Wild Things

I hadn't seen my cousin Celicia in a very long time, so when my Mom suggested we ask her and her family to accompany us to the zoo, I thought it was a great plan. We had a great time getting to know each other again, and her oldest two kids are nearly the precise ages of my two. They took one look at each other and decided to become fast friends - especially Nicky and William. Nicky has a TON of girl cousins, but his boy cousins are all way older and live very far away.

The Syracuse Zoo was very nice. We saw a lot of great animals that the Philadelphia zoo doesn't have, like the beautiful wolves. According to Mom, she gets these guys near her house in the wild! Scary! Of course, Philly does have lions, but not so cute as this guy, who looks just like one of our cats napping!

And we got lots of great close up encounters with other animal favorites, too.

The zoo was beautifully landscaped with native flowers, and my cousin, who is a garden enthusiast, could identify them for us. I figured out these daisies, though.

And of course, what would a trip to the zoo be without lots and lots of monkeys?

Someday...

I will beat Scott at miniature golf! We were both right around par on this course down the road from Mom's house, but he still beat me by one stroke. *sigh* In consolation, I did beat him (AND MOM, which is an accomplishment!) at Scrabble TWICE this week.
Nicky was even doing well by the second half of the course. Not as well as he did in the arcade inside, of course, but we all know where his strengths lie! He got a tattoo from the prize counter that would end up decorating his arm for more than a month.

Next Stop - North

If you've just come back from flying almost as far south as you can go in the US, what's your next step? Driving as far north as you can before you hit Canada, naturally.
We joined the kids at Grandma and Grandpa's house on the St. Lawrence river. The deep blue of the river almost made the Gulf look washed out by comparison! Of course, the temperature of the river was just a little colder - by about thirty degrees, I think!
This was a quiet vacation for the first few days. Lots of sitting and relaxing - not that there's anything wrong with that! We discovered a place that had 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream, a couple of docks where you could look across to Canada, and a fondness for Scattergories and the newspaper crossword.

The World's BEST Crab Cakes

When I asked a friend of mine for advice on Tampa area eateries, her first choice was Salt Rock Grill on the Clearwater barrier island. I am SOOOOO glad I took her advice! We came back from the aquarium and got dressed for dinner.

Even pudgy, I think we made a cute couple. I'm sure I sound like a bad mommy, but again, it was so nice to be able to be adults and not worry about pleasing the kids, too! We enjoyed a leisurely, fantabulously delicious dinner at a table for two right by the window looking over the causeway. We watched the birds and boats in the late afternoon light, and enjoyed course after course of delicious offerings. The crab cakes I ordered were unquestionably the very best I have ever tasted, and they were served with the most delicious citrus sauce. Everything was a feast for the eyes as well as the palate - truly a special evening!
We took a stroll on the beach after dinner, although the heat drove us back to the car fairly quickly. Some kids had built this great sandcastle, and we caught this heron checking it out. We headed back for a swim before turning in - we had to leave for the airport at 5AM the next day! All told, this was the shortest vacation we had ever taken, but probably one of the most relaxing. I am so glad I "wasted" our tax rebate on it!

The Florida Aquarium

We left the beach when it started to rain, but by the time we arrived at the Florida Aquarium, the sun was out full force. Just our luck, I guess! Unfortunately, with the storms still predicted for later in the day, we couldn't book a dolphin cruise. We had a fabulous time exploring the aquarium though. It was nice to not rush from display to display the way we probably would if we had the kids along.

The aquarium was definitely one of the nicer aquariums I have seen. The tanks and displays were amazing, and they had a great waterpark area for the kids, along with dining options and a nice gift shop. The open air exhibits showcasing Florida's ecosystem were especially nice, and we both got a kick out of seeing this tiny owl and other local birds, turtles, fish and crocodiles. The problem, of course, is that our list of things we like to do in the state of Florida just keeps getting longer and longer... pretty soon, our Florida vacations will take a month!

Gulf Breezes

After we arrived in Florida, we checked the weather. Turns out we came at a bad time, because the usual Florida pattern of rain in the afternoons and calm mornings wasn't holding - the Tampa area had been pummelled with ongoing rain for several days. We were disappointed, but figured we'd find a way to make the best of it. We headed to Honeymoon Island State Park first thing in the morning, hoping to beat out the rain.
We're pretty used to Atlantic beaches, so the Gulf came as a bit of a shock to us. The water was so clear and warm, and the waves, even in front of the encroaching storm were no bigger than a calm Atlantic day. Seashells were everywhere, and we were more than content to stroll along the beach. For East Coasters, having the beach on your left and the sun on your right first thing in the morning is just weird! Here's a few photos along our walk:




That last one looks like a travel ad to me, and it was so perfectly gorgeous, we just sat down on one of the wooden swings provided along the beach to watch the water for awhile. It became evident that a storm was blowing in over the beach, although it was passing mostly to our north. But as we watched, a rainbow formed right over the ocean.
Gorgeous, huh? Long story shorter, we have DEFINITELY found the beach for our renewal of vows next year!

Relaxing Retreat

I had gotten a really good deal on the airfare, hotel, and rental car for our trip by booking from one of those online travel sites. Unfortunately, that put us at a Holiday Inn Express for our trip. Not exactly the most romantic of destinations.

Fortunately, the hotel turned out to be quite nice. The pool area was especially pleasant, and tropically landscaped.
One of the weirdest things for us northerners visiting south is the presence of these little gecko guys. They seemed to be everywhere, and have very little fear of humans. I was always afraid I was going to step on one, but they're quick little critters.
The hibiscus (which is what I think I remember these are called from Longwood Gardens last year) seemed to be in bloom all over the area. You gotta like a place where hothouse flowers grow outside!

Scotty and I didn't get much pool time because it rained and thunderstormed off and on the whole time we were there. Somehow, though, we managed to fit a whole lot of fun into basically 30 hours or so. The real benefit to staying at a business oriented hotel was that most of the occupants were busy on business, so we had the leisure areas more or less to ourselves most of the time. Until the high school swim team showed up, anyway!

This Is My Scared Face

So, thanks to the economic stimulus check from Uncle Sam, I was able to spring a surprise trip to Florida on Scotty. Unfortunately, the only possible way to spend a weekend in Florida when you live in PA is to fly.

I don't fly. I'm afraid, I admit it. I know it's irrational, (and statistically untrue), but I feel like I have more control driving than flying. And as my sister, who shares my fear, says: If I crash my car, I'll probably walk away. If the plane crashes...

Well, again, statistically, untrue. In my mind, though, just the thought of being thirty thousand feet in the air in a little tin tube is terrifying.

But I wanted to go to Florida with Scott. We've never vacationed alone together. So I got on the plane. And since I'm sitting here typing, you can imagine I survived.

So this bad photo, taken by the old "hold the camera out and lean way back" method, shows my pretending to be happy, but really terrified face. But I don't need this to document my phobia.

Because stepping off the plane four hours later (instead of three days, our usual drive time) surrounded by palm trees, I realized this is the ONLY way to get to Florida. So next year, when we head off to Disney, guess who's getting back into a 30,000 ft. high tin tube?

Could You Loan Me Your Kids?

What do you do when your own kids have taken off to see Grandma? Borrow someone else's, of course! I took Faith and Juli over to Jungle Fun while their dad was at work. Their parents say I spoil them, but where's the fun in being an aunt if you can't spoil your adorable nieces??

Besides, once they're all riled and sugared up, I get to send them home. *wink*

Someone's Gotta Lose

For Father's Day, we got Scott two tickets to the Phillies/Red Sox game. Since Nick professes to being a Red Sox fan (although I sincerely doubt he could name a single player) Scott took him along to Citizen's Bank Park. It was Nicky's very first MLB game. He was super excited, and Scott was thrilled to see the Phillies in action. (Yep, he likes the Eagles, the Phillies, probably the Sixers if forced to watch basketball - just call him a local boy.)
Of course, the problem with sending the dynamic duo off to the ballpark was that someone would come home unhappy. After all, only one of their teams could win.
Nicky watched anxiously...
But didn't seem to mind that much when his team lost. Which is good - it was _Daddy's_ present, after all! Plus, he got a consolation prize - the Red Sox cap he HAD to have to go to the game, and a baseball from the gift shop. Not a bad deal!

I'm Goin' To... Strawberry Fields

It's a miracle!!! Nicky, who has always professed a complete hatred of strawberries, has decided he likes them! That is, he likes them if they are warm and fresh picked. Which is precisely how we spent the morning, as it happens. We picked a huge pile of strawberries at Seiple Farms. In the afternoon, I canned up some fresh strawberry jam, and sure enough - Nicky liked that too! Now if we could just get him to eat hot dogs without throwing up...

School's Out!

And that means the Hellertown pool is not only open, it's THE place to be for Saucon Valley kids. The kids talked me into taking them to the pool early in their vacation. I thought it was a bit silly since we were going to get Dorney passes, and Dorney has a waterpark. But swimming at the pool isn't all about swimming, apparently.
Kairi and Nicky found so many friends at the pool with them. Everywhere I looked, there was another kid we know. They didn't want to leave, but we did have to pick up Daddy eventually!
Who knew? I guess I've been depriving the kids of the the hot social spot for summer fun in Saucon! Too bad for them, I'm still not getting passes - since they're leaving for Grandma's on Tuesday!

Kairi's Babysitting Service

Kairi has been such a help with babysitting Faith and Juli. We've been watching them when Barry and Cyndy's schedules conflict. Sure, we aren't about to leave Juli with Kairi all by herself, but she's pretty good at taking care of one of the sisters while I take care of the other. It's great having such a responsible, helpful daughter!