Good morning! Hello from Jacksonville Beach, Florida!
Chase, Sadie and I arrived in Florida on Monday evening and I don’t want to jinx myself for our drive back home but the drive was such a shockingly smooth one! I took Chase to preschool on Monday morning while I participated in a focus group to give feedback to his school and I think loading a semi-tired Chase into the car after an active and high-energy morning at school was key.
He didn’t nap for more than 30 minutes on the entire 6+ hour drive but seemed content and I shockingly didn’t even need to break out the DVD player until the last hour. I’m not sure what happened, but the stars aligned and Chase was very into the snacks, books, toys and activities I packed for him. (I’m happy to share some of the specific things I packed that seemed to be a big-time hit with Chase, so let me know if this is of interest!)
Our first full day in Florida included a trip to St. Augustine and Chase loved checking out the rescued sea turtles at Marineland and made fast friends with Rocky, a sea turtle that was hit by a boat and only has vision in his right eye.
One of the volunteers explained that Rocky seems to have an affinity for young children and he swam along the windows to check out Chase which made his day. Chase quickly picked up various rocks off the ground to present to Rocky at the window and he’s been talking about Rocky constantly since our visit!
Wednesday
Wednesday morning began with 1,000 books. Visiting Mae and Pop’s house means Chase has access to a plethora of new-to-him books and we spent the first 45 minutes or so of our morning curled up reading on the couch in our pajamas with Sadie.
(I have no idea why these two have the guiltiest looks on their faces but this picture made me laugh!)
Around 9 a.m., we all headed off to exercise. While my mom went to Jazzercise, I opted for the gym with my dad since they have childcare available. Once Chase was all checked in and settled, my dad and I went through our respective workouts and my upper body strength session looked like this:
After a number of rest days thanks to travel and opting for family fun over fitness, it felt good to get back into the gym on Wednesday morning, move my body and work up a sweat.
We made it back to my parents’ place for a quick lunch before my mom, Chase and I headed off to Target to pick up some goodies for a bridal shower and bachelorette party I’m attending this weekend. Chase was highly entertained by a cake pop and all hopped up on sugar by the time we got home.
I hoped to get Chase down for his nap when we walked through the door but he had other plans and quickly spotted my dad reading a magazine on the patio.
He immediately dragged a blanket out onto the porch, selected a scuba diving magazine and “read” with Pop for 20 minutes which was too cute for me to interrupt. Eventually he settled in his Pack ‘n’ Play but don’t ask me HOW we managed to get him to sleep in a Pack ‘n’ Play after an entire Christmas in Florida where I basically had to co-sleep with our sick child in a big bed… It’s a small miracle.
While Chase slept, I managed to sneak in some work time on the computer as I hung out with my parents.
Before Chase was up for the day, my mom took me through a mini-tutorial to show me the basics surrounding how to use the Instant Pot.
I am the WORST about reading directions on new kitchen gadgets and want everything to be intuitive. Even though I’ve had my Instant Pot for a while now, I’ve been choosing my slow cooker over it time and time again because I’ve been too lazy to teach myself how to use it and read the directions in the box. My mom’s tutorial was fast and helpful (and made me feel a little silly for feeling so intimidated by the Instant Pot – it’s truly no big deal) and we ended up with a delicious Instant Pot dinner of venison with a side of pesto pasta and fruit salad.
As we waited for dinner to cook, we headed out to the beach for a bit so Sadie could run her heart out and splash in the waves.
My sister arrived back in town from a conference in New Jersey yesterday evening and once my brother-in-law picked her up from the airport, they headed over to my parents’ place to join us for the evening. It was so nice to have some time together (we really missed you, Ryan!!) and I was fast asleep a little before 11 p.m.
Today is going to be a little crazy as I try my best to get organized for my upcoming travels, start and finish a craft project for the bride-to-be, knock out a blog-related deadline and hopefully sneak in a last-minute trip out to the beach.
I hope you all have a fantastic Thursday!
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Oh my goodness, that picture of Chase and your dad is just the cutest!
Thank you! I just loved it! He clearly wanted to be just like his grandpa!
Please share your road trip toy hits! I’m taking a 6 hour solo road trip with my 2.5 year old next week and I’m a little anxious! Did you get him one of those lap tray things? I plan on hitting up the target dollar spot this weekend but would love to hear what Chase liked.
I was honestly kind of dreading the drive but shocked at how well it went! I’ll try to share some of our biggest success items on the blog tomorrow but you HAVE to get those water painting things from Melissa & Doug. I found them at Target –> http://bit.ly/2CQDO2G They were probably the biggest hit for Chase!
Ooh we have a few of those already so that’s good to hear! I ordered a few sticker books on amazon and plan on packing some of his favorite board books as well as allllllll the snacks and the iPad of course. Can’t wait to read your tips tomorrow!
I Love Jax Beach! I have family there! So pretty!
Yes please share your travel tips to keep kiddos occupied! I’ll be making a trip to Jacksonville in June and with a 18 month old I’m quite nervous! Any tips will be helpful!
Side note: where did you get his shoes? They seem to be wonderful for times when you can’t keep the kiddo out of the water (hello rain puddles).
they’re natives and i got them on zappos.com –> http://bit.ly/2F1WP8l we are OBSESSED with them and this is his THIRD pair! the absolute BEST summer shoes!
Glad the drive went well! I am always dreading drives, so I am curious to see what was a hit for Chase. Car ride naps are such a bummer anymore. My daughter used to sleep SO well in the car, and now its only ever a half hour nap. Oh well. She’s growing up 🙂
The beach looks so lovely right now. I hope you get your beach trip in at some point!! Safe travels and enjoy your time in Florida!
I am glad your drive went well. Please share all of your car ride toys! My LO is 2, and we have a large trip planned for the summer!
So glad your trip is going so well! I can’t get over that picture of Chase and your dad reading their magazines! That’s a keeper for sure!
I would love to hear about the activities you packed that were a hit in the car! We do quite a bit of travelling with your two year old and I love new ideas!
I have said this before but Jacksonville (specifically Jax beach!) has such a special place in my heart! My husband moved there just a few months after we starting date for work and lived there for the first 6 months of our relationship. I love that little beach town!
I can’t wait to hit the beach this summer. We had a newborn last summer (in Texas = HOTTT), we were basically locked inside all the time so I can’t wait to do more things outside this year.
Also (in a non creepy way) but you are carrying that baby high!
Haha I love that picture of Chase with your Dad!
I’m super intimidated my our Instant Pot too…glad to know there’s nothing to actually be afraid of!
Enjoy your time with your family 🙂
Do you think you could share your mom’s little tutorial on the blog? I have an instant pot but it makes me so nervous and the instructions that came with mine are awful!
Same! I haven’t used it yet because I’m intimidated by the instructions.
Chase and your dad reading together out on the deck is such a great photo!
Oh my gosh, that picture of Chase and your dad is the cutest thing EVER! Kids do the sweetest and funniest things; they are the best! BTW, can you share your mom’s tutorial? I had to laugh because I’m the same way about reading instructions on new things, which is ironic because I love to read (fun stuff) and majored in English as a Technical Writer, so I wrote software documentation before my mom life. 🙂 Just curious and I understand if it’s private but I was wondering what Leslie does for work?
And now I need to have a child just for a paper reading pic! LOVE! Also, I’m glad that you can relate to avoiding using any gadgets with detailed instruction manuals. It took me monthsss to use an electronic water fountain that my sis gave me for my cats because it was too overwhelming for me to just figure it out. Luckily one of my friends helped me in the end 🙂 Enjoy warm Florida and your fam!
I love that aquarium! We visited several years ago and i still remember Rocky!
Please share some venison details. My husband recently brought a ton home and I really don’t know what to do with it. We’ve only ever had it grown before and I’m not a huge fan so I really want to try new options!
My husband’s family made a ton of deer-related foods last weekend because my FIL went hunting in the fall. They use it much like you’d use a regular ground turkey or beef. They made a deer chili, stew (with mushrooms & a light red sauce,) deer ‘rolls’ (kind of like a pizza or sausage roll,) & then the butcher made steaks & hot dogs.
Hi Julie! Would you be able to share a bit about what the focus group was based on for your son’s preschool? Im curious what the format was and what types of questions they asked and who facilitated it as I think this could be so helpful for my son and daughter’s preschool.
Reading instructions it the bane of my existence and I REFUSE to do it! My boyfriend recently got me a standing mixer because of my obsession with Great British Baking Show, but it requires reading, so it’s just been… standing there. Not mixing anything. Maybe I’ll ask him to read the instructions aloud tonight while I have a cocktail. Sounds like a party. – Kaitlyn | http://www.poweredbysass.com
Julie- you should pass on the instant pot tutorial to all of us! I rarely use my Instant pot because I am also intimidated and after making a chicken recipe that was inedible and had to be thrown away, I am doubly scared to use it again!
A short video on how to use, especially to cook meats, would be awesome!
Oh my gosh, that picture of your Dad and Chase is just TOO CUTE!! I can’t even get over it! The beach looks amazing right now! I hope you have a wonderful time!! Xoxo
So great that the drive out there with Chase went so well! It gives me hope for longer road trips with our (super active!) two year old. I would love to read about what you packed for the trip to keep him occupied. How many stops did you have to do with him?
Would love to know some of the fun things you packed for chase! Also, any go to maternity active wear? I’m 4 weeks behind you and starting to “outgrow” my current workout wear!
I too, have not used my instant pot yet as I am a non direction reader- please share a video tutorial! Love the pic of Chase and your dad so sweet!
Thank you for the Simply Biotix giveaway.