The Bailey Planet : Thanksgiving 2011

Where is the time going???

So this year, I had it all planned out. We were going to have our holiday card pictures taken at JC Penney on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. The cards would be in the mail by December 3. But then the day before we were scheduled to have our pictures taken, Grant came down with a stomach bug. Even our trip to Florida, where we were scheduled to leave on Monday before Thanksgiving, was in jeopardy.

But he recovered quickly, or so we thought! We made it to Florida Monday afternoon, but by Monday night, Grant was sick again. On top of it, he and I both came down with a cold. But thankfully no one else got the stomach bug. Natalie and Daddy did a little swimming in the chilly pool (I think it was 74 degrees).

Little buddy didn't want anything to do with the pool, so he and Nana got to watch the garbage men pick up the trash, and they were so nice and even honked the horn for him!

Unfortunately this year, there weren't a lot of fish off the dock, even with the big light that my parents have to attract the bait. We checked every night, which Natalie loved to do. One night we saw a few fish, but nothing like what we saw last year.

Todd, Cory, Dad and Britt (Brie's sister) did a little golfing too. You can't go to Florida, where temps were in the mid to upper 70s, and not golf!

Todd and I also ran our first ever official 5K. Cory ran the 1 mile and Brie did the 10K on Thanksgiving morning. The night before, we went out for a little Mexican. You know, to carb up. HA.

Unfortunately, when we got back, Grant had been sick again. UGH. We didn't get any pics of the 5K, because there's no where to put your camera, but Todd and I both set PRs, and I ran mine in about 29 minutes. It was hard to tell because you start so far back of the starting line. Last year, they kept the clock going, but this year, they didn't, so we figured it was about a minute after they shot the gun that we actually started the race. The clock said 30:03 when I crossed the finish line, so subtract a minute and that was about 29 minutes. Not too bad!

We took some nice family pictures on the dock too- one of all of us, and one of the four of us.

Next up was a trip to the beach one sunny morning. Of course, poor Grant is also teething his 2-year molars. So he chomps on his fingers a lot. And his fingers were sandy. Plus he hates bare feet in the sand. Plus his sister stole his trowel, which was his only source of fun at the beach. So after about 10 minutes, Grant and I went home. But Natalie and Daddy enjoyed some time on the beach!

Above is the one picture I snapped of Grant and Daddy before Grant and I left. Below is Natalie buried in the sand. She thought this was really funny.

Mommy not only missed out on going to the beach, but she also missed out on going out on Pop Pop's boat. Grant decided he didn't want to have anything to do with the life jacket this year. And since it's a law that kids have to wear one, well... we just didn't go. But Natalie and Daddy had fun with Nana and Pop Pop!

Pop Pop even let her drive the boat!!!!! She took this very seriously, of course.

Finally by the weekend after Thanksgiving, Grant was feeling a lot better, so we went over to the Pfaelzer's house on the beach and got to play in their heated pool and had a cookout! The Pfaelzer's lived next door to my parents since I was 5, and only recently did Mrs. Pfaelzer move to the beach. Emma, Kriss and baby Coco live there (for now!) too!

Above, the guys swimming with their little ladies. Natalie swam with just floaties and the assistance of a noodle, but eventually, she accidentally started swimming without the noodle. She started panicking, but I was encouraging her by saying, "You're doing it!" and she got excited and started doggy paddling.

I love the picture above. Hey Ladies. My name is Grant and I like long walks on the beach and fluffy puppies.

Little buddy didn't want to swim, but he liked hanging in the lounge chair with Pop Pop before the sun set. He was funny- he whined the first 20 minutes we were there until we put his shoes on him, then he was perfectly normal and happy. He hates not having shoes and socks on.

The next day, which was our last full day in Florida, it rained, was windy and kind of cool. So the four of us went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the home of Winter, the dolphin who does not have a fin. They made a movie about him called A Dolphin Tale, starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick, Jr. A doctor made a prosthetic fin for him, although in real life, he just swims around without it. Here's Natalie and Grant checking him and his buddy Panama.