Fun in the Sun(shine State)

In early August, Lily and I (umm…Kristin…I think we’re all clear that this is Kristin writing, and that Michael isn’t so much into the blogging, right?)…anyhow, the Mommy and the Baby made the trip to Florida to visit with the Mommy’s family!

My stepmom (Barb, a.k.a. Nana) drove all the way up to Columbia just to ride back with us down to Jacksonville the very next day. It made a HUGE difference in my stress level about making such a long trip with a 4 month old (remember, I’m a worrywart/weenie). We wouldn’t have done it without you, Barb, so thanks again!

Since we were gone on a Tuesday, Lily got to take her weekly picture in a chair other than our own, for a change. She took this event very seriously, as you can see. (Happy 21 Weeks!)

We had a great time in Florida. Lily got to spend time with her Papa, Nana, Grandmom, GrandBob, Uncle Bill, Aunt Kirsten, Cousins Will and Connor, (Great) Granny and Granddad, (Great) Uncle Glenn and Aunt Terri, and tons of puppy dogs. It was SO much fun, and Lily did really well being away from home. Such a big girl!

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We spent the first few days of our trip in Jacksonville. Lily got to have some fun bath time at Papa and Nana’s house!

Not pictured: the fire alarm incident that had my dad checking and re-checking every alarm in the house, scrambling to find the one with the dead battery that was beeping before it could wake Lily up (spoiler alert: it was the alarm in Lily’s room). In spite of my commitment to document every second of her life, I felt that it was not a good idea to take flash photos in Lily’s room while my dad was teetering on an 8 foot ladder just inches from baby Lily who was blissfully slumbering in her pack-n-play, unaware of the panic among all of the adults in the house.

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We didn’t take a lot of pictures in Jacksonville, for some reason. Lily loved learning “what a doggy says” from Grandmom (“woof, woof!”…apparently that’s funny every time!), and gave her lots of smiles.

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Lily got to see cousin Will and meet her cousin Connor for the first time, but I didn’t get a picture.

Argh!

Guess I’ll have to go back! :-)

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After a few days in Jacksonville, we were lucky to have Michael fly down to join us, and then we (Kristin, Michael, Lily, my Dad, Barb, Bill, Kirsten, and Will) made the trip down to Hernando Beach, FL, where my dad’s parents and his brother and his wife live. We all stayed with my aunt and uncle, who were fabulous hosts to the horde of people who descended on them! Terri is such a good cook, and kept us stuffed and happy the whole time.

As I’ve covered before, Aunt Terri has interesting decorating tastes. Remember her bathroom from last year?

Well, she has now converted this to a wall hanging in the guest room. She’s such a whimsical lady! :-)

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Overall, the trip was just wonderful, and I was so happy to share Lily with my family.

Bill, Will, and Uncle Glenn got lots of pool time.

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Granny got lots of Lily time. (So did Aunt Kirsten, but I didn’t get any pictures!)

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Aren’t my Granny and Granddad just adorable?

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Out fishing on my Granddad’s new boat.

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Four generations of Clement men. Lord help us! :-)

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Even Aunt Terri got in on the baby-holding, which is HUGE for her since she has never really held a baby!

I don’t know who was more shocked!

Lily’s face is funny in this picture, but they actually got along very well – but I think Lily needs some tanning tips from Aunt Terri!

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Again, we had so much fun and regret we don’t have better pictures from this trip (I promise Barb was there, even though I don’t have photographic evidence!).

Lily also got in the pool (okay, so it was the hot tub attached to the pool) for the first time, but we didn’t take any pictures, just videos (and I have WAY too many videos to sort to find one for you now). Rest assured that Lily loved the water, and the pink princess float that Uncle Glenn and Aunt Terri bought for her. Adorable!

Other developments that week were that Lily REALLY found her feet and started stuffing them in her mouth whenever she was being changed, and also started sucking in her bottom lip a lot, so we got a bunch of pictures like this:

But I think we’ll keep her. :-)

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