More Gran and Aunt Rejene Fun

As mentioned before, Gran and Aunt Rejene came to visit over the weekend.  Monday was pretty calm.  Taft stayed at home and spent the day with Gran.  Gran, Taft, and Shane came to eat lunch with me and my co-worker, Yvette.  Then they went shopping and I worked.  Later - we just ordered a pizza, ate, and relaxed.
The only major event was Gran giving Taft his piggy bank money.  She keeps a little pig at her house and puts change in it.  She has one for Jenna, Izzy, Evan, and Taft.  She emptied it out for him and he was able to load up his pig we have here.  I think that there is almost, or even enough, to get a bike before long.

On Tuesday, Taft went back to Preschool.  He needed to get back into a bit of a routine and I am pretty sure that Gran enjoyed being able to stay at the house and get some sleep and rest herself.
Aunt Rejene made it back to our house before time for dinner.  The adults came to pick me up from work and then we went to Taft's school.  He was very excited that Gran was going to come pick him up.  We met his teacher on the way out and went to the room where he was waiting.  It was great that the kids were already out of his main classroom so he could take Gran there and show his room all alone.  He then took her out to see Miss Phyllis, the music teacher, on the playground.  Miss Phyllis had a surprise for us.  She had taught the kids a new dance and song about the Number Rock.  The two of them preformed it for us.

Then we drove across the bridge to eat on the beach at The Golden Lion.  It is one of Gran's favorites down here.  Everyone loved their food.
We decided to drive down the beach on the way home and show Aunt Rejene some of the sites.  We went through Hammock Beach, the old side of town, drove by our old house, and then to get ice cream.  Taft was still short enough to get a free baby cone with sprinkles (which he loved).  And I think that by the photo, so did Gran and Rejene.

 We really enjoyed the visit and hope that they can come again soon.  Hopefully at a time that I can take off work and spend more time with them.

Alabama Trip Day 5 - Monday

Our drive home from Alabama was a long one.  We spent the night with Gran on Sunday to be able to get a head start on the drive.  It is further south than my parent's house so it would help with the timing.  But - it was storming.  A lot.  We got up later than we meant too. 
By the time that we were up, had baths, and had the car packed, it was about noon.  Then the storm sirens started to go off so we delayed a little to see how the weather looked.  I had mentioned to Taft that we needed to stop and buy mayonnaise on the way home.  When I got him in his car seat, I asked him where we were going.  I thought that he would say, "home" or "to see daddy", but he said, "to buy mayonnaise".  This is only important if you know my love of Bama brand Mayo.  I can't buy it in Florida so I stock up when I get home and have people bring it to me when they visit. 
Taft and I didn't get to Columbus, GA, until around 2 pm.
We stopped at Wal*Mart in Phenix City for mayo and then to get some lunch at a drive thru.  The drive was not too bad even though it rained almost the entire time.  I kept the radio on local stations and every county that we went into was under a storm and/or tornado warning.  It was a little crazy.
We did stop at the little store between Columbus, GA, and Albany, GA.  The Merritt Pecan Company has homemade jerky and lots of pecan candy and pecan logs.  Plus - they have very clean bathrooms and gas.  Taft and I stopped on the way in and out of town. 

It was after dark when we got to Florida and Taft was tired.  So was I.  We called Daddy when we got to Jacksonville, FL, so that he could order us some pizza for dinner and have it ready for us.  Taft was very excited to see his daddy and tell him all about his trip.  He wanted to show him all his new toys, clothes, and shoes, and talked about the fun he had until he fell asleep.

Alabama Day 4 - Sunday

Yes - another post that I have had started but not finished.....

Sunday was our last day in Heflin.  We all had breakfast together and then Taft took some photos with his family to use in his collage at school.  Here are just a few...

 Taft with Uncle Patrick (my brother) and his new wife, Aunt Lori.  Taft really loved Uncle Pack.

 Taft and Mawmaw Geneva (my grandmother)

 Taft and Shemar.  Aunt Kristi's cat that is living with Mawmaw.

 Mallory and Travis with Shemar.

 Taft and Mawmaw (my mother)

 Taft and Pawpaw (my daddy) and Bit Bit, I think.

 Aunt Kristi (my sister), Taft and Mallory

Taft wanted to get his picture made with Pawpaw's car aka Lightning McQueen.

Taft completely fell in love with a weed eater toy at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's.  Pawpaw gave it to Taft and brought it out the car for us.  Taft was so happy that he held it all the way to Gran's house.  He even held it as he slept in the car.

When we got to Gran's, it was dinner time.  Mrs. Betty came to eat with us.  She is one of Gran's friends and the mother of Shane's best friend from school.  We always love to see Mrs. Betty.  We also ate with Scott, Izzy, Evan, and Jenna.  Aunt Chelsea wasn't feeling well and didn't get the house until later.

I can't believe that I didn't get anymore pictures at Gran's house.  Taft had a ball!  He loved Jenna's new fish and wanted to kiss the tank.  He also loved her new hamster (or mouse as he called it) and loved for me to get it out of the cage and let him kiss it too.

We also go to spend some time with Aunt Chelsea.  Her and Scott got married in March but since we had not been to Alabama in a year (gasp) we had not gotten the chance to meet her yet.  Hopefully we will get to stay longer the next trip and get to know her a little better.

Alabama Trip Day 1 - Thursday

Taft and I left Florida to come to Alabama.  We left this morning at 9am and started north.  I wondered how traveling with him would be this go around.  He has not been on a road trip in over a year.  It went very well.

The first place that we stopped was at the Georgia Welcome Center.  I thought that Taft would enjoy going in and picking out some books and maps.  He did.  They have a special book for kids, a Georgia Travel Guide, and then Taft got a "smile".  It is a smile on a stick.  He thought that it was funny.

Taft looking at the Cabbage Patch Kid Display at the Welcome Center

 

Taft with his "smile" on.

We made great time and he loved getting out of the car to stretch when we stopped for gas.  He also got a kick out of getting lunch at Krystal.  He loved the square cheeseburger.

We also stopped at one of my favorite places - the store in Weston, GA.  It sells pecan logs and candies, homemade beef jerky, and has clean bathrooms and gas.  The last two are a plus.  I may have gotten a pecan log and I may have eaten it all before we got to Columbus.  ;0

Once we got into Ft. Benning, Taft was thrilled to see all the tanks and "army mans".

Our plan was to get into Phenix City and stop to see Aunt Teresa, Izzy, and Evan.  We made such great time that we were very early and Aunt T was still in school.   Lucky for us, she just had us come by the school and visit.

Then it was off to Gran's house.  We got in, had dinner, and then Taft went out to help Gran water the plants.  We are going to bed soon and will get up in the morning and back on the road.  We are going to Mawmaw's (my grandmother) in the morning to surprise her.

Alabama Part One - Gran's House

Soon after Taft's birthday, he and I went to Alabama for a little break from Florida. We decided to cancel his Florida birthday party and just go hang out with family and friends for a little while. Our first stop was with Gran.
Gran and Rejene came to Florida to pick us up. Then we started the road trip to Alabama. Taft was a great traveler. He just talked and played. Of course we made numerous stops to let him move around and not feel so cramped up.
One of those stops was at the Carter's outlet for all new PJ sets. He got some really cute ones. We prefer the ones that are 2 piece, long pant, short/long sleeve tops. They are hard to find at Target and Wal*Mart (and cost twice as much). Thanks Gran!
Also - there are a lot of girl things at Gran's. Taft found the little hair clip there. I think that it may have been Izzy's. He didn't care. He thought that he looked great in it. He had to have it many different times over the days there.
He also loved to help clean. He loved the small vacuums that Gran had and worked almost everyday at getting the floors clean. He tends to stand in one spot so we did have to move him around to get the entire floor clean.
He was also a big fan of putting clothes in the dryer. He can't get in the laundry room at our house. We have a gate up because the cat food and litter box are in the laundry room. Gran gave him each item to put in and he had to smell each one. Gran uses a lot of Gain fabric softener.

We also enjoyed time with Izzy and Evan. Taft's only Belton first cousins. They came to the house to play, eat, and swim. On this night they all had a PJ party with their stuffed sleeping buddies.

Taft also LOVED Gran's solitaire handheld game. He thought it was a phone most of the time.

And last but not least - he loved hanging out with Jenna in her room. It is bright pink and blue and she has lots of fun things to do. Jenna showed him how to use the microphone for her karaoke machine and he thought he was the greatest. He loved to scream in it and have it set on echo.