We just got back from a weekend with my grandfather in Jacksonville, FL. We were pretty nervous getting ready to go because Clara Beth is known for screaming the entire time she is in the car. Luckily, she slept almost the entire way. And we found that she loves the sound of wind, so we would get her back to sleep by rolling the windows down. A great tip that we learned. It wasn’t a guarantee, but it worked pretty well.
Once we got there, we settled in at the hotel and then went over to Abie’s to see him before we all went out to eat.
Sunday morning, we got up and went swimming. 
Makgill has a great swimsuit that has a built in floaty. 
He loved jumping in the pool and letting Aron catch him. (I couldn’t because I hurt my back, I could barely bend over at that point.) He may kill us later in life for the pictures of him in this swimsuit, though.
This was also Clara Beth’s first time ever going swimming. She loves the water. She seemed to smile the entire time we were in the water. Aron and I realy need to get her out swimming more often. Hopefully we will get her in the water more in September when we go to the beach for our beach week.
Later on, we met Abie and Hellen at the Ponta Vedra Club for brunch. It is a very fancy place to take two young children, but the food is very good. Plus, at the golf club where we ate, it is more casual.
Before we went to visit my uncle Chris and Aunt Leslie that night for dinner, we went back to Abie’s apartment for a little while. It was great to see them, but we had to leave early, unfortunately. Makgill all of a sudden ran a fever of 102.2 and we knew we needed to get him to the hotel and get him to bed. We got him to take some medicine and the fever broke around 11:00 that night.
Because Makgill was feeling better in the morning, we wanted Abie to meet us for breakfast at the hotel. He was able to meet us and we had a great time talking and letting Abie get to know Makgill again and Clara Beth for the first time. We had a great time, and hope to be able to go back soon.
Although, I think we decided it would be easier to have the extra hands if we can coordinate a visit with my parents there, too.
by cmspp