Reminiscing

Last night the whole family met for dinner at Pulcinella's. We had a great time, and a great dinner, as always. We got started telling stories on each other, with each one being funnier than the previous. I was reminded of all the simple lessons and interesting facts I had forgotten over the years. They are as follows:

1. Don't store flower bouquets in a fish cooler.
2. Read the label before assuming a mysterious bottle of alcohol is wine, even if it is placed adjacent to two wine glasses.
3. The small refrigerator located in your hotel room isn't stocked with snacks out of common courtesy.
4. Costa Rican dogs do not climb trees.
5. If you ask a man if his wife is pretty, chances are he will say yes....better yet, just don't ask a man if his wife is pretty!
6. Sausages do not come from "Willshire Farms"
7. Woolworth is a five and dime in America. WADSworth, is not!
8. Coconuts cause more injuries in Hawaii than shark attacks.
9. If we have arrived at our destination the chances are great that this is, indeed, "Where we are".
10. There is no such thing as "crawfish day" no matter how hard others try to convince you.

I am so glad that I belong to a family that not only makes fun of ourselves, but each other too. We live for pointing out stupidity in each other and somehow manage to hold it in our memory banks forever!

Swimming at Bubba's

Today we went to Bubba's house to hang out with Chris, Amy, Camden and Mason and go swimming. She had so much fun playing with the boys, well actually, she couldn't care less about them, but they had really neat toys! D's sundeck in his pool was perfect for her. She could crawl around in the water and sit and play with plenty of room!

Posing with Aunt Amy

Rani says, "Don't mind me, I'm just passing through!"

My happy girl!

Showbiz Pizza's newest act!

Let's all give a warm welcome to "Usher Bear" the newest addition to Rock-a-Fire Explosion, ShowBiz Pizza's feature band!

Fun in St. Augustine

Today Avery and I went to downtown St. Augustine with my mom and Caden. Caden had never been and thought it was so neat to hear about all the history and see the sights. We saw the oldest school house in the U.S. and did a lot of window shopping, stopping along the way for pizza and ice cream. Avery got her first taste of peach ice cream today thanks to her Gigi! "OOOH! What's this?"

"That's not half bad!"

"Here, let me help you with that spoon!"

"What do you mean I can't have any more?"

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It's called the "Love Tree" It's a palm tree growing out of an oak tree. It's said that when a couple kisses under the tree their love will last forever. I think I need to drag Jim there!

And speaking of Jim, we have a horrible method of cheap fun in our house. It's called the waiting game! Essentially it's just hiding out for LONG periods of time and jumping out, scaring the crap out of each other. I got him GOOD tonight! I must have been hiding beside the sofa in the living room for over 10 minutes waiting for him to come out of the kitchen! I was standing there so long that Jack got tired of staring at me, trying to give away my hiding space as he normally does, and went and laid down in the bedroom! Jim finally came out of the kitchen with his bowl full of watermelon chunks and I gloriously emerged from my hiding place. What I didn't know was that he had a bite in his mouth. Needless to say I was called not nice things once he cleared the watermelon that had become lodged in his throat and cleaned the blood from his self-inflicted bite on the lip! Oh well, it served it's purpose for me! I got a good laugh out of it and eventually so did he, although I have a feeling I need to watch my back for the next week or so!

Swimming with Cousin!

Avery and I went to Gigi's house today to swim with Caden. We had a blast! I have quite the little fishy on my hands. Avery loves the water; I can't wait until we get her in swim lessons!

They had so much fun swimming together! Avery LOVED her float!

Even Harley joined in on the fun!

She had so much fun playing in the waterfall!

"The best place to practice lifts is in the water!"

Water in your face is no fun!

Trying to convince Harley to come back in the water. Unfortunately Avery doesn't speak "dog" even though she tried very hard!

When she got bored with the pool we put her in the jumper with a foot tub under her so she could splash around. She had so much fun, but I think her little feet will be wrinkley until she is 13!

Cousin gave her a turtle squirt toy and it made the best chewy!

The Fourth and the Fish

What a great weekend we had! Jim, Avery and I went up to the farm for the 4th of July. It's always so nice to get up there and escape! Mawmaw loved getting to spend lots of time with Avery, even though she "stranger-dangered" her at first! Mawmaw couldn't believe how much she had changed since we were up in April! Even though poor Jim got put to work cleaning up some of the brush and clipping tree limbs, I think he enjoyed his time away as well. We got to experience a lot of cooking by Master Chef Bop (aka Dad). Apparently last weekend when he was with Mike he was taught how to make Breakfast Burritos. I was actually really impressed! This is his recipe (I hope it's not supposed to be top secret)

Tortillas
Ground Sausage (cooked)
sour cream
6 Eggs scrambled (mix raw eggs with
1tsp Taco seasoning)
Cheddar Cheese

Assemble on Tortilla: Sour Cream, Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, Cheese. Fold and enjoy!
I must say he was VERY proud of himself for pulling off such an impressive breakfast (almost by himself! I felt the need to step in when I saw him spray the pan for the eggs with Pam and THEN plop in 1/2 a stick of butter; I removed the butter and was thanked by our arteries!)

Taking some time out from playing to take a picture with Mommy!

Having a conversation with Uncle "Joe" (whose name was Charlie, until a 2 year old Caden thought it should be "Joe"!)

Jim and Avery were worn out by the end of the weekend and decided to catch a quick nap on the porch!

Tonight Caden had her very last swim meet before Regionals. She has done so well! Unfortunately, this was the first meet Jim and I made it to, hopefully we can attend her regional meets and cheer her on there!

Caden getting a pep talk from her Daddy before a race

Ending her 25m breast stroke race

Caden and a very wiggly, uninterested Avery and their "Bubba"

What a Weekend!

Friday afternoon Jim and I packed up the dog, the baby and all the oodles of mess that go along, and headed for Orlando for the weekend. We enjoyed a nice long stay with Frances and Jimmy, and a jam-packed weekend!

Friday night I had the BEST pizza I have had in a long time...if ever! It made me realize, even more how much I really, REALLY want Jim to take me to his old stomping grounds, Chicago! If Chicago pizza tastes that good in Florida, I can't fathom what it takes like IN Chicago! (It was also just as good for breakfast as it was for dinner!)

Saturday morning Avery and I ventured off to Sanford to meet some other mommy friends at the Central Florida Zoo. We had a good time, but eventually threw in the towel after the babies got cranky and the mommies got sweaty! The mall sounded much more appealing, so off we went! It was such a fun day! We all agreed to attempt the zoo when the weather gets cooler!

(From left to right) Cranky Avery, Happy Avery, Landon, Logan, Kyson, Tristan,Cayman, Kylie,

Sunday afternoon we all packed up the car and made our way to Daytona to Bruno and Cindy's new condo for his 50th birthday. BEAUTIFUL! If I had that view I would never leave the house! It was such a gorgeous day! We all had a great time, especially Avery! Her Great-Aunt Lucy (not just figuratively speaking) gave her a taste of her first cupcake; red velvet with cream cheese icing! Needless to say she LOVED it!

At the end of the afternoon Avery and her Grandpa Jimmy went out on the balcony to watch the ocean for a little while and I snapped this shot. I love it!