Cups

As mentioned in the previous post, Knox loves cups...so here our ode to cups.  I bought these cups at Wal Mart after Easter last year for about 25 cents, I'd say I got my money's worth!

Top 3 Toys (According to Knox)

1. Cups

2. Books

3. Pop up Micky Mouse and Friends

Knox can only operate #3

This is a top toys list according to Knox (at 13 months).

1. Cups.  He absosutelty loves them! He puts things in, takes things out, put them inside each other.  He can play with them for hours.

2. Books.  Loves them too.  He will flip and flip and flip.  Flip every page, skip a few pages in between, turn them over, and hand them to you for you to flip.

3.  Pop Up Mickey Mouse and Friends:  Nana (matt's mom) found this at the thrift store and it is for sure a hit.  Knox can only control #3 so far but he holds his hand out for you to open the rest, then he closes them all and the process begins again...over and over.

Close Up Cutie

Milk face.

These are just a few close ups of Knox from the past few weeks that I love.  Knox is such a blessing to us and these pictures capture the essence of who he is: playful, sweet, precious, all boy, and focused.

Playing

I love to climb on this train and sit with both feet on the seat.

Putting stuff in cups...so fun!!

Not peeing here, just playing at the window.

Here, you have it.

Handing me his cup.

Knox has started handing us everything; well, almost everything.  (He doesn't hand it over if he really wants it at the moment!)

Here dad, here's my ball.

And my shoe.

And here, you take this.

Knox also loves getting into cabinets.  When I am drying my hair in the mornings Knox will come in the bathroom, open up the cabinet under the sink and start handing me things one by one.  In the 10 minutes it takes me to dry my hair, the counter will be covered with random things from the cabinet.  Knox loves to play with hairbrushes and loves to chew on toothbrushes! His, yours, or whoever else's he may find.  And the sippy cup, well he knows better than to throw it in the floor when he is in his highchair, but every time he drops his hand to the side of him and looks at us for a long time until we say, "No, no, give it to me." Then he hands us the cup like, "Yep, that's what I thought you would say." 

I'm Gonna Get You

Knox has started to love being chased around.  Matt started chasing him around the ottoman tonight and by the end you couldn't really tell who was chasing who.

"Oh, this is fun!"

"Ahhh, he got me!"

Friendship at its Best

Brunch at the Biltmore Hotel

Pool at Biltmore

Other side of pool at Biltmore

Beach time

AC's lemonade

AC himself!

Salsa!

Taking a break from Salsa Lessons

(Andrea, Meredith, Keri)

Surprise! 

Waiting for the courtesy van to take us to our private boat!

And we're off...smiles all around.

(Meredith, Mandi)

In front of Star Island.

( I think that was P Diddy's house in the background, you're impressed right!?!?!)

A little cool off time.

(Mandi, Cindy, Keri, Meredith, Andrea)

This photo op was suggested by our "Captain"...wonder why?

Us and Captain Brian.

Dinner at Ortanique

(Cindy, Keri)

Dessert at Barton G

(Cindy, Meredith, Andrea)

Our Basket of Beignets

Blue Bar at Fontainebleau Hotel

Mandi, the photographer

He said, "If you need anymore women just let me know."

Mondrian South Beach: Sunset Lounge

Jose and Cindy

Sisters

Keri, Andrea, Jose

What a fun trip!!

I'll begin this post with a little background on the participants.  In the photo above from l to r is Meredith, Keri, Cindy, Mandi, and Andrea.  The four of us (with the exception of Mandi) attended grammer school together, graduated from high school, attended collge together (Meredith, Keri, and Andrea) and continue to be best friends.  Mandi is Keri's little sister; by default she started hanging out with us at a young age and continues to be a close friend to all of us. 

Fast forward 10 yrs (from HS graduation) and we are going to Miami!!  Cindy has lived in Chicago, Lousiville and now Miami and we have visited her at every destination but, I must say, Miami tops the list. 

Day 1: Meredith and I arrived in Miami, had brunch at Cindy's house, and met Lily (weimaranar) and Lola (bulldog, for some reason have no photos of these precious pups). After brunch we were off to South Beach for fun in the sun.  We stayed at the beach for a few hours and encountered a man and his pet snake (literally, not metaphorically).  The man took the snake for a swim in the ocean and allowed him to swim freely around fellow sunbathers!?!?! After the snake encounter we packed up and made our first stop at AC's frozen lemonade.  Okay, I know what you are thinking, "I have had those before, you know, at Six Flags." NO my friend!!  The frozen lemonades at Six Flags don't hold a candle to AC's...just the right sour/sweet combination and made fresh daily.  I am still craving them!  I wish Cindy could box me up a few and ship them to AL.  Next, we ended the night with Mexican cuisine and hit the sack as we were all tired and Cindy had a much anticipated interview the next morning.

Day 2: Interview went well!  We picked up Mandi and Keri and headed to the Biltmore Hotel for brunch on the golfcourse.  The Biltmore is a historic hotel with beautiful grounds and the largest pool I have ever seen (no worries about being crowded).  After brunch we headed to the beach for more fun in the sun then to enjoy more AC's lemonade (yeah!!). Next on the agenda, Salsa!  We began in level 1 lessons and really had tons of fun; especially watching the more experienced dancers.  Salsa dancing is for sure a workout.  We decided to grab a bite to eat and found a nearby italian resturant where we enjoyed pizza, salad, and bruschetta.  After eating, we took it to the house and to bed...we had a surprise awaiting us the next morning.

Day 3:  We awoke and had breakfast on the patio and got our gear ready for the big surprise.  On the way to the surprise destination, we all started trying to guess where we would end up.  Roof top deck poolside, spa day??  Nope, it's a private boat, just for us, for three hours!!!  We are all so excited and the private boat delivered!  Our Captain Brian drove is around star island, stopped at an island to swim and cool off, stopped just off south beach for a more aerobic swimming experience and let our hair blow in the wind miami style--fast and furious. After the boating adventure we headed to the beach but our stay was cut short due to a little rain.  Walking to the car in the rain with all the gear was an experience in itself!  Sadly, we did not get lemonade on day three; we were too cold from the rain.  Later that night, we enjoyed wonderful dinner at Ortanique and dessert at Barton G.  Our next two stops offered a glimpse of the night life of Miami: Blue Bar and Sunset Lounge.  Blue Bar was hopping with people of all ages!  We enjoyed people watching and talking. We didn't make it to Sunset Lounge until later; hopefully next time we can go at sunset.  Sunset Lounge overlooks the water and I'm sure the views are breathtaking.  Jose finally got to join us at Sunset Lounge as he had been away for school until then.  We really enjoyed Sunset Lounge, the atmosphere was low key and relaxing. 

Day 4:  Go home :(!! Since we went to sleep around 4:00 am on Sunday morning we weren't really up for doing much on our departing day. 

I can't explain the love I have for these girls! I am so thankful that we are still close at 30 yrs old and look forward to saying that at 40 and 50.  I enjoyed every second of our girls weekend! I can't wait until the next one.  They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder but in this case, the opposite is true; spending the weekend with my friends made me miss them so much more!!  Thank you Cindy and Jose for allowing us to raid your house and refrigirator.  And thank you Cindy for allowing us to raid your closet.  Next time I'll just pack my makeup and toothbrush.

I want my RR straight up!! And I want an AC's lemonade!