Florida Sunshine

We once again decided to drive to Chicago pre-flight to stay so that we could direct flight our way to Florida. This to make it easy on Finn, thereby easy on us, to travel. In the end he did really well, despite being ill the days leading up to the trip and we had an enjoyable time with our friends, Jim, Antoinette, Lila and Rowan. We rented a mini-van in Jacksonville and loaded all of us up for the trip to Amelia Island. Four adults, 3 kids in car seats and their luggage and strollers makes for a full load. Luckily it was really not that far and we soon were unloading and thinking about the beach.
Laura and Antoinette spent mornings at the conference and the rest of us spent our mornings split between the pool and the beach returning for lunch and naps. Then when the girls finished conferencing back to the pool and beach.
Finn enjoyed the pool, swimming more than he ever has before. His jumps from the edge however needs practice though as he doesn’t generate any distance and comes down pretty much where he jumps. He therefore required a constant shadow.
His comfort with water and blowing bubbles and floating grow ever so slowly.
The beach is just as enjoyable as far as the sand goes, less so with the waves and the salty water. Any pile of sand or tower gets immediately stepped on.
All in all what was important was that Finn slept well, ate pretty well and traveled well too.


Tide out.

Daddy and Finn headed to the beach.

Finn and buddy Rowan.






Finn and friend Lila.

Pre-Travel Itinerary

We are set to drive to Chicago again tonight to catch a flight to Florida. Last February we made the same trip to visit Uncle Edy and Family in New Orleans and Finn threw up on the way to Chicago putting doubt into the entire trip (it all went very well).

This time around he has a rough cough and his personalty has drifted towards the irrational, emotive type that worms their way onto reality tv and whines about the placement of a shoe he took off an hour ago. He has been a bear to satisfy and it has been difficult to keep him in a happy place.

He needed comfort most of the night last night. Laura getting pages late and during the night keeping her up. Finn coughing and calling for Mommy keeping both of us up. Daddy sleeping with Finn the rest of the night in his rocker and then getting up with Finn and the birds at 5:30.

Here's to an uneventful drive to Chicago.

Memorial Day weekend pics

Over Memorial Day we enjoyed a quick trip to visit Aunt Sophi, Uncle Tom, and cousins Macy and Faythe in Spencer, IA. Finn got his first taste of fishing with his daddy and Uncle Tom and apparently squealed when the first fish came out of the water (delight or fear??).
We then headed to South Dakota to see Grandpa Ken and Grandma Terri. On the way, we also saw Aunt Maggie at a quick stop at Aunt Katie's Dairy Queen. Yummy and messy ice cream!
We were also lucky to get to spend time with Finn's great grandparents Tim and Donna as well as Aunt Ann, Uncle Devon and cousins Penn and Van. Finn had a great time playing with his cousins and riding around on their assortment of trucks and tractors. We also loved spending time with Aunt Katie and Uncle Jason and his cousin Lou (the dog). I think Finn had more fun with Lou than Lou the dog had with him!
We also took a trip to Yankton and saw Great Grandma Dorothy and many other relatives on this side of the family. Finn had a fun time at the park running like a crazy man and then enjoyed a lunch nicely hosted by Great Aunt Pam. We then headed to the Yankton campgrounds and spent time with Great Uncle Rodney.
It was a quick trip and we were fortunate to see so many relatives that we miss a lot over in Wisconsin.

Finn and Mommy

Cousin Macy

Finn exporing the long grass.

Finn loved going for rides in the Barbie jeep with cousins Macy and Faythe. The pink leopard print bike helmet was thanks to Daddy!

Cousin Penn

Cousin Van

Finn enjoying some dinner with his cousins.

Haircut #3

Pre-haircut spiderman



Yesterday was haircut day, however this time we decided to try it out at home. It went quite well, no tears! I am not sure the resulting haircut is as nice, but it will be a nice cool do for the hot summer!

New trick

Yesterday morning Finn learned how to strip down and was working very diligently at getting his jammie pants back on and ended up getting both legs in one pant leg upside down...now that is talent!
Finn had fever last weekend and was out of sorts with tons of drool. I think we finally have all those 2 year molars in. I knew he was back to his normal self Monday night as he inhaled a banana in less than a minute.

Memorial Weekend 2010

Our first big holiday road trip of 2010 had us heading west out of Wisconsin to see Finn's cousins. Starting with a stop in Spencer to see Faythe and Macy. The big pond and catching fish. The electric kid car and weeding Aunt Sophi's tomato plant (too bad Finn thought the tomato plant was the weed.)

Then more road time and further west into Dakota where we stopped to have a Dairy Queen lunch and watch Katie and Maggie work and serve ice cream. After Finn finished his ice cream and strawberries we pushed on driven or perhaps drawn to the magic of the Corn Palace.

We made it to Grandpa and Grandma Taylor's and could finally stretch our feet. That night we had a nice dinner with Great Grandpa and Grandma Taylor even Ann and Devon and cousins Van and Penn came over.

On Saturday we drove to Yankton to see Great Grandma Dorothy and Elmer and we were lucky to find other Nielson relatives there. We walked to the park and went down the cyclone slide and tried to get into the road. Then had a broasted chicken lunch at Pam's before heading out to Lake Lewis and Clark to find Uncle Rodney. We found him just as we thought we would and sat out in the lakeside early summer sun listening to Rodney be happy to see us. He was tickled that Ann came with Penn too.

Sunday was the afternoon of having everyone back over to Grandma and Grandpa's for another good meal and play with the cousins and run around the yard and looking for tractors.

Overall we had a very fun time and Finn is gaining the age where getting together with cousin's is building the memories his parents treasurer about their youth. Finn was also an absolute brilliant traveller. For that we thank him.