Bama Bound

As we were sitting in the airport in Eleuthera waiting for our flight (which got delayed about 2 hours...for a 20 minute flight) I booked my flight to the states. I had promised someone a piece of furniture, so I had to work a couple of days before heading out. The boys did a great job staying entertained while I worked on the porch :) 

This is my 'mega project' this year! I say this year, because it has taken me almost half a year to get it finished (and I'm still a couple of days short of officially being done). This is the first of many pieces I'm building for a couple building a really cool home down here. They imported all the wood, which is Greenheart, to build their home and do these projects with. The wood is one of the hardest woods out there. And definitely the hardest wood I have ever worked with. This is one of the guest bathroom vanities. The countertops that our friend Ian put on them are incredible, but I haven't been able to take pictures of them yet. Soon :) 

 A recent collection of photos from the boy's camera. I love seeing things from their 'perspective'. We have some Little People cartoons, mommy, daddy, brothers, 'pet' hermit crabs, Big Tuna, climbing in their tree... all sorts of fun!

 Then the real adventure began. I found a great deal on airfare from here to Fort Lauderdale. With our summer budget, it was hard to pass up. So the boys and I flew over there and rented a car to drive up. It was a lot cheaper than flying, and the boys did FANTASTIC for me on the road. I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddies. We met up with my friend old high school buddy, Kevin P.,  Dallas' cousin, Ryan and my friends Andrew H. and Katie on the ride up. They were all actually south of Orlando. Very brief visits, but still a lot of fun seeing folks and breaking up the drive. 

I tried going the whole stretch without stopping, but around 3am I was getting dangerously sleepy. Joss made it with me until almost midnight. He was chatting with me and helping me stay awake. I couldn't believe he lasted so long! We made it to Gainesville, and I found a place for us to get a few hours sleep. Literally... we only got to sleep for 3 hours due to the rental car time constraint (had to get it back within the 24 hour time frame). I took this picture less than 5 minutes after getting the boys in the bed. They were both asleep the second their heads touched the bed. 

 We made it to Birmingham a little after noon! The boys were very anxious to see their CC and ask her all their questions.

 After our visit to CC, we headed over to stay with Jeremy (Dallas' brother), Heather & Mason. They were very kind to let us stay with them, and only minutes from the hospital. THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!  The kiddos were all happy to be out in the fresh air and sunshine, but we were very sleepy!

 We thought it might be a good idea to wear the kids out in the morning before heading to the hospital...hoping it would be a little easier to keep them 'still' for a while. Heather and I took our kids to the zoo one morning. Our little train loving, animal crazed dudes had a blast!

They even got to enjoy a CAMEL RIDE :) Emit wasn't so sure about it at first when he knew I wasn't riding with them... but he felt better after he was told he had to ride in the front. They were really cute up on this big critter. 

Joss and the little girl below crack me up... they are viewing a squashed frog. The girl is on the verge of tears... Joss' expression is a little more 'boyish'. 

Our morning at the zoo gave them a lot to talk about in the afternoon, and they looked forward to the time in the cool, air conditioned room on the ipads. 

 The next day we headed to the little park just beside Jeremy & Heather's place. The boys loved driving Mason's toys down the alley behind their house and all the way to the park. I'm pretty sure my two are a little beyond the size limit, but Mason did a great job sharing and letting his cousins play on his toys. 

 This park was awesome...fairly new, but top of the line equipment. Coming from our 'broke up' playground here on the island it was a very nice treat!

This slide set here makes me laugh every time I come across it. I was trying to get a cute shot of the three of them coming down at the same time. Mason didn't like my idea, so he kept sliding really fast before the other two could go with him. He did that about 3 times and then Joss and Emit started trying to convince him to wait for the count of 3. Emit is counting very enthusiastically and Mason still looks a little confused at why my two boys are delaying their thrill of the moment :) It was way cuter in person!

 MY SUPER BIG BOY JOSS!!!! Look at him go on those monkey bars! AWESOME JOSSOME!!!!

Bev & Xander joined us for a bit at the end, and this is the only shot I was able to get of the three of them playing. It was another successful morning of operation "wear them out". At least, it was successful for wearing me out ;)