Its been a busy month!

I was finally able to take some time to update our blog with some pictures and news of what we have been up to this month (see the below 1/10 to 1/30 entries). We've had 3 birthday parties, 5 birthdays, 4 basketball games, Pine wood Derby, cub scout meetings, basketball practice and pictures, RAs and choir practice, started a school fundraiser, and had a family fun day with Nana and G-daddy! Also, I've started my last full semester of college (with tons of homework and studying already), Dylan got another great report card, and Chris has gone on a couple 4-wheeler trips.

With February comes Dylan's birthday, his party, his last 3 basketball games, his basketball banquet, Valentines Day, and more school! Hopefully I will be able to keep our blog fans updated more regularly! Stayed tuned!

And thank you for continuing to check on our family through this blog, even when I am behind on the posts! Your continued support means alot to us!

Happy Birthday Chris!

Today is Chris' birthday!!!
Happy Birthday to the best daddy & husband in the world!!!

Dylan vs Grant

Today's basketball game was great! Dylan played against Grant's (his so called "God-brother) team. We really weren't sure how these two would do playing for opposite teams but it went great. It was a really close game but Dylan's team won by 2 points (14-12). Once the game was over, they were still best buddies- Dylan even gave Grant the snack that one of his teammates passed out to their team after the game.

Grant is the green #1, Dylan is the red #4

<--Wrong team Dylan!
I'm not sure why Dylan has such a goofy expression!

Pine Wood Derby

Dylan had his 1st cub scout Pine Wood Derby race tonight! Chris and Dylan have been working on the car for a while now and we were excited to put it to the test. They did a great job and his car was one of the best looking out there! Dylan won 2 of the 4 races he was in! The winners were based on averaged time though so he came in 11th place (out of 37 cars). This was our first year and we learned some of the tricks tonight so they better watch out next year!

"Incredible" Sunday

Dylan got his report card this past week and he did great! We are so proud of him. His Nana and I decided to treat him to an afternoon at "Incredible Pizza." (a new fun place that just opened in Cordova- it is like Chuck E. Cheese, but more stuff for older kids to do like min. golf, 3D ride, indoor go-cart race track, bumper cars, etc) So, G-daddy, Nana, Aunt Mel-Mel, Chris, Dylan and I spent much of today there. We had lunch (pizza buffet) and then we hit the games. We all tried out the arcade games. Dylan and Chris really liked the motorcycle race game. I liked the 3D ride and skeetball. G-daddy and Dylan did a go-cart race together and then Melanie, Chris, and I raced! Chris won by a long shot (he watches ALOT of NASCAR), Mel came in 2nd, and I came in 3rd. There were 5 other cars behind us. We all had tons of fun!

Basketball

Dylan is having alot of fun with his 1st basketball season! We've won some and lost more but the kids have a great time playing. Tonight they took some team pictures so I brought out my camera to try to get some shots of my own... (the gym lights don't agree well with my camera)

Skating Party

Well it was a busy day for birthdays! Today was Meemaw's birthday. Late this afternoon was Tatum's birthday party. Before we went to her party, we went to a birthday party of one of Dylan's classmates, which was held at the skating rink. I went with him and even got on skates myself, which I haven't done in over a ten years! there are no pics of me-just Dylan ;-)

Tatum's 1st Birthday

Dylan and Cedie's Godmother's daughter Tatum turned 1 on Jan. 4th. The age difference between Cedie and Tatum is the same as between her son Grant and our Dylan. Dylan and Grant call each other "God-brothers." I guess Tatum and Cedie would be "God-sisters." I digress....

Tatum's birthday party was today. We were out of town the weekend after her birthday and it was the anniversary of Cedie's passing so Tatum's mom held the party this weekend instead. The party was at their house and there were lots of people. Tatum was adorable as always! She had a princess crown that was just like the one I bought Cedie on her 1st birthday. The party was bitter sweet for me but I'm glad we went.

Happy Birthday Meemaw!

Happy Birthday Meemaw (Chris' mom)!

Dylan's Birthday Party Booked!

SAVE THE DATE

Dylan and I booked his 7th birthday party today! It will be on Saturday, Feb. 16th, at 2:15pm. For those of you who are local- be on the look out for the invitations (which won't be mailed until closer to the date).

Spring Semester=Last Semester

Chris and I went to buy my books today (my back was hurting so Chris came to carry all those heavy books for me). One of my professors had 13!!! books on the list to buy!

I am taking 20 hours (19 credits for 6 3hr/wk classes and 1 2hr/wk lab). Before you ask if I have gone insane, once I finish with the Spring semester, I will only have one summer class to take. I am so ready to just get this over with and I didn't want to tie up the whole summer with classes (or pay 2x the tuition for the summer classes).

I am taking Sociology of Childhood, Children's Literature, Studies in British Fiction, American Literature to 1860,. American Literature/Major Writers since 1860, Spanish 4, and Astronomy Lab (a freshman level class I have put off...).

Luckily, I managed to work my school schedule and work schedule so that I only have to be out one night a week. This is great for my home life as a mom and wife :-)

We're home!

Talk about hit the ground running! The great thing was we were able to stay those extra days in Fort Myers Beach- the badd thing was once we got home Sunday afternoon, we had to jump right into life. Dylan starts back to school, cub scouts, and basketball this week. I have one week to get my books and supplies for my school which starts back the 14th. There was unpacking, tons of laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning house to do! And posting pictures! Oh, well :-) Such is life :-)

January 5th- A Sad Anniversary

On Saturday morning it was time to pack up our stuff and start our two days of driving. Saturday not only marked the end of our get-away, it also marked the 1 year anniversary of the death of our angel Cedie Lynn. Before we left Fort Myers, we went on the beach one last time to take a moment for our angel. We sent a balloon up to Cedie with a note telling her we love her and miss her. It was actually Dylan's idea (he's the sweetest, most thoughtful brother ever). He had gotten the balloon from a restaurant we had eaten at on Jan. 2nd. He was so excited about the balloon- right away he thought it would be a great way to send his sister a note.

So, we three stood on the beach and let the balloon go. We watched it soar high into the sky, each of us silently saying our own things to our angel.






We then got into the truck and headed back to DeFuniak. This time we stayed with cousin Jimmy. We were exausted after our trip and being in the car all day so we ordered in pizza that night and watched movies.

Key West Day!

Friday morning we were at the Key West Express dock at 7:30am! The 3 story catamaran took us on the 3.5 hour trip to the Key West Island. We rode on the 2nd story where we were lucky enough to get a table with 3 comfortable chairs on each side right by the window. On the ride there we got to watch a couple movies (UnderDog and Fantastic 4) and we played card games. They had a food bar and a drink bar. I got a little sea sick...

Once we arrived in Key West, we had about 4.5 hours to explore! First we took a 1.5 hour tour of the historic part of the island. The different types of architecture were fascinating. The island has such a diverse history. After the tour, we walked down famous Duval Street and had lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville! We all had a margarita (Dylan's was non-alcoholic of course!). After lunch we walked some more and then visited the Pirate Museum. Dylan loved this! Next we walked down the harbor until it was time to board the boat again.

We were warned that the ride back would be rougher so I took motion sickness medicine. We stayed on the 1st floor this time and were able to get a half moon shaped booth with a table by the window. We saw a gorgeous sunset as we left port. I slept some of the trip back (that's the reason I didn't take the medicine on the trip there) while Chris and Dylan watched the new Harry Potter movie.

We got back to FMB around 9:30pm. Boy were we tired!

Island Hopping Thursday

The skies were beautiful again today but it was still a little chilly (much better than yesterday though. We decided it would be a good day for island hopping. After an early lunch at The Beached Whale on Fort Myers Island, we headed over to Captiva Island (this was one of my most favorite parts of the trip). This beach was amazing! Not a good place to walk barefooted- but you want find a better beach to collect seashells! In the pics below you can see what I mean. There were thousands of shells and tons of people out searching through them. We collected a sackful. It actually warmed up a little while we were there so Chris and Dylan took off their shoes so they could reach the shells at the shore line (you can't keep Dylan out of the water for long!) I didn't intend to get my feet wet so I kept on my shoes...until I got underestimated the tide trying to reach a shell that caught my eye!

After Captiva Island, we headed to Sanibel Island and saw their lighthouse! It was beautiful. (can you tell how in love I am with this part of Florida????). From the shore of this island, you can see Fort Myers across the water- I really had to test my zoom feature though.

Next we headed back to our island, Fort Myers Beach, and took a quick stroll on the beach in front of our hotel.

We ate at a fun place for dinner- Parrot Key Caribbean Grill. We went to bed early because early tomorrow morning we are headed on a boat trip to Key West!

A Chilly Wednesday

We woke up to sunnier skies but it was quite chilly! They had record lows and the wind was very cold. However, we weren't gonna let that stop us so we bundled up and headed out. First we did a 2.5 mile walk around Lover's Key Park in Bonita Springs, FL. I can not even begin to describe how beautiful it was there!

After the park, we went to the "Everglades Wonder Garden." This was like a zoo for FL wildlife. They are also a animal rehab center. They have the oldest alligator in captivity- he was huge! The guide was worried about him surviving these record cold temps. They had a pond with 12-15 other alligators and we got to watch them eat! Kind of scary but very cool. They also had pink flamingos, Fl. panthers, vultures, black bears, snakes, and other wildlife. It was a definite "must see" if you are in the area.

We ate a late lunch and then headed back to Fort Myers Beach. Since the weather was so cold and our legs were so tired, we decided to catch a movie at the Beach Theater. Very cool place!

New Year's Day

A cold front was making its way over our sunny vacation on New Years Day. It was drizzling a lot and the temp had dropped. We decided to sleep in for a little while. We ate lunch at a sports bar where Chris got to watch some football and Dylan got to play a bunch of arcade games. After lunch we went to a children's museum in Fort Myers (main land) called Imaginarium. It was pretty neat. Dylan got to touch some stingrays, an iguana, and a giant turtle! He got to dig for dinosaur fossils and act like a weatherman. We got to see a "rain forest" and some giant fish. It was a lot of fun for us all.

After the museum we decided to tour the Thomas Edison/Henry Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. It was really beautiful. I loved looking at the houses, the antique furniture and all the Christmas decorations. We all loved the landscape with the banyan trees, the royal palms, and an awesome view of the bay. Chris loved all the displays of Edison's inventions and Ford's cars. Dylan was fascinated with Edison's laboratory and the "self guide" listening set. Unfortunately, we had to rush it towards the end because it started raining harder on us!

We had dinner at a restaurant called The Bridge. It is located right on the docks where all the sailboats and fishing boats are. It is under the bridge that connects Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. After dinner, Dylan and I walked over the bridge~boy did I underestimate that walk! I tried to take pictures but it was too dark. We ended the day's adventures with some souvenir shopping!