Grannie Camp: Sailing!

One more new word Kenna learned at Grannie Camp was "boat!" and for good reason... she got to go on her very first sailboat ride at the tender age of 2. If you've never been on a small sailboat (actually this one was 19 feet which is not exactly tiny) it's very different from a motor boat or bigger boat. When you are really sailing, the boat leans over so far you can stick your hand out and touch the water. I grew up on sailboats at Grannie's (we even have a couple of family members who have lived on their boats at different times throughout the years!) and I absolutely love being out on the water, but I do have to admit that it was a whole different ballgame 7 months pregnant & trying to keep a squirmy toddler from going overboard! (Just kidding... mostly).

On our first visit to the Sailing Center (a local place where people of all ages and physical conditions can go sailing or take lessons), they were having a regatta where local teens and kids were competing in sailboat races. The director of the center took one look at Matt's camera and invited him out to take some promotional pictures of the regatta for her! He jumped at the chance, of course, and here are some of the awesome shots he took (he took about a bajillion, so this is just a random sampling!):

Meanwhile, Grannie, Kenna and I held down the fort at the sailing center, watching the boats come and go and making new friends (we were both ready to take that little white dog home with us!):
Trying to find the boat Daddy was on:

I think this slushee produced baby's first brain freeze- Kenna sucked it all down in minutes, then handed me the empty cup and said "mommy owie!" Grannie thought it was pretty funny that Kenna came all the way to Florida and learned to say "brr cold." It was thanks to this slushee!
Before we left, we made plans to come back so that Matt could take his first sailing lesson the next day, and we all came along for the ride! We were cracking each other up quoting funny movie lines about sailing... "I'm sailing!" and "Is this outfit inappropriate? For the boat?" (If you know what movie that one is from, major bonus points to you!)

Getting our life jackets on (including Little Brother!):
Kenna was so excited about the boat and water that she went running down the dock. She was insistent that both water bottles came on the boat with us.
Grannie was glad for the chance to get back out on the water too!
We had a really, really great instructor (he teaches other instructors) and Matt had an absolute blast learning to sail! It didn't take him long to get the hang of it.
I wondered if we were a little crazy for trying to take Kenna, but she really enjoyed it! She loved when the water splashed up on us even though it was really cold. The people at the Sailing Center were very accommodating- the instructor said he was on a sailboat for the first time at 6 weeks old! By the end of the trip, Kenna was ready to help sail!

An hour or two later, weary but exhilarated travelers ready to pack it in:
Sadly, the next morning was our last day and there was just enough time to wake up, get packed, and head to the airport. Kenna fell asleep in the car on the way there, so I took a picture thinking it was the perfect "last picture" from Grannie Camp to show how worn out we were from so much nonstop fun!
But then she was too cute helping roll the suitcases away in the airport, so that was the last picture:
But then she slept all the way home on the plane, completely conked out... and that was the last picture.
What an awesome time we had! Thank you, Grannie and Pop Pop for another fantastic year at Grannie Camp- we can't wait to come back!

Grannie Camp: the Beach!

(Yes, I am still catching up on our blog posts from November- the rest of our trip to my grandparents' house, Thanksgiving, and two birthdays!)

The weather was just warm enough to enjoy walks on the beach during the day and after dark! That's another big plus about grandparents- parents are encouraged to take romantic walks on the beach while the kiddo sleeps! Leaving through the back gate:
Grannie was so sweet to rent a really nice jogging stroller while we were there and this is how it got used most:
It was beautiful, sunny beach weather! We enjoyed the sand even though the water was freezing. Kenna loves the beach and we had so much fun taking some really sweet pictures of our family, and some of my all-time favorites of Kenna!

We loved seeing Kenna play on the beach, and especially chasing the seagulls. She kept saying "hug bird" over and over- she is such an animal lover already. She was so sad when she couldn't catch one!

"Bird" was a new word for her, as was "shell" which she discovered plenty of to explore in behind Pop Pop's big chair.

Later in the day we went for lunch at a restaurant called the Palm Pavilion which is right on the beach with a big porch overlooking the water! When I was little, it was a place that you would walk in right off the beach, still in your bathing suit, and sit at the "bar" and have a coke and a burger. Over the years it has become much fancier with nice seafood and very few people wearing bathing suits. But the burgers were still delicious!

One afternoon we drove out across the bridge to the town of Dunedin, which is kind of like a little mountain town right beside an ocean. Matt and I both thought it reminded us of Boone. The whole main street was closed off for the weekend for a craft show and street festival which we walked through and did a little early Christmas shopping. Matt took this completely precious picture of Kenna that shows not only her little stage of learning by imitation, but how immediately she took to Grannie and just loves being around her:

Our fearless one had to stop and meet every dog she saw.
We walked around and bought a few early Christmas presents. And of course, an ice cream stop was necessary!
We had to laugh when we saw this booth at the very end. Grannie didn't know she was active on the craft show circuit! The fine print says "for the discriminating Grannie- too funny!
Ready for more adventures!

Grannie Camp: Family Legacies

We were really proud of Kenna's adventurous spirit during the whole trip, and especially how it didn't take her a second to warm up to Grannie and Pop Pop right away even though we don't get to see them nearly as often as we want! It's so precious to me to see my grandparents become great-grandparents and share in my children's lives. I'm so thankful the Lord has kept them healthy and strong, and blessed them with long years!

Sometime during this trip, I especially wanted to take Kenna to a smaller park closer to Grannie and Pop Pop's house, called McKay park. It is named after Grannie's father/my Mom's grandfather/my great-grandfather/Kenna's great-great-grandfather! He was instrumental in developing many of the family-centered (non-commercial or touristy) things to enjoy on Clearwater Beach, and Grannie has been instrumental in keeping them from being cut out of the city budget in favor of motels and parking garages over the many years. My Mom's side of the family is where Kenna gets her middle name McKay.

This park, and the pram sailboats available to sail in the bay (a small child-sized sailboat that I grew up learning to sail in) are his legacy... I'm sure he would be very pleased to know his great-great-granddaughter enjoyed them so much!

Kenna in a pram at the Sailing Center (they are so small, my cousins and brother and I literally grew out of them by the age of 13 or 14!):

And exploring the bigger Hobie Cat sailboats (the kind Papa likes to sail when he is in Clearwater!)

The same evening that all these photos were taken, we went back to Pier 60 for the craft show/festival (and playground!) since it had been chilly and not fully open the night before. I wanted to see a friend of mine named Suzanne who has been selling beautiful handmade jewelry on the beach for many years now. I helped her "man her booth" one summer for about two weeks, and credit her with much of my interest in doing craft shows and having a creative business! And it was fun to introduce her to Matt and Kenna!

And what is a night at the pier without a little ice cream to end the day? Kenna decided she needed to eat hers and mine too!