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Friday, February 24, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
It is what parenting is all about...
Lil' Bit's one goal in life is to grow. In fact, the way we finally got her to sleep all night in her own bed was to tell her that she grows in her sleep but only when she sleeps though the night in her own bed. Every morning, she comes in to our bedroom and asks if she grew last night and we always react with astonishment at how much she has sprung up. But, she has indeed grown since coming home four years ago.
We have one of those extra thick mattresses and box springs and our bed is a little on the high side. To compensate, we had one of the low profile bed frames. When Lil's Bit first came home from China, she had to climb up onto my bedside table before being able to climb into our bed. But, eventually, she was able to climb directly up into the bed .
Our bed frame broke the other day and after propping it up with a block of wood for a week, we finally had a chance to buy a new frame. I sent my husband out to fetch the new frame and he came home with a regular frame rather than a low profile one. While I enjoy a tall bed, we had a chuckle over the fact that Lil' Bit would not be able to sneak in the bed int he middle of the night unless we put a stool out for her. That's when we hatched the plan... Let's not say anything and see if she figures out the bed is different.
When Lil' Bit came home from school, my husband and I ran into the bedroom and laid on the bed. We called Lil' Bit over to jump into the bed fro a little snuggle time. She took her usual running start, put her arms onto the bed and tried to scramble up. Two tries later, she finally made it. That is when the fun began. We proceeded to convince her that she apparently had shrunk. Isn't that why we all had kids in the first place? So that we would have someone to play tricks on.
We did eventually tell her the truth.
But she's keeping an eye on us.
We have one of those extra thick mattresses and box springs and our bed is a little on the high side. To compensate, we had one of the low profile bed frames. When Lil's Bit first came home from China, she had to climb up onto my bedside table before being able to climb into our bed. But, eventually, she was able to climb directly up into the bed .
Our bed frame broke the other day and after propping it up with a block of wood for a week, we finally had a chance to buy a new frame. I sent my husband out to fetch the new frame and he came home with a regular frame rather than a low profile one. While I enjoy a tall bed, we had a chuckle over the fact that Lil' Bit would not be able to sneak in the bed int he middle of the night unless we put a stool out for her. That's when we hatched the plan... Let's not say anything and see if she figures out the bed is different.
When Lil' Bit came home from school, my husband and I ran into the bedroom and laid on the bed. We called Lil' Bit over to jump into the bed fro a little snuggle time. She took her usual running start, put her arms onto the bed and tried to scramble up. Two tries later, she finally made it. That is when the fun began. We proceeded to convince her that she apparently had shrunk. Isn't that why we all had kids in the first place? So that we would have someone to play tricks on.
We did eventually tell her the truth.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Happy Valentine's Day!!
We interrupt the Florida Trip Report to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. My husband and I don't dot he flowers and cards thing but he did cook a decadent dinner of an nice cut of steak, homemade mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, store bought bread but warmed up and served with homemade garlic butter. I hope everyone else had a nice day as well.
Back to the Florida trip:
When we originally planned the trip, I had intentionally not booked much int he way of activities. I figured that we would either check out a beach or the kids would frolic in the pool for hours while I swam a little and caught some sun. Oh, how the best laid plans.... It was COLD! After the Aquarium trip, we headed back to the hotel. Big Boy is fascinated with hot tubs and wanted to try out the one at the hotel from the moment he saw it. While I had vetoed his going down at 10:00 on Friday night, I did tell him we would get a chance to enjoy it on Saturday. When we got back to the hotel, my two little crazies changed into their swim suits and headed straight for the hot tub.
I, being the only sane one in the bunch, opted to stay dressed and bundled up in my jacket and three pool towels. They played in the tub for a while but eventually succumbed tot eh weather and we headed back to the room.
After the hot tub, we headed out for dinner. Craving Chinese food, I asked the front desk for suggestions. The clerk recommended a place called "The Country Buffet" She insisted that it was a Chinese place. We found it easily enough and sure enough, the sign out front identified it as the "Country Super Buffet". How could we go wrong? It had the word 'super' in the mane of the place.
It turned out to be a huge Chinese buffet with a sushi bar and hibachi. We had what we called "Adventure eating" In addition to my sushi plate, I tried a frog leg. Big Boy ate his first crawfish, and then several more after that.
Lil' Bit and I couldn't get enough of the steamed clams
We received a phone call from my husband during dinner. He had been looking at the flight information for the following day and realized that our original flight, departing at 5:00 PM was overbooked and it was unlikely that we would find three seats. I had booked the rental car up into the evening and had arraigned a late hotel check out but with the weather being so freaking cold, we decided to just get out of dodge. So, we had my husband book us on an early morning flight. We left Clearwater at 7:00AM Sunday morning on a half full plane. We made it home early enough on Sunday to get Lil' Bit's Valentine's cards and mailbox done a day early and even finished her 100 day of school project a week early. Big Boy had plenty of time to pay video games with his friend and I got the suitcases unpacked. in the end, we were glad to have been booked on a earlier flight.
I am not putting the suitcases away though. We are headed back to Florida in just about a week and a half - this time to Disney.
Back to the Florida trip:
I, being the only sane one in the bunch, opted to stay dressed and bundled up in my jacket and three pool towels. They played in the tub for a while but eventually succumbed tot eh weather and we headed back to the room.
After the hot tub, we headed out for dinner. Craving Chinese food, I asked the front desk for suggestions. The clerk recommended a place called "The Country Buffet" She insisted that it was a Chinese place. We found it easily enough and sure enough, the sign out front identified it as the "Country Super Buffet". How could we go wrong? It had the word 'super' in the mane of the place.
It turned out to be a huge Chinese buffet with a sushi bar and hibachi. We had what we called "Adventure eating" In addition to my sushi plate, I tried a frog leg. Big Boy ate his first crawfish, and then several more after that.
Lil' Bit and I couldn't get enough of the steamed clams
We received a phone call from my husband during dinner. He had been looking at the flight information for the following day and realized that our original flight, departing at 5:00 PM was overbooked and it was unlikely that we would find three seats. I had booked the rental car up into the evening and had arraigned a late hotel check out but with the weather being so freaking cold, we decided to just get out of dodge. So, we had my husband book us on an early morning flight. We left Clearwater at 7:00AM Sunday morning on a half full plane. We made it home early enough on Sunday to get Lil' Bit's Valentine's cards and mailbox done a day early and even finished her 100 day of school project a week early. Big Boy had plenty of time to pay video games with his friend and I got the suitcases unpacked. in the end, we were glad to have been booked on a earlier flight.
I am not putting the suitcases away though. We are headed back to Florida in just about a week and a half - this time to Disney.
Monday, February 13, 2012
A Dolphin Tale
My last post indicated that my readers were to complete homework assignment. Everyone was supposed to watch the movie "Dolphin Tale". In case some had other things to do this weekend and have not actually completed this homework assignment, I will quickly recap the movie.
Dolphin Tale is based on the true story of a dolphin who was found washed up on the beach with a crab trap line wrapped around her tail. She was rescued by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and taken to their facility. Sadly, the circulation to Winter's tail was cut off for too long and her tail had to be amputated. Winter learned to swim without a tail but her adapted swimming technique was causing severe damage to her spine and it was feared that this would eventually lead to her death. A prosthetic tail was built and she learned to use it. This saved her life. In the mean time, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium depends mostly on grants and donations to operate and was struggling. The aquarium was in danger of closing and if it did, there was no other facility willing to take on Winter with her disability. It looked like she was going to have to be put to sleep. You have to see the movie to watch how this eventually plays out but - spoiler alert - the dolphin and aquarium are both still around. Which brings us to our recent trip.
This past Friday evening, the kids and I hopped on a plane and went toClearwater Florida Tampa
Saturday morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It was...eh, OK but affordable. I paid $11 and the kids were free. We set off early for the aquarium because I had read that it gets crowded.
I had also read numerous reviews online and they ranged from very good to very, very poor. My review is more on the positive side but in a way, that is due tot he poor reviews. See, I went into this with the mindset that the entry fee ($50 for the three of us) was my donation to the good works done by the facility. There was a poor variety of animals on display and they were also few in numbers but I also had a positive spin on this. The aquarium is actually not a show aquarium like the Baltimore Aquarium or an attraction like Sea World. It is a marine rescue facility and the fact that it is sparsely populated means that either there are few animals needed rehabilitation right now or they have done such a wonderful job that they have sent many back into the ocean. There were a few too many donation boxes around for my taste considering my recent $50 donation but I can see why they have them around.
About every fifteen minutes, there was one demonstration or another. The volunteers would talk about the particular animals that were there and then discuss the dangers these animals face and what we can do to prevent the injuries and illness that brought them there.
There were actually only four dolphins in the facility and they did not do any tricks or performances but that was not why we were there. We came to see Winter. And she was sweet and interacted with the crowd (which at first consisted of only about ten people). She looked the kids right in the eye and made the famous whistling and clicking sounds. She was not wearing her prosthetic tail and I was later told that she really only wears it for about an hour and a half a day for physical therapy.
There was one big display tank and the kids befriended a large fish
One of my favorite sections was the otter tank. These adorable furry creatures scampered around like little kids on the playground. One of the otters was there because an accident with a car left his hind legs paralyzed but it didn't seem to slow him down.
I think the kids' favorite was the sting ray touch tank. They spent an enormous amount of time petting the rays. Big Boy was a little hesitant at first by Lil' Bit jumped right in (figuratively)
Big Boy got a chance to hold Winter's prosthetic tail
Included in the price of admission was a trolley ride and admission to the Dolphin Tale Adventure across town. This was a museum about the making of the movie. Big Boy had a very good time. Sadly, Lil' Bit had a bit of a hunger inspired meltdown which was quickly cured by a giant Starbucks Cookie
Dolphin Tale is based on the true story of a dolphin who was found washed up on the beach with a crab trap line wrapped around her tail. She was rescued by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and taken to their facility. Sadly, the circulation to Winter's tail was cut off for too long and her tail had to be amputated. Winter learned to swim without a tail but her adapted swimming technique was causing severe damage to her spine and it was feared that this would eventually lead to her death. A prosthetic tail was built and she learned to use it. This saved her life. In the mean time, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium depends mostly on grants and donations to operate and was struggling. The aquarium was in danger of closing and if it did, there was no other facility willing to take on Winter with her disability. It looked like she was going to have to be put to sleep. You have to see the movie to watch how this eventually plays out but - spoiler alert - the dolphin and aquarium are both still around. Which brings us to our recent trip.
This past Friday evening, the kids and I hopped on a plane and went to
Saturday morning we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It was...eh, OK but affordable. I paid $11 and the kids were free. We set off early for the aquarium because I had read that it gets crowded.
I had also read numerous reviews online and they ranged from very good to very, very poor. My review is more on the positive side but in a way, that is due tot he poor reviews. See, I went into this with the mindset that the entry fee ($50 for the three of us) was my donation to the good works done by the facility. There was a poor variety of animals on display and they were also few in numbers but I also had a positive spin on this. The aquarium is actually not a show aquarium like the Baltimore Aquarium or an attraction like Sea World. It is a marine rescue facility and the fact that it is sparsely populated means that either there are few animals needed rehabilitation right now or they have done such a wonderful job that they have sent many back into the ocean. There were a few too many donation boxes around for my taste considering my recent $50 donation but I can see why they have them around.
About every fifteen minutes, there was one demonstration or another. The volunteers would talk about the particular animals that were there and then discuss the dangers these animals face and what we can do to prevent the injuries and illness that brought them there.
There were actually only four dolphins in the facility and they did not do any tricks or performances but that was not why we were there. We came to see Winter. And she was sweet and interacted with the crowd (which at first consisted of only about ten people). She looked the kids right in the eye and made the famous whistling and clicking sounds. She was not wearing her prosthetic tail and I was later told that she really only wears it for about an hour and a half a day for physical therapy.
There was one big display tank and the kids befriended a large fish
I think the kids' favorite was the sting ray touch tank. They spent an enormous amount of time petting the rays. Big Boy was a little hesitant at first by Lil' Bit jumped right in (figuratively)
Big Boy got a chance to hold Winter's prosthetic tail
Much of the movie was filmed at the actual facility and the adjacent canal. The houseboat from the movie was still on location.
This was in the same canal that the big race scene took place.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Homework assignment
In preparation for my next blog post, you have the following homework assignment: watch the movie "Dolphin Tale"
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Polar Bear Plunge
Awesome event, amazing weather and money raised for a great cause. The boys raised $1585 so far with more money coming in. The entire event has raised $2,143,660.00 !!
Friday, January 27, 2012
A sad day
A sad, sad day. We won't be able to make to the auction tomorrow (sniff, sniff). But, it is for a really good cause. Tomorrow, Big Boy is taking the big plunge into the Chesapeake Bay to raise money for Special Olympics. He has formed a team of 23 members and his team has raised more than $1,500 for this very worthy cause. They will be taking the plunge in the icy lukewarm waters tomorrow at 1:00. Yes, the big event will be taking place in 50 degree weather. I told Big Boy that he needs to jump in the bay again in late February just to make it fair. I did hear that the water temp is 39 degrees if that evens it out any.
It is never too late to donate so if you have been meaning to but the date sneaked up on you, get online and make a donation now. You can access Big Boy's donation page by clicking the thermometer to the right of this post.
It is never too late to donate so if you have been meaning to but the date sneaked up on you, get online and make a donation now. You can access Big Boy's donation page by clicking the thermometer to the right of this post.
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