Back to Jacksonville

The great thing about being down here is that Florida is not far away.  It’s been sort of a homecoming for us (and specifically for Paul, even though he obviously had no memories of it).  Jacksonville is just an hour away from us, so we’ve made the drive a couple of times already.  It’s been three years and a lot has changed, but most has stayed the same.  We hit the beach of course, and took a little trip downtown to the Riverwalk, where we used to push Paul in a stroller until he was able to run up and down it with that undying energy he’s always had.  We’ll have more pictures of Jacksonville up here I’m sure, but here are just a couple from the other day. 

Adam made his first trip down the Riverwalk and to the Landing.  Not much going on downtown, though there never was much.  But the walk was nice, and the weather was everything you'd expect from Florida.

Downtown Jacksonville.  Still looking good, still feeling good.  It's great to be back, if just for a while. 

St. Simon's Island

Southeast Georgia has not been our favorite of the places we’ve lived, but we can’t complain about being so close to the ocean.  To get out to the beach, the closest place to go is St. Simon’s Island.  It’s about everything you’d expect in Georgia: old southern houses, oak trees with Spanish Moss, and thick Georgian accents.  There’s a nice village on the island, the beaches are quiet, and the water is warm.  We’ve been out a few times already, and with Paul’s love of the water (and Adam’s toleration of it), I’m sure we’ll spend a lot of time out there over the next few months. 

 Speaking of Son #1...

And then there's Son #2!

Got some buckets and we're ready to go!

Gotta love the sand and surf, and the way the weather has been lately, it seems like there are still a lot of beach days ahead!

The start of a long journey...

The years go by.  Too fast.  Just the other day, we were down the road from here at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville and the little old lady was pushing Becky out the front door in a wheelchair.  We put our brand new boy in his brand new car seat and drove him home for the first time.  That was in June of 2007, more than five years ago already.  Not long after that, he was hanging out at the beach eating sand, and then riding his bike up and down the sidewalk in front of the house in Maryland.  He grew tall and big, faster than we could keep up.  He’s still got a long, long way to go, but just this last week, he made a huge step and turned his mother into a huge mess… as he went to his first day of school.  If he’s anything like me, he should be comforted by the fact that he may only have another twenty years before he’s done!  Lucky him.

Amazingly, ready to go!  Even at this early in the morning.

Please try to pay attention... at least for a few minutes.

Adam was there to wish him well, but he was extremely thankful it wasn't him going off to some crazy place without mom.  And the first couple of days are done now, so we can report that they went very well.  The teacher said she was amazed at how well-spoken and intelligent he is... so we guess that's a good sign.  Wish him luck as he takes the long road toward being an educated boy!

It was all a dream about Tennessee...

Another thing we got to do on the trip was stop in Clarksville, TN to see Uncle Andy and Aunt Theresa!  Last time, we didn’t have much time to hang out, so we took a day off to spend with them this time through.  We went on the base to check out the army museum and had a good time hanging out in the intense heat and humidity. 

Shot down some German war planes.

That's not a gun, THIS is a gun...

Private Paul, manning the anti-aircraft gun.

The "Do not climb on exhibits" sign did not apply to us... hopefully.

Get to the chopper! Get out of here!

And it looks like that was the last time we'll go to visit them in Tennessee.  By March, they'll be out of there on their way to their next destination, wherever that may be.  Nobody seems to stay in one place anymore!  But hopefully, we'll see them again before too long!
 

Cross-Country Adventure IV

It felt like we’d done this before.  Probably because we had, three times.  But a few weeks ago we packed up the car (again), said good-bye to family and friends (again), and drove all the way across the country (again).  And the best part is… this isn’t even the last time!  We’re now in Brunswick, GA, way down near the Florida border for the next six months, and then in March we’ll be driving (not as far) back west to Texas.  When we get to Corpus Christi, hopefully we’ll be able to stay in one place for an extended period of time.  Hopefully.  But the great thing is that we got to see some family and familiar places along the way.  So here are a few photos from our cross-country adventure number four!

After crossing through the mountains of Colorado, we drove the long way across Kansas.  But along the way, we stopped at a familiar place to us... Prairie Dog Town! Way back in 2006 when we came this way, we stopped at this off-the-wall, side-of-the-road zoo full of interesting animals, and we figured the boys would appreciate it.  Adam loved the animals, Paul ran from them.

The world's largest Prairie Dog... or so they say.  

And then we stopped at the Miller homestead in Missouri, for the last time.  We'd been there a few times over the years on our back and forth trips, and it's sad to say we won't go back.  The house is sold and they're moving on.  But it was fun to hang out with them again, and we look forward to visiting them wherever they end up next.

 Mo was there... of course.  And as always, like a fish.

 Not getting in the pool with those crazy fools, but I'll dip my feet in for a bit.

One of the last swims of the summer.

 Too much horseplay.

 Drying off on the trampoline.

Ready to jump back in.

And the escape artist, formulating his next big break for it!  Liam and all the Millers are growing up fast, so we're glad we got to catch up with them, and hope it's not too long before the next time.