St. Augustine, Florida

Saturday morning we decided to drive over to St. Augustine and do a little exploring. It has been years and years since we have done this so it was nice to visit St. George street and see all the shops and old buildings. We got there early in the morning, but it was still very hot, but we had a great time and Lily had a blast. People were constantly stopping to talk w/ her and well she just loved it. Below is a little History about our Oldest City--

When Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida, it was August 28, 1565, the Feast Day of St. Augustine. Eleven days later, he and his 600 soldiers and settlers came ashore at the site of the Timucuan Indian village of Seloy with banners flying and trumpets sounding. He hastily fortified the fledgling village and named it St. Augustine.

Utilizing brilliant military maneuvers, Menendez destroyed the French garrison on the St. Johns River and, with the help of a hurricane, also defeated the French fleet. With the coast of Florida firmly in Spanish hands, he then set to work building the town, establishing missions to the Indians for the Church, and exploring the land.

Thus, St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent.

Fun w/ the water hose! (video)

Lily loves for us to spray the water hose and let her run through it and we love watching her! Here's a short clip of it.....

Update: 21 months old

Lily turned 21 months last Monday...just 3 short months til her 2nd Birthday! It seems unreal. Lily has been having so much fun playing in the water, she asks to do it all the time! Something cute that happened a few days ago: Jim had taken Lily upstairs to get her ready for bed and he went to brush her teeth and realized that she still had chicken in her mouth from dinner. Of course Lily thought this was funny when Daddy realized she had chicken in her mouth. I was downstairs so they get to the top of the loft and call to me and Jim is telling me what he found in Lily's mouth. Then Lily said "Mama, Daddy found chicken in my mouth!" The ways she looked and said it was just priceless. I love that little sweetie!!! Also she has started using a "big girl" cup for her water sometimes and she just loves it. She says "big girl cup like mama." She does really good w/ it. Here are a few pics from the last week or so.



Drinking from a big girl cup!

She loves to wear this hat!

At her friend Tessa's house, having some pool time!

We put her slide up next to her pool and made her a "slippy slide" as she calls it. She had a lot of fun!

Our Little Artist!

Here are some pics of her first time experimenting with finger paints at home. She used her hands, a brush and a sponge to create her masterpiece!!! At first she thought she was supposed to eat the paint, but then I showed her what it was for. It was a lot of fun for me to watch and she had fun doing it!!! I love that she is entering the stage where we can color and paint and start to do little art projects! So fun!

Just getting started!

She said "oh no momma" she was looking at the paint that got on her hand.

Then she realized that she had paint on the other hand too!


She is the cutest little sweetie there is!


Her beautiful masterpiece!

May Beach Pictures - Guana Preserve

Me and My Girl!

Me and my sweetie on Mother's Day 2010! Jim and Lily made it a very special weekend for me! Love you both soooooooooo much!!!

Lily w/ her ABC flashcards - 20 Months Old

Lily with Her ABC Flashcards from Jim Lastinger on Vimeo.

Lily can recognize all of the letters in the alphabet at 20 months. This is a video of Jennifer and Lily going through her alphabet flashcards.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

As I Look Back...
As I look back on my life
I find myself wondering...
Did I remember to thank you
for all that you have done for me?
For all of the times you were by my side
to help me celebrate my successes
and accept my defeats?
Or for teaching me the value of hard work,
good judgement, courage, and honesty?
I wonder if I've ever thanked you
for the simple things...
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we've shared?
If I have forgotten to express my gratitude
For any of these things,
I am thanking you now...
and I am hoping that you've known all along,
how very much you are loved and appreciated.
~Author Unknown

Mom's Love
Mom's smiles can brighten any moment,
Mom's hugs put joy in all our days,
Mom's love will stay with us forever
and touch our lives in precious ways...
The values you've taught,
the care you've given,
and the wonderful love you've shown,
have enriched my life
in more ways than I can count.
~Author Unknown


I love you Mom! Now that I am a Mom myself I realize even more and appreciate all the things you have done for me and the sacrifices you have made over the years. Thank you for supporting me in all that I have done and continue to do, and thank you for loving me for just being me. I love you so much!
Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

Love Always,

Jen

(All of the photos below were taken over the last several years)

Backyard Fun!

Lily has so much fun playing in the water. These were taken a couple of weeks ago.


She loved watering the plants! Especially the pepper plant! :)





She had so much fun running through the water while we were spraying the water hose!

Almost 20 Months!

Miss Lily will be 20 months old tomorrow. Time sure is flying! It will not be long and I will be planning her 2nd Birthday! Lily has been learning new things like crazy. She has been saying her numbers 1-10 for awhile now, but she can also do 1-6 in Spanish, after that she gets a little confused, but she is perfect w/ 1-6. For a month or so now she says Hola more than she says Hello. She will tell everyone and everything Hola! She mostly just talks in sentences now...4-5 word sentences. We have started doing ABC flash cards, we have only done this 3 or 4 times and she already knows almost the entire alphabet!!! She only gets confused w/ just a few of the letters. We are going to try and video her doing this sometime soon. She just continues to amaze us. I cannot even begin to explain the joy this little girl brings to our lives! Grammy has been staying with us the last few days and Lily has had so much fun playing with her, she loves it when people come and stay with us! Below are some recent pics.

Wearing her Daddy's shoes!

and now Daddy's flip flops!

We love the Pandas!

Vacation in Orlando!

Lily and I went on a girl's trip to Orlando (well the husbands were there for the weekend) they went home on Sunday and Lily and I stayed as well as a friend of mine and her son which is a month older than Lily. We had such a fun time....tiring but lots of fun. We went to Sea World a couple of times and Lily loved all the shows she saw. Especially the Elmo show, they only have this at peak times, so I am so glad we got a chance to see it. She is still talking about it saying "I like Elmo show." We also went to Downtown Disney a couple of times and I rode the little train with Lily which she loved!!! They have awesome Outlet Malls in Orlando so went to a couple of those and also went to Ikea. We came back on Wednesday. Fun trip, but it felt so nice to be back in my own bed! It does have us thinking about maybe getting Disney Passes, we are so close we could go a good bit if we wanted and Lily would have a blast...we would too! :) So we will see.