Back to School

Well, school is back in session. We have survived the first 2 weeks......barely. Here is how my first week of Tanner being back in school went. The first day he cried before we had to leave. He cried because he did not want to go. The 2nd day his throat hurt. The 3rd day he wanted to stay home and sleep. The 4th and 5th days were not as bad. He does not have a lot of enthusiasm for school right now. So...we officially made that a part of his allowance right now. He has to have a positive attitude about going or he loses out on money. That has helped some too. He does like his teacher and he is doing great so far with everything else about it. I know it will get better. He starts back to Cubscouts and bowling next week so I think that will help to. Just cross your fingers for me.

Some Beach, Some Where

This is my continuation of the last post. We took lots of nightly walks along the beach. It was so nice with the water splashing over your feet and the moon reflecting off of the water. One night there was a huge crane type bird right at the edge of the water. He stayed there while we walked right past him. It was cool! One night we also went to eat at a place called Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We had to wait 1 1/2 hours for a table, but it was really good and it had a great atmosphere. We did not want to leave Florida. I also have to add that the trip was both of the kids first time on a place. Tanner loved the takeoff. He just thought that it was out of this world. Serena did very well for being so small and for having to stay on our laps. She only wanted down a few times. Overall, it was a great trip! Wish I were there! :( :(

Moonlight Walks on the Beach

Well, it has been awhile since I wrote on here. We took our trip to Florida from August 6th-16th. We spent 3 nights in Orlando. We spent a day of that at Disney World and another day of it at SeaWorld. Both were a lot of fun! The kids loved it and we all had a good time. I was kind of disappointed at Disney World because we didn't see many characters. Last time David and I went we saw characters out walking around everywhere. We stuck around till night and watched the parade. That was pretty cool! Tanner loved petting the stingrays at Sea World. It is such a neat feeling to touch something that you normally wouldn't want to touch. I hope that makes sense. Shamu was also a big hit with the kids. We didn't get wet though. That Saturday we took our time driving along the beach in St. Petersburg trying to see if we could find the cute little place that we stayed at the year after we got married. We ended up getting a 2 bedroom place at Coral Shores Resort. By the time we left our trip we pretty much determined that we think that was the place we originally stayed years ago. We ended up being only 2 miles down the road from the condo that my sister, nieces and mom and step dad were renting. My brother Tom also came up from Oklahoma for a few days. My sister and nieces were there from Sweden and my mom and stepdad were there from Siloam Springs (AR). We spent lots of time visiting with family and also lots of time on the beach. Tanner loved the beach. Serena was not sure about the water but she liked playing in the sand. I have to tell my little story. Her and I were sitting in about 3 inches of water separate from the main water area. It's where the tide had done its job and left just a little stream area. Anyways....her and I were sitting in that little water for a long time. I was scooping my hands way down in the sand and would turn it over and wait for the water to stop being murky so I could see if there were any good little shells. Finally, David and Tanner came up to us and were standing there talking to us. I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I asked David "What was that?" Well......it was a little stingray that had just passed within about 6" of my leg (Serena was in my lap). I was scooting backwards on my bottom trying to get us both up. I about freaked to say the least. We followed it along that little stream of water. I borrowed a big bucket from some other people. I got it scooped up in the bucket and put it back into the ocean. Wasn't I nice? The other highlight of our trip was when we went to Ft. DeSoto Park located between St. Petersburg and Tampa. We took a ferry ride to Egmont Key Island. They drop you off and come pick you up later. I got to see the outside of a lighthouse (Yeah!!!). As you walk inland you see big tortoises walking along (way cool!). We had just started searching along the beach for shells and had not been doing it for more than 5 minutes and Tanner saw something wash up. It was a great big shark tooth. I took it to ASU today and had a professor in the Science Dept look at it. He said it was from a Megladon and said it is about 100,000 years old. Pretty cool! We had a blast out there! Way worth the money!!!! I also got to go to Sarasota and spend time with family there and got to see an aunt and uncle from Clearwater. I will continue this tomorrow.....

My Baby is 2 :(

Well, my baby girl turned 2 on Sunday. It makes me sad knowing that she has grown so fast. I think that it makes it even harder when you know that is the last child that you are having. It makes it a little harder to sink in. However, we had a great party on Saturday with a wonderful turnout of family and friends. It was an Elmo themed party since she loves Elmo. She got lots of goodies and got to see lots of friends. We leave tomorrow for a trip to Florida and will return on the 16th. Once I get back I will post some birthday pix. Until I return.....I hope everyone enjoys their last days of summer before school starts.