Final Pictures from our trip

Edison has been working on his playground skills. He has improved a lot with climbing. Here he is on a fake rock thingy.

He looks like he is enjoying the spiral slide. It was neat to see him overcome his fears and try out the slide.

I cant get enough of these photos of him napping. He is still our little baby boy!

We went out for a walk on the strip our last night in town. (my only night out of the condo) It was cool to see all the neon and art deco touches on the hotels, but the spring break crowd was pretty rowdy. This picture was taken at the clock on the strip.

I'm going to miss the view from our condo....

More from the Vacaction

It rained all day Thursday - and when it rains in Miami, it pours! So Edison & I went to the Miami Children's Museum while Eben was working with the cadets. It was fantastic. One of the exhibits was a big boat that sat in a tank of water. Water recirculated from the tank into an upper level and then poured down again. Edison loved watching "fish" go down the waterfall and also enjoyed playing with boats.


The museum also included a grocery store with little shopping carts and food on the shelves. There was also a check out area with a cash register and credit card terminal. Edison is pretty excited to "charge it!"


We had to turn on the AC. Edison would go up to it, lift up his shirt and say "brrrr!" He would do it over and over again because it made us laugh.


One of the art deco hotels on the strip had a great name. What do you think?


There was a fantastic, wide, promenade that we traveled up and down each morning, heading from our condo to the playground and beach. It was great to get some exercise. Edison insisted on taking along his blanket "bah," and stuffed lobster, "roar" on every trip.

At the Beach - South Beach that is

Good thing this is a big dinosaur! Or, as Edison calls it, a "roar." He can climb onto it all by himself - of which he is very proud.


Playing at the beach. Wednesday was the best weather day. This is actually at the Crandon Park beach on Key Biscayne. Eben had to work at the high school down there (supervising a program the cadets were leading for the CGROTC), so Edison and I hung out in the island and waited for him.


Edison was really excited that I gave him some watered down juice in his sippy cup. Can you read his lips saying "juice?!"


He just looked so grown up I had to snap a full length picture.

March - Greetings from Florida!

We are in Florida for Eben's spring break! He is supervising a program in which CG Academy Cadets put on events at a school in Key Biscayne that has a CG JROTC program. We spent the last weekend in Fort Lauderdale, on the beach, before settling into a condo in South Beach for the week.

Here is our Fort Lauderdale hotel. It was definitely "old Florida" style, but it had a great courtyard and a warm pool! Edison liked playing in the fountain.


Kicking back after a day of travel...


The beach in Fort Lauderdale was pristine. Very nice sand and super clean. It was also just a block from our hotel (and the Starbucks) and there was also a playground on the beach. What more could you want?!


Lounging in the pool Sunday morning. Edison is LOVING the water. Maybe a little too much - he walked into the pool here in South Beach by himself with his clothes on. What was he thinking? Daddy just reached down and grabbed him out of the water. It was scary, but everything was fine - Edison held his breath but his eyes were big as saucers. We didn't want him to fear the water, so we pulled off his t-shirt and took him in for a real, parent-supervised swim immediately. He wasn't even phased. Is that a good sign or not?


Here in South Beach we pretty much walk everywhere because it is a pain to retrieve the car (often parked 4 -6 blocks away). There are four great playgrounds in a one mile radius. Edison has been having a blast as we go out for a morning run and stop at a playground - it is a great way to start the day.

More Snow

Edison and his friend Rhys had a wonderful playdate last week. They have been meeting for playdates since last fall and are just now starting to actually play together as you can see in this picture. It is great to see them getting along well together.


This picture was taken at the Children's Museum. They have a big boat there and Edison likes to pretend to be its captain - just like daddy.


Just when I think Edison is all grown up, I catch him at a moment when it is still apparent that he is still my baby boy. Here he is during naptime this past weekend. I did not set up anything in this shot, he just fell asleep right under the penguins (a gift from his Granddad Herbert). I like how they are watching over him - his guardian penguins!


The last time Edison had a haircut (January I think) at the Coast Guard barbershop, he freaked out. He was crying and hyperventilating - we were basically asked to leave. But his hair had gotten pretty long lately and needed to be cut again, so I decided that we should give it another try. Guess what - it went so well! He sat in my lap eating goldfish crackers and holding his blanket while the barber worked his magic (same one we'd had before - thank goodness he was up for the challenge!). You can see how proud Edison was in this post-haircut photo.


Edison had a playdate today with a young ladyfriend, Liliana. She is 10 months and a real peach. I was impressed with how well they played together. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come with Edison acting in the role of older brother to a little sibling!

Our Trip to Washington, DC

This President's Weekend we went to DC at 7:30, after coaching. Luckily Edison slept most of the time. It was amazing how much snow was in the city. There were 8 foot piles on every corner and the cars parked on the street were buried and unrecognizable. We stayed with Eben's brother, Palmer, who has an apartment right in the action in Arlington. We took the Metro to the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall.The museum has an interactive area that included flying this plane. Edison had a blast.

Here's a little view of the snow on the Mall area in DC.


Palmer helped spruce up Edison's hair with some "product." He's growing up so fast... (Edison that is!).


We visited Ryan, a former Academy classmate of Eben's, and his beautiful family. Their three year old daughter Sophia had fun pushing Edison around in this little toy stroller.

Play Time

We're trying to come up with ideas for playtime these days. I've discovered Edison loves Play-Dough - or "dough!" as he calls it. His favorite cookie cutter is the duck. He likes to make two ducks and then have them kiss. How cute.

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Eben's sister, Marleigh, had the family over for a Super Bowl pre-party. Edison enjoyed playing trains (or "choo choo") with his older cousin, Will.

We did have one warm afternoon outside to play. As you can see, there was no snow on the ground. Other than the blizzard in mid December, we haven't had much snow this year, it has just been bitterly cold. Anyway, it was a nice day to be outside, especially in the sun. Edison is finally old enough to really enjoy the playtoy and swing we have set up.

Look at this cutey pie! He is happy to be outside!

But... the next day we had 6" of snow on the ground. We find it easier to park at the top of the driveway and walk up and down the hill than to try to keep the driveway shoveled or to drive up the snowy driveway. Edison has finally allowed us to put on his snow boots and he puts his hat on himself- what a blessing!