Cameron, Anne, and the Kids Come to Visit

It is always so great to have our children and grandchildren come to visit.  Cameron and Anne and the kids came from Dallas this past week and did we ever have fun!  Garrett and Isaac were ecstatic to have their cousins come.  They haven't seen each other for a year since Jeff and Amy came to live in Florida. 

They lived so close to each other and were so used to doing things together.  So they really took advantage of the time they had together while they were here.  They all had a blast!  Little Mason had definitely changed the most!

Of course we had to go to the train park and old jail in Green Cove.  That is still one of the favorite places of all the grandkids.

The kids were ecstatic when a real train came by. 

Jaxon brought along his football to throw with his dad.

Jaxon is wondering if the prisoner is going to land on his head!

Of course, the kids are always fascinated by the many lizards.  They saw the one above at the old jail.  Then one morning as we were eating breakfast, Cameron noticed one right by our feet under our table.  He had gotten into our house, this was definitely not the first time.  After catching it, Grandpa George gave him a little kiss . . .

He let all the kids have a look at him . . .

Then he proceeded to show Sydney and Jaxon how you could turn him over and rub his tummy and he would fall asleep just like a gator does . . .

However, I guess this little lizard didn't know the rules and came awake too quickly, ran across the table between the waffles, glasses, and lumberjack syrup, jumping right onto Cameron.  We all laughed and laughed!

One of the highlights of visiting Jacksonville is our zoo.  The kids (and big kids, aka adults) loved it!   Since the zoo was gearing up for their Halloween night, there was lots of music, decorations, and oh, even the animals seemed to be having a party.  Since it was a little cooler, they were all out in full force so we could watch them.

The four cousins:  Jaxon, Garrett, Sydney, and Isaac--all best of friends!

No zoo visit is complete without riding the train!

Oh, did I say that Baby Lola loved the zoo, too!

What kid doesn't love to pet the goats?

Well, maybe not quite yet for Baby Lola.  She just stared and stared, but didn't want to get too close.

One of the funniest items at the zoo is the "poo" wall in the zoo bathrooms.  Enclosed in little glass boxes are the "poo" of the different animals showing how you can tell what they eat.  (Sorry if that made some of you queasy--but it is actually very interesting and always makes everyone smile when they see it.) 

At the playground, the kids love to imitate the animals!

We think Mason looks like Preston (John and Alison's little boy).  He loved the slide.

Cameron had to tell about the time he ate capybara when he was on his mission in Brazil.  Oooooh, yuck!  They look like a huge rat!

The fountains were decked out with orange water for Halloween, and even the flamingos were dressed for Halloween in their orange!

The kids always look forward to seeing the gators. 

Papa was in true form and did his gator call.  Immediately, several huge gators came circling around him.  It is amazing! 

George pointed out how this Gator had torn up this mast like they were going to tear up the Dawgs the next day!  (He certainly was right on that one!)

The bridge was all decorated as a little spook alley.  I'm glad we did it in daylight.  It had little strings hanging down which would be really creapy if you walked through them in the dark. 

Good-bye, Zoo!  We had such a great day!

We then went downtown Jacksonville to see the Gator Bowl where the big rivalry between Florida and Georgia would be played the next day.  Already, the RV park was getting packed with people in anticipation of the big game.

Saturday, Grandpa George was such a great sport and took the four older kids--Garrett, Isaac, Sydney, and Jaxon to Spring Park and then to Jeff and Amy's pool.  They all had a great time.

We had a big picnic  Craig and Cassie had come the night before, so it was great seeing them. 

The kids could have stayed much longer, but we had to pull them away.  You know--Gator Football was calling!

One of the funnest things they did was catch numerous frogs.  Of course, as the kids always do, they have so much fun catching, but they must release when we leave.  They squealed and squealed as they caught them, and did the same when they released them.

Soon it was time to get dressed for Trick-or-Treating.  The kids looked adorable as:

Simon

Theodore

Alvin

You know, the chipmunks!

Spiderman in Black

Regular Spiderman

And Little Lola was a 50's Girl with her little poodle skirt.  She didn't understand anything about Halloween, but was having a ball with everyone else who seemed to be loving the day!

On Sunday, it was even better than old times.  Instead of filling up one full middle bench, we filled up a bench and a half!

George took Cameron and Anne, Jeff and Amy, on an adventure to see all his old stomping grounds when he was a kid growing up in Jacksonville.  Cameron and Amy were amazed to see it all in an adult perspective rather than when they were little.  They all really enjoyed themselves.  Grandma Laura stayed with the kids.  We all had much more fun than confining them all in a car for so long.

Monday was a special day--George's _______ birthday!  After the kids took him to lunch, it was time to load up the suitcases and start for the airport.  Oh, how sad--we so enjoyed having Cameron and Anne's family with us.