last of the firsts

we finally celebrated von's birthday with grandma & grandpa today. it was a blast. after a few appetizers, von opened his gifts .. albeit with his teeth ... but nonetheless, he was thrilled with his presents. then we engaged in some friendly dynda vs dynda rivalry with beanbag tossing in the yard while von walked back and forth, and back and forth, squealing with delight the entire time. for our grand finale, grandma made an AMAZING giraffe cake, which was delicious (see photo of von licking his tray!). i'll say it again, it was a blast :)

bubbles

there was a nice breeze today, so we spent a lot of time in the yard. von was once again fascinated with bubbles. until he got some in his eyes and ears. funny guy.

just sitting here with my dad ...

... watching sesame street and eating some puffs. life is good.

ride & rescue

ta-da!!
with all of our traveling lately, we hadn't been able to give von his gift from us yet. so tonight was the night.
ELATION would be an understatement. squeals, laughs, smiles, 'vrooom' noises ... it was even better sitting back and watching the joy on his face. i'm sure he's having sweet dreams of his new rescue car tonight, and best part is that it will be here for him to play with again tomorrow. and the next day. and the next day. and the day after that. and forever & ever! neato!

bye bye florida

vacation is over. ho-hum :(

THE BIG 'ONE'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VON SAWYER!!!

yesterday, von enjoyed a birthday beach bash!! we made a funfetti cake, spelled his name in the icing, and put some nifty decorations up around our vacation home. poor little guy has two molars poking thru his gums, with a third on the way, so he had a hard time staying happy the whole day thru. we managed to catch some great 'crying/i dont want any of this stupid cake, i just want my mom to hold me' photos ... until he tasted that sweet sweet frosting and then he was all smiles (notice his nice frosting goatee).
we'll be having a k-town party next, and then an o-town shindig after that, so there will be a few more posts with cake smashed all over his face :)

so hard to believe our little guy is already 1!! it's so weird to say 'i have a one year old' instead of saying 'i have a "x"-month old baby'. wow, time sure does fly!! bottom line, WE LOVE YOU, VON!!

random

here are a few miscellaneous shots from the week so far. pretty self-explanatory, yet still exceptionally cute :)

bikes and more!

so today's main event was bike rentals. auntie j & mommy made out like bandits (we only had to pedal and/or tow ourselves). daddy & ug drew the short straws, which meant biking with at least 'plus one'. our journey started a little later than wished (let's see ... late morning sun + humidity + three kiddos + no adult beverages made for a rather lengthy ride). so, we stopped by a nice playground for a break, and two beer trucks slooooowly drove past (literally taunting josh). after that, we discovered this incredibly awesome crazy tree lined street (aaaah, shade!).
all in all, our ride was quite enjoyable!!

BREAKING NEWS: von has his first molar coming in .. which means some pretty nasty outbursts from him today :( oh well, plenty of tylenol and some sleep will hopefully help!

golf cart

today we rented an 8 person golf cart ... ummm, FUN!!
we all hopped aboard and took a spin to the end of the island and back. saw some pretty scenic sights and enjoyed quite a bit of quality time together. von managed to somehow fall asleep on our ride into town, so daddy drove us home and changed the golf cart into the 'party cart.' we're talking music, bumps, and narrating of our sightseeing adventure (i think josh has found his calling upon retirement, hehee).

so many memories

it's hard to compact all of the fun we're having into short blogs.
the past few days have once again been filled with fun, sun, and happiness. von is exploring his new surroundings and sleeping like a log (thanks goodness!). the week is zipping by though, and we'll all be back to reality before ya know it (sigh).

boca grande

ah yes, vacation is good. very good. in fact, awesome.

von was the most amazing traveler, even on the airplanes. he just played 'musical laps' between josh & i and enjoyed meeting new people (all the grandma-like ladies ooooed and awwwwed over him).
boca grande is a quiet little island, so we're just venturing here and there, finding things to do as we go. the gulf of mexico is incredibly calm (with no big waves), so von has been lounging in his baby float and soaking up some sun with the fam. we're lathering him up with spf 70+ and zinc-ing up his cute little face to avoid any sunburns. his mom & dad = not that smart. day 2 and we're already as red as lobsters (oops)! pa even managed to go to the beach with us yesterday. fun fun!
only negative: sleep has been a little rocky. saturday night was BAD. really bad. last night was almost perfect though, so we're hoping we're on the up & up trend as far as that goes. naps are happening per schedule as well :)

that's all of our updates for now. stayed tuned as the week continues for more pictures of the beach, turtles, outings, and oh yeah ... VON'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

anticipation

von is as excited as we are for vacation to get here. he's been looking out the window, wondering where oh where can it be??


..... IT'S FINALLY HERE!! keeping fingers crossed for a good traveling matey!!