Heading Home

We are all through security and are sitting and waiting to get on our flight here in Tampa. Hopefully everything goes smoothly since we only have 45 minutes in Atlanta to get on our connecting flight. The kids are enjoying the kids play area while we wait. We should be back to cold Minneapolis by 3:30 this afternoon.

Sea World

Wednesday we decided to take the girls to Sea World. Bruce and Pauline were nice enough to watch Kole so we could have a nice day with the girls. The first thing we decided to do was head to Shamu Stadium to see the main attraction. We were there right when they opened the door and Trav wanted to sit in the sun. Of course the only area that had sun was in the splash zone. We sat about 10 rows up and hoped for the best. The funny thing was while we were waiting for the show to start the sun moved and we weren't even in the sun anymore.

Waiting patiently for the show. The girls were amazed and thankfully we didn't get wet!

After the show we found some steel drums that the girls loved playing, then we went in search of something to eat. We loved going through the shark tank and having them swim around and above us. Then it was on to the whale and dolphin show. This was a great show as well, but there was a little too much going on at once for me. At one point they had dolphins jumping, macaws flying around, and people doing high dives into the water. Again the girls loved it.

We came across the sting rays after the dolphin show and they were probably our favorite of the day. We were able to stick out hands into the water and have them swim by and touch us. Ella wanted no part of this, but Addi, Trav and I all did it.

Ella had been asking all day to see the belugia whale. So we waited in line for awhile and hiked through this whole Arctic exhibit. They had polar bears and walruses, but the tank where our beloved belugia was supposed to be was empty. Ella was less than pleased so we decided that would be a great time to squash pennies for the girls. It worked and she was no longer sad. To end the day we promised Addi she could go on one ride so we went to the kids area. Ella was able to ride if I did also. They both loved it. Ella was screaming with her hands up most of the time. I asked her if she liked it thinking she was scared, but no it was just a fun I like this scream.

Beach Day

Tuesday we decided to take the kids to the beach. This was one of the main things we wanted to do with them so we decided to do it right away rather than waiting until later in the week. We weren't sure how warm it was going to be since a cold front moved through over night. Clearwater Beach on the Gulf is where we headed. Pauline joined us for this outing. We were planning on a two hour trip at the most and it ended up being closer to three, but the kids did great. We stopped at a visitor's center right before Clearwater and told the guide we wanted to do some shelling. He directed us to Honeymoon Island State Park. It was well worth the drive. We had a blast. It was a bit cold the high temp for the day was 54 degrees. We found some shelter on one part of the beach. It was great until a man came up and asked us for our receipt. Apparently you have to rent the little shelters so we moved on to explore the nature center.


After the nature center we drove down to the north end of the island. We hit the jackpot with shells. There were so many shells on this part of the beach that you could hardly see the sand. We had lots of interesting finds including a whole sand dollar, a sea urchin, shells with creatures still living in them, and a little crab.


Ella really enjoyed the ocean until she got a little too close to the waves that were crashing in and they in her words 'were going too fast and ran into me.' She got her pants wet on the bottom and she was then done with ocean fun.

A Day to Recoop

Monday was a day to rest and try to get used to everything after a day of travel. Ella was so tired when we got in on Sunday night that we put her to bed in her clothes. Then she woke up in the middle of the night crying to tell Trav 'I forgot to take off my clothes.' We explored the mobile home park that Bruce and Pauline are living in. They have fruit trees all over in their park including their own grapefruit tree. We took the girls to a neighbor's tree to pick some tangerines which Ella then proceed to peel herself and start eating.

In the afternoon we took naps and then decided to go swimming since the weather the rest of the week didn't sound like it would be warm enough to swim. The girls had a blast swimming with Grandma. Addi even got a little color on her cheeks. Kole didn't go swimming because he slept the afternoon away which is good since he has broken 5 teeth through in the last week. He is also getting braver with his walking. He will take up to five steps by himself now.

Let the Adventure Begin!

We are here in Flordia. It is just beautiful the sun is shining and it's about 60 degrees. All the people here are in sweatshirts because this is cold to them. We are loving these temps. We decided to leave home on Saturday afternoon due to the wind and snow that was coming in. We stayed at a hotel in Bloomington and were able to leave our car there as well. Ella did give us a little bit of a scare Sunday morning at the hotel. Kole had woken up early so Trav took him out of the room to let the rest of us sleep. Ella woke up a little while later and instead of coming to me in the bed next to her she left the room. Well she couldn't get back in and then was pounding on the room next door. Thankfully there was no one staying in that room. There was a family that came upon her and helped her pound on the door. When no one answered they brought her to the front desk and all of a sudden she yells 'Daddy' when she saw Trav in the breakfast area. Talk about heart in throat. So we had a long talk with her about how she isn't big enough to go by herself.

They had a really cool play area at the airport that was great for burning some energy and wasting time while we were at the airport.

The plane ride was pretty uneventful. We took off about 45 minutes late due to the plane coming in late and then they had to de-ice before we could take-off again. Ella told me as we were taking off that she was flying like a bird. Then sometime in midair she wanted to stop and pick some more people up. Kole did great, but didn't sleep at all. As we were starting to desend Trav asked the girls how their ears were doing Addi responded with a loud 'What' and Ella said 'Not so great Dad'. So despite that they loved it. Addi's favorite part was touching down at the landing. Her eyes got really big and she let out a loud 'Whoa.'

Socks!

So when we go into the girl's room at night we never quite know how we'll find Ella. Last night she had her slippers on which is no big deal right? Well this morning I was helping her get dressed and I found out otherwise. I took off her slippers and noticed that her socks appeared a bit puffy. So I peeled off the first layer of socks where I was greeted by another pair. Then I pulled off that pair and was greeted by another. When all was said and done Ella slept with five pairs of socks and her Clifford slippers last night.

Then tonight at supper Addi was finished eating, but hadn't been excused from the table yet. She was playing with her feet or so I thought. All of a sudden she says to me "Mom, my socks are in a knot and I can't get them out!" I thought she was joking so I told her to come to the other end of the table. She shuffled over and this is what I saw.

Who knew that socks could be so entertaining?!

Birthday Fun!

I am finally getting around to adding Addi's birthday pictures to the blog. These are from her two parties. She had a family party and a friend's party this year.

The girls decorated cupcakes.


They made mini-pizzas.

We played Zingo!

The January birthday cousins.