Our new beach house compliments of Mayport Naval Air Station!

We got to see our new house on Friday!  My first time and good thing I liked it, because the packers arrive tomorrow to move us!  If you haven't heard The Arnold's are moving onto base housing.  This will be our first time ever living on base.  They are rebuilding the base housing where Greg is stationed, so when we first got here we got on the list, and several months ago they called, and we decided to take the plunge and do it!  It will be very exciting having a brand new house and right on the beach.  And praise the Lord we did, because right around the same time the owner of the house we were renting from was putting his house for sale.  Thank goodness we weren't stuck trying to find something else at the last minute!  I think we are going to like it here.

Our backyard.  Just over the dune is the ocean.  Woo hoo!

 Screened in porch to escape the Florida bugs!  So looking forward to this.

 The beach access taken from our backyard 

 View from the Master.  There were actually a lot of surfers out today.  Waves from Irene.

 We weren't sure what to expect.  Definitely nothing fancy, but the house was fairly roomy inside.  4 BR, 2.5 bath, study downstairs, laundry/mess sink.  My only complaint was the kind of dark brown carpet the upstairs has...Ugh!?  I guess I will have to manage.  :)  Life is good, and we are blessed!  Let the moving craziness begin again.  Oh and it is also Langley's first week of preschool.  Way too much excitement at once!

Happy Day to be EIGHT Months old!!!

Please take me back to the carefreeness (if that is a word) of being an 8 month old!!  Mason seems to be enjoying this time very much.

He is so busy.  Crawling, Pulling, Standing, Banging, Climbing, Kicking....all boy!!  We had fun today doing all of his favorite things.  He loves tearing apart Langley's kitchen.  Climbing our stairs.  I spot him and he will climb the entire staircase.  Sometimes he is perfectly content just sitting and chew, chew, chewing!   Probably working on his third tooth to arrive.  This month he spent about a week cooing ma, ma, ma...another of ba, ba, ba...a little da, da, da, and now he has moved onto making this clicking noise with his tongue.   He always seems to have a favorite new sound or noise for us!   When is ma, ma, ma going to come back Mr. Mason?  ;)

 Yes, he has a taco in his mouth!  Must take after his daddy already, because he loves that thing.

He is sleeping good, but his momma needs to get to bed earlier!  "I have reminded her of this here and there at 3 in the morning, and she just doesn't listen to me!"  :)   Mason definitely doesn't want to miss out on any action, especially at naptime.  So Langley and I are working hard to use our 'inside voices' around here! (Because apparently all the loud noise he has been around the first 8 months of his life hasn't trained him to be a heavy sleeper?!  Very light sleeper!)  My favorite thing is seeing his huge smile looking over the rail of his crib when I go in there to get him.  (except of course when he is supposed to be sleeping!  but even then it is still pretty cute...good thing.)

 Mason rode the car for the first time today.  He was so serious about moving that wheel and concentrating.  I think he'll be a good driver one day.

 I  finally got a smile!

We love you Mason Boyd!

You got that 'Children's School Enthusiasm' down in your heart?!

We had another great summer at Chautauqua Lake, New York this year.  This is a place I have gone every summer of my life!  I just love my time there, and I have loved sharing Chautauqua with Langley the past three years.  Links for 2010 , 2009, and 2008 was pre-blogging times!  (but oh do I remember being homeless in Pensacola and taking the trip with Langley when she was just 2 months old!)  And I was very excited for Mason to have his first Chautauqua this year!  My Aunt Kathy is so gracious to open her house up to our crazy gang each year!

It was a special year not only because it was Mason's first, but also because we got to introduce Chautauqua to Greg's parents.  This was after they escorted me, Langley, and Mason across the state of New York!  How nice of them to put up with us?!  We had a great time!

The wedding favor lollipop made the journey a little easier for us all!  A wedding brunch that morning, then on the road, we finally made it to Chautauqua by 10:30 that night!  A long day for everyone!

They spent about a half a day in Chautauqua, and it was an unusually hot one that day!  We were all recovering from the wedding weekend and long drive, so unfortunately I probably didn't give them the feel of what an energizing place that it is!  So they must come back sometime!  :)  But we did a lot of walking around the grounds, looking at the gardens, porches, parks, and lake.  And it was fun sharing with them some of my favorite spots when I grew up here.  

Langley loved having them here and was so happy to take them for ice cream!  A daily ritual at Chautauqua.  (at least for us!)

Chautauqua is a great place for little girls that like a lot of freedom!!  :)

This was a big year for Langley, because she got to go to Children's School at Chautauqua.  My Grandpa used to walk me to Children's school at her age, so it was great to now see Langley with a little 'Children School Enthusiasm!'  (the theme song that she is still singing around here)  And now they get to ride a bus.  This was VERY exciting for her!  First school bus experience!   And she did such a great job.

Chautauqua celebrated it's birthday while we were there...Old First Night.  Langley got to do lots of fun things at camp to celebrate.  They had a sing-a-long, toured the Bell Tower, and her class performed on stage at the Ampitheater one night.  I took a few pictures, and as you can see...Langley was just taking everything in!  :)

With her RED room...

Here she is on stage.   :)

Although she hardly cracked a smile up there, she was so excited afterward about how fun it was!

Langley got to ride the bus home with Aunt Kathy every day since she worked on the bus.  

We were so glad that Uncle Todd was able to visit the same time we were there.  He escorted Langley to the bus most mornings.  Here is a shot of them leaving on a rainy day.

And Langley loved being silly with him all week!

Practicing cartwheels in Bestor Plaza after the amphitheater one night.

more ice cream...

Our favorite fountain fish!

Someone please take me to my crib?  Don't you know it is past my bedtime?  

We love hanging out on the porch at Chautauqua!

Mason always with big smiles.  Sweet blanket from his Great, Great Aunt Mary!

Langley enjoyed a ride in the lake with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Todd.  They weren't posing for my picture!  ;)

Right by the Chautuaqua Belle.  I'm sure Langley loved that.

The Chautauqua Bell Tower and baby beach

With my boy!    (full diaper and all)

Gosh, he loves the water! (speedo style!)   Now I no why back is always hurting.  lol

The best family time is at the breakfast table in your pjs!

While Langley was at children's school, Mason would join me at the morning lectures.  He loved having playtime on his blanket while my mommy brain got a little stimulation!  Perfect combination with this sweet smile looking at me!

Playground right next to a tennis court = Rotating Tennis and Babysitting.  Worked well and fun for ALL!!  

My kids LOVE their  'Great' Aunt Kathy!  They can't get enough attention from her!  And so glad that she has a teenager now, because she really gets her baby fix when we come to visit!

It was an awesome week that always goes by way too fast!  Until next summer Chautauqua Lake!

Langley's Flower Girl Debut!

We have been traveling fools over here the past couple weeks!  (And I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, so forgive me if I am a posting fool!)  We started at Lake George, New York to celebrate the wedding of Greg's cousin, Brian Axline.  Sending big congrats to Brian and Jill and what a beautiful wedding it was!

Our family pic at the rehearsal dinner.  Spending time with the Arnold's was long overdue, so it was great to all be together!  Langley was so excited to see them!

Sweet shot with Greg's cousin Carrie and sister Cindy!  Miss these California girls!

The Sagamore resort was a gorgeous spot and we loved the break from the Florida humidity!  Although everyone around us thought it was super hot...if they only knew!

..................................

Langley was so honored to be a flower girl in the wedding!  You never know what to expect with a 3 year old going down the aisle, so we were crossing our fingers and saying our prayers.  We talked up the wedding bit ALOT the week before.  We read the Angelina the Ballerina Wedding Palace book about 20 times and walked 'the aisle' of our kitchen with our fancy shoes.  She was giving us her two thumbs up and lots of excitement about the big day!  The morning of the wedding,  I took her early to the ceremony to get ready.  As I put her dress and shoes on in the bathroom, she began crying, saying, "mommy, i don't want to go down the aisle!".  I was beginning to get a little worried!!  :)  But we pulled ourselves together(thank heavens!), quickly became best buddies with sweet Olivia, her fellow flower girl from the other side of the family, and they were ready to walk the aisle without mommies at their sides.  Yay!  We were so proud of them! 

At Grandma's side...thank heavens for the support of her, Aunt Cindy, and Grandpa!  Langley found much comfort knowing they were waiting for her at the end of the aisle!

Posing for the photographer

Patiently waiting for the 'princess bride' to arrive.

Langley and Olivia...bonding!

They started at the VERY top!  Yes, almost 6 small flights of steps these little feet had to walk by themselves!  They really did surprisingly well!  They stopped and talked amongst themselves a couple times.  :)

Langley looking for her family!  She was so excited to join us!

Jill and Brian...Husband and Wife!

Brother and Sister

Mason enjoyed his first wedding!  Adjusting fairly smoothly to all the excitement and people!

After all the pictures and fun of getting down the aisle...we were ready to let loose!  We changed our shoes, let our hair down, and now it was time to dance!  Langley had everyone out on the dance floor, before I think we really were supposed to be dancing!  :)

Both Mason and Langley joined the babysitters at a certain point in the evening, so Greg and I got to relax and do some dancing ourselves!  No pictures of us struttin' our stuff....sorry!!  :)

Staying in a hotel with the Arnold's was a blast.  We had a "secret door" adjoining our rooms which made things very exciting for Langley.  And having breakfast together each morning in the lobby was so fun!

Some downtime with Aunt Cindy in the hotel pool.

The wedding weekend came to end, we bid farewell to Gregory/Daddy as he had to go back to work, and the kids and I started our journey to Chautauqua Lake!   The Arnold's were so kind to escort us across the state of New York!  More to come on that soon......stay tuned!