My brother Josh and sister-in-law Ashley were here this week. They are transitioning from Wilmington, NC to Nashville, TN and made some time to visit their favorite Floridians.



We hit the beach, attended a Rays game, and went to Busch Gardens. I took 2 days off work and had to work the other 3, so Josh and Ashley had lots of intimate time with the kids during those days. Thank you for spending so much time with us!

(Most of the photos I got this week are from Busch Gardens since that is the most time I had available to snap them.)


Chugga Chugga CHOO CHOO! Riding the train around the animals.




The Safari at Busch Gardens - although Aunt Ashley shared some of her experience at the real safari from Kenya in April.


The lions, a piece of thick glass, and us! In the perfect spot that day.


They are some ferocious beasts, but so awesome to observe.






Josh couldn't wait to read the map so someone could snap his picture!


Duck watching.





Thank you for spending your week with us, even though we don't like to sit still much!


P.S. I couldn't forget the best picture from the week!

Dolphins, Whales, and Sharks Oh My....

I'm still having some computer problems, but I didn't want to forget about our Sea World trip we took a couple of weeks ago.

All week, we threatened the kids, that if they acted up we wouldn't go to Sea World. They were really good the whole week and even better while we were there. It was really a fun, fun day! LOTS of pictures to look at!

Arianna is mapping out our day.

Bernie runs out of the bathroom, ready to start our adventure!

The sting ray touch tank (for Camille).

Daddy pets a dolphin!

Waiting in the hot sun for the Dolphin show.

In awe at the dolphin show (excuse the dorky hats, but it's better than sunburn. I guess.)

Does this one need a caption?

On the moving ramp, waving to the penguins.

They really were excited, but a slightly hot and tired as well.

Sea Lion or Otter or whatever that kind is called.

SHARRRRRKS!

Looking at the pretty fish.

Shamu Stadium.

Did she forget that these are killer whales?

Shamu? They never even mentioned Shamu. Maybe all of their whales have the same name.

Cookie Monster

Paps - This is for you since you are always asking if Bernie has had any tricks up his sleeve.


The past couple of weeks, Bernie has finally learned to exit his crib by himself. Usually, when he gets up, I can hear him or he'll come get me, or even, sometimes he'll go wake Arianna up.

One particular day this week, I got up and started getting ready for work, but noticed they were "sleeping" a little late. Once I realized it was about 30 minutes later than the normal wake up time, I walked out of my room to scan the scene.

I noticed Bernie's door was open, so I knew he'd gotten up. But, Arianna was still in bed. So if he didn't come in my room and didn't wake up Arianna, where must he be????

I head towards the kitchen/dining/living rooms. Ohhh, Bernie is in the kitchen. On his tiptoes, reaching for the cookie jar.

He said he had one, but honestly, his face was too clean for chocolate chip cookie consumption.

Moral of the story - now the baby gate stays up at night too!

Our Day in Camera Phone Photos

NO work this week. Probably since 3 or 4 days since our second child was born, have Marty and I both had a few days off work simultaneously.


A few months ago we were going to take a vacation and were planning to go to Myrtle Beach, SC this week. However, since then, we unexpectedly (but quite excitedly), moved to our local beach and decided not to go that route


Therefore, this week is now our staycation week.



Yesterday we did just do some personal errands, but it was still fun to have our family all together and not worry about what time it is or where we have to be, etc.


Today, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa.

And, therefore, Our Day in Camera Phone Photos, since I forgot my camera.

Bernie is checking out the fire engine.

Arianna and the dinosaur.

Bernie and the dinosaur.

Life sized checker board.

Marty is on a bed of nails.

My favorite part of the day - one of my favorite places to eat in college, but there are not too many locations in Florida. We happened to be close to one today, so I had to go there.

The rest of the week includes a trip to Sea World and a garage sale.
Stay Tuned!

Rain, Rain Go Away

It's the end of my 3 day weekend. And my guess is that it has rained for 62 hours out of the 72. And every day for the prior week. That's a lot of rain. Amazingly enough, the rain quit at 7:00pm July 4th and didn't rain again until after the fireworks.



Thank you God for our freedom


and to all of those who sacrifice to defend and protect it.




We ate a great dinner with my parents, which include ribs, baked beans, potato salad and homemade ice cream for dessert.

We have a hand crank/motorized ice cream maker and the kids had so much fun cranking away!


Stirring the pre ice cream mix.




Drinking the every last lick of that yummy ice cream.

We finally headed to the beach about an hour early to claim our spot before the fireworks. The kids were very excited about fireworks and kept asking for more. We watched at least an hours worth and the kids didn't get in bed til 10:30.

Don't worry, Marty and I paid for it, because when the kids stay up late, they don't sleep. And when they don't sleep, we don't sleep. Good thing, it was indeed, a 3 day weekend.


Playing in the sand before fireworks.


HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had some family over last Sunday and were able to dine at our new picnic table under the beautiful tree in the front yard at our new house.

Martin, the grillmaster, made us up some wonderful hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats. Everyone else brought the yummy sides and desserts.



We had some fun slip and slide action too.







After about 2 hours of this the kids were still not ready to quit. Thankfully the grandparents were still around to keep them occupied elsewhere for a while.

Thank you to all of our soldiers, veterans and their families for all the sacrifices made for our great country!

(Moving) Out with a BANG!

We have successfully moved into our new (rental) home. But, not before a minor incident happened.

Let me just say that it is VERY difficult to move with a 2 and 3 year old. They want constant attention, which keeps one more person away from packing and moving things.

While I was trying to eliminate the role of that extra person, I let the kids play on the patio with bubbles, balls, etc. I knew they weren't in the street and should be able to stay out of harm's way.

Ahem. I know better now. A 2 year old, a ball, and a truck with the tailgate down is a brutal combination.

As you could probably figure out, Bernie ran smack dab into the back of the tailgate chasing his ball. With my arms full, I suddenly dropped my load and ran to my crying son with blood gushing out of his forehead.

Thankfully, Erica was there to keep me calm and collected.
Otherwise, I might have panicked.

We finally got him all cleaned up (other than changing his bloody shirt and shorts), but the blood kept coming. Erica and I contemplated the next step. Was it bad enough to take him to the ER or just disturb our wonderful pediatrician on a Saturday?

(Marty was at work, so that was another decision to make. Was this serious enough to bother him, to ask him to come home?)

Dr. Kagan ( best Dr. ever) met us at his office to give him "stitches". Instead of stitches these days, they put a type of "glue" over the wound to get the sides of the cut to move back together. It turns out the cut was not very long, but kind of deep. Dr. said that it was mandatory to have this done, but in the long run it'd cause less scarring.



This picture was taken 2 days later. Do you see the shiny circle around the wound? And yes, it now just looks like a normal cut. Isn't it always better to be safe than sorry?

Thank you Bernie for providing our family's first "accident emergency" and round of stitches. I'm sure there are many more to come!