You can’t tell by the looks of their faces but this picture was taken at 4:45 in the morning at the airport! We’ve been looking forward to our trip to Florida for a really long time! Our day started really early as we woke up at 3:20 am (after having turned the lights out at 1:30 am) to begin our trek. We gave Lily and Brutus a small bit of breakfast, packed up the car with our bags, and took off for the airport. This is the least amount of baggage we’ve ever taken on a trip! Kevin and Finn shared a suitcase, I had one, and Finn had a small roller bag with his lovies and blanket and books and such in it. Kevin had his briefcase and I had a purse and that was it! So we didn’t check any bags for this flight. I was pretty impressed, I honestly didn’t think we’d make that happen. Griffin was excited for this plane ride, it is his second one, and he was all smiles once we got on the plane. It was still dark out (we departed at 6 am) so we couldn’t see too much but he got the window seat anyhow. He didn’t nap at all on the flight, instead he played games and watched a couple shows on his tablet. 
When we arrived in Ft. Myers it was cloudy and raining. Mom and Dad picked us up at the airport and we headed toward Siesta Key, stopping for breakfast (which seemed like the lunch hour to us!) at Cracker Barrel. After we arrived at their condo we hung out and then headed to the beach, as we thought we had a break in the weather. Not so much! It was windy and cool so we didn’t last too long! Finn did play for a short bit at the awesome playground they have at the beach area. 
Finn loved checking out the pool at the Condo with Grandpa (and splashing through the puddles to get there!). Compared to the air temp the pool felt super warm!
After a long morning the boys (cousins and daddy included) all enjoyed naps while watching a show. They were in deep sleep here!
Over the next few days we enjoyed lots of delicious food, ice cream, time at the beach and at the pool. We arrived in Florida a few days before the Bethune’s departed so we could all hang together for a couple of days. It was a great time!
We stayed at a hotel in Venice, a short half hour drive to Siesta Key. We started each morning with a yummy breakfast at the hotel 🙂
The water temperature was right around 70 degrees. It definitely felt cool when you first dipped your toes, but after a couple of minutes it didn’t feel so cold. We didn’t go “swimming” in the ocean but we definitely played a lot in the water and walked in up to our bellies!
One day after arriving at the beach some yelled “Kevin!”. As it turns out Kevin’s second cousin, Patrick, who lives in Ohio, was sitting directly behind us (literally 10 feet) at the beach! This is a huge and crowded beach so the fact that we were sitting right beside one another was crazy! Not to mentioned we had no idea they were in Florida and vice versa! Patrick was there with his family for winter break and his mom, Lauren, was there too. So we all hung out for a bit, fun times! 
One evening at dinner we celebrated moms 70th birthday! Wowzer, how can that be? Amy and I and the kiddos had met up at home a few weeks ago and the kids made a hand-printed platter for her. They each chose the color for their handprint and the stem of their flower has the number of leaves to represent their age when we painted it. On the back they each chose a “bug” to paint and they each wrote their names! It turned out super cute. 
When Grandma Kirk lived in Sarasota one of her favorite restaurant’s that we would go to when we visited was a place called Millie’s. We had a morning girls breakfast there while the guys made a breakfast for the guys at the condo 🙂 They are known for their apricot stuffed french toast – so that’s what I had!
Griffin had his first real taste of fish while we were in Florida. We went out for dinner at Phillipi Creek where Kevin ordered Red Snapper and Finn enjoyed several bites. 
On Saturday morning the Bethune’s headed back to Ohio and we moved from hotel in Venice to the Condo in Siesta Key. Later that morning my cousin Missy, and her husband Dave, and their kids Lindsey and Maggie came to visit. They live in Vero Beach, FL, but had been in Apollo Beach about an hour north of Siesta Key. So we hung out for the afternoon mostly at the beach. Griffin loved playing with the girls and really enjoyed playing football at the beach. Kevin had stayed back at the condo as he was very pink from sunburn! They also came back on Sunday and we met up at the local Art Fair in downtown Siesta Key and had a nice lunch together there too. Then they headed out and we went home to get Kevin ready to fly back home for a few days of work. He sent us a pic of our condo from the sky!
On Sunday there is a drum circle at the beach, so after Dad returned from taking Kevin to the airport we walked over to the beach and checked out all the action. Lots of people (and good people watching, lol!). 
February 26, 2017
Leave a reply
Yay for nice weather! We were all able to get out together and go on a bike and walk through out neighborhood. It was Brutus’ first walk on a leash (which seems crazy since we’ve had him two months!) and he did well. Lily was so excited and had a great time but by the end she was pretty sore. We really shouldn’t be walking her with her torn CCL in her right knee. Griffin is so awesome riding his balance bike. He loves to bend his legs backwards and totally balance himself. He really loves to get out and ride his bike. We have had some really warm and unseasonable weather which has been great for being outside!
I surprised Griffin at school for his Valentine’s Party! It was fun to arrive and see him with his classmates. They had a special lunch that day, followed by filling the Valentine bags of each of his classmates with the Valentine cards they each brought. Afterward it was a couple of crafts and activities like making Valentine crowns and playing games. I got to read a Valentine book to the class and since Finn had Tony the Tiger over the weekend Miss Irma read about Tony’s adventures with us with Finn up at the front of the class. It was so cute to see. 
This is Finn and his best bud Jaxson. These kiddos just love to play together in their Tiger class!
For a special dessert Finn and I made a Lemon Pound Cake to go along with our Heart-shaped cheese ravioli dinner. Yummers! Finn helped set and decorate our table too. 
These are Finn’s Valentine’s for this year – glow stick bracelets in a card that we made. The idea is from Pinterest, of course, chosen by Finn himself. 
I’ve always loved that Finn’s birthday is 3/16 as it has always reminded me of John 3:16. In his class at school this week they tied that verse to the word Valentine. Cute!
And here are a few of Finn’s favorite things! It is fun to hear what he talks about at school 🙂
And he also did some fun art projects at home with Debbie!
On Thursday I had a regular OB appointment with Dr. Costa along with a growth scan ultrasound (28 weeks, but a week early) and my glucose tolerance test. I arrived early as they have to draw your blood exactly 1 hour after you finish the sugar-drink. And this never happens, but they were running ahead so rather than doing my ultrasound at the scheduled time they did it early – and Kevin was on his way but wasn’t there yet :(. I was so bummed since Chestnut was breech and in a perfect position for them to get great images. For the growth scan, they measure the head, belly, and femur as well as the amniotic fluid. Everything looked great, they estimated 2 pounds 6 ounces and he was in the 65th percentile, which Dr. Costa said is good and not unexpected since Kevin is a tall guy. The ultrasound tech asked if I wanted 3D images, so I said sure! Apparently not everyone wants them. But check these out – they are the clearest things I’ve ever seen. So different even than the 3D we had at 18 weeks in December. This first one is just a regular (not 3D) profile pic. 
This is the 18W 3D on 12/21/16 on the left and the 27W 3D on 2/16/17 on the right. 
And for comparison, here is a pic of Griffin that Amy sent me from his newborn session. They look more alike than I originally thought!
Thursday night we had loads of fun swapping around all of the beds in our bedrooms and converting Griffin’s toddler bed into a big kid bed! Even Lily and Brutus got in on the fun. 
This always makes me laugh – the three of them in the smallest space possible, our bathroom closet!
Finn’s mattress arrived like this – I had no idea it wasn’t going to be a large flat rectangle! Turns out this is a pretty awesome way to get a bed – we didn’t even go to the store or have to pack it into the van 🙂
First things first, we took apart the queen bed that has been in Finn’s room since he was born and moved it to the front (and now only) guest room which is next to our room. Finn was a great helper. 
Then Finn and Daddy took apart his toddler bed. He would go and get every tool like Kevin had so that he could do the same things that Kevin was doing to take the beds apart and put them together. 
The mattress went from this to on the bed frame in about 5 minutes!
Check out these big boy digs! His room feels so different now! 
Fast asleep – he had no troubles at all his first night in his big kid bed!
And check out all of these clothes that needed re-homed during our bed change-out activities. We have been beyond blessed with so many hand-me-downs from the Bethune’s! When I look at how many clothes Finn has outgrown and the number we’ve bought compared to what has been given to us it is astonishing! Thanks, Bethune’s!
And here is a look at Chestnut’s future room. For now it has a full-size bed, which Likely won’t stay. Not the best picture as there are no lights in there and this was taken at night with a flash from my iPhone camera. 
And here is the final of the now guest-room in the front of the house. Brutus perfectly matches the bedding and is ready to hit the hay himself. 
This week we had a fun outing to make a surprise gift for Grandma Beilstein’s 70th birthday! Finn and I met up with the Bethune’s and made a hand print platter. Each of the cousins picked their own flower color and the stems each have the number of leaves that represents each kids age. Then on the back they each did a thumbprint animal and wrote their own names. 
Griffin was given his class Tony the Tiger for the weekend too. We had a far more relaxing time with Tony compared to his visit in the fall. We adventured to Costco and had lots of snuggles at home. Oh, and we made sure we kept him away from Brutus!
One day I snapped some house photos complete with the dogs as props. Finn was having fun putting party hats on Lily and Brutus. Lily still wasn’t feeling very well yet, she hasn’t yet gotten her full appetite back yet and her eyes just don’t look like her normal self. She was getting in some snuggles with me on the couch and didn’t really care much for partying 🙁
In getting ready for our upcoming trip to Florida we brought up a couple of air mattresses from our basement and blew them up to make sure they were good to go. Finn liked testing them out. 
Griffin really enjoys artwork both at home during the day with Debbie or at school. He makes some really creative projects!
And here we are with a pre-Valentine’s treat at Starbucks. A tasty chocolate cake-pop. 
The next phase of our bedroom move-arounds happened this weekend when Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong came to pickup the king bed out of our guest room, which we are converting to Chestnut’s nursery. It was a lot of moving heavy stuffs and Finn got in to help where he could, going around and getting his appropriate tools!