Clearwater Family Time

My dad wanted Jeremy, Hayden, and I to have some alone time as a family during this vacation so he got us a beachfront hotel room in Clearwater. We got here last night and have been enjoying almost every single second of it. Last night I had a terrible headache so Jeremy and Hayden walked to the drug store to get me some medicine. While they were in the store an awful storm hit. They waited in the store for about a half an hour but it didn't slow up. So, they made a run for it an got SOAKED!

Here is the view from the balcony of our hotel room!!

This morning we walked down to the beach and hung out there for a little while.

I asked Jeremy to put Hayden's bathing suit on so that we could go to the pool and swim. Here is what I found when I looked over! Don't you understand why she's crying!?

We played at the pool for a while this afternoon. We practically had the pool to ourselves. It was very nice!

A Day in Long Boat Key

Yesterday we went to my Uncle Mark and Aunt Cindy's house that's right on the canal in Long Boat Key. My Uncle Tom was vacationing there with his children Katie and Max. So, it was a big family get together! My Uncle Mark rented a 42 foot yacht with a skipper for the occasion.

Finally, the Ross family is together again! Here we are on the boat. Unfortunately, Jeremy had a conference call at 1:00 so he was not able to spend the entire afternoon on the boat with us. But he did get to go out for a little ride.

Daddy's little marshmallow puff in her life jacket

Our skipper took us out for a short ride and then we came back to drop Jeremy off. We all decided to take a dip in my uncle's pool before we got back on the boat.

Everyone was all smiles! Here's Bernie's daughter Amber (far right), and her two friends Ashley and Tiffany.

Hayden loved riding in Mimi the turtle.

September was splashing around in the pool in order to entertain our cousins Max and Katie.

After our dip in the pool we got back on the yacht for our afternoon of boating.
I gave September my sunglasses for the day because she has been squinting for 2 weeks straight. She squints so much that she has a tan line from the wrinkle in her forehead when she squints! She had to double up with her regular glasses though because she doesn't have anymore contacts!
Sleeping like a baby.
Everyone had such a wonderful time getting together and visiting. My Uncle Mark and Aunt Cindy really went out of their way to plan an amazing afternoon for us! We did take a family picture on the boat but unfortunately the batteries in my camera were dead. So, I will post that once my mom sends it to me!

Floating Away....

Yesterday we took one of the tubes out into the ocean with us. It was nice to just sit and relax. I had to make sure that someone was with me so that we wouldn't drift away forever!

Here is Hayden enjoying the salty water again!

Three generations of girlie girls!

Here we are taking time for a little cuddle before we went inside for lunch.

One cool chick!

Downtown St. Petersburg
Today we went to Vinoy Park to walk along the coast. It ended up being VERY hot so we ended up doing a little shopping at Bay Watch. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Here is a picture of Morgan and September under a huge tree in Vinoy Park.

Same tree with the sisters.

This crazy root stuff was growing out of the limbs of the trees. We just had to take a picture of it and I needed a willing model for the shot!

A new food for the princess. Yesterday at the gathering Hayden found out what Goldfish tasted like and she loved it!

I do declare that Goldfish are number 1!!

The Gathering

My dad had some of our family over today to hang out. It was really good to see everyone.

Here's a picture of Morgan, September's girlfriend, reading a book with Hayden and Parker who is my cousin's child. Parker will be two years old in October.

Here we are blowing bubbles in the pool. Hayden has so many pool toys now she will be set for life!

Things got a little crazy in the pool with my dad and brother. They took turns showing each other "who was boss".

Here is Johnny showing dad what's up!

Dads turn now!
Parker loved playing in the pool with his grandpa who is my uncle Mark.
Hayden hanging out with aunt September.
Hayden with Pappy and his girlfriend Pita.

Chillin' on the HUGE Chair

We are spending the next 4 days at Pappy's house! Today we hung out at his pool and ran some errands. Tomorrow is a big family get together so we are trying to get ready for that. Don't worry-we will take some pictures!

Here's Hayden on Pappy's big leather chair. She just sinks right into it.

More Vacation Fun!

On Tuesday we took a trip over to John's house to take a swim. Here were are blowing bubbles in the pool. Hayden never did get the hang of it. She would always open her mouth and drink the water instead!

We were in the pool for so long that Hayden's feet got all wrinkled! Here she is sitting pool side with Gram.

Hayden now has her own little sun chair to sit in while we are at the beach. What a little princess!
Here's Hayden with Auntember (Aunt September). Hayden is just in love with her. We think that she thinks September is mommy a lot of the time. They have the best time together!
Here's the set up for Hayden's time at the beach. She has a little beach tent with a huge towel underneath, her puffs cereal, blue chair, ball with ribbons, and apple juice! What an ordeal it is to take this child to the beach!
Pondering as she listens to the waves....

Like I said, what a little princess!

Here is our set up at the beach. We have a lot of stuff too!
Hanging out with Mommy.

Hayden just loved sitting in the ocean with Gram at the end of the beach day today. Everyone is having the best time relaxing at the beach. Hayden and I do miss daddy though! We can't wait until he gets here next week!

First Day at the Beach

We arrived in Treasure Island, Florida on Sunday afternoon. Monday was our first day on the beach. Here are a few shots from Monday.
When we were ready to go up for the day I stripped Hayden down and took her into the ocean for one last rinse off.

Here she is with Uncle Johnny. He's feeding her puffs and letting her drink some apple juice.

She hung out with Pap some while we were in the ocean. He is so tall that the waves didn't splash her in the face when she was with him!
She really liked the waves and she didn't even think that the salt water was that bad.
As you can see.....she doesn't mind the tasty salty water.

More of the Recycling Bin

Recently, we bought a lot of bottled water for a product party that I hosted. So now most of the recycling bin is filled with empty water bottles and Hayden loves it. I know that you will notice how neatly the bottles are stacked in the container so I am just going to explain myself from the beginning. I am a little, let's use the word "particular" about certain things-especially in the kitchen. I'm not really sure why, but I like for the recycling to be neat and orderly. Maybe it's because I have students in to tutor and I would like things in the kitchen to be in order. I guess that doesn't explain all of the labeled baby food section in my pantry though! I'm just a little anal about the house ok...there I said it! Just watch the video!

Mommy's Mess This Time!

Today, I went through my closet because AADD, Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities, called. They wanted to know if we had any clothes or items to donate. I told the lady that I was sure I could find something....and that's exactly what I did.

Hayden just sat and played with all of the different fabrics as I piled stuff up around her. It's it so sad how much "stuff" we have that we don't need!

What A Mess!

That's something that Hayden is very good at-making a mess. Here she is leaving the scene of the crime after she finished getting into the recycling container in the kitchen.

Jeremy asked her when she would be old enough to pick up after herself. She just ignored him and kept crawling!