Beach Days

Here we are in Florida! We found out upon arrival that we have wireless internet in our condo, so I won't have to wait until we're home to post pics and videos of our trip.

We are having a wonderful time here. The weather has been great: a few scattered thunderstorms but partly sunny and warm most of the time. We have an amazing view of the beach from our balcony so we spend a lot of time out there, eating meals or just relaxing with a book. Zach and I have gone out and played in the ocean every day just like a couple of kids--Austin's grandma and grandpa are more than willing to watch him while we're gone! Austin is such a people person...he smiles at everybody around him so he earns plenty of admiration and attention wherever we go. Not that we go many places, apart from dinner. This is a pretty low-key vacation, just a lot of reading, doing crosswords, spending time on the beach...whatever floats our boat.

Naturally, one of the highlights of the trip so far has been taking Austin to the beach for the first time. Take a look...

We expected a bit more of a reaction from Austin when we stuck him in the waves, but our little guy chose to just play it cool, didn't he? We assume the lack of crying means he liked it...Zach and I were reflecting on how Austin is never really excited by things, just people. One thing he did not like: having to take a bath when we got back to the condo when he was really just ready for a nap! Well, life on a beach vacation is just rough like that.

Here are some pictures of our little beach bum.

Looking at the clouds

Meeting Grandpa Russ (in the Atlanta airport, just before our second flight)

Hanging out on the balcony

Off We Go

Zach, Austin, and I are taking off tomorrow for 12 days in Florida with my parents. Aunt Megan and Uncle Andrew will be joining us for the last few days of the trip. I am really excited about this trip for a couple of reasons. First, Grandpa Russ will finally get to meet Austin! I can't wait to see my dad with a baby--it is a little hard for me to picture right now but I'm sure he'll be a great grandpa. Second, we are going to the same beach (Siesta Key) that my family went to several times when I was a child, and I think it's cool that Zach will get to see the place I have so many fond memories of.

Tomorrow will definitely be an adventure--it will be Austin's first time on a plane (and our first time with a baby on a plane) and our flights are in the late afternoon/evening, which tends to be a fussier time of day for Austin. As Zach pointed out, it's a good thing he's so darn cute--perhaps that will help our fellow passengers forgive him for any crying he may do. I am thankful to all my mommy friends who have given me advice about flying with a baby. I feel as prepared as it is possible to be.

We don't anticipate having internet access much, if at all, while we're there, but I'm sure I will have zillions of pictures and videos when we come back.

"Deelooshus Hot Doggies!"

Our family went to the drive-in again last night. The shows were Wall-E and Get Smart. We thought about staying for both shows but decided to go home after Wall-E because we were getting tired. 11PM is late for some of us, you know?

But we didn't leave without a little treat for our blog readers. We recorded some of the classic "refreshment stand" ads that were playing before the show. We could have chosen so many more, but here are two of our favorites.

We Ate Our Way Through Downtown Indiana

Zach and I attended the "Taste and Tour of Indiana" fundraiser tonight. That means we got to walk around downtown and sample food from 14 area restaurants. Actually, we only got around to 10 of them. That was the minimum requirement to be entered in the door prize drawing. Plus, that was plenty of food. But what a fantastic evening! For a town of its size, Indiana has an amazing number and variety of restaurants. We tried several places we had never been to, along with some of our favorite eateries. At the end of the evening everyone got to vote for their favorite place. Here's a sampling of what we ate...

• fried chicken "stix" and pepperoni rolls at Canyon Pizza
• chicken parmesan at Spaghetti Bender's
• an assortment of wings and fried zucchini sticks at Murphy's II
• roasted red pepper soup and cheddar pot roast at The Coney
• Indian food at Tandoor (don't even ask me what it was called...something unpronounceable)
• Italian-style baked beans, bruschetta, and meatballs at Nap's
• potato salad and lemon meringue pie at 9th Street Deli
• taquitos, beans, and rice at Cozumel
• spinach artichoke dip, wings, and pizza at H.B. Culpeper's

And the very best: (not just our opinion; it won the popularity award by a landslide)

• tiramisu cake, red velvet cake, chocolate chip cake, butterscotch blondies, capital rolls (their signature cinnamon roll) and gelato at Cafe 701 (They had a whole table of desserts, plus soup and salad. I didn't see anyone eating the soup and salad, though.)

This has apparently been an annual event for the last seven or eight years; we must have just missed it last year. Be sure, we will definitely be doing this tour again next year!

Videos, etc.

Zach and I took several cute videos of Austin while our family was here last week. It has taken me longer than I'd hoped to get them edited and uploaded to YouTube but they're finally ready. (I'm sure all of you with little ones understand how you start your day thinking something will get done and then it just doesn't.)

Here's Austin having fun with Pops. Do you think the Bonanza music is a nice touch? It was necessary, really, because our air conditioner made it impossible to hear much of anything else. But Austin was laughing and all of us were cheering him on.

And here's Austin having fun with Mommy and Daddy. I love the look of joyful anticipation on his face! It is so amazing to see how he recognizes me and Zach and loves to play with us. He is such a blessing to us!

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks for good measure.

Napping with Mommy

So happy to be with Gran!

Three Generations of the Collins family

So what else is new with us? Not much, really. I was invited to join a ladies Bible Study that some of my friends are facilitating and we met for the first time this morning. It was wonderful to spend time with some other moms and be able to share what's going on in my life, especially as far as Austin goes, with women who have been there. I was very encouraged by the time I spent with them.

Austin is still sleeping pretty well, although it's been a few nights since he slept seven hours. We're still doing just one nighttime feeding most nights, though; it can happen anywhere from 2AM to 5AM. But here's something that has me a little frustrated--since he started sleeping longer at night he wants to eat about every 2 1/2 hours during the day. Shouldn't he be starting to stretch out his feedings a bit, not cluster them closer together? Any words of wisdom, mommy friends?

A Fun Visit

Austin's Gran, Pops, and Uncle Heath arrived for a visit on Friday. Austin has had a great time with them all, especially getting to know his Pops. Pops takes him on lots of walks around the backyard, and Austin loves the outdoors! Our little boy has been so content the last few days with so many loving arms to hold him!

Our church had a picnic yesterday in Altoona and then attended an Altoona Curve baseball game. It was Austin's first ballgame and he seemed to love it. We had to hang out under the stadium for awhile on account of a rain delay, but everyone had a great time once things were underway.

Breakthrough

Austin slept for over seven hours straight last night! We put him to bed around 9:30 and he slept until about 5AM. I could hardly believe it when I woke up and saw the clock! He has been sleeping just four or five hours at a time for the last month or so--I was starting to feel like he'd never go longer than that. Such a pleasant surprise!

Of course, I won't be surprised if tonight we're back to a 2AM feeding, but it is wonderful just to know that he's capable of sleeping longer.