Albert Family: February 2009

I really don't have anything to post about, so I thought I'd just freshen up the blog with a few cute pics Papa Bruce sent me from our trip to Florida and one of the snowman we built in our backyard right after we got back.

We are just plugging away here, staying as entertained as possible and happy to see March approaching soon. March brings promise, although no guarantees, of warmer weather, and we'll take that. Two years ago, March had several 80 degree days, which I remember well because Quinn was just a baby and we went for our first walks outside in the stroller. Here's hoping that's on the horizon for us!

Quite the picturesque background, eh?

Hmmm . . . do you think they look alike?

So fun to build this HUGE snowman! We rarely get enough snow here to do this. Since Andy and I are both six feet tall, you can see how big this was! I used Q's t-ball tee as a tripod to take this picture. : ) Sadly, our snowman was a mere melted mound with a wet scarf only 24 hours later. It was fun while it lasted!

**Caution: Lots of pictures ahead ! I don't feel like making collages! :)

Well, we're back after our annual getaway to Sarasota, Florida. We decided last minute to go this year, and we stayed at a different place than usual, a condo located right on Siesta Key Beach. If you're not familiar with that beach, it's often listed on the top 10 beaches in the world lists, for obvious reasons (see scenery !). While the weather was a bit cooler than we would have liked on some days, who can complain when the weather at home was in the teens? Oh, not to mention, about three hours after we flew out to Florida, our area got over a foot of snow, topped then by another 4 inches right before we came back! So needless to say, there was no complaining from us about sunny weather in the high 50's somedays!

I love taking beach pictures; I feel like I can't ever take enough. Still, I don't know if I captured just how great a time we had out there. Quinn was in hog heaven with all the sand to dig and roll around in and all the wide open space to run and run. He took over 2 hour naps every day because he just wore himself out with all the playing. He was perfect on the flights too, sleeping half of them each time. He thought every bit of the trip was thrilling, from the moving sidewalks in the airport, to the big airplanes he could see out the windows, to the de-icing machines spraying orange stuff on the wings, to the pirates that fly the planes. Wait, the pirates?! Yes, I realized after he got a bit nervous about seeing the "pirates" that he thought I was saying pirate instead of pilot! Those words really do sound a lot alike! After a pilot gave him a special pin with wings, he got over his fears. ;)

So, sorry about the overload of pictures, but maybe seeing warm pictures will help us all remember that winter doesn't last forever!

The pictures above and below are my two favorites. I love how you can see Q's little footprints leading out to where he plopped down. And the one below . . . I could look at my two happy boys all day!

Quinn thought the waves were pretty neat, waving back at them and commenting on how they come in and go back, over and over!

I just love holding-hands-walking-down-the-beach pictures. I can't take enough!

Papa Lou and Ruthann bought Quinn the best sand toy they could have possibly picked out. He LOVED filling up his dump truck, then dumping it out.

Again, I love my happy boys!

On Friday, we were so surprised when Papa Bruce came walking into our condo! He flew down to surprise us and Johnny. We had so much fun with him there too.

He and Quinn went for a walk down the beach on their own and had a great time. I love these two pictures. You can really see the love in the above pic and below where a proud Papa is taking pictures of his grandson.

So, while we had a great time on the beach, we also spent lots of time with Andy's Grandpa Lou and his wife Ruthann, and Andy's brother Johnny. Johnny's girlfriend's niece, Haven, is about 9 months older than Quinn, and they had the best time together. Haven is the sweetest little thing in the world, and she has declared that she is going to marry "baby Quinn", as she calls him (even though he weighs more and is taller!). They exchanged quite a few hugs and kisses, and Quinn was even able to play at her house while her wonderful parents babysat him to let us go out for dinner! He's talked about her every day since, and I imagine he will until he sees her again next year!