We made the most of our visit and filled our days with family time, beach time, some swimming for those willing to brave chilly water and hours and hours of lizard hunting. Whenever we visit Jacksonville, we stay with my parents but my sister and her family live within 5 minutes of them, so we spend a lot of time at their place, too.
Leslie and Ross’ neighborhood is packed with brown and green anole lizards and to say our boys are obsessed with lizard hunting is a huge understatement.
Chase would truly hunt for lizards for hours on end. Most mornings, we hung out at Leslie’s house while the kids played outside and the babies napped and Chase would hunt for lizards for 3+ hours. Ryder also managed to nab two of the feisty little guys himself!
Chase caught dozens of the anole lizards with his net and even his hands and though we always let them go within a couple of hours, he loved naming them (his favorite was “Rainbow Change” because it changed from brown to green) and creating little habitats for them. My mom even took Chase to PetSmart to buy lizard food – dried flies!
Oh and another epic find by Creature Man was a huge katydid! It was bigger than most of the lizards he found!
Pretty cool, huh? I have no idea how he spotted that thing because it perfectly camouflages into the Florida foliage and looks like bright green leaf.
During our spring break, we also went on a lot of walks and spent plenty of time in or near water, whether it be at the beach, the pool or even in Leslie’s front yard with sprinkler splash pads and beach toys.
(Romper: Aerie — linking this year’s version since I bought mine last year and I actually the updated version better! / Sandals: Francesca’s (sold out but these are similar)/ Bralette: Free People / Cropped white tank: Beyond Yoga)
Ryder was clearly pumped to borrow some of Callie’s toys! And in case you’re wondering what he’s holding in his hands in the above pic, that would be a worm of course.
I love the above picture so much because it captures our time in Florida so well. It’s like an I Spy of family springtime fun: A lizard in a creature cage, a dog-obsessed baby, a lab dying for another round of fetch, a 5-year-old creating a homemade water slide and two toddlers playing with a ride-on toy and random cups.
Though the ocean was way too cold for our crew to swim during our visit, the water warmed up enough in the tide pools for the boys to splash around.
They filled their catch-and-release beach aquarium with coquinas, a crab and little shrimp they found in the tide pools during our beach days and absolutely loved that thing!
(Chase’s hat linked here — my code JULIE15 will get you 15% off! Both Chase and Ryder wear the toddler size and I love that it lasts for years, stays on their heads and floats if it gets in the water.)
Rhett was more into eating sand than anything and wanted to go back for seconds and thirds of fistfuls of the good, gritty stuff. Bleh!
In addition to plenty of time outside in the Florida sun, playtime and snuggles with my nieces, Callie and Colette, was a huge highlight for me during this trip.
I hate not seeing them on a regular basis but we had a decent amount of built-in downtime on this trip because of baby + toddler naps which allowed us to focus on the kiddos who were awake at any given time.
I often feel like I don’t get to fully immerse myself in my nieces like I’d like to because I always have my own kids to care for during our time together, but letting the boys run around outside during Rhett’s nap gave me a decent amount of the Callie and Colette time I was craving which was so wonderful.
Colette + Rhett! The littlest members of our crew!
A few more highlights — celebrating my brother-in-law’s birthday poolside on Friday night and visiting with my Aunt Laurie and Uncle Drew who passed through Jacksonville on their way to Sanibel Island from Raleigh!
After so much time away from family over the course of the past year, our spring break truly felt like the biggest blessing and I left Florida with a very full, very grateful heart!
I hope you all had a great weekend and, as always, thanks for making my blog a part of your day!
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Where did find the tie dye onesies?
We made them using a tie dye kit!
Hi Julie. Just wanted to say that it was so lovely to see your whole family again after so long. You all look like you had the most wonderful time and made some special memories! Have a great week 🙂
Thank you so much Viloshni! 💗
So glad you all go to be together, it’s the best!
This is really random, but I live in Jax and one time a few years back (when Leslie was pregnant with Callie I think) I saw her and Ross at either Home Depot or Lowes and I felt like I was seeing celebrities! I really wanted to say hi, but felt awkward saying “hi, I know I’m a total stranger, but I read your sister’s blog…” HAHA!
Anyway, so glad you had such a great time with your family. I moved away from mine too so I know how hard that is and how special those times together are! 🙂
Aw!!!! Definitely say hi if you see them again! They would love to meet you, I’m sure!
Thank you for including the romper link! I love anytime Leslie and her family make an appearance. What a cute crew of kids! Of course this post also makes me want to run for the beach immediately!
I only wish she was on the blog more often! We miss them so, so much!
Has Chase ever seen a walking stick insect? We have them here in Texas, but I wasn’t sure if they were in North Carolina or Florida.
No but I think that would blow his mind!!
How fun. I love all the photos. 🙂
Looks like all of you had a wonderful time together. So fun to see how much the cousins enjoy their time together. You have a beautiful family Julie.
JOY…PURE JOY is what I caption ALL OF THIS JULIE. So happy you had such an amazing time with your beautiful family! Do you ever think of relocating back to Florida to be closer to them? I just did that, relocated to the Southwest Gulf coast of Florida after many years in California.
We’ve definitely talked about it because we miss them so much and living near family with kids would be especially amazing. BUT we truly do LOVE North Carolina. It’s our favorite place we’ve ever lived and we’ve met some amazing friends and love the area we’re in so much so it’s not something I see in our near future.
I giggled so hard when you posted the video of Rhett eating sand — he looked totally content and happy, as if it wasn’t the grossest thing ever! Too funny, thanks for sharing — needed the laugh 🙂
We couldn’t get him to stop!! Haha! Hopefully that means he won’t be a picky eater!?
Such JOY!! Could you possibly link that red striped blanket? Been looking for something exactly like that for the summer!
My goodness how much Callie has grown. What is the age difference between Rhett and Colette?
Getting so big!! And they’re just about 5 months apart!
Looks like a lovely week — so glad you got to spend time with your family! And so cute you have all boys and Leslie has all girls. 🙂
Colette and Rhett! can’t handle it! Rhett just keeps getting cuter and cuter!
Hi! Been following your blog for years and love it! Would you mind sharing if the romper fits true to size? It’s adorable and I’m torn on sizing- I don’t like shorts too tight on my thighs lol. Thank you in advance!
Yes true to size!! If anything it runs a tiny bit big but I’d get your normal size!
I remember hearing that you bought a Navigator when Rhett was born. How is it working with your three car seats? (Also, how do you have the car seats positioned so you can access/buckle everyone?) Did you get the standard or extended wheelbase? Is it a beast to park or maneuver in tight situations? Sorry for all of the questions! We’re trying to find an SUV that works with three car seats (possibly four on occasion) and can still fit stuff in the back when the third row is in use.
We LOVE it so much! We have the long version which, for us, feels very necessary in order to fit our kids, our dog and our stuff. No regrets on the long version! Right now we have Chase and Ryder in the third row and Rhett is in one of the bucket seats in the middle row. It’s working really well so far! As for parking and maneuvering it, I was really, really apprehensive about this but I truly could not be more impressed. Test driving one is what completely sold me on the car and then we were on a mission to find a used one. It has amazing sensors all over it and a 360° camera so you can see everything around you. It’s honestly incredibly easy to park because of all the help it gives you! Definitely let me know if you have anymore questions. I seriously love this SUV and will drive it until it dies!
Thanks for the info!