Update Part 1

This is going to take me a few posts in order to get all the pictures up. I have LOTS to share with you! For starters, I'll give you the quick rundown. We took Lauren to Florida to visit her Great-Grandma and her Great-Great-Grandma last week. Chad's family was in town too. We stayed and visited with all of them for a few days and then took Lauren to Ft. Myers to stay at a resort that Chad and I stayed at on our "Babymoon" two years ago. Following our stay in Ft. Myers, we returned to visit the Great Grandmas again before returning to Milwaukee. Our trip began with a six-hour flight delay in Milwaukee. Some would think..."okay, that's not too bad. We'll go home and wait it out and come back later tonight". That didn't work for us. We'd been dropped off at the airport by a friend so we didn't have a car there. Plus, it was the kind of flight delay that keeps getting delayed again and again for a TOTAL of six hours. So we got to explore the terminal of the Milwaukee airport which is NOT big and has very few things to occupy a toddler. But somehow we managed and got safely down to Tampa.

We enjoyed dinner out with the whole family and spent a morning at Clearwater Beach followed by an afternoon at Great-Grandma's pool. It was a nice visit but Lauren was not herself. She was cranky and wouldn't let anyone but Mommy hold her. I think it was partly because she was teething and partly because she was a little overwhelmed by so many people trying to get her attention at once. She was much better for us in Ft. Myers and when we returned to visit the Great-Grandmas again at the end of our trip, she was more calm and a little more affectionate with them (Chad's family had left by then so there were fewer people there). All in all, it was a nice trip. We celebrated Great-Great-Grandma's 97th birthday while we were there and were so glad to get to spend time with both of the Great-Grandmas. It's too bad that they live so far away from us :-(

Sitting on Great-Grandma's bed before going out to dinner.

Lauren and Chad with Grandma Steighner.Lauren and her Great-Great-Grandma.

Lauren's Great-Grandma was trying to help her listen for the sounds of the ocean in a shell.

Enjoying a birthday dinner with the Great-Grandmas. I need to have Chad's dad email me with his pictures because I think he got several more than I did...

Chad in our rental car.

While in Ft. Myers, we stayed at the Pink Shell Beach Resort. It's very toddler and kid-friendly. It even has a toddler splash pool where it was only 10-inches deep so Lauren could run around and have fun while we supervised. We spent lots of time on the beach too, which was tons of fun. The water was the perfect temp and was nice and refreshing. We hope to visit the same resort again next year!

Walking to the beach.

I'll try to post more pictures tonight or tomorrow. Happy Friday!

~M & L