We went to a local craft fair today and listed to the local band, ate some fun fair food, and saw some cool crafts. But the thing Brianna enjoyed more than ANYTHING else was the big, red firetruck! Brianna was very excited – we visited that firetruck three times! 
She did not like the axes, and she was only mildly interested in the hoses, but she loved getting a junior firefighter hat and sitting inside the truck. The last time she visited the firetruck I was finally able to take some pictures (though I only had my phone camera with me).
Sitting with Daddy inside the firetruck.
I tried and tried to get her to stand by the firetruck so I could get a picture of that, but she kept saying no. After I told her I was very sad to not be able to get a picture of her with the firetruck, she whipped around, gave me a big grin, and declared she would do it just so I would be happy. LOL!
She refused to let go of her lemonade, however…
Tia got Brianna some finger paints for her birthday. She has finally gotten to the age where I am fairly certain she won’t eat the paints if I look away for a moment or two, so this past Sunday we dragged out the finger paints and let her have at it. I don’t think the rest of these pictures really need any commentary – let’s just say she wasn’t much interested in using the paper as her canvas…
Given that she never really tried to apply any paint to the paper we gave her, I think the final “paper” version is pretty good, even if not as fun as the final “body” version!
I did get video of pretty much the whole event. As soon as I figure out how to create a high speed version of it, I’ll send it out. Needless to say, she has asked pretty much every day since when she can finger paint again!
During the third phase of our trip, we stayed at Mimi’s and Djadju’s house. The first night Brianna stayed with them while Jason and I headed to the main reunion event. There was a fantastic thunderstorm going on right before we left. Brianna learned to laugh at the thunder!
Very appropriately clad in her local Hogs Breath shirt while watching a thunderstorm and laughing at the thunder
The next day we headed off to the mall for some air conditioned fun. My girl loves the merry-go-round!
Almost Nemo…but not quite…
Chasing the other girls at the in door playground (yes, the in door part was very important – it was hot!)
On our way home we stopped to see my good friend Jeanette. She and her husband Jason are expecting her first child this fall and Brianna and I decided it was a girl! We will have to wait until fall to see if we are correct – we can’t wait! Jeanette made us a fabulous dinner of cornmeal dusted tilapia with dill cream sauce, herbed couscous, sauteed green beans, and for dessert: peach and blueberry crisp with ice cream. YUMMMMMMM! I only have one professional chef friend, so we were thrilled that we got to personally sample her cooking. Now I just need to figure out excuses to go back…
Before we left for home, we stopped at the B&B Jeanette works out. Here she is with Brianna on the famous flower couch (Jeanette swears her boss has a pair of jeans that look just like this couch!).
Jeanette and I were not fans, but Brianna was pretty fascinated!
Outside in the front garden – just lovely.
It was a quick trip, but we enjoyed every minute. Thanks to everyone who put us up, fed us, and/or provided free baby sitting. You are all the best!
Did I mention how many pictures I took? Well, Poppa took quite a lot too, and I completely forgot about all of his when I did the initial Phase II post. So here are some of the highlights.
Just adorable…
Riding along the lazy river!
Waving at Poppa while riding along the lazy river.
Shere, Olivia, and Miles helped show Brianna how much fun the lazy river could be – it helped get her past her fears A LOT!
And the best part is that all that lazy river fun seems to have erased her previous fear of the water. This weekend she has been all over the pool – jumping in, bouncing in the water, floating on her back and tummy. It is amazing how relaxed she now is. She even went under once and it didn’t even phase her. She just went right back to her bouncing. Yay!
We recently went to Florida for Jenn’s reunion. The trip was broken up into four phases – Alabama, Beach, Mom’s, and South Carolina. I took hundreds of pictures, and that does not even include those that everyone else took! So, I am breaking up the blog posts a bit just to make everything manageable.
We started our trip by making the long drive to Alabama to see Jason’s family. Brianna did FANTASTIC in the car – so much better than we ever dreamed of. The first leg of the trip she just read to herself and her babies, and listened to music. The second leg of the trip she napped and read some more, and the final leg of the trip she watched a movie. Like I said, she was fantastic!
We stopped at Jason’s cousin’s house for the night and met their two adorable children – Parker, who just turned two, and baby Adeline.
Typical two year olds…
The next day we moved onto Florida and the beach, where we rented a condo for a couple of nights. We had been telling Brianna we were going to the beach for a little over a week and she was so excited that she woke up around midnight the first night in the condo and declared “I’m awake! Go to the beach!” Luckily for us, Jason’s folks were staying at the condo with us, and Brianna was sleeping with them. We never heard a thing…
Brianna still has little to no interest in going in the Gulf, but she loved playing in the sand, and she had a great time at the condo’s pools, one of which included a lazy river.
Ready for Hollywood?
Hmmmm…not to sure about all that water…
The “giant puddle”!
