To Florida and Back- Week 36

It was another busy and fun week at the Walton's. The photo above captures perfectly the "we had a great time in Florida but followed absolutely no schedule so now my parents are going to pay for it and why in the world do I have to pose with this silly sign every week" mood Caleb was in when we returned this afternoon. What we do to/for children for the sake of a photo opp!

Aaron spent Monday at the PGA tourney at Southern Hills (a birthday gift from him wonderful wife). He was this close to Tiger and didn't get his autograph or anything. Oh well, we do have pictures to prove it- with no zoom lens needed.


Caleb is officially crawling. It's not pretty but it gets the job done. Several articles I've read say it's not uncommon for babies to wake themselves up at night because they are practicing a new "skill" in their sleep. Well, Wednesday morning about 5:00, I heard Caleb stirring and so I woke Aaron up and we both snuck in to see this:

(OK, I do have to be honest...this is actually a reenactment of the scene because I had already picked Caleb up out of the crib by the time I thought to take a picture and when I set him back down in it, he got a little nuts. Guess he didn't grasp that I was just trying to take a photo then I'd pick him right back up). Needless to say, we've moved the mattress down to the lowest setting to prevent any falls.

Thursday morning Caleb and I headed to Florida with the help of our good friend Bob (my friend Heidi's dad). He was such a great help with getting Caleb in and out of the stroller, keeping him happy on the plane, etc. Once again, Caleb was a great flier. That night was the 3rd night of prelims for the pageant then we headed up to Miss America's suite with the rest of the Oklahoma crew to hang out with Lauren, as she was there emceeing. Caleb had a lot of fun wallering in bed with Miss America (how many guys across the country wish they could say that?!?) while we waited for Aaron to get in. He arrived about 1:30am and we all hit the hay. We as in Aaron, Caleb, and me; not Aaron, Caleb, Lauren, and me :)


Friday we hung out at the pool for awhile, went to the Mall of Millenia to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (are you surprised??) then waited for Aaron's cousin Rome and is family to come in from St. Augustine. Aaron and Rome moved to Jacksonville together almost 10 years ago. Aaron moved back and Rome stayed, met his wife, and now they have two cute kiddos. The cousins had a great time getting to know each other. This shot is taken at the pool on Saturday. I was on my way to a pageant meeting so didn't get to swim but did get to hang out later.


Saturday night was the pageant finals. Jamie did a great job and made the Top 10!! She made us all proud and truly could not have done any better. Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen won the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2008. Interesting tidbit, she is the daughter of NFL quarterback Mark Brunell, who played for Jacksonville when Aaron worked there and now plays for the Redskins.

Aaron and Caleb didn't attend the pageant but did stroll over to the convention center so we could see them at intermission. Caleb met this cute little girl when he came to the pageant on Thursday night but I didn't get a picture. When we ran into her again on Saturday, I had to capture the moment. She was 20 months old and from North Carolina. She was totally infatuated with Caleb (who wouldn't be??) and kept blowing him kisses and saying "tickle tickle". It was hilarious.

Once back in the hotel after the pageant, we saw Lauren in the lobby. For all the times I've seen her since she won and for all the pictures Caleb has with her, I decided it was my turn. So Heidi and I posed for a picture with Miss America. By the way, like how smooth and sleek my hair is in the picture? I used Heidi's Chi hair dryer and flat iron. If you like it, make a comment on the blog and tell Aaron that I need $$ to buy these high dollar items because my cheap Walmart imitations do not give results like this!! HA!

We had an uneventful flight back and are now in recovery mode. This is busy week at work with In-Service at school preparing for class to start next Monday. Aaron is busy busy busy too. Mom has made it safely to Estonia and must have more computer access than in Tanzania because we've received several emails so far.

Have a great week!!

Oh, one more thing... Congrats to my friend Damaris, who was crowned Miss Grand Lake last night. Yippee! This picture is from Miss OK in June after Damaris won Rookie Talent and Overall Talent on her prelim night. Silly pic, I know but the only decent one I have of us.