40 Weeks Old

It all started Tuesday waiting for a package. I finally made up my mind about the next car seat and found the one I wanted to buy on Ebay (don’t worry, it’s new). It arrived as promised on Tuesday afternoon. We purchased a convertible car seat, one that is both rear and forward facing. That way if Samantha grows out of her current car seat (weight limit 22 lbs) we can use the new one. It is supposed to be one of the safest car seats out there with a weight limit of 55 lbs which we believe will last quite a few years. Samantha had to try it out when we pulled it out of the box.

Wednesday found us packing for a road trip… again. We were headed to Pensacola, Florida. Travis’ buddy, Jim, was retiring from the Navy after serving 27 years. It was a big day for him and his family and we were invited to help him celebrate.

We left Thursday morning for a seven hour trip through Alabama. Samantha did very well throughout the drive. We did stop a couple of times to eat and walk around but again, she was a trooper.

We got settled into our room and called Jim to let him know we had arrived in town earlier than anticipated. Just like Jim, he invited us over to his house to spend a little bit of time with his family. We were amazed at how much the kids had grown since the last time we’d seen them. We were able to spend a couple of hours with him and his family before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Friday was the big ceremony which was held at the Naval Aviation Museum http://naval.aviation.museum/intro.html. The place was very impressive with the planes hanging from the ceiling. The ceremony was just as impressive. There were serveral people in uniform. Some of which Travis had been stationed with previously. Samantha spent the entire ceremony at the back playing with her toys and practicing going up the stairs. She had little patience to sit in the chair and watch the ceremony. It was during this time that she checked out a Blue Angel plane. Congrats on your retirement Jim and good luck with your new job!

Sabbath Samantha woke us up bright and early at 7:00 a.m. We took our time getting ready and then headed to the ocean. Boy, it would have been great if it had been 40 degrees warmer and less windy. Needless to say, we only spent about 10 minutes on the beach just to take a couple of pictures. It is amazing that you can still see the effects of their latest hurricane along the beach.

In the afternoon we were able to spend more time with Jim, his family and their guests. After a yummy supper with them we headed back and arrived safely at 1:30 a.m. when we all crashed.

Today we celebrated Travis’ birthday by going out in the evening for supper. He also got to even watch a couple of football games. Happy Birthday Dad!

And amid everything else, maybe the highlight of our week is that Samantha has taken steps without prompting and without help. She continues to get braver every day and tries walking more and more. I'm sure that by her first birhtday she will be walking everywhere instead of crawling. Way to go Sweet Pea.

Enjoying her books at the motel...

During the ceremony...