I’m just getting a moment to catch up on my blog after a busy weekend of teacher training in Tennessee. I’m a little behind and haven’t even had a chance to fill you in on our visit to Florida last week to visit my family. We had a great time!
Finn and Mema were happy to be reunited. These two are the cutest! I swear, Finn “talks” to my grandmother more than anyone else. They have their own little special conversations and it’s very sweet.
On the first day of our visit my mom, Finn and I took a trip to the Gulfarium. It’s a marine adventure park located right on the water!
Finn enjoyed the sea lion show!
And I couldn’t get over the cuteness of the dolphins – they swam right up to the window! I wish I could say that I thought this sting ray was cute but it was a little freaky to see his face smushed up against the glass like this!
Our animal adventures continued on the second day of our visit with a trip to the Gulf Breeze Zoo. This was the best time of year to go to the Gulfarium and the Zoo because the busy summer season is over and the weather is cooler.
We had such a great day at the zoo and Finn really enjoyed watching the animals, especially the little tamarin monkeys, the lions and the birds. It seemed that he liked the tamarins because they were so small and active. I’m guessing that the lions reminded him of his sisters at home because they were playing and wrestling with each other. I think he liked the birds because they were visually stimulating due to how much they moved around and their chirping.
We also took a train ride through the animal preserve and saw gorillas, rhinos, hippos, zebras, camels and much more!
Related: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAMA! My gratitude for her is NEXT LEVEL after becoming a mom myself. She has been such a rock for me in pregnancy and my entry into motherhood. I am so lucky for her love and support.
The weather was great for most of our trip and we got in lots of outside time.
We enjoyed a beach/pool day on our last full day. What a beach babe! Finn likes this new chair that we picked up for him. He’s all about seeing everything that is going on these days!
The sunsets are stunning in the fall/winter because the sun sets over the water (it doesn’t during the summer). I soaked it up before we went out to dinner.
I snapped this photo of Finn and my dad after dinner. Two things here…1) Finn’s outfit. How much do you love his jeans and flannel??? 2) My dad took him outside to watch the lights of the cars that went by and he was mesmerized. Haha.
And a photo of my parent’s golden Sam to wrap it all up. COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS until our Thanksgiving visit. <3
Suggestions for fun and visually stimulating activities for babies? I thought he’d be too young to really notice anything at the aquarium and zoo but I do think it was great for his little mind! He didn’t take in everything but he definitely watched/saw a lot of things!
Recommendations for 6-9 months when it comes to gear? We are phasing out of a lot of our little baby stuff because of how mobile Finn has become. He’s rolling and scooting like crazy!
My daughter loves the local children’s museum in our town. She’s a year old now, but we started going when she was nine months. Some of the stuff is too big for her, but the baby exhibits are great and she’s a people watcher. We also like local music in our downtown area. She loves to listen to the music and people watch. It’s good for all of us to get outside and just enjoy the community.
As our daughter got older we gave her more freedom to play and mostly just moved the furniture out of the way for her to have the living room floor. When she started to try to walk, we got her a push walker. She loves it and I like it better than the ones the baby sits in.
Thank you for this insight. It’s very helpful! I hadn’t thought about the live music!
I literally laughed out loud when I saw the picture of the stingray. He seems a bit “extra”! 🙂
TOTALLY extra! Haha!
One thing that really helped me when my son was starting to sit up/crawling (besides the sit me up chair that he loved!) was I’d use an empty laundry basket and line the bottom with a blanket and load it with toys. That way he could play in one spot while you can do what you need to do but also not have to worry about him rolling/crawling away. Plus if you need to go into the other room or something, you just pick the basket up and take him with you 🙂
oh this is SUCH a good idea. THANK YOU!!!!!!
I just bought that same chair for my baby for the same reason. Our little guys just want to see everything that is going on!
Yes! It’s so sweet how observant he has become!
My daughter is 6.5 months and LOVES her jumparoo – she bounces so hard lol. She also likes here exersaucer and simply sitting on and scooching around a blanket on the floor. She likes being in front of a basket of her toys so she can pull things out or dump it over.
I was wondering if you ever baby wear Finn facing outward? I wear my daughter facing out now that she’s older so she can see everything. Just wondering if there’s a reason I don’t know about that makes it better to keep them facing you.
thank you! i’ll look into that!
we tried to go forward facing last week for the first time and it seemed like his head wasn’t up high enough over the front panel so i switched him back around. i’ll try it again. i definitely think he’d like to forward face!
Our kids loved the bouncer/jumperoo. If their legs were to short we put cases of coke/water underneath them. Both of our kiddos could jump forever and spin around in it to look at all the toys.
Do you have an affordable zoo? Our zoo is free so thats a fun option for us.
You can also do some home-made toys…putting noodles in tupperware etc. that they like to shake around.
Finn is so active with his legs that I think he will love the bouncer! What age did you start it? We don’t have a zoo in Charlotte. The nearest one is about an hour and a half away. Love the noodle idea. Thank you!
Beautiful photos! Makes me want to be somewhere warmer right now! We went to baby story time at the library a lot. She loved it and it was easier when she was littler because now she’s a toddler who wants to run more than sit still. Another thing she loved as a baby was watching construction sites. I know, super random, but she loved watching the big trucks and all the dirt and movement. It’s still a hit now that she’s a toddler.
I did just get the story time schedule from our local library. I’ll try that out! And love the construction sites! How fun.
You were in my town ? I live in Gulf Breeze and love the zoo! Fun fact, that was my first job ? so glad you guys were able to enjoy the Zoo and Gulfarium. Both are such great places!
How cool! 🙂 What was your job there!? It’s a great little zoo.