Florida is Exhausting

We thoroughly enjoyed our month in Florida.  It was just what our family needed.  We played hard almost every day and we have the pictures to prove it.  Here are a few pictures of one tuckered out boy.

One evening while on a walk he completely zonked.

Another day he feel asleep in the car on the way home from the beach.  Because he had been covered in sand and saltwater he needed a bath.  We figured getting him out of the car, taking off his clothes and putting him in the tub would wake him up but it didn't.  He was one tired kid.

We love Florida!  If we end up going there for residency we will but happy but if we don't we'll be okay with that too and we'll go back for another vacation somday!

Hands On, children museum

We went to this really fun children's museum.  This was one activity I actually paid for but the place was so close and had such great reviews that we decided to check it out.  I'm sure glad we did because it was awesome.  If we move there we will for sure be getting a membership here.

 1st stop; the animal hospital and become a veterinarian.  Doesn't he look like a sweet and sensitive doctor?

 And maybe not, as he forces some doctor tool in the poor Bear's eye.  Look at that face!

 Next the fire station.  What could be more fun than driving a fire truck?

 Putting out a fire of course!

 We drove trains.

 They had the cutest little stage for kids to preform on.

This is what Jaxson picked for his costume and I must say his performance was quite hilarious.

 Jax chose Kenna's costume but she wasn't too fond of it.

The museum also had a cute little grocery store, bank, post office, ambulance, ball pit, pirate ship, castle and tons more.  Seriously it was amazing.

Kennadie's favorite part was the basketball court.  She did not want to leave that place and Jaxson did.  Neither one was willing to budge so I finally convinced Kenna to go to another area by letting her carry this ball around with her. 

While we were there my camera battery died, and because I left Ohio in such a hurry, almost 6 weeks before, I forgot it.  I was so mad because our last weekend in Jacksonville we met up with some old friends from our college days.  One couple drove over from Tampa and the other was living in Jacksonville.  We had a blast hanging out with them all weekend but sadly have no pictures to remember it by. 

St. Augustine

Keith usually had most of the day off on Saturdays.  So, one beautiful Saturday we went down to St. Augustine.  St. Augustine is the oldest city in American and is only about 30 min from Jacksonville.  The place is filled with tourist attractions and was really neat.

When we first got there we hit a few of the free sites (which wasn't very many.)  It cost too much to go up into the lighthouse but it was still cool to see it.

 Jaxson and Keith took a ferry ride over to a fort that was in some important battle (I wasn't there so I don't know much about it)  But the fort looks pretty cool and they had a good time.

 Jaxson really liked the pirate guns.

 While they were gone Kennadie and I took pictures of trees.   Aren't these some pretty awesome trees?!

 I loved them.

 We tried to get a picture of the kiddos in the tree.

 After that we were all pretty hot and hungry, so when went across the street to have lunch on the beach.

 Then cooled off in the water.

 And of course after you get wet you have to roll in the sand to see how much you can get home with you.

 Kenna loves to do whatever Jaxson does.

We buried Jax in the sand.

 Kenna especially liked helping out with this project.

 Then we turned Daddy into a beautiful mermaid.  Jaxson thought this was the coolest thing ever!

 In the evening, once it had cooled down some, we headed back into town to see some more of the history and explore the shops.

 They had the coolest shops, that were made to look like they would when the town was first established.

 This is the oldest wooden school house in America.

 Some other important and cool looking fort.  They charged an arm and a leg to take the tour so we opted to keep our limbs and just snap a shot of it right before sunset.

They had so many amazing and interesting old buildings.  I loved it!  This building was one of my favs and had some really cool gardens surrounding it.  I love that you can see Keith waiting, very patiently with two crying kids, so I could run across the street to take yet another picture.  Love him!

We also love all of you and wish you could have been there to experience this fun day with us!

MOSH

We have a great pass that gets us into a lot of zoos and museums.  We love it and use it a lot!  In Jacksonville it got us into the Museum of Science and History, they call it the MOSH.

Those who know Jaxson well know he's into the body.  At the museum they had a huge display about the body and digestion.  Jaxson LOVED it!  They had a place where you could watch a heart surgery and Jax stood there for almost 20 min completely enthralled.

There were lots of fun and interesting exhibits.

It amazed me how into the whole thing Kennadie was.  It made me realize how quickly this little girl is growing up.

Making music.

They had a fun tree house area with lots of places to climb on and explore.

Jaxson had a blast in the tree house.

Kenna a little too small for the tree house but luckily there was a neat water table that kept her entertained while Jaxson played in the tree.

Jax liked it too.

An over exposed picture of a cute girl.

Jacksonville Zoo

On another beautiful day in Florida, we ventured out to the Jacksonville zoo.  It was a beautiful and exciting zoo.  It was an added bonus that we got to meet up with some friends to enjoy it with.  One of Keith's old roommates and teammates from LC is living in Jacksonville right now with his small family.  I'm so mad that I don't have a picture of us with them.

The kiddos especially loved the petting zoo.

Kennadie is a true Nebeker and had a certain way with the goats.  I won't disclose to everyone what she did with that brush but it must come natural to the Nebekers.

The animals were, as always, beautiful and interesting.  Our favorite exhibit was probably the giraffes.

You can feed them and it was incredible to be so close to such beautiful animals.

And although the gator exhibit was fun it wasn't nearly as thrilling as seeing them in the wild.

Exploring

We were very blessed to find an awesome house that we could afford to stay in while in Jacksonville.  The people in Jacksonville are incredible!

Kenna loved the big house and we would often find her in new places, like in this hutch.

She could also often be found trying to play fuseball.   This is also the first time I was able to put all of her hair in piggies.

One day we set out to explore Jacksonville.  Before we picked Keith up from the hospital, we found a nearby park.

Kennadie was a little grumpy and didn't want to be bothered with a playground.  She had some major pushing around the stroller to do.  If I even walked toward her she would scream at me and march off.

She's getting quite the attitude!

After Keith got off work, we took the trolley to the Jacksonville Landing which is a hot spot downtown.  It's right on the water and there's a bunch of restruants and shops.  On the weekends they have live entertainment and it's a pretty exciting place.

Earlier in the day the kids and I walked over the blue bridge in the background and saw dolphins swimming below us.  It was awesome to see dolphins in the wild, they are beautiful animals.

Next we took a ride on the sky rail to see a little more of downton Jacksonville.

It was a neat experience, Jax really liked it.

I love this picture.  What great guys I have in my life!  It was a great evening, but unforunately I made a mistake when looking at the bus schedule and we missed the last bus that would have taken us back to our car.  We ended up walking for over an hour in the dark, through a kind of scary area, and having to carry Jax most of the way.  That was an adventure we won't forget!