Fun with Cousins & Aunts

watching dolphins at the pier

Surprise

Two days ago my younger sister, Stephanie, & her dog arrived to stay during her Christmas break from college. Yesterday, we walked in from the park only to have our older sister and her 3 boys jump out from the closet and from behind the couch! It was an awesome surprise!

Here are our youngest surprise guests

Here's the latest attempt at a family picture. Trent officiated a wedding Saturday that we all attended.

A friend also took Anna Kate and my camera for a bit and this is what I found.

I'm slow to do posts because they all seem like they'd be the same to me. It's still in the low 80s every day, so we spend lots of time outside. We go to the beach often. We can't swim in our pool anymore (it's not heated), but we did swim in the Gulf last week and it was refreshing.

Playing Outside

We do lots of playing outside these days...

Sand Sculpture Festival

We love living by the beach! The last couple weekends we've had impromptu trips out on a friend's boat for just an hour or two. The highlight last weekend was when we remembered (while we were already on the Gulf) that the finals for the annual American Sand Sculpting Competition was being held at nearby Fort Myers beach. Our friends drove the boat up, we threw the anchor just off shore and walked around admiring the amazing sculptures. What a treat.
Hudson & Anna Kate love the boat! I have pictures somewhere of them that I'll have to post.

Halloween 2011

We went downtown Naples where the main street was blocked off. Kids could trick-or-treat at the business and there were kid friendly activities in the street. It was a great night of family fun with great friends!

A Cuddly Mover & Shaker

At 16 months old now, Anna Kate is extremely social, dramatic and fun! She insists on saying hi and waving to every person when we're out. All the grandparents around here eat it up. She blows kisses and waves while riding in a shopping cart like she's a queen in a parade.

She will dramatically throw herself on the ground and cry into her hands if her feelings are hurt, if Hudson is playing with the toy she wants or sometimes for no apparent reason. After a minute of that, she'll normally get up and just start happily playing again. Trent is worried.
She's learning many new words. She knows lots of body parts and likes to review them. Often, I'm holding her and talking to someone when out of nowhere she puts her finger in my eye saying "eye, eye, eye, eye..." until the attention is turned to her. :) She also loves books, animals, the beach and anything her brother is doing. This girl is either on the move or being held.