White Water 2010 - The Tradition Lives On!

 

On Monday we went to White Water with my brother and the Woods. This is the second year that we have gone with the Woods (see this post for last year's White Water experience) . Both this year and last year we went on a week day thinking that it wouldn't be as crowded. Wrong! It was crowded last year and it was crowded on Monday. Nevertheless, we had fun playing in the sweat, urine and who knows what other bodily fluids that no doubt infest those overcrowded waters. We realized that we were the only adults there without kids, so we pretty much acted like we were 15 years younger than we are. We would create log jams in the slides and in the lazy river, snatch the lifeguards flotation devices, and come up with strange competitions. We had a blast and hopefully we can keep this tradition going for years to come. This means that the Woods will have to visit every summer, because the are moving to Thailand next month. That won't be a problem, will it guys?

4th in Florida

Over the 4th of July we went to Seagrove Florida. It is on the gulf and we were lucky enough not to see any tar balls on the beach, but the water was a lot more murky than usual. We went with my parents and my brother. My parents rented a 2 bedroom condo that was pretty much on the beach. Drake didn't really like the sand at first, but he warmed up to it. The water, however, was not an option. He ate a lot of cherries that day. Somehow he always ends up with red stuff around his mouth. I promise he doesn't bite. Jackson spent some time trying to build a sandcastle, but gave up rather easily.

 

We spent some time at the pool as well. Drake really likes goggles. Justin needed some time in the sun. He's a little pastey.

 

Jackson loves to make new friends. He has no qualms with walking right up to strangers and introducing himself. He walked right up to these older boys who had been sitting in the hot tub for awhile. He quickly engaged them in a conversation about Transformers. I often worry that people make fun of my little man who is so eager to befriend everyone he meets, but so far he has been well received by all. This is not a trait that he got from me or his father, but I suppose we should learn from him.

 

One evening we went into Destin to see a movie while my parents watched the boys. Then they met us at the mall where the boys rode a little train. Drake refused to sit down during the ride. It is a miracle that he didn't dive out one of the windows. Then we went to Burger King for dinner.

 

On the night of the 4th we went down to the beach to see the fireworks. Drake was beside himself with fear. He clung to me so tightly that I didn't even need to hold him. You can see how tightly he is closing his eyes while my mom was holding him. Drake and Jackson didn't last long, but at least we saw a few fireworks.

 

Here is James in his bed. Poor James had to deal with the screaming boys waking him up every morning.

 

Fun 4th. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Skydiving

While I was driving across country with James, Justin was jumping out of an airplane. Skydiving is something that he has always wanted to do and I told him he should go as a late birthday present to himself. He was a little disgruntled that he had to do it with a strange man strapped to his back. You can see in the pic below that Justin got the crazy shirtless guy as his tandem buddy. Next time he definitely wants to go solo. Here are some pics of Justin and the people he went with.

 

Some of our close friends bailed on him last minute (Ryan), but it didn't matter because either way he was going to be jumping out the plane with a stranger on his back anyway. I think Justin enjoyed it, though its always hard to tell how he really feels about things. I guess we'll know he liked it if he decides to go again.