Darren's Birthday

Darren recently turned a big 36!  I bought a kayaking and lunch date in the Everglades off Groupon.  Darren works so hard and studies so much he hardly ever takes a break or relaxes anymore.  I can see it in his eyes - no matter what we do I can tell he is thinking about clinicals the next day, or his next test or paper.  The poor guy.  On the way down I told him " It's your birthday, just relax and have a good time!"  He said, " Babe, I won't be able to fully relax until I get a job and get a paycheck.  I am a man and need to be able to support our family."  I have thought about that a lot.  I am so grateful that he is so dedicated to be good at his job.  And for being such a hard worker and willing to work for our family so I can stay home with the kids.  It took him a little time, but by the time we were half way through the kayaking trip he started to enjoy himself.  We had a great time together. 

Off we go! Hope we don't tip and get eaten by alligators.  Seriously, that's not even funny.

I said relax!!

Like this- see just smile:)

Do these sun glasses make me look like a movie star?  Cause that's the look I'm going for!

The scenery was beautiful.  We saw a  Manatee surface, so we started kayaking towards it, when we got about 15 feet away it freaked out and it's tail came crashing up out of the water and back down and up and down and up and down.  It swam away super fast creating a huge wake with it's tail.  It was AWESOME!  Except it rocked our kayak and that freaked me out a little bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ-7ynGACBE

My feet

All along the edges are these creepy crabs that climb up the roots, They look like spiders- it is creepy!!

I tried to upload the video but it wouldn't work- so you can check it out on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM35axYTNEQ&feature=youtu.be

Osprey's nest up in the trees

We sat and watched the Osprey for a while.  The birds in the everglades are amazing.

Gator in the water!  First and only one we saw- cause it's the summer time.  If you go to the everglades in the winter you will see tons more because the water is colder so they come up and lay out on the shores.

Here's a short video of the gator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtbRX1g7XxE

This is where we rented the kayak and had lunch.  It was just perfect! Everglades City is a fun little town. I think they just call it a city to trick people into going there. 

Here is the view from where we had lunch.

LOL- gotta love the Florida humidity and heat!  Nice and sweaty from those comfy lifejackets!

All the houses in Everglades "City" are up on stilts and the garages are underneath. 

Another cool house- I love the colors!

I just loved this field of palm trees that we drove along for a while.  I finally had to get out and take a picture.  It kinda reminded me of a Dr. Seuss illustration.  My picture just doesn't do it justice. 

After lunch we headed home, which is only about an hour away, and hung out with the kids the rest of the day.  It really was so nice to go out on such a cool date with Darren.  I love where we live- we have had so many good times here!

Kids triathalon

One of the fun things we have done this summer is exercise.  Yea, my kids don't like it as much as I do, but we registered them for a triathlon which gave them something to train for.  Their hard work paid off and it was a piece of cake for them- and lots of fun for them, not so much for me.  Darren was out of town and I was watching 3 kids for the weekend- so I had 7 kids with me.  It was crazy trying to get their bikes set up and helmets on all while trying to keep Gabe  from running into the street or getting close to the alligator infested pond.  But once they started the first younger kids race it was great.
 Here the distances.

Ages 7-10:

• Run .4 miles
• Bike 1.5 miles
• Swim 100 yards

Ages 11-13:

• Run .8 miles
• Bike 3.0 miles
• Swim 200 yards

So Ellie and Kyle and our friend Caroline ran with the younger group.  Here they are running.  

Ellie in the blue shirt and pink bike transitioning from running to biking.

Kyle with his hand right in front of his face waving to me!

Ellie getting off her bike ready to swim.

Kyle and Caroline

The kids swam in the lazy river with the current so I think it was extra easy. 

Ellie and her very good friend Emma.  Yea, they are the same age.

Kyle, Caroline, and Ellie- awesome kids!

The older kids were up after the younger group.  There were some pretty serious kids doing this! Here is Paul right before the start.

And their off!  It took longer cause the running and biking were further.

Go Paul!

Yea!

Good job buddy!

Here's the crew! Ellie, Kyle, Kyle's friend Benjamin, Paul and Ellie's friend Caroline. 

 I it was a fun race.  The younger group was definitely more crazy and chaotic and a few kids turfed it on their bikes, but it was super fun. Way to go kids!

24th of July and such

There is so much I want to post about.  We have done so many fun things this summer- but it will have to wait till after the 24th of July.  Cause It's midnight and I've got a big sewing project.   See, I was sitting in primary on Sunday and looking at this cute pioneer outfit our Primary President brought and thought, "hmm, we should have a 24th of July party.  I could make an outfit like that for Ellie. I have a day to make it.  I'll do it!"  So today we went to the fabric store, (which is heaven to me, I can feel my heart sing anytime I go into a fabric store). Ellie and I chose out some fun fabrics.  We came home and I made a bonnet for her.  Then I made a bonnet for her friend.  Now it is almost midnight.  I still want to make a skirt, and apron for her, but I need to go to bed.  We've got dentist appointments and the party tomorrow.  Every night when the kids are asleep and it's all quiet I wish so badly I could pause time and get some stuff done.  Fun stuff- sewing and painting and blogging.  But no, time must go on.  So instead of time pausing, it keeps going and I just end up staying up late.  hmmph.   So it will be a few days before I get some serious blogging done.

On a side note the other day my 7 year old Kyle said a funny thing.  He said, "you know, 6 year olds, and 7 year olds, and 8 year olds- those are my kind of people.  3 year olds, and 4 year olds, and 5 year olds, their just to babyish for me."  Ok Kyle, glad to know, I won't make you hang out with any 3 year olds:)

Summer Time Summer Time

I wasn't really looking forward to this summer.  I am not sure why- I pictured myself laying on the couch in curlers and pajamas with sweat dripping off my nose trying to fan myself to get cool.  I could just see all the kids jumping all over me with nothing to do and nowhere to go because of the heat.
It hasn't been like that at all!  It has been great! In fact, it has been so fun I haven't blogged for a month! The weather here has just been AMAZING.  I mean, just absolutely beautiful and so much fun.
Typically our days go like this.  We get up- semi early.   I go to the gym while the older kids do jobs.  Then we do something fun- like the pool or Children's Museum or library.  Then we go home and Gabe takes a nap from 12-3 and I clean up, make dinner, surf the internet and search for jobs for Darren while I let the kids have quiet time- usually electronics or a book.   My kids have read a TON this summer which I am so happy about.  I won't lie, they have watched a ton of movies too.  But it's fun, I don't mind.  Then when Gabe wakes up it usually rains, so we just hang out.  Then Darren gets home from work and we have dinner and then go to the pool till it gets dark.  Then we come home and have what I like to refer to as "2nd dinner".  Which usually consists of a bowl of cereal or a sandwich.  Swimming makes us hungry- what can I say?    Then Darren usually has to show the kids something funny on the internet which usually leads to something else funny and we are all watching funny videos till it's way past time for bed.  I have had a hard time putting my kids to bed early (except Gabe) because we are usually having a fun time together! So lately we have all been going to bed at the same time.  And then I sneak out of bed and look for jobs and dream of houses in the peace of the night till the wee hours of the morning.  It's fun!
Some mornings all the kids climb in bed with me and we spend an hour just playing with Gabe trying to make him laugh, or talk, or point to his nose.  He is the center of everyone's attention.  He is so cute!  Sometimes I think, "what did we used to do before we sat around Gabe all day just playing with him?" This summer has been one to remember.
We have also done a lot of fun activities- but my favorite thing of all is just laying in bed in the morning nursing Gabe and snuggling with my kids instead of rushing them out the door to get on the bus.  Wait, maybe that is similar to me laying on the couch with my hair in curlers and kids climbing all over me.  I guess in Florida, the air conditioning makes all the difference.

Look What I Found...

The other morning I was upstairs and Paul was "watching" Gabe downstairs. When I came downstairs I was going to throw something away when I noticed something in the garbage can.  I looked inside and this is what I saw.  

Good thing it was a clean garbage bag!

A couple of games on the floor

Lets get a closer look there.  Oh boy.  I wonder why stuff goes missing at my house?

Alligator Facts

There are an estimated 1.6 million alligators in Florida.  And only about 170 trappers. So it's no wonder this little guy showed up in one of the ponds in our subdivision.  Thankfully, Ray, one of those 117 trappers came and caught him.  He was really nice and we got to get pictures of the kids holding Mr. Alligator- and didn't have to pay the usual $5.00 places charge to get your picture with a gator!

Ellie, Ray, and Mr. Alligator

Kyle, Ray, and Mr. Alligator

Paul, Ray and Mr. Gator

Ray had this big guy in the trailer behind his truck.  He had caught him earlier in the day at a different subdivision.   

The trappers only get paid $30 per alligator.  Would you catch a gator for $30??!! Not me, I have nightmares about my kids or me getting eaten by an alligator!

It's a Beautiful Day

We went to the beach the other day and it was so beautiful!!  It is nice here frequently - but it was particularly beautiful this day.  The water was gorgeous.  Check it out.

Look at that water!  Notice how there aren't really any waves- that is pretty typical for here.  I love it for the kids- Darren thinks it's boring.

Ellie and her friend Caroline

Kyle fishing with the scouts

Darren and Gabe

The kids finding all sorts of sea shells and treasures. The beach here is so fun because it is shallow for so long you can go out a ways and still touch.  And there isn't really a undertow or any waves.

Paul with his cast net.  We caught lots of fun fish with that thing!

After Paul get fish with his cast net, he puts them in this bucket and uses them for bait fish. If you can keep the birds from eating them!

It was so beautiful- Dolphins were all over the place!

Hanging out!

Gabe's face cracks me up

Playing with dad

The kids playing in the sand

I enhanced the colors in this picture- but I think it is pretty cool. Beautiful day right?!