First beach trip!!

I know these pics don't have a thing to do with the beach. Apparently, this was MY favorite shirt to wear when I was about Hunter's age. Had to get a pic before he out grows it!
Last day on the beach! sniff...sniff

Walked to the market and got some ice cream for our afternoon snack.
Our little Tiger!
Eli has the best personality and we had so much fun hanging out with him. We sure wish we all lived a little closer.
Fun while rolling in the sand.

Well, the Simmons clan just got back from Amelia Island, Florida. We spent a week with Kevin, Noelle, and Eli. The York family has a beautiful oceanfront condo at the the Amelia Island Plantation and Resort. This is the same beautiful place where David and I took our honeymoon. It was a bit colder than we would have liked (actually it was record low temps for the area in recorded history...mid 40's) but we had a blast anyway. Hunter loved playing on the beach. He loved digging in the sand, just lying in the sand, chasing the masses of seagulls, running after the waves, and throwing seashells into the water. David and I can't wait to take him back to the beach when the water is actually warm enough to get in. He wasn't the least bit afraid and we think he will really enjoy the water. Some other fun activities we did included, a trip to Fernandina beach and a nice lunch out, daily trips to the playground, and a few puts on the greens surrounding the condo. All was well until Thursday night when Hunter awoke out of the blue with the croup! It was a rough three days, but now he feels fine and it is his mother who is a little under the weather. I wonder how many times a person can blow their nose in one day! Hunter is fascinated with me blowing my nose and either wants to assist or he tries to blow his own nose. It is so funny, he makes this little noise with his mouth and then just laughs! It is the cutest thing.
Right now we are recovering from our fun filled vacation and trying to get back into our little routine. Isn't it funny how you almost always need a vacation from your vacation! For our Abby and Ibis fans, they stayed at Papa and Gaga's house and had a grand ole time, but they too were glad to return home. Ibis has hurt his foot and has been limping since Monday...so I made an appointment to get him checked out on Friday. I will keep all posted on his progress...

I promise Chloe was having a good time!
Christmas morning and Hunter's present from Santa.
Our home on Christmas Eve.
Hunter's gifts from Santa.
Me being cheesy decorating our gingerbread house.
We had to police Hunter and the candy. All he wanted to do was eat it!
Having fun riding the ottoman in the basement!
Painting....Hunter did not like using his hands.

I thought it would be so easy to keep up with my posts every week but boy was I wrong! I hope everyone had a great holiday season and had fun ringing in the new year. We really enjoyed our first Christmas here in Abingdon. Hunter had a blast over the holidays. David and I both thought he would go crazy ripping open presents, but our calm little soul just preferred to sit on mom's lap and watch as we opened presents together. Then, of course, he only wanted to play with that one thing instead of move on to the next gift! It was great and we all had fun. Papa, Gaga, Jenny and Chloe were all up here for Christmas and David was actually off so we all got to spend lots of time together and just enjoy Christmas. Hunter loved having so many people around and especially enjoyed playing (as always) with cousin Chloe. The following Saturday we had Christmas in PM at Granny's house. Once again Hunter calmly sat and opened presents and really enjoyed eating cookies and ice cream. For New Year's we went to the Blakenships and rang in the new year. Our family has been blessed with so many gifts and a wonderful 2008! I know 2009 will be filled with new surprises, adventures and milestones.
It has been really rainy and/or snowy and cold so Hunter and I are having to be pretty creative when it comes to finding things to do. Right now Hunter loves being outdoors and taking walks in the woods behind our house, playing in the car, drawing, reading, playing with his friends on playdates and at preschool and just hanging out with me! His vocabulary only consists of moma and daddy, but he has NO problem getting his point across. David and I are eager to hear his words because we all get a little fustrated at times trying to figure out exactly what he wants.
We are settling back into our routine now that we survived the holiday madness and I must say although I like the snow, I am ready for spring and some warmer weather!