Colemans & Co.: Big Catch Up

Long time, no post! So sorry! But I'll cut the apologies short since they begin every post.

Here's what we've been up to these last six weeks:

First of all, Tanner's family came to visit--and it was so much fun! It was the best to spend a week with them doing everything fun around Miami. Ezra loved seeing them (especially Grandpa), and they loved seeing him (especially Thomas). Here are some of the places we visited:

The Everglades

Thomas gets huge uncle bonus points for running around in a parking lot and spinning Ezra in circles.

This photo gets huge bonus points for the lightening in the background.

And Grandpa gets huge bonus points because he's just such a nice grandpa.

Yay for our 20 minute trip to the Everglades in the middle of a lightening storm.

The Keys

This truck looked like it had been on the bottom of the ocean for a few years. Yep, cool.

We went snorkeling at Bahia Honda. There wasn't any coral, but there were about a million (or more, maybe multiple millions more) small fish that you could guide by moving your hands through their midst.

Ezra, of course, had the best time. He loves the beach. He loves the sand, the water, and at this beach, the seagrass. He played in it for hours.

A dark but nice picture of my good-lookin' husband.

Some sunscreen didn't get rubbed in. As soon as sand gets in the suncreen on his face, I never know what to do! My kiddo doesn't need a facial scrub or anything, so I just stop touching it, and he ends up spending the day as a sandy, sunblocky, little mess.

Side profile of my squishy little baby.

And this one's for Grandma Harlan--I know how much you love those little curls.

On our way home, we ate at a BBQ restaurant called Sonny's we'd seen advertised on a billboard. And I will tell you, that is the best BBQ I have had in a long time. It is definitely on my checklist of places to go now every time we go down to the Keys. Mmmm!

The Fruit and Spice Park

Every time I have ever gone to the Fruit and Spice Park, I have always wanted to eat at the Mango Cafe. Dream fulfilled.

Everyone had a great time on the tram tour. Just in case you were wondering, Ezra does has some kind of random fruit in his mouth in this picture. No idea now what it was.

Excited to learn about fruit and spices!

Our guide told us that you could hear the water inside the baobab tree. We're still not sure...

The Deering Estate

If only Ezra were smiling....

Viscaya

Thomas also gets bonus uncle points for his muscles. His big, big muscles.

Kaylene feels very at home in front of big, European styled mansions. I love this picture because she just looks like she belongs.

Ezra is learning how to hold hands and walk down stairs. He relies on those hands a LOT, because with pretty much each step he swings forward in an arc and Daddy has to catch him.

Andrew, the hero of the day, decided to strip and take a quick dip in the mansion pool when no one official was looking. Wait, should I be posting this?

And last of all, The Breakfast Bar at the Hotel

Ezra's favorite spot

Again, aside from all the fun things we did (and interesting Russian food we ate), it was just a great trip and a fun visit from the Coleman family and we cannot wait until they visit again.

After they left, Tanner and I were still in a pretty adventurous mood, so before school got too intense, we went to the Miami Museam of Science. It was a fun little place to visit. They were working on a big new exhibit while we were there so they gave us tickets to go back when it opens this month. I can't wait.

The Science Museum

Thermal imaging--family photo. Ezra seems to be the hottest in the family.

Who doesn't love the fish?

I will never get over my two handsomes.

Who knows what he's doing here.... I just love that kissable little face.

Daddy decided to put Ezra in the tornado simulator machine. I don't think you're supposed to put small children, or anyone, in the little slot behind the glass, but Ezra thought it was fantastic.

Ezra's favorite part of the museum was this room with a light up floor with music that got louder and brighter the more you danced. Tanner and I jumped around holding him and he loved it. When we came home, all he wanted to do was dance and jump. Here are his attempts at jumping.

And the last photographable thing we've done these past few weeks was actually last Saturday--we went to Shark Valley National Park in the Everglades to celebrate Tanner's birthday. We are so glad we did it! It was definitely different than the birthday hikes we used to do up Nebo, but it was good to get out in nature.

Shark Valley Birthday Walk

There is a 15-mile paved loop around the park. It pretty much all looks like this. After somewhere between an hour and two of walking (and sweating) we decided to turn back. We are not wimps. It was just too hot.

Ezra is only happy here because we had just discovered that he likes those little orange crackers with peanut butter in them. I had packed a pack each for me and Tanner, and Ezra ate both of them.

Coolest part about our trip? Tanner got about two feet away from this red shouldered hawk and got to take this amazing picture. Seriously, go google "red shouldered hawk," and you will see nothing even close to this awesome pic. My husband is a natural.

And last but not least, the moment you've all been waiting for:

What Ezra's Been Up To:

Ezra has been so BUSY these past few weeks. He has always been busy, but lately he has just learned so much and been up to so much that I am hard pressed to keep up with him. Our apartment is almost never clean (although he tries his best to help take out the trash, sweep and mop, and even do the laundry). Ezra just likes to take everything out of drawers, containers, cabinets, shelves, you name it, and put it in other places. I cleaned the apartment right before this blog post and before his nap, and phew, I am in heaven. Just enjoying the cleanliness and the quiet for a few more minutes. Not that he's not darling. He's always darling, as you know, and will soon see.

Helping

And more helping.

He likes to help, but he places to go.

People to see.

He loves to read.

Sometimes when I'm working on something at the table, I notice an eerie quiet around the corner, and I come around to see he is in his chair from Grandma and Grandpa Smith, reading. Or drinking out of a sippy cup. Or just looking out of the window and contemplating. Ever since he went to nursery and found out chairs were cool, he has loved that chair and is always climbing into it.

Building. Ezra is a great little tower builder. And everytime he puts one block on top of another he looks at me to say, "Good job!" It is really cute and keeps me on top of things.

He likes to build towers out of the things he finds in the cupboards too, not limited to, but including: juice boxes, macaroni and cheese boxes, cereal boxes, popcorn, and cornbread muffin boxes. Any box will work in a pinch when you need to build a quick tower.

Well, my cute baby just woke up from his nap, and I really want to get this posted, so here are the rest of the pictures and one last video. We miss you!