Happy Birthday Liam!

...and, at the same time, sorry Liam.  You're mom accidently erased all of the pictures she took of your birthday.  This mom that takes pictures of EVERYTHING is heartbroken.  Luckily, your dad took some video footage on his phone (which I might add, I almost erased too).  Oh, & I also apologize that the footage that we do have of your birthday is you having a tantrum because you thought we were taking away one of your presents.  Sigh.

Our last hoorah! part 2

Our flight home was Sunday.  Timing made it difficult to get to church, so we were tourists for one more day, making our way down to St. Augustine.
To me, lighthouses are so romantic/'Anne of Green Gables'-ish.  I've never seen one in real life & even tried to convince Chad that a vacation to the New England states would be fun (partially because I've wanted to see/photograph a lighthouse).  Well, my wish came true.  I saw/photographed my first lighthouse...although I have to admit, I envisioned a lighthouse on a shore with sea crashing into rocks.  Still, beautiful.  I just think I'll still be fighting for that trip to New England. :)

This is the oldest fort in America...that's about all I remember.  We didn't go on the tour...but Liam tried to sneak in. I let my mother-in-law go catch him while I just took pictures of him running away. haha

Liam has been on this bouncing/jumping kick.

This was a quaint little alleyway of shops. It had a nautical & Spanish vibe to it. I love visiting places that make me feel like I'm in a totally different environment.  I wish I'd taken more pictures.

And what would this post be without highlighting a "choo choo train". One of many that we pointed out to Liam.

There's something so serene about the beach. The crashing of the waves, the smell that the sea air leaves on my hair and clothes, the billions of shells collectively making up the shore.

...and this is Liam. A friend recommended that I get a new toy for Liam for the plane ride. It was such a lifesaver! You can see him here with his Mater & Lightning McQueen.  He was totally consumed for most of the flight(s).

Our last hoorah! part 1

Liam is turning two tomorrow & will no longer fly for free...and we're having our second baby in April, so we thought we'd better end our traveling freedom with a bang.  Can you tell from the picture below where we went?

Anyone guess Florida?  I was hoping to throw you off with this picture from the window of our plane.  Beautiful, huh.

We flew into Jacksonville Friday afternoon & spent the rest of the day with Chad's family.  We had so much fun!  It was Liam & my first time meeting a lot of his family.

Chad's aunt was gracious enough to let us stay at her lake house in Crescent City.  Beautiful!

Saturday morning we drove to Orlando to spend the day at Disney World! Another first for Liam and me.

The seagulls & the "choo choo train"- Liam's two favorite things about Disney World.

More family pictures!

Okay, before you begin to wonder why we'd take more family pictures, let me explain.
Chad's office needed a picture of his family.  I thought we probably should take a more professional looking picture for it...well, as professional as we can get at least.  Sooo...for our family night, we spent some time in my little studio.  These were among my favorites.

Notice Liam has a car in the bulk of the pictures.  Sometimes you just gotta pick your battles.