the same one.

There you go.