Dear Jacksonville

Occasionally we are asked how we ended up in Jacksonville and if we would be willing to relocate.  The answers are that we were living in Ormond Beach, FL when Grant was offered a promotion to Jax which happened to be where my parents relocated to when I was in college so we sold our house in 2 days and we were gone.  The second answer is that I have no desire to leave though you never know what life has in store for us.

Some of the reasons we love the area is that there are activities you would find in large cities such as NFL games and museums, tons of outdoor activities including walking trails, beaches and plenty of golf, but at the end of the day we are just a small town where you run into someone you know just about anywhere you go.

I dedicate this post to a city that I love because you provide opportunities to my family that we may not get in another city.

Sunday brunch outside at European Street.

A's first comic book store adventure.

Museum of Science and History.

City Views

Perfectly beautiful days are here.

While we may not have stunning foliage that people will drive to see, we do have days when the heat subsides and you can't imagine being in the house.  These are the days we dream about and then take advantage of in our own little ways.

A ride in YaYa's car with no lid is always fun, take we are calling it Cinderella's coach!

An impromptu picnic in the yard wouldn't be complete without costumes, a tea set, hats and cupcakes.

They really can't get any cuter than this.

Candy Day!!

Finally, finally, finally it is our last wardrobe change and FINALLY Halloween.  Penelope thought that she was a super big girl on this day because she got to go to school with Adelaide to see the Halloween Parade.  As an added bonus while we were there she had time to play with her favorite neighborhood friends and I got to see mine too.

This proud little Spider Girl was all smiles while parading around with her classmates.

After the parade Penelope and YaYa left the school while I hung out with the class to help with silly games and snacks.

One thing that stresses me out is when A and P have events at the same time in two different places which is exactly what happened on this day.  Thankfully it was YaYa to the rescue, she was able to take P to school and stay for the preschool parade.

Why would we go trick or treating by ourselves when we have a whole neighborhood full of parents who will Drink and Treat with Grant and I while the kids gather candy for us to steal after they go to sleep.

My little Snow White

Sometimes there is impromptu kayaking when things get dropped in the water.

Spider Girl

Our friend Natalie did an incredible job on Judd's costume/makeup.

Here is our gang!

Inventory time, thank goodness they didn't notice how much was missing in the morning.

Another Night, Another Look

A neighborhood and a friends party is up next and on this night we had a little witch, a big witch, a UT super girl and of course Superman!  At this particular party we were with our friends who can appreciate a little orange and white and you know we love that!

Is it Halloween yet?

Costume #1

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween in our house.  The girls were hard at work creating their Cinderella pumpkin for the school contest which they did win, wahoo!

 Remember when we were kids and there was one night when you got dressed up to gather as much candy as you could get your hands on?  When I was a kid we lived in a more remote area so I remember getting in the back of trucks and trailers so that we could go door to door with all of my cousins.  

Now, there are parties every weekend during the month of October and of course there are a few wardrobe changes to go with it.  Our first dress up night was for the daycare party which we brought our friends to and think they had a good time too.  

A little fairy, mermaid and bumble bee.

This is who P gets in trouble with all of the time, sometimes they plot against others and other times they fight.  

Cakewalk winners meant way too many cupcakes in our house for the week.

Silly little people.

Candy apple decorating.

These little princesses literally danced until they fell down.