Thanksgiving Break!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Break. The kids got an entire week off from school, so it gave us lots of time to spend with Jason's parents while they were here. We took off early Saturday morning for Orlando to spend a few days before Thanksgiving.

The kids with Ema on the way into LegoLand!


LegoLand was really cool-- perfect for kids preschool age up through elementary age. They not only had amazing Lego sculptures and cities, but tons of rides. The kids got to ride at least 4 roller coasters and lots of other fun rides.



Our next Pizza by the Sea employee....;)


We also spend two days at Sea World. Jason and his parents had never been there, and I was 14 the last time I was there, so we all really enjoyed it, especially the shows. The dolphin and whale show were amazing and the kids loved the dog and cat show. I kept thinking, "how did they train a cat to do that? Our cat looks at us in total disgust when we try to get him to even move!"





The boys after riding The Manta ( a major roller coaster). Alex didn't want to ride it the first day, but I was so proud of him for doing it the second day. He loved it except for the upside down part. He said, " It felt like all of the air was being sucked out of me!"

Alex feeding the stingrays. Caroline wasn't too sure about sticking her hand down to have the critters suck a fish out of her fingers. I don't blame her...

We headed back late Monday to get ready for all of the craziness at the restaurant. It was very busy Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Lots of people came down to spend the holiday at the beach, and everyone wanted some pizza after eating turkey Thursday!

More pics from our holiday coming soon. Hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving day!

Can I Get in my Jammies at 5 p.m.?

Okay, this title really doesn't have much to do with the pictures below, but it has been a bit of a challenging week with the time change. The sun comes up around 5:30a.m. and so do my people. Especially Caroline.....she shuffles into the bathroom with her Hello Kitty slippers and wakes up the entire household. Then the sun sets around 5 p.m., and that means Mom is ready for bed about 8. It is funny how all of our bodies react to the sunlight or lack thereof. When the sun goes down, and it gets a bit chilly, I am ready for bed! Anyway, here are some pics from our fun day off Friday.

The kids had Veterans Day off and they wanted to go to the beach in the afternoon after it warmed up. (It has been in the 40's at night and the 60's during the day).





Can you see the sailboat?

And the stinky, dead jellyfish.... I got my shoes all wet trying to get a picture of this thing.

I love the color of the sky......


Alex and Jason punting the soccer ball.....



Horsing around.....

The view was nice!

A few trees are starting to change color in our neighborhood.....





Our grapefruit starting to ripen! Should have some in a month or so....


We finally got a top bunk for Alex's bed, so they were thrilled to have a sleepover Friday night in his room.

The cat thought it was pretty exciting too......After the kids came in and disturbed him, he stayed there for about 2.3 seconds.


Now I have to go put my jammies on, for real. It's 8:02. :)

Welcome November!

I cannot believe that November is here-- partially because I am not used to wearing shorts in November-- up North, November is usually pretty damp and chilly. So it still feels like September here in northwest Florida. Celebrating Thanksgiving here I am sure will feel a bit strange as well. But we are excited because Ema and Papa are coming for the week and we have some fun stuff planned. Anyhow, here is our week!

Monday-- Halloween in Seaside. Next year, I am definitely cutting back on the number of festivities we attend. There are so many festivals here that one can celebrate and dress up for weeks! So we got a bit burned out. But Seaside was so much fun. The kids dressed up, went around to all of the local businesses, and then got to run around in grass with their friends! It was chaos! Then the sugar high wore off, the sun went down, and we went home to bed!


The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.... usual activities of piano, soccer practice (last one!), and ballet. We decided to have a pretty laid back weekend since we have been so busy, and it was nice to just do stuff around here.

We did get out a few times-- Alex's last soccer game was Saturday, and they won their last game of the season (after losing the first 7, bless their hearts). I was so proud of the team and how they improved over the season. They won 3-0, and Alex got a goal on a penalty kick. I tell you, the boy can kick that ball! When he plays goalie (which is his favorite), he punts that ball over the players heads almost down to the other end of the field. He says he definitely wants to play again in the Spring.

Here's Miss Sis getting ready for the big game.



Last night we decided to head to Destin and try a Thai restaurant we had heard about. It was very good --Pad Thai for me, some kind of beef for Jason, and Sweet and Sour pork for the kids.
Afterwards, we stopped at 32 degrees, which is a yogurt bar. I have been wanting to try it-- you get a bowl, serve yourself whatever frozen yogurt and toppings you want, then they weigh it and you pay by the ounce. The kids had fun with their creations, although the stuff the piled on top-not appetizing to me. Here's a pic of their final products.....

A little closer look at Caroline's---gummy worms anyone?


Today we had a quiet day at home-- did devotions as a family, cleaned out my closet, made meatballs, and lounged. Hope you all had a great weekend!