Finally!

Alligators. In the wild. Exciting!

These were taken a couple of weeks ago at a local wildlife refuge. Does that still count as "in the wild"? Let's all agree that it does; at least until I stumble upon one that I didn't have to pay to see.

Captiva

I finally made it to the beach after being here for almost 2 months. It was cold, but a front was coming in so there were some rarely seen waves (3-4ft) with a few desperate determined people attempting to surf them.


That's pretty much it. I really don't have anything to say with this post except, haha suckers!

Ferris Wheels And Cotton Candy

We stopped by the fair this year and this was the first time Maya went on all the rides. We wanted to wait until she was old enough to request them herself in the hope of saving some money and grief. It is this same logic that keeps her clueless to the existence of Chucky Cheese. We've made it 3 years, let's see how long we can go!

But with all the stress associated with a big move we decided to introduce her to the fun of carnival rides a little sooner than planned.

We went all in: wristbands, lunch, petting zoo, cotton candy, and elephant ears (that one was mostly me). We had a fun time and we learned a few things; Jason discovered that he can't handle the teacup-like rides like he used to and I got my butt kicked by that stupid swing ride. I swear, I was walking crooked for like 5 minutes after I got off of that thing.

In Case You Had A Craving

We've been enjoying wandering around our new city and pointing things out to Maya that she may have never seen before, like octopus-in-a-bag. Now before you ask, I do not know if $3.99/lb is a good price.


If you feel you are not in the market for octopus may I interest you in some frog legs, gator meat, or squid tubes? Alas, I do not have a picture of the squid tubes. I only had the courage to take one picture and my choice was octopus-in-a-bag. I only hope I will not live to regret my choice.

What Ducks REALLY Do When They Fly South

Happiest golden retriever ever.

Interesting Wildlife

Maya found a willing participant to her grocery game.

It's been a few weeks now, but we moved to Florida! And true to form, we lost track of time and didn't bother to tell the majority of people until after we had unpacked. Sorry about that.

I had learned my lesson after our move to South Carolina and decided that this time, Maya was driving. No, she can't see over the steering wheel but, hey, neither can a lot of Florida drivers. I think the state is pretty lenient on that sort of thing. So while she weaved through traffic like a college student on a bender, Jason and I enjoyed a leisurely drive to Florida. It's really the only way to move with kids.

To Friends, Family, and Santa

Lifetime quota for stuffed animals has been met. Thank you.

Lights at the Zoo

Plastic People

I had 4 people stop me in the grocery store to say that they thought this doll was a real baby.


Everyone was visibly relieved that they didn't have to call child services.

He Sees You When You're Sleeping...

Maya had a chance to meet Santa at a Christmas party this week. She was a little uncertain at first.

After hanging around his chair and watching him carefully for about an hour, Maya finally worked up the courage to take a candy cane and give Santa a high five.

The Shedding Is How You Know It's Real!

Typically, for Christmas we get one of those fur trees (I think that's what they're called) because they lose their needles at a much slower rate than the "classic" Christmas trees, the only downside is that I think they look a little fake. So we went to a tree farm to cut our own tree so we could have a cute, classic Christmas tree.

This is the result of my great idea:

It doesn't even look like a real tree and we filled that trash can to the brim with pine needles. And this was after the tree had been placed in one of those tree shaker thingies.*

*Pretty certain that's what they're called.

The House That Sugar Built

I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house. It's a house made out of baked goods and covered in candy, what's not to love? Unfortunately, I never seemed to get around to making one but last month Jason stumbled upon a cute and easy kit that we decided to bring with us on our visit to Tennessee. I was going to finally see what making a gingerbread house was all about and the kids could have fun decorating it. Well, apparently it's all about careful assembly and allowing the frosting to set overnight. Since our visit was so short this year, we weren't able to get to the decorating part so we had to take it back home with us. I hate that Aubrie and Jacob had to miss out on the decorating, but Maya still managed to have a great time. I'm pretty sure that for every piece of candy she placed on the house, at least two went in her mouth.

Looking Forward to Christmas

The Pajamas Are What Makes It Work

We made an abbreviated visit to Tennessee for Thanksgiving this year, so we had to cram as much fun as possible into just a few days. Luckily, Maya was up for the challenge.

We also celebrated Christmas with Jason's family since we won't see them in December. Thanks to this trip, Maya is now armed with everything she needs to be a ballerina princess.