The ever so great Callahan fair

The last time Jason and I went to the Callahan fair was during our first year of dating about 13 years ago - boy we've been together for a long time. Now that we have Brody we figured it was time to go again. We went on the 21st after we got home from work - which was around 6:30 or so by the time we got there.

We first went to see the animals which we thought Brody would love but he didn't have much to do with them. I think it was because we walked through the fair to get to the animals and he saw lots more exciting things besides the animals and couldn't wait to see what was going on out there. Here's a couple pictures of him with the animals.




Once we got out to the rides he loved the Merry Go Round, which he was familiar with since he had ridden it with NeeNee and Papa (my parents) at the zoo. I don't do so well with rides that go round and round but I thought I could handle that ride - but after 3 times I was done!!!


TaTa and Na (Aunt Tara & Uncle Bryan) met us there to get their feet wet for what was in store for them next year with their little one - who is about 3 months old. Brody absolutely loves Na and wanted to be him at all times. I'm sure Bryan loves that!!





He's a little small for most of the kiddie rides and had to ride everything with either me or Jason. He loved the Berry go Round (a kiddie Tilt a Whirl) and the train. We tried the slide which was great the first time but when it turned dark he didn't like it so much. This was the story with trying any new rides once it turned dark- we think the lights made it too overwhelming. Overall he rode the 4 rides for a total of about 17 times. I would call his first fair a success. I'm thinking next year should be quite interesting.




You can't go to the fair without partaking in a funnel cake. It was SOOO good and of course Brody LOVED "cake".

Our cruise!

Jason and I recently got back from our first cruise - it was a 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise (or so we planned) on the Carnival Triumph. Yes, it was just Jason and I - Brody stayed with my parents. Some people think we're crazy to leave him for so long but we need vacations too and our families are always excited to keep him.

Here we are for one of the many picture opportunities they make you take!

I have always been nervous about taking a cruise because I do get a little motion sick so I sure didn't want to be sick on a boat for 7 days. We left on Sunday, Oct 12th out of Miami. Our first port was on Monday at Carnival's private island - Half Moon Cay. The water was absoultely beautiful - crystal clear and the sand was so powdery.

On Wednesday we were supposed to be in St. Thomas (which I was VERY excited about), however, God had other plans. We found out Tuesday morning that Hurricane Omar was headed towards San Juan, Puerto Rico and would be there Thursday - of course when we were supposed to be there. Well, St. Thomas is right next to San Juan so St. Thomas' port was closed. Our captain decided to head us towards the Western Caribbean - Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. I wasn't too excited about going to these places but at least we got in the same number of ports.

Our excursions consisted of hiking up Dunns River Falls and going down a bobsled (1 man roller coaster) in Jamaica. Hiking up the falls was one of the best things we have ever done.

We just shopped in Grand Cayman - which seemed like a nice island. In Cozumel we swam with the dolphins. This involved the dolphin pulling us in the water and then pushing us with her nose through the water. I have always wanted to do this and it was definitely a great experience!! Dolphins are such unique animals and it is a wierd feeling being in the water with them.

Here's Jason getting back on our boat (the one on the right) with all of our great deals from Mexico. These boats were huge!!

All in all our first cruise was wonderful - good food, hilarious karaoke and very relaxing!! Here are a few more pictures from our trip.

Don't you just love these towel animals they make for you in your room every night.

Look how windy it was one night - doesn't my hair look great :)
Here's my view for 2 of the days as I sat in the Caribbean sun.

With our golden Caribbean suntans....

ABC's

Here's Brody saying his ABC's in the bathtub. Of course he is just repeating them but we have to start somewhere. Listen closely for his favorite letter - W.

The Look

Well, Brody has developed a new look. He thinks it is hilarious.

TCA football

Last Tuesday, we took Brody to see Sara Lynn cheer & Tyler Ard play football for Trinity Christian. Sara Lynn & Tyler were our ring bearer & flower girl in our wedding so they are very close to us and Jenny Beth, their sister is named after me - Ahh!! Brody did very good at the game especially when he could eat his Snickers!

Sara Lynn doing what she loves...

Jenny Beth & Brody.


Don't you just love that grin...

Ollie Koala's

This past Friday night Jason and I took Brody took Ollie Koala's out at Jax beach. For those of us who don't venture out much - this is like a Chucky Cheese for little kids. My friend Clair who gets out more than I do of course told me about the place. It's free to get in and you can buy a card to play all of the games and they also have a 3 story playland area for the kids to climb in. We drug Brody's Nana and Poppy along for the experience. I'm sure they were so excited!

Brody was in play heaven. He ran around from game to game. He didn't really want to stay on them that long - he enjoyed just climbing in and out of the seats. Of course we bought a card to play the games. The games were only .30 a piece to play - what a deal. We stayed for about 2 hours and even ate dinner there and still had about $11 left on the $20 card we purchased. Here's Brody on a few of the games.

He sure is intense on this roller coaster! Maybe he'll be a roller coaster lover like his mom and dad!

Yes, I know you're supposed to throw underhand but Brody prefers to throw overhand - he has quite a canon!

Wouldn't Uncle Bryan be so proud!!

This ride was an Artic Blast ride and had air blowing out the top - Brody's hair was sticking up

Of course, mom had to get in on the action.

I think he's got the hang of this one!!

Enjoying his first pizza!! I think he likes it -but there's not much that he doesn't like.

Playing basketball was his FAVORITE GAME!!!

Once most of the people had left, Jason had to get in on the action in the playland area. It was actually to get Brody to climb up to the top and come down the slide. I think he had fun though!

Whew, what a night!

We have been so blessed to have a child that has slept through the night since he was 5 weeks old. Brody has always eaten a ton at night which I feel has helped him sleep longer at night. So when he decided to continue to cry at 1AM Friday morning I wasn't quite prepared. If he wakes up in the middle of the night he will go right back to sleep but not this time. From 1AM - 3:30 AM he would cry for 5-10 minutes and then be quiet for about 10 minutes - this wasn't a "I'm hurt cry". I think he finally went to sleep around 3:30 - or I didn't hear him anymore because I was in such a deep somber - but it all started back up around 6AM.

I finally got up to see what was wrong - yes it took me this long - I just kept thinking he would be okay. From 6-7:30 we rocked in his room and I tried to sleep but he just laid there - I can look at it now and think what a sweet time but that is not what I was thinking at the time. He didn't cry at all which I thought was strange. Needless to say he was tired that morning but WOULD NOT take a nap. Of course we had big plans for the day - park and Ollie Koalas so I wasn't sure how that was going to go.

I'm so very thankful he sleeps through the night. I don't see how parents deal with children who wake up all the time and can't put themselves back to sleep. I'm sure our next child will not be so good as Brody.