1 1/2 already!

Our Happy Little Florida Girl is 1 1/2...
Out for a bicycle ride to enjoy the nice fall weather in Florida!

Ali's 1st ponytail!

Friends, Family and Fun - Aug 2010

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Alis first year - April 2010

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Ali's 1st Christmas - Dec 2009

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Summer Fun- Aug 2009

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Ali's Adventures to Jamaica - June 20, 2009

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Fathers Day - June 2009

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Nana & Guga to visit...

The giraffe's were out and about at the zoo...

Then we stopped in at the splash park to cool off...

Church on Sunday...

Ali Graduated her ISR Training!

90 degrees in Florida...
Ali all dressed up in her heavy winter clothes and ready to float!

Part of the final training for ISR is to practice the same skills fully clothed.
This is a picture of Ali floating in her heavy winter clothes...
The training required Ali to float for 5 full minutes - she did great!

Ali, we are SO proud of you -

Initially, I was skeptical of the ISR training.
It was more than worth it!!!
Highly recommend to all -

Amazing!!! How incredible!!! WOW!!!

17 Months Old Already...

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.

~Angela Schwindt

Such a classic...

and another classic...

I think she grew 3" this last month!

I love this one too...

Beautiful blue eyes...

So inquisitive...

Watch out...

I love to hear her giggle...
"Bye-bye"
(that's her favorite word right now)

WOW, What happened to my little baby?!?

She's not really a baby anymore, and not all that little either!

Ali can float on her back all by herself...

Ali has been taking ISR training by Infant Swim Resources. The goal of ISR Training is Survival... They teach them a swim, float, swim sequence so they can swim for a few seconds, roll over to their back to rest and catch a breath, then roll over and swim again.

Today, we were playing in the pool today and she wanted to swim back and forth to Eddie and I, and she wanted to swim to the steps like she does in lessons. She was doing great. She was so proud of herself too!

We put her on her back to practice her float, and she was doing it all by herself! We had our hands out of the water all together and she was floating on her back (concentrating hard, but with a little grin). I'm SO proud of her!
This is only her third week of lessons, so I'm excited to see how she progresses in the next week or two!

This is a pict of her that I took during lessons last week - I was in the water with her today when she was floating, so I have yet to get a waterproof camera - this may be good reason enough...

Beech Mtn, NC

We took a family trip to the Mountains of NC. It was kind of a last minute plan, in a destination far far away, but all came together seamlessly.

We drove all day Thursday to get to Beech Mountain, NC, but it worked out nicely to stop in Ridgeland, SC and pick up Dru, then meet Mama & Daddy in Charlotte, NC for dinner, then finish the last leg of the trip all together. It was definitely a family vacation that was meant to be.

Friday we went to Grandfather Mountain
Our first adventure involved the famous Mile High Swinging Bridge!
Perception, NOT Reality!

It's been a long time since I've been to Grandfather Mtn - It was fun thinking back on all of our great family vacations to the mountains of NC! Dru & Kistin
That's a LONG way down!
Grandfather Mountain had a habitat area with some of the animals you can find in their mountain environment. When we were at the bear exhibit, Dru would ask Ali if she could say "bear"... she would say "dog"!
Uncle Dru and Ali debating whether the animal we they were looking at was a bear or a "dawg". I think this was Ali's first attempt at an arguement... ...she was pretty sure that that was a dog!
Ali meeting her first corn snake up close and personal...
Another hike was to split rock...
Mama & Daddy were trying to hold this BIG rock up and keep it from rolling down the mountain!

I think Dru climbed every rock on the whole mountain!

Daddy (Lin)Family hiking photo @ Split RockWe stayed in a beautiful house at Beech Mountain...
with stunning views...
right on the golf course...

Saturday, we decided to go hiking at Linville Falls.
The trail to the upper falls was a perfect for Ali to walk w/ Hailey
Ali was very intent on seeing a waterfall for the first time!

She was just taking it all in...There were a number of lookout points that you could hike to. This picture is taken when we were at the upper falls and Dru and Kristin were at the lower falls.
These pictures are taken from Chimney View, the highest point of the trails.
The views were stunning to say the least.

Later in the day, we hiked all the way down to Linville Gorge and went swimming in the waterfall!

Ali did a great job on her first hiking trip!
Look, she's only 16 months old!!!

Me & Mama (Cici)

A Great Group Shot...Dru & Kristin (Self Portrait)
Ali, Eddie, Hailey & me
The more treacherous hike down to Linville Gorge at the base of the falls.
BIG Rock wall...
On Sunday, Dru and Eddie played golf while the rest of us took the day to adventure into Boone for lunch and browsing the shops.
Dru climbing the tree...

One of the stopps on the way home... Ali really loves walking Hailey (all by herself)! All in All... A WONDERFUL VACATION THAT WE WILL CHERISH FOR A LIFETIME!