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
Helping
Helping
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!
So I know you already saw a little bit from the last post, but Ezra had his very first birthday, along with his very first birthday party! It was so much fun! We combined Brock's and Ezra's parties for a double party: double the cake, double the treats, double the presents, and literally, double the fun. It was so cute to see both babies eat their very own cakes, then sharing with each other, unwrapping presents by each other and trying to steal them from each other, etc. etc. Here are the pics!
Ezra was excited about his party even before he knew what was coming. He loves parties and all the happy people!
Kendra made these adorable cupcakes for the festa! She was also our official photographer, which was SO nice, because Star, Trent, Tanner, and I could focus on the babies and keeping the party going. I am so grateful for good friends like her!
For a long time, Ezra just looked at his cake. Then he poked it with one finger. Then a hand. Then two!
Two hands = a definite good thing
After Ezra played in his cake for a while, Tanner decided to pop a piece in Ezra's mouth. He loved it!
Even with all the chocolate on it, I just wanna give that little grin a big, fat smooch!
Can you spot the photobomb?
Ezra taste-testing a little bit of Brock's cake.
Brock taste-testing a little bit of Ezra's cake.
Best frenemies. Ezra looks like a little goofball here but this pic is still too cute not to put up.
And all the other kids were very willing to help Ezra open his gifts!
And here's the rest of the party:
Tammy Boo with Baby Emmett.
Atticus enjoying his treats.
Roxy looking beautiful in her golden princess crown.
Baby Henry being a doll as always.
The Simmons having a super-duper good time.
The general ambience.
The Zoo!
Since Tanner is on break, we are able to do so many fun things! We have been spending a lot more time at the pool, beach, and splashpad, and last week we were even able to go to the zoo! It was a blast. We went with our friends Dave and Lauren and their three kids, Roxy, Atticus, and Sayer, and with Trent, Star, and Brock. We got this great deal on Groupon where we paid less than the price of a normal ticket and got to feed giraffes and parrots, an all-day monorail pass, and free zoo cups. Yay for Groupon!
Ezra's favorite animals were the otters. He loved how active they were. They were nonstop running and swimming around their little cage.
Ezra riding a Komodo Dragon.
The real Komodo Dragon looked just about as alive as the bronze one.
An Asiatic Bear.
While we were watching it, Ezra began pointing and saying, "Beh! Beh!" We were amazed. We were asking ourselves, "Is 'bear' his first word? He is so smart! Such an early talker!" Then we got to the elephants, and he pointed, "Beh! Beh!" and the antelopes, and he said, "Beh! Beh!" and the Capyburas, "Beh! Beh! Beh!" Okay, well, it was worth hoping.
Ezra riding the bear.
The kids all enjoying the meerkats.
Minature horses
In the petting zoo, Ezra was more intrigued with this pole than the goats. Brock agreed that it was, indeed, a very interesting pole.
Going for the horns.
Loving the fake water buffalo!
Ezra loved the tiger. It was pretty active and he just watched it walk back and forth, back and forth in its exhibit.
He was proud to be wearing his tiger shirt while watching the tiger itself.
Watching Daddy feed the giraffe.
This picture makes Ezra look way more confident than he was! I gave him the lettuce just to hold, then put him next to the giraffe. Then the giraffe reached out his long tongue and wrapped it around the lettuce in Ezra's hand. As soon as the giraffe took it, Ezra whipped back his hand to his chest, like, "What the heck was that?!" It was so funny!
You don't normally see pictures of me laughing like this, but with Ezra's reaction, I couldn't help it.
I could not convince him to take the lettuce again, nor get close to the giraffe.
He loved this elephant.
As you can see.
Basically every animal I picture is an animal Ezra loved.
We were so close up to the jaguar. Ezra pressed his face up against the glass and watched it until it left.
Ezra wants to be a jaguar when he grows up.
Parrot feeding!
Ezra loved being in the middle of all the birds. He got to practice his new pointing skills.
He didn't ever notice the bird on Dad's shoulder though.
Three babies in a jaguar cut-out board. This is the best we got.
Other Fun Things!
We went to the splashpad with Daddy for the first time! Ezra only cried a couple times. He was in heaven for the rest of it, running around all on his own through and around the water.
I got a haircut! Thank you, Lauren! As you can see, I got bangs, and I am loving them.
This was Ezra this morning. We love waking up to this baby.
And that's all the cuteness for now!
This post was a little early because Tanner's family is coming in tomorrow! I want to give all my time and attention to them while they are here! We can't wait!
