A Farewell to Summer

It's here folks. It's August 11th and I'm official sitting in Professional Development sessions instead of on the beach. Right before I started moving all my things into my new classroom, our little family took one last hurrah! It was originally supposed to be a quick trip away for Mommy and Daddy but when our sitters got sick, little man party crashed.

We checked into the Pelican Grand Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale and were surprised to find a huge, ocean front room with two walls of windows.

The room had an incredible view!

We had a wonderful late dinner at their oceanfront restaurant Ocean 2000. We opted to sit out on their verandah, despite the early August heat, because you just can't beat oceanfront dining. We opted to try the free range chicken as well as the sea scallops and shrimp curry. Both plates were delicious and Little man was a perfect gentleman, not disturbing any of our fellow diners.

It was a long night after that because someone didn't want to sleep in the hotel crib and decided to wake up every few hours and cry about it. That's life I guess! We eventually rocked him to sleep strapped in to his stroller where he stayed until morning.

We woke the next morning to that beautiful ocean view, and just couldn't pass it up when it was time for breakfast. So back to Ocean 2000 it was! We had another excellent meal choosing a western omelet and Heuvos Santa Fe. Jacob helped with both!

After breakfast we spent the day relaxing in the lazy river and the pool. Jacob loved them both saying "weeee" as we went around the lazy river and giggling, splashing, and kicking his feet in the pool with Daddy.

We definitely have a water baby on our hands!

On our way home from our little trip we made a pit stop at Ikea where we stocked up on a few things for my new room, as well as grabbed an early dinner. Who can resist those swedish meatballs?

It was the perfect quick little getaway to relax before a new school year begins.

10 on the 10th: 14 Months!

Holy cow how did we get here?? Here's a few things all about Jacob at 14 months:

1. He's turned into quite the talker. He can say momma, dada, no-no, uh-oh, dog, ball, Layla, and hello. He is starting to say "Mickey" instead of just "Key" for Mickey Mouse. He also knows that sheep say baa and dinosaurs say roar, and he babbles all day long!

2. He now knows how to get down from the couch all by himself, as well as climbing up stairs. 

3. He's turned in to quite a beach baby this summer, and loves digging in the sand with his shovels. 

4. Playing peek-a-boo is still one of his favorite games, and he likes to be the one hiding too, by peeking out from behind furniture, or pulling a towel or blanket over his head. 

5. It took awhile, but he's now drinking water from a sippy cup! He only likes the ones with straws. 

6. He prefers to do everything himself, especially when it comes to eating. The only food he doesn't like is ice cream. He'll make a sad face and spit it out because it's cold. 

7. His singing soccer ball is still his favorite toy. He loves to play with it as well as snuggle with it by laying his head on it and using it as a pillow. 

8. Jacob recently learned how to stick out his tongue and thinks it is soooo funny. He also gets upset if you don't stick yours out back at him. 

9. He isn't walking by himself yet, but he crawls really fast, takes a few steps in between people or furniture and walks all over while holding on to his walker.

10. He now has 12 teeth! Four on top, four on bottom, and four molars in the back. We think he may be starting to get his canines in too! 

JD Under the Sea {1st Birthday Party}

Jacob had his third and final birthday party with my family in Michigan. (Read about his previous parties in Florida here and New Jersey here)

We went with an under the sea/ Finding Nemo theme, and I had so much fun putting together all the details! 

When guests first entered the first thing they saw was a balloon lined pathway, and then a table directing them towards the party. The table held Nemo, Dory, a snorkel Mask and directions to P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way. (All movie references)

In the main party room we string blue crepe paper across the ceiling to look like waves, and I twisted green crepe paper all over the walls and windows to look like seaweed. I made ocean animals out of puffs and lanterns and hung those over the food buffet, as well as making a giant jellyfish out of a trash bag and curling ribbon to cover the chandelier over the table.

I made another banner for all of Jacob's monthly pictures, this time with an ocean theme.

And I decorated his high chair with an "I am One" banner, which had clown fish on it of course!

The centerpieces consisted of ocean animals and the number 1 made on the cricut, which were embedded in sea glass pebbles in clear jars. We propped up characters from Finding Nemo next to each one. 

We kept Finding Nemo running on the TV for the kids to watch, and we blew up Jacob's fishy swimming pool just for fun. 

We kept things Nautical when it came to food, serving up...

Sub Sandwiches

Seashell Pasta

Shark Salad

Crab dip

Ocean Water

For dessert we had....

A goldfish bar

fishcakes

seaweed

starfish cookies

By this point in the game Jacob was a pro at cake smashing and he really went for it on his little smash cake I made him. I used two different shades of blue sparkly frosting and used a knife to swoop it all over the top to look like water.

He had fun opening his presents, but mostly he had fun hanging out with his family.