A Happy Visit

It is hard to believe that  I  have been here in Jacksonville, almost two weeks; it has gone by far too fast.  I fly back on Tuesday. I will be flying back during the Presidential Election, which I didn't realize when I booked the flight. After  I realized it, I went ahead and voted early, and now I don't have to worry about it.

It has been such a happy  two-week visit;  sometimes I don't feel as if I can get my fill, of my girls and grandbabies, yet I am so grateful that I have been blessed with such a nice long portion and I do look forward to returning home to Steve, whom I always miss greatly when ever I go anywhere without him.

It has been a real treat to have the girls living next door to each other.  I have enjoyed this new novelty so much.  They had previously lived  several States away from each other for many years, and they missed each other. It had also been difficult for Steve and I to visit them, because all of our children are scattered in so many different States. Now I can see them both at the same time, and not only that but I am taking such pleasure in seeing them all together;  Twin sisters, married to brothers, with their babies, who are double cousins, living next door to each other... its fun.  The comings and goings are well....  it is almost as if they live in the same house.  I think of how helpful it would be for them to have a door put in the common wall that their two homes share hahaha.  Marie and Jon's landlord might have something to say about that, I suppose, and although Elizabeth and Benjamin own the home they live in, it probably wouldn't be very beneficial for resale... but it would certainly make an even greater convenience in their lives for the sharing and returning of dishes and clothes and babies toys etc.

I have had fun watching the babies interact; shouting each other's names when they come into  the others' houses and hugging each other with great feeling even to the point of bonking heads and crying about it.  They all play enthusiastically together, often getting themselves into trouble. They remind me greatly of Marie and Elizabeth when they were babies.  Their camaraderie inspires energy and a boldness to try things that they wouldn't probably try on their own... that is the way it was with the girls when they were that age.  They got into things that the boys never got into (such as my make-up... especially the lipstick...ear to ear), I think because they had each other to stir up ideas, combined with the security of having a little companion to share the risks with.  They were always giggling and laughing, pushing and pulling each other just like these little boys.   It makes me laugh to remember.  Each of the boys has a precious, amazing quality about him that I just can't get over.  Zane is full of exuberance and energy, always creating, and busy with little inventions.  Winston at 2 years old is reading, and pronouncing words like a school age boy (yes, that's what I say every time... "wow" he really reads at two);   his sweet, quiet nature is precious, and Ezra is always smiling, and running around spreading joy on every activity, repeating words and stating everything as if it were a question with his cute froggy little voice.

I will miss waking up every morning to precious grand babies coming into my room and saying in their tiny scrumpscious,  morning voices "Grammy!!".  When the  Daddies go off to work, we three girls and the little boys sit and have the most wonderful breakfasts and coffee, and gab.  You would have thought we were caught up by now, but honestly we are never caught up.  We have had some lovely walks, trips to the beach and even had a delightful evening at the circus.  I am filling up on sharing these experiences with them all, because the time apart from each other seems too long.

 Breakfast

Some mornings we would have breakfast out on Marie's patio which over looks a pretty little lake.  It is a covered porch, and serves as both porch and play room for the boys.

The girls made each breakfast a special moment, turning french toast or oatmeal into a lovely meal.

Little hands are impatient for Auntie Elizabeth's french toast.

After Breakfast  little boys become fire fighters, professional wrestlers, lion hunters, or bird watchers.

Little Zane doesn't need to wear glasses, but sometimes he likes to wear his professor glasses..

The Circus 

The Circus has such amazing and captivating sights.

The Beach

Little hands digging in the sand, delighting in the treasures of the sea.

Buckets are a must on the seashore.

  Hurricane Sandy passed by Northern Florida, without affecting the weather in any extreme way,  but many things were washed up on the shore of Ponte Vedra Beach afterwards, including many treasures.

Marie took this picture of Elizabeth; I thought it was lovely.

Patty Cakes.

We love having tea where ever we go.

Marie made a cake that was not only pretty to look at and, tasted amazing, but  was a healthy treat besides.  It was a Chocolate Beet Cake, and if you ask me is a most delightful way to eat your beets.

All of God's Creation is wondrous.

When we were leaving the beach, the little boys didn't want to go.  Zane cried, Winston said "no thank you Mommy" (his way of saying "I don't want to go" as politely as possible) and Ezra said "Bye Bye Beach"  I get so tickled at their vocabulary and expressions.

I had a lot of pictures, but couldn't seem to reduce them... had to share them all.  Thank you for sharing in my fun.  Have a great week.