It's a Date

Today Brailyn had a playdate with Jaxon (Dave and Ashley Rogers) at the zoo. She had a lot of fun playing in the water and looking at the animals. I think she was still a little wary of Jaxon and his headlocks (which he put her in on Saturday at the Wyeth's) so she kept her distance. But they still had a blast and were tuckered out on the ride home. Thank you Ashley!!!

Oh, Freedom!

We decided to let Brailyn run around a little before we put her diaper on, and well, let's just say she was quite happy without all that extra baggage. She kept running away from us! Luckily Grandma has tile floors, so it wasn't too bad when she'd tinkle a little. But aren't naked babies too funny??

Going Shopping

Thank you Grandma for the new shopping cart. Brailyn loves it and pushes it all around the house. And she likes to put Pooh Bear in the baby seat. Too cute!!

Super Carl

This is Super Carl, or "Caw" to Brailyn. His alias is Carl Crawford, Devil Rays outfielder, but to us, he's a super hero, protecting the game of baseball and the American way. We got him at a D-Rays game in Tampa, and Brailyn loves to play with him. She makes him fly, points to his body parts, and just likes to have him around. It's great. And we're breaking gender stereotypes at the same time!!

Good Bye, Tampa

We leave Tampa tomorrow, and we're all a little sad. We really have enjoyed our summer here, and although the time was short, we feel we can call it a home. Brailyn will surely miss our evening walks to go see the ducks and turtles in the pond, and hopefully she'll remember our trip to Sea World to see Elmo. But we are excited to go back home and to see our family and friends. Clint is anxious to be busy with school again (and so is Momma), and soon we'll be looking for a new job and possibly a new home again. But it will hopefully be the last move for a couple of years...

Fountain Park

Today we went to a park here in Tampa that has a fountain playground. Brailyn had a blast getting soaked. And she did pretty well with a bunch of bigger kids running around. She even tried to shoot some of the water canons. Someone at church had told me about it, and I'm glad we finally made the trip!

Slideshow

Visiting Uncle Ben

We went to visit Ben at the Naval Academy in August and there was a group of Asian tourists that wanted to take pictures of Brailyn. I mean like 12 young Asian women swarming around a 19 month old and taking hundreds of pictures of her. It was funny, and a little weird. Brailyn was standing a little away from us by a wall, and she kinda did a little pose with one hand on the wall...I wish I had a picture of it. The little celebrity. Anyway, it's one of those funny moments that you'd never expect, and probably won't forget.






This past weekend we went to Annapolis, MD to see my brother, Ben, at the end of Plebe Summer (boot camp for the Naval Academy). I have to admit, I cried when we we first saw him after they did formation. Maybe it was the pageantry, or maybe it was because I'm so darn proud of him. Whatever the reason, I love my brother and am proud to tell everyone that he's going to the Naval Academy. He looked so handsome in his uniform, and we had such a fun time seeing the Academy and walking around the city. We are so proud of him, and we were so grateful that we were able to go visit him. We'll miss him. GO NAVY!!

Brailyn is 18 months!

Happy half b-day!! Wow, Brailyn, you are getting big so fast. You are learning new words everyday and having so much fun in Florida. We have been going to the beach almost every weekend, and you just LOVE swimming in the ocean. And momma can go in the water too, since it’s warm. Today while we were playing with your blocks you said “sh” for shapes. And you love to stack the blocks and then knock them down, of course. This week we discovered jumping on the bed and doing butt drops. You got some good air, and momma was in tears from laughing so hard!! You are such a helper. When momma does the laundry, you want to help put the clothes in. And you wash the walls with a rag. Such a big girl. We also like to make a mountain with the couch pillows and climb up to the top and slide down. You’ve grown out of your sandals that Grandpa bought in Paris, so we went shopping for new sandals. And looks like we’ll need to go shopping for some warm clothes when we get back to AZ. Next week we are going to Annapolis with Grandma to see Ben in the Naval Academy. Maybe we’ll meet your cousin Maddie, too. Then we fly home to AZ with Grandma and wait for Dadda to drive the truck home. We’re excited to go back home. We have had so much fun in Tampa, but we miss our family and friends. Momma is training for the marathon in Tucson, Dec 2nd, so she goes running a lot. You have some fun with Dadda when momma’s exercising. We love you so much and can’t wait to see what the next few months will bring!!