jacksonville zoo

One of the highlights of our recent(ish) week in St. Simons was a day trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. Not counting a visit to Zoo Atlanta when Tate was 8 months old and too little to care, this was his first real zoo experience and he loved every minute of the 7 HOURS we were there. (It actually took that long to see everything) His favorite thing, of course, wasn't any of the animal exhibits, but the "cool mist zone", as you can see from some of the videos below.

"Down, set, hut"


Running through the "bubbles"


Tate and the komodo dragon


"Fiii-iiish"

PCB, Baby!

I love spontaneous vacations! On a whim, we've decided to join Keith's family in Panama City, FL from Thurs -Mon. (there will be 13 of us!)

I'll be thinking about work non-stop while I sit by this pool, drinking Mai-Tais. I mean, non-stop. It will be hard.

Here's the latest report on the oil spill. Tate might be coming home with a tar ball souvenir!

August 3, 2010

Panama City Beach continues to welcome visitors to enjoy our destination. Our sugary white sand beaches are open for the enjoyment of our guests and, as of now, we have seen only minor impact as a result of the Deepwater Horizon off-shore oil spill in the form of small scattered tar balls and oil patches. These impacts have been very small and not disrupted visitors. The beaches and water are clear and open for enjoyment.


I'll be sure to post lots of pictures from our trip when I get back next week. Until then, I guess I better go. Somebody is staring at me and needs some attention.

The rest of our vacation...

I know I'm way behind in posting the rest of our vacation pictures. Here are the highlights from our week in St. Simons for July 4th, with a brief escape for Keith and I to Ponte Vedra, FL. Had a wonderful time and Tate did great with Nana and Pop. Already planning our next vacation for September...

Vacation: Day 1

So, our vacation got off to a rough start. Actually, I take that back. Our vacation initially got off to a fantastic start... and then... well, you'll see. I picked Tate up from daycare around 6:15pm and was told he'd been a little fussy that afternoon, which actually sounded like good news to me since I knew (or hoped) that meant he'd take a nap when we got home and I could finish packing, kid-free. I was right.

Keith got home from his ballgame around 7:00pm and we were packed, loaded and had a clean house (a vacation requirement) by 8:15pm. Tate was still asleep (unusual), so we woke him up, fed him, and hit the road by 8:30pm. All in all, not too bad. We left a little behind schedule, but Keith and I were both in pleasant moods (also unusual- normally not on speaking terms during the packing/loading/leaving) and looking forward to our trip. So, yay! Vacation! I took the first driving shift so that Keith could sleep. St. Simons ETA: 1:30am.

20 minutes later, Tate projectile vomits all over the car. Ah! Ok, no big deal. We pull over at a McDonald's near the airport. I clean up Tate, Keith cleans up the car, and we're back on the road.

20 minutes later, Tate projectile vomits all over the car again! Ugh, ok. NO BIG DEAL. We pull over at a McDonald's 20 minutes below the airport. I clean up Tate, Keith cleans up the car, and we're back on the road.

20 minutes later, Tate projectile vomits all over the car again. No, just kidding... this time we drove into the most ridiculous thunderstorm ever. Like sideways rain and massive buckets of water splashing on the windshield. I already don't see well at night and at this point, it's raining so hard that I might as well have been blindfolded. So, we pull over at a gas station to switch drivers so that Keith can navigate us through this mess and I can relax my now-white knuckles.

Since we are already stopped, Keith gets gas and I make a mad-dash inside so that I can use the bathroom to avoid having to stop again. Of course, both bathrooms are out of order... but there is a slight silver-lining. As we were pulling out of the station, we noticed an older gentleman on a motorcycle who was REALLY soaking wet and having to wait out the storm. So we were at least thankful we weren't him (and I think Keith may have even rolled down the window and told him that.) St. Simons ETA: 2:30am

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we did finally arrive at my parent's house at 2:30am. Tate went right back to sleep in his crib and never threw up again for the rest of the trip. In summary, here is what we learned:

1. Baby vomit can go a long way upon leaving said-baby's mouth. (i.e. reaching the dashboard)
2. Baby vomit doesn't smell good..and you never, ever get used to the smell...even if you hope and pray you will since you still have 4 hours left in the car to enjoy the aroma. (hypothetically speaking) On the bad-smell continuum, it falls somewhere between Keith's dirty socks and my cooking.
3. You can never have enough scented plastic bags, hand-sanitizer and paper towels. (my car will now be stocked with these items)

Tate, thankfully, slept until 8:30am the next morning... and even more thankfully, my parents were happy to see him (and maybe us, too) and let us go back to bed until 11:30am (it IS vacation!)

More on days 2-5 later...