Perception is reality

John Harrison wanted to take a nap on the boat ride
Key West sunset



Friday night a week ago, we went on a glass bottom boat ride. John Harrison frequently brings up the boat ride with fond recollection. He seems to forget that he spent much of the boat ride fussing, squirming, throwing fits, and acting like he wanted to be anywhere but on the boat. John Harrison loved the snacks that were provided and did get some amusement out of seeing the fish through the glass viewing windows, but overall was quite challenging for us to manage. Don't get me wrong---we did have some fun and enjoyed seeing a beautiful sunset, but we also wanted to pull our hair out during quite a bit of the 2 hour trip. I guess that in his mind, John Harrison had nothing but fun. The other day he wore an outfit with a boat on the front, John Harrison enthusiastically said "boat ride" when he looked down and saw the applique.

Keys living

chillaxin in a hammock on the beach....
attempted family picture.....I should have taken Elise's hat off :(
John Harrison tried really hard to go to sleep in the hammock...unsuccessfully
sweet Elise enjoying the beach
We've been in Key West for over 2 1/2 weeks and have a pretty good routine in place. David (who is training to run a marathon in December) gets up at 6 am to workout. Usually, John Harrison wakes up a little after 7am and Elise shortly thereafter (his room is right across from ours so the noise of a two year old waking up quickly resonates). A few days ago, John Harrison woke up at 6 am and was pretty scared so we quickly got him out of bed and soon thereafter were all up for the day. John Harrison loves to try and go back to sleep in our bed (take a "nap" as he calls it) when he is still tired in the morning, but he has never been able to actually go back to sleep....that was especially unfortunate the other morning at 6 am when we had already had a fairly rough night with Elise who has not been sleeping too well for the past month and a half or so. Anyways, after we eat breakfast, Elise is about ready for her nap and usually takes a decent morning nap. Sometimes I will play with John Harrison while Elise is napping, other times John Harrison will play by himself, but most days we will take him swimming and keep Elise's monitor out by the pool. John Harrison and Elise both take a nap after lunch. In the evenings we have been going on a long walk (3-4 miles). This evening we walked to a toy store that is located near the cruise terminal. I think that David and I enjoyed looking at different fun toys as much or more than John Harrison did. John Harrison's favorite part of the outing was riding a mini carousel -- he was not too happy when the ride was over and kept saying "more ride" as we buckled him back into the stroller. Even though he has to do most of his work from the kitchen bar since there is not a desk anywhere in the house, David has still managed to get 6-10 hours of work in a day during the week and about 4-6 on weekend days). I took Elise and John Harrison to the beach two days ago so David could have some quiet time to get work done; sometimes, I'll take the kids for a walk so David can work.

Even though we are only a few blocks from the beach, we have have only gone to beach every 2-3 days....it is a lot easier to go for a swim in the pool than it is to get everyone ready for the beach, unpack everything once we get there, try to breastfeed on the beach, etc. This morning we went to the beach and I took John Harrison for a swim in the ocean while David stayed to watch Elise, who was taking her nap in the stroller. The public beaches are quite interesting here...in terms of people watching, that is:). Thankfully there are quite a few big trees so finding shade isn't too much of a problem. At the public beach closest to the house we are renting, there are covered picnic tables, restrooms, etc. A lot of locals seem to spend their entire day sitting at the picnic tables, drinking beer, and shooting the breeze. Today, our spot on the beach was not too far from some guys who had already thrown down quite a few Natties before lunchtime.....the police rode buy and warned them four times to get rid of their alcohol (illegal to have alcohol at the beach in the U.S.). A bit later, a lover's quarrel broke out at the same picnic table and some unpleasantries (to put it nicely) were exchanged between two of the guys. We were actually getting everything packed and ready to leave when David said, "let's go now!" After we were walking away, he told me that the police had walked up to the picnic table and let the guys sitting there know that someone had called in a complaint and that it was inappropriate to be using foul language so loudly with young children around---it wasn't us who called in the complaint (although we were glad someone had)---but since we had been on the beach not too far away, it would have been easy for the guys to think it had been us.....

Key West is definitely an interesting place. It is getting late so I'll just name a few things that come to mind......

1-Trash pickup is twice weekly --- and takes place between 4 and 5 am ---right outside our bedroom window. I commented to David about how loud the trash pickup is and he said that maybe the trash collectors are so ticked that they have to get up so early that they don't even try to be quiet...might as well wake everyone else up if you have to be up, too.

2-Chickens and roosters run around all over the place and the roosters crow at all hours of the day and night.

3-Little brown lizards are all over the place. John Harrison loves watching the lizards -- especially the ones that come near the pool. He calls them "woe woes." David is trying really hard to catch one of the lizards....the lizards have narrowly escaped his attempts so far.

Enjoying Island Life....Key West Style

We have been in Key West since Monday afternoon. It has been two years and one month since we were here before, so it is fun remembering bringing John Harrison to Key West when he was Elise's age. David's brother Jonathan is here this week -- John Harrison loves his uncle a lot and one of the first things our little boy says in the morning when I bring him downstairs is "uncle?" We are renting a townhome here that is about a 5 minute walk from the beach---one of the reasons we chose to rent this place was because of its location and due to the private pool in the (small) backyard. John Harrison has his own bedroom (wonderful!!). The house is beautiful and has high end finishes. My only complaint is that with the DSL internet, it takes an extremely long time to upload pictures to the blog......I guess I will do most of my blogging late at night when upload times seem much quicker. Anyways...the island is fairly small and biking and walking around are really popular. We have been walking almost everywhere we go except for a few times when we have taken cabs.

It is so much fun seeing John Harrison enjoy the pool and beach. Last summer all he wanted to do while we were at the beach was run all over the place (constantly) or have us take him in the water to "swim"....he would never be content sitting and playing in the sand or along the edge of the water. We had a lot of fun, but stayed on our toes trying to make sure John Harrison was well supervised and safe and didn't bother other beachgoers. This summer, it seems like he could be content for hours playing in the sand with his sand pails and shovels :). Elise seems pretty happy at the beach as long as she is fed and doesn't get too warm or tired.

With all the walking I knew we'd be doing on our trip, we decided to take the plunge and buy a double stroller (something I never thought I'd do!!). After doing a bunch of research on the topic, I opted for a Phil and Ted's Explorer---the stroller can be used as a single or a doubles stroller and a jogging stroller. Overall, I really, really like it. The second seat can either fit behind/underneath the main seat or on top of the main seat---we have been putting Elise in the doubles seat in the underneath configuration, so people will do a double take when they realize that there is a baby hiding underneath:). It is pretty funny to see various reactions when Elise is crying -- people look at John Harrison and see that he appears happy and not notice that there is another seat with a baby in it.

Both kids are asleep so I better take advantage of a few hours of sleep before Elise needs to eat...

Four months old!

Elise turned four months old last weekend! She continues to be sweet baby and loves to smile and laugh. Elise started rolling from her back to her stomach about 3 1/2 weeks ago and just a few days ago she started pushing up on her arms. It won't be too much longer that I can contain her to a blanket on the floor:). Elise loves to put anything into her mouth---the blanket in front of her, soft toys, her own hands, my hair, etc., so I try to make sure I wash her hands really well after we go anywhere. John Harrison has recently started to interact more with Elise; it is so sweet to watch him hand her toys or kneel down beside her and say, "hi"---he loves his sister so much. Last weekend we went to Nashville to spend time with some friends from our old church as well as some friends who were home from the mission field for a few months. After a busy Friday and Saturday, we decided to spend Saturday evening as a family. We went to the Green Hills mall to eat and walk around. A funny thing happened while I was waiting at the mall entrance for David to park the car. I was standing with Elise and some women who were sitting on a bench started talking to me about my baby. One of the women reached out her arms and held them there for a while and kept saying, "let me hold her"--I didn't want to be flat out rude and say "no, you can't hold her!!"--but was NOT about to put my baby in the arms of a stranger. The woman finally got the hint that I was not going to let her hold Elise and put her arms down (probably slightly embarrassed)---then the women offered to make room for me on the bench. I politely declined and after they continued to insist that I sit down, I told them I was waiting for my husband and I quickly headed outside. There is something about pregnancy and babies that makes people forget social norms.

July snapshot

Puddle Jumpers

I love our precious baby girl's cute cheeks and sweet smiles!! John Harrison has never been one to be content in a float in the pool--he has always wanted to be held and "try" to swim. We took him to swim at my sister-in-law's parents' house about a month ago before we had the green Puddle-Jumper (John Harrison is wearing in above photos) and then took him back a few weeks later with the device. The latter time was SO much easier (on David, especially) as John Harrison could freely swim around and stay afloat. I think the Puddle Jumper is such a great option for young children learning to swim---one of the downsides is that it is for children 30 pounds and over (John Harrison weighs right at 30 pounds), but other than that, it seems to be very well designed, is a Coast-Guard approved flotation device (haha!), and really does work well. I know I don't often push products, but I couldn't help but mention this one. John Harrison LOVES swimming.....maybe someday we'll have our own "real" pool :).