Our last day in Florida began with a short morning walk. We didn't make it very far with the kids since they wanted to play at the beach one last time.
Lance was pleased to be riding this time. :)
Our cool find for the day: a jellyfish!
The recent storms had washed up tons of shells. Most of them were fragments, but that didn't stop Lance and Jude finding all kinds of treasures.
A little friend.
Our shadow pictures
Lance, me with Cole, Jude, Grandma, Jason, Laura with Mason and Stephen.
After our walk, we had beach time for an hour or two before we had to leave for the airport. My camera decided not to work for some reason, so I didn't get many pictures, although this may have been the most fun I had at the beach.
I played with Cole in the water.
Played with the boys in the sand, building Cole a little pool.
I even got to boogie board with Lance in the waves! I have to admit it was nice to just play and not worry about capturing all the moments on camera--something I need to keep in mind more often.
After playing on the beach in the morning we had lunch then packed up and drove the cars back to the rental place. My mom, Stephen and Jason ended up extending their stay for the rest of the week, so it was just me and the boys, Laura with Mason and Amy who were flying back. Luckily Jason and Mom came with us to help at the rental place while we transitioned all our luggage from the cars to the shuttle. Seeing as I had two carseats, three pieces of luggage, three boys, a stroller and several carry-ons, there was no way I would have been able to do with by myself, even with Amy and Laura's help.
It had already been a long day of travel by the time we got to the airport and through security, only to learn our plane had been delayed an hour. Not too bad, since that gave me a chance to feed the boys some dinner before we got on the plane.
Cole especially enjoyed the extra time to watch the planes. This boy loves vehicles of any kind--the bigger the better!
They finally let us board and once we were settled and in our seats, they told us due to storms up the coast, our plane had been delayed again--for an unspecified amount of time. After sitting for an hour on the tarmac, the intercom came on to let us know some good news: they were going to let us take off in another hour. Hooray?
We ended up sitting on the plane for over two hours before take-off. Not something we were excited about with four antsy kids between us who had already spent 5 hours traveling, sitting and waiting. To entertain the kids, we let them run up and down the aisle... not really the best idea, but I figured it was better for everyone than making them sit in their seats and cry.
Cole made several friends with the adults he bumped into along the way. I mean, who can be mad at this sweet little face?
Lance did a great job having a good attitude.
Mostly. :)
Finally time for take-off!
Finally time for take-off!
It was close to midnight before we were back at Grandma's and getting ready for bed. It had been a fun week! We are so glad we got to spend that time with Jason before he leaves on his 2-year mission to Brazil.
