FL Trip Part 2: Mt. Dora

Wednesday morning we packed up our bags and headed to Mt. Dora (just oustide of Orlando) to visit Uncle Jim, Aunt Dawn, Jake, Ben, and Sarah (and Grandma and Grandpa Brumels got to come visit for a couple of days!). Mt. Dora is just about the cutest place ever! We enjoyed beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather the whole time we were there!

First things first, Luke needed to give Jack some Root Beer. Which I happen to think is disgusting, but Jack seemed to love it :)

Soon after we arrived at Jim and Dawn's house, Jack discovered his new favorite thing to do: walking the dog! These two kept each other busy for hours!!

This was a different day, but I wanted to group all the dog walking pictures together. Just for the record, I did not let my son walk around like this :)

Thursday night we went to the Disney Boardwalk for ice cream and fun. This is Uncle Jim with Jack. Jack took a real liking to Uncle Jim and Aunt Dawn.

We rarely get pictures of just the two of us anymore. I love this man!

After waiting around for a little while, Jack decided to take off!

Sophie decided to take off, too!!Uncle Jim and Aunt Dawn loving on Jack :)

Most of us at the boardwalk (Grandma and Grandpa Brumels, Uncle Jim, Jack, Me, Aunt Dawn)

Jack was so proud of himself for getting up in this rocking chair!

This is what we really went to the Boardwalk for: Beaches and Cream!! It's a 50's style restaurant that's known for their ice cream. You'll see what we ordered in the next picture. This, my friends, is called "The Kitchen Sink!" I didn't get a picture of it before we started digging in. Basically it's a bunch of scoops of ice cream with candy mixed all in it and tons of toppings! And a WHOLE CAN of whipped cream! YUM!!!

Jack eating his first Oreo. This one happened to be kinda soggy from the ice cream to begin with.

Me and Aunt Dawn enjoying our Kitchen Sink.... and yes, we ate everything but the kitchen sink :)

A short video of Jack enjoying some ice cream.

Friday we explored a little bit of Mount Dora, then spend some time out by the pool. It was really nice weather for laying out, but too cold for me to get in the water. Jack and Luke enjoyed splashing in it, though.

This kid loves water so much!

I love these two! I wouldn't pick Jack up when he was all wet, but Aunt Dawn is much nicer than I am :) I LOVE this picture! All the cousins (minus Jack): Luke, Nick, Jake, Ben, Sophie, and Sarah in the front.

We had so much fun with Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, and Cousins in Mt. Dora! I can't wait 'til we get to go visit again! Thanks for having us Uncle Jim and Aunt Dawn!!

FL Trip Part One: Tampa

We enjoyed a wonderful 1 1/2 week vacation this month! We got to travel with Nick, Liz and Sophie, which was wonderful and made all the driving much more fun! Our first stop was in Tampa to visit Luke's Grandma and Grandpa VanWingerden and his Uncle Bruce, Aunt Diane, Kira and Gunner.

Sunday morning started out with going to church with Grandma and Grandpa. This picture is in the lobby of their church. As you can see from the picture, it's a pretty huge church! Outside of the children's area, they have two huge fish tanks for the kids to look at. Jack loved pointing to all of the fishies :)

Sunday evening we went over to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Diane's house for dinner. This is Jack with their dog, Rodie (as in a rodie who travels with a band). He LOVED Rodie and Rodie was sooo good with Jack and Sophie even though he had not been around small kids very much.

Jack also enjoyed playing on their drumset:

Sometimes when the kids get tired, they just want the mommies. Liz and I was busy playing on the Wii, so we let the kids "help" us.

Monday we went to see the manatees. Jack fell alseep on the way there....he's just too cute when he sleeps! :)

There's a power plant in this cove and the manatee come hang out here until the water in the gulf warms up. There are literally hundreds of them!

You can see more of the plant in this picture:

There was also a birding trail that you could walk down. It was really pretty, but there weren't too many birds out this time of year.

You can see how the trail was covered in trees in this picture - like a tunnel.

Big boy Jack had to get down and push his own stroller.

Monday night we went to Josh and Amanda's house (where Nick, Liz and Sophie were staying) for dinner. They have a heated pool in their neighborhood, so the kids got in and played a little bit. It was still a bit cold for me! Despite the look on Jack's face in this picture, he really was having fun! He always LOVES being in the water! The second picture is of Nick and Sophie walking in the water.

Josh and Amanda have a waterslide at their pool. I'm not sure Jack knew what to think of it!

We had a FANTASTIC time in Tampa and it was really good to catch up with family and friends that we haven't seen in a long time!

Kiss the baby....

Jack loves to give the "baby" kisses in the mirror!

I didn't realize this video would be sideways....turn your computers :) Disclaimer: please excuse my annoying voice. I don't realize I sound like a complete idiot when I talk to my son until I hear myself on video.