All the Interstates….

We logged some miles this past weekend! In fact, we figured up that by Sunday afternoon, we’d seen all the major interstates in Florida! I-75, I-10, I-95 & I-4.

On Friday as soon as DW got off work, we headed for the beach. It was our first trip of the year, and we were so excited to get some sand between our toes.

We made a pit stop for dinner and got to the condo around 8:30. AB was all kinds of wound up and ready to see the beach! She was super excited that we brought our jammies and were staying the night with Pappy, Granny (“Nie-Nie”) & Aunt Kels.

We finally got her settled down and in bed, but she woke up early and raring to go!

We all walked down to the pier and had a yummy breakfast on the water.

Miss Priss was excited about the beach, but wasn’t quite so sure about that COLD water at first!

She did enjoy making some sand castles and having a tea party on the beach, though.

Bless her heart. It’s a shame she doesn’t have any beach toys to play with. :)

We went back and forth to the pool and she had lots of fun swimming with her daddy & Aunt Kels, while I fell asleep laying in the sun. It was glorious until I woke up because I felt drool running down my chin.

We grabbed lunch from one of the stands on the beach in between one of our trips to the pool.

After all that playing and swimming, an afternoon nap was in order.

My in-laws are so great and always make sure they do everything possible for everyone to have a good time. They always plan food they know we like, plan fun stuff, and this time even volunteered to keep AB for us to go see a movie after dinner. I’m used to having parents like that and I totally lucked up and got really great in-laws, too!

That evening, we headed to Red Robin for dinner. It’s the closest one we have to us (and we just discovered the RR goodness last summer when this one opened at the beach), and I’ve been craving some jalapeno coins since around September!!!!

We watched the Kentucky Derby while we ate and cheered for the horse from our hometown! So neat… He didn’t win, but it was really neat that he was in it.

After dinner, Pappy & Nie-Nie took AB with them. They took some pictures on the beach, had a grocery cart race in Publix, and went to see some replica ships. They had a big time, I’m sure. :)

DW, Kelsey and I saw “Something Borrowed…” I can’t tell you the last movie we saw on opening weekend. It was weird being in a packed theater! It was a really cute movie with lots of funny parts…so DW wasn’t totally miserable. Ha…

After the movie, we picked AB up and headed home. After a good night’s sleep in our own beds we were ready for our Mother’s Day adventure.

Mother’s Day will never be the same for me, as I know is true for many others. It’s just not one of my favorite holidays. Certainly not because I don’t have a wonderful mom who deserves celebrating, because I do. Truth is, I’ve been surrounded by great moms my whole life. Mother’s Day just seems to shine the light on the part of me that will always be missing…this side of Heaven, anyway. Of course I think of and miss my Cooper EVERY day. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. There isn’t a day, and certainly not a holiday that we don’t ache for him and that we don’t wish he was a part of. As the years pass, those have become more bearable, but there are still those few days a year that are just harder than the others. Mother’s Day is one of them for me. What better thing to do than run away on days like those, right? So that’s usually what we do.

This year, we planned to go to the Jacksonville Zoo. I’ve been wanting to take AB to the zoo, and the day just seemed like a great one to do it. My parents had been in St.Marys/Cumberland Island for the weekend, so we met up  there to spend the day.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the Choo-Choo train. We rode twice. :)

AB loved seeing all of the animals and I was impressed with how nice of a zoo it is! There’s even a splash park… we didn’t dare let AB see that, though. We didn’t pack her bathing suit, so Mom & I said we’d have to take her back one day this summer.

There were lots of mothers in the park, including these birds. They may have been our favorite of the day… There were so many nests all in the same tree, and you could hear all of the babies screeching for food. The mommas would fly in and they’d pop their heads up and eat.     It was so cute.

Something that wasn’t so cute? This warthog… She did have babies, though, that were loving on her…and it reminded me no matter how ugly we are, our babies will always love us. Ha… :)

When we made it to the other side of the park, we came up on the Snow Cone stand, and let me say it was the highlight of my day. After DW and I shared one, I may or may not have had to get my own. They were THAT good. YUM. Totally worth the 30 minutes that my Dad & DW had to stand in line. :) It’s a good thing, too, cause I wouldn’t have wanted to hear what they’d have to say if Mom & I said it wasn’t! Ha…

AB also got up close and personal with a giraffe.

And while we’re on giraffes… I NEED a baby one in my life. HOW stinking cute is this little guy? Those little tufts of hair on his horns?!?!? DARLING…I’d just about pay to tie some bows on them…

Of course seeing real-live “Bumbos” was a hit!

Even the “Bumbo” statues were, too!

We did a little bird watching…

And some bird chasing…

When we saw the carousel, of course there was no getting away without riding it. Grammy took one for the team and rode with AB. They were going to get the gator, “Albert” (as AB calls EVERY alligator), but someone beat them to it… so what did she pick? The big deer.

When the ride was over, she yelled, for “Moe”.. (more), so what does any kid who’s got their grandparents around get? MOE… This time Pop rode with her, and they got Albert. :)

Prissy was a carousel pro this time around and waved every time they passed by us. We got so tickled at her face, too… she did the tiny little- keep your teeth covered- smile. It was hilarious…

It was a fun day and just what I needed.

More like a fun weekend, and what we all needed! :)

~amw~