Seacrest Trip

This past week we went to Seacrest Beach, Florida!!! It's right near Destin. We went with my husband's family and had a blast!!! Mary Paul loved the sand and the water. We had wonderful family time, good food, and great weather. I am always so grateful that Mary Paul has the opportunity to really know her family. On this trip she got to be with her Granddaddy, Grandmommy, Great Aunt Randi, Great Uncle Ed, Aunt Beth, Uncle Brian and Baby Claire. I also got the chance to take some pictures of Mary Paul on the beach and posted several of the ones I liked.

Hiking

I took Mary Paul on a hike at a local park here that has a lake and several trails. So, despite the 90 degree heat, I put Mary Paul in the pack and took a 3 mile walk around the lake. She loved it!!! Her favorite thing to do was touch tree trunks and leaves. We saw a lot of wildlife: a deer in the lake, a huge turtle right beside the trail, a humming bird, and a salamander in the middle of the trail. It was a good time, but needless to say I was pretty nasty after lugging 30 pounds (Mary Paul, a camera, water, food, wallet, etc.) around a lake. To cool down we drank our drinks and ate granola bars. As an aside, the pack ( a hand-me-down from some friends) has been great. Not only can we use it for hikes, I have also used it when I cut the grass. I highly recommend having one.

John Visits

My wonderful nephew, John, came to visit us on Sunday and stayed until Wednesday!!! We just love having John at our home. We went to the Opryland Hotel and walked around. Believe it or not, I have never walked around Opryland. It is pretty amazing. John said he will stay there before he dies. Then we walked over the Gibson store at the outlet mall. The next day, we just went to music stores that John wanted to look around in. He is a great musician, playing guitar, drums and keyboard. Mary Paul was great. For dinner last night we went to Peter's for sushi...delicious!!! No, John is not in a jungle, just the Opryland Hotel.

John was great with Mary Paul, pushing the stroller and getting her our of the car when I never even asked him to. Mary Paul called him Big John.

Mary Paul finger-painted for the first time. I found a cheap canvas at Big Lots and she had a blast. Paint was everywhere. I am wondering if the Museum of Modern Art would be interested in our budding talent.