Happy Birthday Brian!

Today was Brian's 12th birthday. I really have a hard time believing that he's 12, but I think he's just fine with it. Drew and I were invited to his birthday dinner/party, and we felt very honored because it was a fairly exclusive affair. Brian and his friend Julian (the only friend he invited) kept to themselves for most of the evening, although they surfaced to eat and to open presents.

Carvel cakes seem to be very popular these days, since we just had one at Hailey's birthday at the beginning of the month. Not that I'm complaining!

I really need to work on my picture taking skills. The blowing-out-the-candles picture turned out a little blurry, but you can at least tell what's going on. The candle on this side of the cake is his birthday candle he's had since birth. You're supposed to burn it down to the current number of years each birthday, but Sue said she kept forgetting about it until after Brian's birthday. The candle had a good long while to burn this year, I think from 6 to 12.

Brian and Julian did stop for me to take one picture. I didn't get any pictures of his presents, but a couple of them looked pretty scary. It gave me an idea of the kinds of things Drew will be wanting in a few years.

It was nice to see Steven, (and Karl John and Kelly!) too. He's a bundle of energy, and was on the move the whole time he was there. Karl, Cathy, George and Yvette completed the party, and I'm sure they continued to enjoy themselves even after we had to leave around 8:30. I think Drew is already operating according to the 3 hour rule.

Annie

Hailey did a fantastic job as Lily St. Regis in Annie. Carole, Dad, Melva, Adam and I were all at the Friday performance to cheer her on. Andy saw the show (and videotaped it) on Thursday so he stayed home with Alex on Friday.

Here, Lily shows up as the floozy friend of Rooster. Hailey said her lines and sang loudly (and well!) enough to hear. Some of the kids were really soft-spoken. We know that she comes by that volume honestly.

During intermission I got a picture of Hailey with Melva. She seemed really happy to have us all at the show.

In the second act, Lily pretends to be Annie's mother.

I don't know if Hailey has caught the acting bug or not, but I have a feeling we'll be attending more shows like this in the future.

Black Bird Doesn't Scare Me (But Snakes Do!)

Adam and I took Drew and Alex to the zoo (thanks Tom!) this afternoon after having lunch at Panera (thanks Karl John and Kelly!). Finally, it was a beautiful sunny day so we wanted to be outside as much as possible. As soon as we got off the trolley and walked into the zoo, we spotted two huge pythons on the open grassy area. Sue and Mavis were out for a little sun and fun as well. This is Sue in the picture - she weighs about 120 pounds -- Mavis was a little smaller. Drew was not too thrilled to be near her, but Alex got right up next to her even when I asked if she ate little boys. (The answer was yes, but she just ate a week ago so she wasn't really hungry.)

We made it through almost the entire zoo in a couple of hours, even though we almost lost Alex (he swore he was going to die of thirst) and Drew (starvation was setting in - he desperately needed a snack). After refueling, we managed to get some good pictures.


We got this next picture right before we left, and we could have set it up a little better. However, we were in a hurry because we had to get Drew to the Y for Parents Night Out, and Adam and I were on our way to see the Worthington Elementary production of Annie. I'll post about that tomorrow.

Spring Cleaning

The title of this post is a little misleading, since not much actual cleaning was done today. However, this picture was not staged. Whenever I get out the Windex or the toilet bowl cleaner, Drew is right there wanting to help. He really only wants squirt the Windex everywhere (or splash water around the toilet), but I try not to discourage his help. Adam was getting a little frustrated because every time he wiped the door, Drew would put his hand on it.

It's been pretty quiet around here. With the lousy weather, we haven't been getting out to do much. We're supposed to have high winds through tomorrow so it looks like we're staying in the house for a couple more days. Thank goodness for school!

Happy Easter!

Today was a very busy day for Drew and me. Adam was working so he missed out on our activities, although he was still home when Drew came downstairs this morning and found his Easter basket and helped him hunt for eggs (although the Easter Bunny didn't hide them very well). Unfortunately, I lost my mind when I was downloading the pictures to the computer and wound up deleting them--that's why you see a picture that we took with the Easter Bunny in Florida.

We went to church first (all the kids were REALLY wound up) and stayed for the Easter brunch afterward. Drew had a great time playing with his friend Evan, and I arranged a play date for them the next day with Evan's mom. After church, I wound up talking to my Aunt Cathy and she invited us down for Easter dinner so we headed down see Cathy, Moody, Dad and Melva for the rest of the afternoon. We had a delicious lamb dinner, and I overindulged in dessert. Oh well, what's Easter without a sugar rush?

Saturday in Oldsmar

Saturday, the 31st was a jam-packed day--Go Go Glo had us going all day long. We left the house around 8:30 am to go to the Oldsmar Community Easter Egg Hunt at Bicentennial Park. Drew got to meet the Easter Bunny and didn't even mind getting his picture taken. Last year, he didn't really want to get near the Easter Bunny in the mall. He also managed to get 10 or so eggs before they were all gone. Drew looks a little perturbed in the picture below. He told me later he was angry because the kids were grabbing all the eggs. I think he kind of missed the point of the exercise.

After the Easter Egg hunt, we stopped at a yard sale, Wal-Mart, then the Oldsmar Flea Market to get some new flowers for Grandma's house. We stopped at home to eat a quick lunch and then we were off to Honeymoon Island in Dunedin. It was a beautiful day at a beautiful beach. Adam and I wound up with sunburn spots due to our ineffective sunblock application, but I managed to cover Drew pretty well. Grandma was soaking up the rays.

After we got back from the beach, it was time to hit to pool. We didn't have a lot of time because we were picking up Pete to go to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Daddy's.

After dinner, it was time for karaoke at Gull Aire Village. Drew got up and sang Hit the Road, Jack and did a great job, although he only really knows the refrain. I was amazed that he wasn't afraid to get up in front of all those people, but he does like a little bit of attention.

Considering the events of the day, we were wiped.

Big Trip on the Airplane

We arrived in Tampa, Florida late Thursday afternoon to absolutely beautiful weather which lasted for our entire stay. True to form, Go-Go Glo kept us running during our visit--it's amazing how much she can do in a day. Adam definitely gets that trait from her, he also likes to keep moving and isn't one to relax around the house.

We arrived at Gull Aire Village in Oldsmar (where Grandma lives) around 4 pm, and she made us a wonderful dinner that night. I can't remember if we went to the pool afterward, but I think we did. Adam and Drew were in the pool every day while we were there. On our way to the pool every day, we had to pass this sign. Drew commented about the alligator every time we walked by. The alligator is long gone (and a new one hasn't been spotted), but he was still excited about the possibility of seeing one.

On Friday, we went to lunch at the Lucky Dill in Palm Harbor before heading to Fred Howard Park. We sat on the beach for awhile and Drew got in the water although he was disturbed by the seagulls so he declined to walk around the island with Adam and me. You can walk all the way around in about 15 or 20 minutes. The Gulf side was prettier, but much more crowded.

The park has a nice playground area so we stopped there after we left the beach. Adam helped Drew climb a tree where you can see him screaming (shocking, I know) in the picture below.

We stopped at Publix for Fried Chicken for dinner, and we forced Grandma to go out and play bingo with Pete (well we didn't have to twist her arm) that evening. She stayed out until all hours too (or at least 11 pm). I think we went to bed way after midnight which is really late for us.

Happy Birthday Hailey!

Today was Hailey's 9th birthday, and we hope that she had a great day!

We had an intimate family gathering at Andy and Carole's since her First Holy Communion and party is coming at the beginning of May, and one major party a year per kid is probably enough for her parents. Unfortunately, we missed Alex's 6th birthday because we were in Florida for the last several days (I'll post more about that later), but he was happy to get his present today. Dad and Melva just got back from Florida yesterday too, so we were all on hand for the wonderful London Broil and Ice Cream Cake dinner (not to mention the smoked salmon which always gets devoured).

We bought Hailey the movie, Happy Feet, and specifically told Drew (several times) not to tell her anything except "Happy Birthday" when we got to their house. Of course, the first thing he said when he saw Hailey was "Hailey! We got you Happy Feet!" Oh well, at least we know he won't be keeping secrets from us either.

We had to make our usual hasty exit as soon as the cake was eaten, but it was a lovely evening, and Hailey seemed to enjoy herself.