Hello from sunny Florida!! It feels so nice to be back in the sunshine state, inhaling the salty air from the warm sea breeze. Part of me feels like I will always identify with being a “Florida girl” and even though I absolutely love living in North Carolina (<— and even that feels like an understatement!), there’s something about hearing the crash of waves and feeling the sand between my toes that relaxes me in a way I miss when I’m away from the ocean for too long. I’m so happy Chase and I were able to coordinate a week-long visit to Jacksonville to spend some quality time with my family!
Ryan dropped us off at the airport late Friday morning and after we said our goodbyes and wished him well on his hiking trip with Sadie, we were off to Florida!
Chase and I arrived a little after 1 p.m. and he was absolutely amped when he saw my mom and sister waiting for us at baggage claim! His face broke out into the biggest smile as he squealed “Mamie!” (his version of Grammie) and “Roth!” (his version of Ross – he apparently thinks Leslie and her husband are one human). He was beyond thrilled to see Pop (my dad) and Ross when he saw the guys back at my parents’ place and was on cloud nine for the rest of the day with so many playmates around!
Saturday
Our first full day in Florida was a fun one! Chase was up for the day at 7 a.m. and joined us for breakfast before my mom offered to take him on a Grammie-Chase adventure while my dad went on a ride (he’s big into biking these days!) and I joined my sister and brother-in-law at their gym for a workout. We made our way to Jax Sports Fitness for a workout that left all of us completely drenched in sweat.
We left ready for some food and popped into Fla. Juice & Bowl for their opening day! You guys know I love a good smoothie and Fla. Juice & Bowl delivered! Ross, Leslie and I shared a sample of their smoothies and tried their on-tap kombucha (the ginger was amaaaazing) and left saying we’d all happily return in the future.
FYI, for the locals, the V-Land smoothie was my favorite and included a delicious blend of almond milk, raw coconut water, kale, dates, banana, walnuts. As we sipped our smoothies, Leslie, Ross and I drove back to my parents’ place where I quickly changed into my bathing suit and scooped Chase up for some pool and beach playtime.
My parents, sister and brother-in-law joined us shortly after and we had a blast in the sun before it was time for Chase to go down for a nap.
While he slept, my mom and dad offered to stay with the monitor and since I knew my mom was anxious to get back to reading The Kind Worth Killing (I told you guys it’s a must-read!) I decided to head out and join Leslie and Ross at Bold Bean, a beautiful local coffee shop. We ordered drinks and set up our computers because all three of us had work to do over the weekend and it was 1,000 times more fun working alongside two of my favorite people than by myself like I usually do every day! We got a solid two hours of work in (I had a deadline for a brand partnership due) before heading out to meet back up with my parents and Chase.
We spent the time before dinner at a local park where Chase could run around and burn off some energy and my brother-in-law could practice skateboarding.
Ross used to be really into skateboarding when he was younger and my sister gave him a longboard a while back that he had been itching to try out the new local skate park. Watching everyone do tricks and flip their skateboards all over the place was really cool and especially entertaining to Chase who watched with wide-eyed wonder!
The skate park is located right next to the Jacksonville Beach fire station and since they had a fire truck parked outside, we couldn’t resist walking Chase over to see the big red truck. He was in absolute awe and an incredibly nice fireman greeted us and even offered to let Chase sit in the truck which absolutely made his day!
He beamed the whole time and said “Fire truck! Wee-ooo-wee-ooo!” over and over. Talk about toddler heaven!
We thanked the fireman for his kindness and the brave work he does day in and day out and eventually made our way back to my parents’ place around 5 p.m. We spent the rest of the evening catching up with some of my parents’ friends who came over for cocktails on the porch before digging into a big spaghetti dinner!
Sunday
Sunday morning began with breakfast and church! We attended a 10 a.m. service so we didn’t make it back home until lunchtime. Chase was ready for a nap not long after we were done eating our ham sandwiches and once he went down, my sister was kind enough to help me take some pics for the blog!
We snapped photos for four different workouts (a variety of strength workouts as well as a core workout and a bodyweight workout) before joining my family for some downtime before Chase was up and ready for action.
(FYI, I bought the ribbed tie tank I’m wearing for only $12.99 on Amazon!)
The rest of our Sunday looked a lot like the end of our Saturday and included another trip to the park, a big family dinner and plenty of quality time together.
Our week in Jacksonville should be a fun one! We have some activities on the agenda and I even have an appointment to get my hair done which I desperately need (I think the last time I had anyone touch it was in the beginning of November) so I’m really looking forward to the next few days!
Hope you guys have a great week!
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I’ve been stationed in Jax and lived here for almost 6 years! It’s always fun to see where you go when you’re here! I live over in Avondale. I hope you have a great visit here 🙂
Y’all spend so much time outside with Chase and I’ve never seen a picture of him with a sunburn! My little one is 2 1/2 months and living in Florida I know the sun will be a problem when she’s old enough to go out in it. What sunblock and tricks do you have for keeping him sunburn free? I don’t tan I only burn so I want to keep her safe!
Hey! I have a 14 month old and he and I have very fair skin and spend lots of time outside on the water (We live at the beach in NC), so I thought I’d chime in. I find that physical sunscreens are the best as opposed to chemical ones. Also always have him wear a hat (once he gets busy with something he stops trying to remove it) and a long sleeve rash guard. Our favorite sunscreen is banana boat kids SPF 50 (only has zinc and titanium dioxide, none of the chemical sunscreens). It’s a good price and easy to find. It won me over when I spent a week pregnant (skin extra sensitive to burns!) on the water in the Caribbean and didn’t get any sun.
I forgot to add, if you do go looking for that sunscreen, they have a few kinds and we make sure to buy the one that only has the physical sunscreens.
Thank you!! ?
My family used to live in Avondale years ago when my sister was born! 🙂 Such a beautiful area! As for Chase — we LOVE the sunscreen sticks for his face! I almost always have one in my purse to re-apply to his face while we’re out. He also thinks the spray sunscreen is a lot of fun and will let us re-apply that to his arms and legs while he’s distracted w/something (drinking water, eating a snack, etc.) We’ve been using a mix of The Honest Company sunscreen, Beautycounter sunscreen and Babyganics sunscreen!
Thank you! I like the idea of keeping stick sunscreen in my purse! ?
Chase looks like he is in heaven when he was in the fire truck! How awesome that a fireman offered that to you guys.
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What a sweet weekend! Have so much fun this week!
How amazing to spend so much time with your family. I love how everyone wants one-on-one time with Chase, which works out well for you too. There is nothing better than family and being home. Have a great week!
This looks like so much fun! And I’m so glad to hear how much you like NC, we’re contemplating moving down to Lake Norman in the next year and it will be a huge decision for us…but you make it sound so wonderful it’s easing my worries!
It’s so wonderful!! We definitely have zero regrets above moving to NC! <3
So sweet! I also miss the beach, but absolutely LOVE living in Colorado.
Read The Kind Worth Killing in 3 days. Couldn’t put it down! Thanks for the recommendation!
Wasn’t it great!? LOVED that book!
This post has great timing! My husband, son (who is like 1 month younger than Chase), and myself are spending a long weekend in Jax Beach this weekend! We live in Charleston, but I love visiting a new beach too! Loving the recs!
So fun!!! Hope you guys enjoy your upcoming beach trip!! <3
My niece & nephew (3 & a half & 2 years old,) both think that my husband & I are a package deal! If they are at my in laws & we are not there, or, if only one of us visits them, they are thoroughly confused!!
So fun! I live just south of Jax, so it’s always fun to see what you do when you’re “in town”. I hadn’t heard of Fla Juice & Bowl before, but we’ll be at our beach in St. Augustine in a few months so I’ll have to check it out if we make it up to Jax Beach. Also, it’s adorable that Chase thinks your sister and brother-in-law are the same person. My nephew (21 months) does the same thing with my parents; he calls them both gran-gran (which is my mom’s grandma nickname).
So sweet! And I absolutely LOVE St. Augustine! One of my fav Florida towns for sure!
looks like a great week spent with the family!! good for you 🙂 enjoy!
I always love the feeling whenever we get to Florida, I absolutely love that state, and even though I have never lived there I always feel “at home” when I’m there (well, especially when I’m in Disney lol!). I swear I belong down there! Oh my goodness, that first picture of you and Chase is SO adorable!! He is the cutest ever!! How awesome is that fireman that let Chase sit in the firetruck! How precious! I hope you have a fantastic week with your family, Julie! Xoxo
Haha! Yes to Disney! A magical place for sure!
Enjoy your time with family!! Question – would you say flying with Chase is getting easier now that he’s getting older or is it getting tougher now that’s more independent?
I always like seeing where you travel because it’s many places I’m familiar with. We live in Sarasota/Bradenton area, just got back from visiting MIL in Davidson (DH grew up in Mooresville), and we lived in Jacksonville when DH was stationed at Mayport Naval Station. Lots of coincidences! Hope you have a great week in Jax (still think about our favorite restaurant there — Sliders)!
What a fun weekend, that is so cool that Chase got to sit in a fire truck. My little dude LOVES fire trucks, he would have been in heaven.
What a nice weekend, beach, workout, smoothies, Chase smiles, and pasta must be pure happiness. Enjoy the rest of your time home!
So fun! That’s actually really adorable that he calls Leslie “Roth.” hahah! And isn’t that the best thing about visiting your family is that you get to be productive (do work, take blog pictures, work out), while also somehow feeling like you are relaxing and on vacation? Love it! By the way, my older brother is getting married, and I told him to check out White House in St. Augustine!! 🙂
So fun to read this! My family is moving from WI to Jacksonville in a few weeks – big change! I love getting some ideas of where to check out. Enjoy your family time!
Wow! Good luck to you with your move! Hope you love living in Florida! <3
It sounds like you had a fun weekend with your family. I hope the rest of the week is just as great.
I totally agree with you on living near the water – it has such a calming effect and it’s definitely a happy place for me as well. Luckily I live on the coast in Connecticut, so it hasn’t been too difficult at all to get plenty of sun and sand time in the summer. I only wish the season lasted longer! My husband’s parents recently relocated to Long Boat Key, FL, though, so it’s great excuse to go visit them. We’ve already been twice and there is nothing like it.
Enjoy visiting your family!!!!! I really wanted to go to Florida this year but we opted for cali too bad because the beaches are so warm there! Not cold like the west coast!
Julie, I am so glad you’re getting to enjoy some Florida family time! I hope you and Chase have the best time. I always love recaps of your weekend and family adventures.
Looks like a great time in Florida so far! I went to LA and our sunshine was absent. Need some beach and sun in my life soon!
So glad to hear that juice place is finally open! Ive been excited to try it, I go to Bold Bean across the street all the time. And of course, love the park too for my little one. The splash area is my almost three year old’s favorite right now :). Enjoy your time here! I hope the weather is nicer this week than it was last week. 🙂
Weeks home with family are the best 🙂 I just recently moved, and only a couple hours away but when you’re used to being so close to the beach that can be hard! Especially this time of year…
So nice to spend so much time with family. The beach cures everything, doesn’t it?
I love, love, love, these excursion blogs and I love reading about the fun you get to have with your family. It’s such a blessing that you are all so close! I love the idea of working alongside people you love (ala when you/Ross/your sister worked at the coffee shop) – it makes work tasks so much more enjoyable when you love your surroundings and the people you’re near. And those pics with Chase’s tiny toes in the sand – so adorable!
Thanks for sharing with us – so much fun.
Aww this makes me extra excited for a family beach vacation we are taking this week to Hilton Head! I also look for any reason to get back to the beach and your family looks so sweet! Also, I love the blog picture your sister took for your blog! The tank is super cute!
Have so much fun! Hilton Head is on our list of places we’re dying to visit sometime in the future!