Boo to You...

A full night with very full buckets.  We've hit fall festivals, carved our pumpkin and are loving our fall weather.  Madalyn and Mason will race through their candy and Mackenzie will still be enjoying hers well into the new year to which they will say, "it's not fair".  Happy Halloween.....

New Year, New School....

 3rd and 1st grade already?  There was mostly excitement this morning mixed in with a little nervousness as they got ready and we headed out.  Matt and I both took them today and he usually misses out.  We transferred them to a new school this year.  Their previous school was dropping in performance so we moved them.  It was a tough decision but we feel good about it.  I was expecting a lot more kick back from Madalyn but she really didn't protest which tells me that she intuitively knows this is a good decision.  One of Mackenzie's friends transferred as well and they are even in the same class.

 Her shirt says, "Girls can change the world".  And she loves her new high tops!

 Kenzie cute as ever!

Mama and her girls.  Hope your first days are good as well!

Gators....not the team, the chomping kind....

 It was the last day of Spring Break and I wanted to do something fun with the kids.  We decided on Gatorland.  Somehow we were able spend the whole day there even though its pretty small.  We took our time and saw everything.  We had a fun day....

This is what they call the Gator Jumparoo.  Basically, they string raw chicken over the water to get the gators to "jump" up and catch it.

 Waiting for our train ride...

 Besides gators, there are a lot of birds, farm animals and lots of reptiles.  Look at this baby crane, isn't she a cutie with all her fuzz?

 And this would be what they call the "Gator Wrestling Show".  No, they don't really get in there and roll around with them but they do a few tricks.  Here, the guy is basically holding the head shut and back with just his chin.  Crazy, really.

 Ok, so I decided to supplement the snacks I brought from home with some gator tail.  But I wasn't exactly forthcoming about that and I didn't say anything till we were done.  Mackenzie guessed it right away while Madalyn thought it was chicken.

 And this was her reaction to the news....grossed out.  I have to say I was cracking up.

 This white goat was quite aggressive and stole Mason's food all in one bite but the staff gave him another cone full (they put the pellets in ice cream cones which they can eat as well).

 Madalyn is much more tentative about feeding such things as this.  She is completely disgusted by slobber of any kind so after a couple of turns, she is done and happy to wash her hands and wait for us.

 Kenz on the other hand has no fear and enjoys this quite a lot.

 I guess because birds are colorful and cute and they don't slobber, the bird feeding worked out well for her.  This room is full of birds and can be a bit freaky because they land on you wherever they want to.

 Mason got scared as they started landing on his shoulders and that was it for him.  So I held the food and he watched.

 "Look at this big snake..."

After a full day, we were done and had a good time!!



Darn Skates....

 Well we've had our first orthopedic "incident".  I took the girls roller skating last night.  It was Madalyn's second time but Mackenzie's first.  She was all over the place.  About an hour into our time, I stepped away to talk with another rmom and she pushed away from the wall and fell backwards.  She braced her fall with her wrists.  She and I called it a night and headed home.  I took her to a pediatric urgent care and they told me she had a fracture in her wrist.  So today, we headed to the orthopedic office where she got a cast...

She requested this gorgeous purple color.  The color is about the only thing she has found worthy of excitement.  She hurts but not too bad, nothing ibuprofen can't take care of.  This accessory will be with her for the next three weeks.  Oh and Madalyn is jealous and has asked me to buy her a sling.....

Strawberry Pickin'....

I went to the Strawberry Festival years and years ago but we've never gone as a family.  Strawberries are a staple in our house.  So we headed down to Plant City for some fair food, rides, and a flat of strawberries!

Each of them could pick 3 rides and the girls ran for the "strawberry tilt a whirl" while Matt and Mason watched a lumberjack show (grunt, grunt).

They also chose to do a fun house that turned out to not be so fun.  A room of mirrors and a big slide...lame.  What happened to the big rolling tunnel you had to walk through and the moving floor or the shot of air that would come up when you weren't expecting it????

Off to the swings.  These make me nervous and I frequently refer to them as death swings but the kiddie version was just fine.

They will tell  you by far, this was the best ride!

Of course Mason chose the race cars to ride.  Funny that he picked the Bud car since that's what we call him.  And no, I don't know who the little blondie is next to him.

Then he picked the "dumbo" ride.  When he realized his tickets were all gone, he then got mad because he hadn't chosen to ride the trucks.  No more money, no more tickets...hard concept for a little guy!  We moved on the strawberry shortcake and all was well again....

We all scarfed it down and I forgot to take the "before" pic.

Oh my....cowgirl has a look!  One of the things the kids still love doing is going to all the vendors to get the free stuff.  On this day, they got a Bluc Cross Blue Shield backpack bag thingy, a Geico pez dispenser, a car freshener, and these snappy cowboy hats....fun times.....

Christmas 2010...Better late than never I suppose...

We had a great Christmas.  We stayed home this year and it was so nice.  I loved being in our home.  We typically rotate between my parents house, our house, and my brother and sister n law's house.  With 3 kids, it is getting harder and harder to load us all up and we got to go to our home church for Christmas Eve service.  Tim and Jen were here till Christmas Eve night so we all exchanged presents with them that night.

Madalyn thrilled with her first pair of "danglely earrings".

So Matt started this tradition with the kids several years ago.  He takes them each to the Dollar Store and lets them pick out presents for all of us.  He makes a little dad date out of it and they look forward to it every year.  These are some pics with Tim and Jen showing their new treasures.  You never know who will get what.  There's been a rubber gorilla, a huge wood bead necklace, pot scrubbers, ceramic dolls, and santa hats.  This year, Mason picked gas pills for Miss Martha, Jen's mom.  I am confident she was thrilled.

Each of the kids got pillow pets from my parents

Kenzie asked Santa for a monkey sleeping bag and he obliged....

My sweet girl loves her dollies..

 

Mackenzie spreading reindeer food on the lawn....

HO HO HO....