Here's our little girl on her first big plane ride!
Here she is trying corn for the first time... she was so interested in what we were eating that when I was done with it Nana suggested she chew on the rest of it... her little face lit up and she felt like such a big girl gnawing on the end of it!
The Happy Moon Family! This is BEFORE Mackenzie tried the pool for the first time... see the following picture for her reaction!
Wow... that's chilly Daddy! 
Daddy, that water was cold... can you warm my feet?
Later she got used to it and ended up LOVING it!
I got to snuggle with her afterwards... nice! These times are rare when she sits in my lap long enough for me to get a nice cuddle in!
Yes, we had a skinny dipper... notice her arms... those are her "I'm-so-proud-of-myself" arms. She was very proud of her bravery at this point!
There she is thinking she's a big swimmer... her bottom was very good at floating!
Nana played with the noodles with her... she loved them!
She loved this little ledge where she could pull herself up and feel the water run over her hands!
A bit of water in the face!
Being a lounge queen with Mommy!
On Monday we drove to meet my cousin Stephanie and her husband Dan and their son Murphy in a park... it was so great to see them and to meet Murphy for the first time! Both the babies were so good and let us talk for almost 3 hours!
The cousins with the babies!
On Tuesday we went to St. Augustine and wandered around in the little shops and got icecream. This was taken in one of the pottery stores... I like this picture cuz with my face next to Mackenzie's I look skinny =)
Wandering around in St. Augustine with Nana and Poppop.
She fell asleep and melted into a pile of pudge... perfect for the kissin'!
On our way to the airport on Thursday we went to Jake's grandpop's house for lunch. It was nice for Mackenzie to meet her other great-grandfather!
Well, even though there are no pictures of the beach, we actually did spend some time down there! I was too nervous with my new camera to take it down with me so I have no proof! Mackenzie liked the pool way better than the ocean anyway... the waves kinda scared her and she wasn't crazy about the sand or having to stay on a blanket... life at the beach as I used to know it is over for now!
We had such a great trip... even the traveling was easy! She did well on the plane, both ways she fell asleep. She was so good for Nana and Poppop that Jake and I got to have lots of dates... Tuesday we spent the whole day at outlets and she got to have lots of fun with Nana and Poppop all to herself! Nana made us feel so welcome with all of Mackenzie's favorite foods waiting for her and lots of baby equipment and toys that she had borrowed from ladies in her church! Jake was surprised to have his favorite pound cake waiting for him (I've tried to make that cake for him twice, but both times it never rose... so now he only gets it from his mama!) and then when we finished off the cake, she pulled out a coffee can full of pizzelles... his favorite cookie! She had even clipped coupons for me for baby stuff since she knows how much I like coupons! Every little touch was so thoughtful and appreciated! Dad took every day off of work when we were there and we got to have loads of family time! For a family that typically doesn't like to play games, we ended up playing a game almost every night! It was so much fun to put Mackenzie to bed and hang out with them... I realized that I really get to feel like an adult when I'm down there cuz there are no other little brothers and sisters running around, it's just the four of us adults staying up late and talking and playing games... I can't believe I get to be a"real grown up" now and have all this fun!
One night Mackenzie woke up after we had put her to bed and just couldn't get herself back to sleep. The crying went on for a long time before I went in and did everything I knew possible to help her. Eventually I came out and decided she was just going to have to cry herself to sleep, but it was such heart wrenching cries (you know, not the annoying kind that you can ignore and know she'll go back to sleep, it was the kind that makes you think she was sick or something!) that I ended up ruining our game with my own tears. Dad was really helpful when he simply said, "Julie, babies cry." It was helpful to know that they weren't bothered by it and then Mom said, "You guys are doing such a great job with her." It was so encouraging that they weren't sitting there judging us for our baby crying, but understanding that this happens and they didn't think less of us (especially ME) for it. Then Mom suggested we pray for her and ask God to make it clear whether or not she was hurting or sick. We all prayed and then we went in and got her and just let her stay up... apparently all those terrible tears were just because she felt left out cuz she stopped crying once she was with us. That was an answer to prayer, even if I did feel a little tricked by that trickster... here I thought she was in pain and she was just wanting to be the center of attention... again! Anyway, I know that was a long story, but it was probably my favorite memory from the trip! That and the amazing ham sandwhiches we had for lunch everyday... and I had for breakfast on our last morning... man, they were so good! Ok, and the icecream in St. Augustine rocked, and the morning I got to spend reading on the beach with Jake, and the date to the outlets, and the date to the movies, and getting to see my cousin, and going to their church (everybody was so friendly and the pastor's message was so good!), and dad catching fish for dinner the last day, and swimming with Mackenzie in the ocean and the pool, and Dad changing THREE poopy diapers on the last day... basically it's really hard to pick a favorite! What a great memory this trip was!
