Florida Wrap up

Well, we had a great time!  We got up at 4 am in Jacksonville today.  Flights were smooth and uneventful.  And, when we arrived in Buffalo, we ran into Ryan Miller, Johan Enroth (Sabres goalies who happened to be on competing teams in the Olympics in Russia--only one brought back a medal!!) and another player.  And Ryan Miller's french bull dog "Puck" was there.  He hadn't seen him for a while and Kat was all over the adorable pup wearing a Miller jersey!  No pics, as my phone was still full.  Anyway, it was pretty cool and they looked like they'd been traveling all night.  So we didn't discuss what went wrong in Russia......

So, back to Florida.  We saw everyone, nearly and it seems did everything!!  We had three 80 degree days.  Before we lost the sun entirely.  But that's ok.  We thoroughly enjoyed SeaWorld.  Kat & Dan got splashed by a killer whale's tail.  We fed sea lions & seals.  Saw the dolphin/diver/bird show and the sea lion show.  And the Pets Ahoy show, which is always entertaining.

Busch Gardens was good.  Sea World was better, but we had fun.  Of course, the river ride we all wanted to ride was closed. But we rode the bumper cars w/ grandpa & Grandma.  Kat enjoyed that and also the wild mouse, or whatever they called it.  Dan, Kat & I rode the Tanganika Tidal Wave several times and got good & wet!  And Kat got to feed a baby kangaroo (wallaby?) which was a fave!

Then it was time to swim with the manatees.  Which I highly recommend to everyone.  Even though it was overcast, windy, storms on the horizon and it was cool and highly unlikely that we'd see the manatees, much less swim with them.  But, our fearless captain found us some and we did get in to swim with them!  And even though the turbidity of the water was significant and visibility was about 10 feet.  Or less.  So even though we were often right on top of them, we couldn't always tell where they were.  Check out the videos.  I apologize for the shakiness, but I think they're still pretty cool when the manatees come up.  I think the camera could see them better than we could!

On Saturday, we went to Aunt Norma's where almost all of the Florida family (& Mel & Greg as well) came out for a day of hanging out and dinner.  We got to catch up with the southern branches of the family and Kat played with her little cousins that she met last year in NC.

After a boatride Sunday, 5 of the FL branch, mom & Dad & Mel & Greg and us all went to check out St Augustine.  Unfortunately, it was raining most of the time.  But we had fun, until Kat had an epic melt-down that resulted in her huddling underneath her rain poncho up against the building, looking like a homeless person.  It was all we could do to to not get her a cup.........  We were all nearby, but she wasn't having any of us, so we kept our distance.  And some nice lady actually asked her if she needed help, if she was lost, etc.....Another proud parenting moment!

That sums up the bulk of it.  It was a whirlwind.  We had a great time, saw & did a great deal and left FL absolutely exhausted!!!  I can't wait to go to bed.  And to go back to bed after putting Kat on the bus tomorrow!!!!!

The up-close pics of the manatees are not mine, but are stock pics from the tour guide.  Videos are mine.

Cousins and drunken pirates

siblings & spouses

Cousins

siblings

She wanted to take him home!

brown water snake

street urchin?  or a munchkin who. has. had. enough.

More Florida two

Florida !

Ok. The walrus was definitely not seen from mom & dad's boat. But the snake and the alligators were!

Ready to travel!

Florida here we come!!

Skiing

Sparring!!! Finally!!

So cute to watch. Her first time sparring. She has a ways to go, but it's so fun to watch!

Snow day!!

The kids were here as Derek did not have a snow day (and it really was another COLD) day! They had fun playing here. And the dogs are exhausted from all the love and ball throwing. Course, they've rarely had walks all month. I refuse to walk them if the temp is single digits. And truly I don't think they've gotten out more than once a week. Poor pups!!

Kat's show today

The rope tow.

She did wipe out on it once, but grabbed right back on.

Skiing!

Finally! We decided to do something about getting Kat out there. She took a 2 hr lesson today. She did great. She never made it to the rope tow in class, but she wasn't leaving till she did it.

Tonite's adventures

 Tonite's adventure: We left the house about noon but didn't appropriately puppy proof. I didn't expect to be gone too long. But we were. I put them in prison. But didn't close kitchen doors nor put all of the crap Kat pulled out and left all over the family room. 

So we come home about 6:30. It's about 15 degrees out. Cold. Dark. I'm backing in and have opened the garage door w/ the remote. As I'm starting to back in, I see done kind of movement between the garage & the car.  Deer?  So I stop. Then I jump out of the car as I realize that the movement is two idiot dogs who had apparently let themselves in the garage (when the door wasn't closed tight?). And then came prancing out when I opened the door!!

And they did get all sorts of crap inside. 

They continue to revel in surprising us w/ the most bizarre circumstances that we could never predict.

Our dogs are arsonists!!

Well. I had frosted the final cookies and left them in the counter to harden. Then we were going to lunch with Joan. After putting the idiots in prison, Dan was very cautious about closing the kitchen doors so they didn't break out and eat the cookies. He even put a table in front of one set of doors. And pulled the carpet up tight to the outward opening doors. I thought he was a little obsessed, but didn't comment.

We came back an hour or so later. They met us at the door. Kitchen doors were wide open. Half the cookies were gone. Trays were pushed way back against the wall. And the gas burner was on high! Clicking away. Holy crap!!! And, just last night, after the xmas party, dan had spread towels all over the stove for dish drying.... Hoy. We dodged a serious bullet today.

That's the most serious prank any of our dogs have pulled yet. I thought they were supposed to alert us to smoke/the detectors, etc. not set them off!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Synchro

A new move for synchronized swimming.

Belt testing

Kat belt tested last week and got her high green stripe belt.

Synchronized swimming 'play day'

The girls' (C,G & K) have been taking synchronized swimming since the beginning of October. They're all doing great and learning the basics of synchro. I don't think there will be any actual synchronized (or asynchronized) swimming till next year. Or later. They do enjoy it and are becoming stronger swimmers by the week.

There was a synchro 'play day' Saturday where our level competed in 7 core skills. They all did great. Kat's 8/under age group had just 7 competitors, so she was destined to get a ribbon as one if the top 8. She did place second, which made her very proud. And she got a candy cane, which she was likely more excited about...

Charlie & Gracie did great too! But they faced more numerous and experienced competition, and thus they didn't place. But now we all know what to expect next time. And they had a lot of fun. Mostly goofing around in the cafeteria.....

Santa!

She asked him for a Barbie house, a rainbow loom (she so wants one) and a monster high Barbie. That one isn't happening!!

Kat's new bracelets

Kat trying out a family member's handcuffs. Hopefully the one/only time she'll ever have them on....

Snow!!!!

Snow the day before thanksgiving!! Awesome. I got my car in the garage just in time! Kat & the dogs are loving it.

Happy thanksgiving!

Pic taken by Kat. John and I walked the 5 mile turkey trot yesterday am. It was fun. Next year we might all do it. If Kat's legs get a whole lot longer...

Snow!!

Well, there's not too much snow, but the very dedicated can make a fair number of snow balls if they work hard....