Day At The Zoo

The girls had a 4 day weekend (Teacher In Service & End of the grading period). I was able to take one of the afternoons off, so we went down to our favorite zoo in Tampa. I love that zoo...it is never crowded during the weekday afternoons..especially once the school field trips are gone.

They have several Kiddie Rides & that's where my girls love to spend their time. We are "forced" to see the Giraffes, elephants, & zebras, because we pass them to get to the camel rides.

Family Annual Zoo Pass $100
Unlimited Ride Cards $ 45
An afternoon of fun Priceless

Jami's favorite...the Merry Go Round....I think we rode it 8 times. And yet, she'll still need to stand in a line at Disney to ride the carousel there as well....


Jami has a sudden love for horses. She usually won't ride the zoo ponies, but rode them 4 times on Friday.


Our zoo trips feel incomplete if we don't ride the camels. It's almost embarrassing that the camel handler actually recognizes us as "regulars".


I think its funny that Lindsi's biggest stress at the zoo is that she not be the ONLY kid on the roller coaster. She'll ride in a car by herself, but she won't ride the coaster if she's the only one. On Friday she rode the roller coaster 10 times.


A stationary ride.


A new ride! The girls rode the train 3 times before they were lucky enough to snag the conductor box. Then, Jami went back & rode it 2 more times.


We love feeding the Lorikeets


Hurry Mom..before he bites my fingers!

January Birthday Celebrations

If you read her blog, then you already know where we spent last Sat.

We were so honored to help Ellis Mei Mei celebrate her first birthday at home. Now she's 4....just like Jami!!

Here are a few pictures that I like from the day:








This last picture was from a second birthday party we attended on Sat night!!

Baby It's COLD Outside

It feels self indulgent to write about how COLD it has been in Florida lately. Esspecially when I talk to friends who live in Boston & are under 2 ft of snow or my work colleagues in Chicago with their delightful 10 belows....but BRRRRRRR it has been SO COLD here in Central Fl this last week.

My fruit trees have been wrapped in blankets for OVER A WEEK now. I hope they survive. In a usual winter, I only have to wrap them 4-6 times. Our temps this time of year are usually 45 (low) to 72. Our highs right now have barely met 40. This morning it was 18!! Plumbers are doing a booming business repairing cracked pipes. Mine froze, but didn't break...(Yea!!)

I think part of the BRRRRR problem is that Floridians are ill prepared for the cold. We don't have winter coats....our power companies struggle to keep up with the demand for heat. We are heat people.

So, if you can bear with me as we struggle through these COLD days, I promise to offer some compassion when our friends to the North start complaining when it hits 90degrees where they live this summer.

Enjoy our pics of Florida "snow"......

A Year In Pictures 2009

Cold (it is currently 34 degrees) & rainy New Year's here. Hopefully the rain will clear out. No big complaint though. We spent yesterday making a big pot of stew and cookies. We also reorganized some clutter areas in the house. Happy to get those jobs done. They are continued eye sores & now, hopefully, or at least temporarily...eliminated!

I now present the second annual favorite pics from the past year!

Jan

This picture taken by Kris



FEB


My girls with their new friend Emme

MAR




APR






MAY





JUNE





JULY





AUG
Bowling with cousins, Emma




SEPT




OCT



Couldn't wait to meet this new friend, Ellis Mei_Mei



NOV




DEC





Have a wonderful 2010..from our house to yours'.