Day Four - Thursday

We didn't want to have too much planned the next few days because we wanted to spend as much time at the beach as possible.  It was going to be 2 beautiful days and we wanted to take advantage of it.  Katie was upset because we didn't think we'd have time to get to G-Wiz (a children's science museum)....her #1 activity on her list.  It was just hard to think about spending a whole day inside.  So I made her a promise that we'd make a special trip to The Works back in MN which is an older kid's museum concentrated around "how things work".

We went down to the beach after breakfast.  Since we weren't staying in a hotel - we were on our own for breakfast.  We had picked up a box of cereal, milk, bread, jelly, and coffee the night before so we figured that'd get us by.  It was so nice down in the sand we stayed there til about 1:00, and then headed to a little shopping village to grab lunch and do some shopping.  The sand was insanely soft.  It had such a nice feel to it, it was hard to keep your hands out of it.  And the crazy thing was that after you rub your hands around in it....your hands actually felt cleaner - not dirtier.  And you didn't have the yucky "I have sand all over me" feeling.  It brushed right off. 

We ate lunch at a place called Gilligan's....and it was happy hour. :)  After lunch we found some t-shirts, a Christmas ornament for our tree, a necklace for Katie, and a space ship for Will.  After shopping, we hit the beach again and stayed there til after sunset.  It was just beautiful.  I took the opportunity to run along the beach - which is a very popular thing to do.  The sand is so packed down in some places from high tide that it's very easy to walk/run on.  So I ran about 1.25 miles upbeach and then ran back.  It was so wonderful and something that I wish I could do every day - what a treat!

I'm not sure what "cracked" in Will, but he got SUPER excited to be on the beach today.....he said he was being the "Red Tornado"....

When I got back, John went for a swim out in the gulf....he said it was a little cold at first, but pretty nice. 

I got a bunch of beautiful sunset pictures and I'm hoping one will look nice blown up bigger.

Day Three Continued......Wednesday afternoon

After the aquarium, we grabbed a bite to eat in their diner and then waited to get on the boat that would take us out in the bay.  We were doing an "explorer cruise" through the aquarium that would take us on a little nature walk on a small man-made island, and allow us opportunity to spot dolphins and other sea life out in the bay. 

We did get to see some dolphins diving around in the water, and some pretty awesome houses that we were told are only occupied a few weeks to a few months a year. 

It's hard to tell the difference between sea sickness and boredom....luckily, this turned out to be boredom.

On the way back to the docks, the naturalists on board threw out a net to see what they could scoop up.  We were lucky enough to get to see a big sea horse, a puffer fish (which they made "puff up" and was quite funny), a bunch of different types of crabs, a sea urchin, and a handful of different kinds of fish. 

After the boat ride, we headed south a bit to check into our condo/resort.  We stayed at a place called The Palm Bay Club.  We got a condo in their "Tower" which was right on the beach, and plenty of room to spread out for a few days. 

Our home for 3 nights.

The first night on Siesta Key we went to eat at a seafood place just down the road from where we were staying called Captain Curt's Crab Shack.  The kids got their food served on a cool frisbee they could take home.  We all split a dozen raw oysters too - well, John and I split it.  Katie did have a few bites. 

Will had some fish sticks....and found that he rather liked tarter sauce sucked through the straw.

Ick.  So would you rather eat raw oysters....or tarter sauce via straw?





Day Three.....Wednesday

If you haven't read Day 1 or Day 2.....scroll back and start there.

So we woke up early Wednesday, had breakfast at the hotel as we had done the previous morning.  Thanks to the complimentary waffles, eggs and cereal we hadn't had to spend $ on breakfast yet.  We had gone swimming at the hotel pool each of the 2 nights we'd been there.  It was chilly, but not terrible.  Plus, soaking in the hot tub afterwards always made it worthwhile.  We had the entire pool area to ourselves each night which was also very nice. 

Wednesday we had to pack up though and move to a new resort/condo on Siesta Key Beach.  We figured we'd save money by staying at a $100 a night hotel for a few nights, and then splurging and staying on the beach for 3 nights. 

We had plans to go to Mote Aquarium today with a 1:30 pm boat ride out into Sarasota Bay to see animals, fish, etc.   Then we'd go check out our new place at the beach.  The aquarium was a lot of fun.  I think the best part was the building with the loggerhead turtles, manatees and dolphins.  The dolphin area was under construction so we weren't able to see them, but the turtles and manatees were amazing!  There were 2 huge manatees that swam around and when Katie and Will stood along the tank, one would come up and give them kisses through the glass.  He did this every 90 seconds or so...it was way too darn cute. 

Here comes the smooch!!!!

The manatees only eat Romaine leettuce and are really, really stinking adorable.  I think they are one of my new favorite animals.  Unfortunately we didn't see any out on the boat because they don't like the colder water.  So they actually head north in the Gulf of Mexico during the winter months and spend it along the northern coast were all the power plants are.  But usually in the Sarasota area they said there are between 60-100 manatees in their waters. 

Katie as a green sea turtle.

Day Two Continued.....Tuesday afternoon.

John and I were beat after we got back to the hotel Tuesday afternoon, but the kids seemed to have this bottomless source of energy because they wanted to go mini-golfing.  We had found this place that has alligators that you can feed after you golf on something resembling a pirate ship.  We all got changed and headed to check it out.  It was pretty cool - you used these long poles to dangle little bits of dried meat in front of the baby alligators (still about 4 feet long) and they would chop at it. 

After golfing, we drove up to Longboat Key and Lido Beach - which is an area just a bit north of Sarasota.  We walked on the beach for a bit here where the sand was softer and whiter than Caspersen.....but still not as soft and white as Siesta Key that we'd see later. 

Day Two......Tuesday

The kids woke up early....apparently the time change made no difference to them because they seemed to start stirring as soon as they saw the clock hit 7, even though it was an hour earlier in MN.  In fact, they did that every morning.

On the agenda for today - hit the beach.  We had read about Caspersen Beach which is the southernmost beach in Venice, FL.  Here, they say, you can find a collection of great shells, along with shark teeth.  So we headed off with high hopes.  It's not quite as easy as they say....but we did find a few.  The shells were also quite large and very unique looking. 

When we first started out from the hotel....it was a little cloudy and felt comfortable (temperature wise)...when got to the beach, it was hot!  I was wishing that I had thrown in John's and my swimsuit, but was thankful that I had the kids' along.  Oh well, whatever we got wet would dry out eventually. 

Katie and her shells.

Will's favorite shell-find.

The beach here was pretty rough - lots of rocks, and the sand was quite dark and black in spots.  They say this is from the erosion of the rocks, shells and teeth that collect there from the Gulf currents.

Caspersen Beach



We left the beach and drove into Venice to find a place to eat lunch.  It quickly became apparent that this little town was FULL of retirees that had nowhere to be at 1:30 pm on a Tuesday because traffic was HORRIBLE and there wasn't a parking place to be found.  Finally we found a place on the outskirts of downtown called Pineapples Island Grill where we had a nice lunch outside before we headed back to Sarasota.

Day One.....Monday

We left early Monday morning for the airport.  Our plane was leaving at 9:05 am, and we wanted to be heading for the airport around 6:30 am.  So I got up and started the coffee about 5:30 am, and started waking the kids up at 5:45 am.  I had clothes laid out for each of them so that there was no time spent deciding what to wear.  We were all packed - done mostly the night before and all we had to do was eat breakfast. 

We were on the road around 6:30, and had parked the car in a lot and were being shuttled over to the terminal with about 2 hours before take-off.  Security was the next hurdle - the kids had to take their shoes off, and the three of us were escorted through the metal detector while John got "body scanned."  It went very smoothly and quite quickly, so we had plenty of time to get to our gate, grab a snack and hit the bathrooms. 

Katie and our plane.

We first flew to Atlanta, GA.  We had about an hour and a half before the second flight which was just enough time to hit the bathrooms, grab a bite to eat and allow Will to spill lemonade all over his pants.  :)  Luckily, I had thrown in an extra pair at the last minute before we left - it was just a bit to cold to change into shorts just yet. 

We got to Sarasota around 4:00 pm.  John won the contest of "Guess the Color of the Rental Car" with gray (Cheve Impala), put the car seats in (which we feel were grossly overcharged at almost $20 a day...but, what are you gonna do?)  Then headed off to find our hotel that we'd be staying at for the next 2 nights.  Once we got unloaded we drove off to buy Katie a pair of swim goggles because we couldn't find hers before we left MN.  We found a swim shop still open and grabbed some goggles along with some sand toys, sun block and a frisbee. 

Will and John outside the swim shop.

Katie wanted her own picture.

Last stop was supper at Trader Vic's.....a cool little dive right next to our hotel.  Supper was topped off with a perfect slice of Key Lime pie - which John and I split because the kids each got ice cream with their supper. 

Our room had 2 queen beds, which initially had Katie and Will sharing a bed.  About 2 hours in though, Katie had had enough of Will and she and I switched places.  I don't blame her....by 7 am I had had enough too!  Will was a kicking, bed hog of a worm. :)



Florida Vacation....

Good grief - where do I start?  We got home last night after spending 6 days in sunny Florida....well, partly cloudy Florida.  The weather was funny - it literally would change every 10 minutes.  It would go from sunny clear skies to partly cloudy, to fully cloudy, and back to clear again within an hour it seemed.  Overall I think we had great weather.  It rained when we got down there Monday afternoon - in fact, the airplane couldn't land at first because of the wind, so we had to go back up and circle around again. 

So, I've been thinking about how I should cover our trip on here, and I think I'm going to take Katie's idea and do a post per Florida day....with an extra post here and there if I have too many pictures.  If nothing else, it will be a reminder for us about what we did each day.

And though I can remember WHERE we ate....can't remember WHAT we ate at each place so here's a summary.....the kids survived on a menu of hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and pizza.  John and I ate some yummy seafood over the week which included crab, grouper, mahi mahi, raw oysters, tuna, shrimp, and some others that I'm forgetting.  It's a good thing I didn't take my fish oil vitamins along because I obviously didn't need them!

Silly Saturday



This just makes me laugh.....pay attention to the title of each position in the upper left hand corner.  Sorry it's so small!



Nap time....

Ahhh, it's nap time right now for the little one that I watch.  My oldest is at school and my son is having some computer time.  I am supposed to be working out, but have chosen The People's Court and a can of pop over that....for now. 

Even though the weather has been very cooperative, I haven't gotten outside to run 3+ miles since around New Years.  I have gotten back into the treadmill, but only 2-3 miles at a time.  It's all I can muster to do in the basement.  I feel good about the upcoming running season though and my races that I want to do. 

So far on my "want to do" list is.....
- a 5k in May for "Get Your Rear in Gear" - a colon cancer coalition event.
      "We are sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers and friends who have been affected by colon cancer and want to do something. Some of us are colon cancer survivors while others are those who work to honor those lost to this disease. We are a coalition that has formed 5K's and other events in cities across the country, working together with health care providers, corporations and the media, to encourage people to "Get Your Rear in Gear" and talk about colon cancer with their doctor, their loved ones and everyone they know. Together, we will positively impact this disease."  A bunch of us are running in honor of a friend who passed away from this last year.

- a 10k the day BEFORE the above race. :)  It'll just be a moving kind of weekend.

- possible a 5k in May for a fundraiser I did last year....they had a good t-shirt last year.

- the 5 mile race in July for Hopkins Raspberry Festival....IF the temperature is below 100 degrees....ok 90.....ok 85. 

- a YWCA sprint triathlon......swimming/biking/running.  Which one of those is the MOST dangerous? :)  For me anyway....  But I can do it.

- and probably the Ragnar Relay.  WHAT is that, you ask??? 

From their website......
"JOIN THE RAGNAR NATION: A 2 day party in a van with a side of running.
Ragnar Great River is a unique team event that combines running with a traveling party, scenic views, smelly vans, and lasting memories. Ragnar Great River is for everyone, from the novice runner to the 10x marathoner.
Starting in the beautiful river town of Winona, runners will encounter challenging terrain and beautiful scenery as they run ‘up river’ along the Mississippi, ending in Minneapolis with a finish line party worthy of 200 miles of stamina, courage and teamwork."

Basically a team of 12 take turns running legs of a 200 mile race from Winona to Minneapolis....through the day and night.  You catch some shut eye in the van while you can. :)  We are trying to get together an all female team.  In theory it sounds like fun.  Thankfully we have marathoners on our team who are already assigned the longest legs. 

So that's that.  Oh, and quite soon I plan to run outside.....one a beach.....next to crystal blue water.....in 70+ degree weather........

Friday Funny

A house of patients....and patience

Last week as Katie was sick, one member of our family was missing.  Molly spent the night at the vet's office Wednesday night recovering from surgery.  She had gotten spayed on Wednesday morning, and they kept her overnight.  We picked her up Thursday around noon.  Luckily, Katie was up for a ride to go get her.  The vet's office had given me pain medication for her and informed me that they were unable to administer any to her because "Molly hated them."  She always immediately tried to scratch and bite them anytime they came near her.  It made me feel quite good that she did nothing like that to us when we got her home and she let me give her her medicine every time we needed to.

They also sent her home with a "cone of shame", which the kids thought was funny at first.  But when they realized what a struggle it was for her to function with it on they felt quite sorry for her.  She is supposed to wear the cone for 2 weeks to prevent her licking and biting at her stitches.  At first I thought that 2 weeks was way too long, but it's been a week today....and I guess I'd rather keep it on as long as we have to so that we don't have to deal with re-stitching anything right before we leave for Florida.  I can't have Molly here at the house alone unless she's cone-free and back to her old self.  I do take it off once a day so that she can groom herself - it drives her nuts that she can't lick her paws and clean her face.  When she has it on, she pretty much just stays put in 1 or 2 places all day long and all night.  It's a chore just to make sure that she's eating and drinking. 

The gang watching old Bug Bunny cartoons on You Tube.

Molly hung out in Katie's bed with her for most of the day on Thursday.

Katie is back to her old self, I would say.  Will never really did get sick with anything.  John had just a touch of it, but was more tired and wiped out than anything else.  I'm glad that it seems to have gotten through us before our trip. 

Oh our trip - it's coming up and I'm busy getting things straight in my head preparing for it.  I think I have the packing some what organized out.  Katie and Will should be able to share a carry-on for their clothes and things.  My things should fit in the other carry-on and then we will check a bag with John's stuff and the kids' life jackets.  Some things are already packed because I doubt we will need flip flops and shorts in Minnesota in January. 

I've also got a few surprises for the kids for their bookbags that they'll take on the airplane filled with stuff to keep them busy.  Ok, they won't be "filled"....afterall, I'm hoping to have room to bring things back with us.  And traveling with a 4 year old and a 7 year old should be much easier than a 2 year old.  Just looking out the window should be pretty exciting for the first 30 minutes, and there's always the ipad and ipod to keep them entertained.  However - I have some surprise books and snacks that they haven't had before that I think will make the trip extra special.  Oh, and I ordered some books for John and I too that I think will be good.

Nine Years Today....

Today marks mine and John's 9th Anniversary.  The years keep ticking by, as they do for everyone.  We had planned on going out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate.  I had a sitter lined up and ready to go, a gift card to use that we had been given at Christmas time, nothing could stand in out way.

Except a stomach virus.

I came down with it Monday night around 8 pm.  Just all of a sudden didn't feel good and it kept getting worse.  John checked on me before calling it a night on the couch downstairs, and I couldn't think of anything I needed.  I'll spare you the details, but I will say that I didn't get any sleep that night and was getting sick in the bathroom every 10-15 minutes like clockwork.  About 5 hours into it, I was losing my grip.  I was a whiny mess!  I just didn't want to be alone anymore - let alone be sick anymore, so I went downstairs and woke up John.  He asked what was wrong and I think I just muttered something about being sick.

And you know what he did?  He didn't complain about being awoken in the middle of the night, or tell me to stop crying.  He just rubbed my back.

And at that moment it was just what I needed.  Then he went to go get me water, and came back and sat with me for over half an hour.  Not once did he suggest I go back to bed, not once did he mention how tired he was himself.  I think if I hadn't left to go back upstairs, he'd have sat there with me til the sun came up. 

And THAT was the most meaningful gift I could have ever gotten for our anniversary. 

By the way - I was on the 10-15 minute schedule for about 9 hours.  It wiped me out.  Then, 2 days later, Katie got the same thing.  She was sick for 9 hours - every 10-15 minutes.  And you know what?  She never cried, she never complained (except about wanting to drink more water), and she even kept apologizing to me because I stayed up with her, and she felt bad because I didn't get to sleep.  What a trooper.  I tell you - she's tougher than me by a landslide.

Friday Funny

In honor of the weather finally turning over to winter....

Resolutions Review

I didn't really make any "resolutions" this year - officially.  I do have a "to-do" list for the year and I guess that's good enough.  Most of it centers around races I would like to complete this summer.  But I do remember that I made some LAST year and I thought it would be a good idea to take a look and see how I did on them.

1. Get paid regularly for something.  I wanted to try to make an effort to add a bit of money to the monthly budget so that I could help in our efforts to save.  Well, I've been getting paid for "Pebbles" since March and I think we've been able to do some family activities throughout the year that we normally wouldn't have done.  Well - maybe we would have done them anyway....  Mark this one DONE!

2.  Keep running and exercising.  This time last year I wasn't able to run a mile.  I had hurt my foot and had to start at the beginning of a running program.  I couldn't imagine being able to run 3 miles.  I kept at it pretty regularly, and was able to finish a 5 mile race and a duathlon.  The last 2 months of the year, I kinda fell off the wagon - but the weather stayed nice and I was able to run outside every 2 weeks or so.  Now I'm making a new promise to visit the treadmill over the next 2 months and run at least 2 miles twice a week.  And do other workouts in the meantime. Once the weather gets warmer outside, and the sun rises before 7:30, I'll start increasing that again.  Mark this one DONE!

3.  Get more organized.  Should have been more specific.  How am I supposed to measure this? 

4.  Drink more water.  Nope, sorry - I've sucked at this one.  I'm not drinking as much water as I should....

5.  Keep the family that I have.  Done. 

6.  Be more accepting of change.  I THINK I am.  I realized that I can adapt to anything as long as I have 6-8 months to do so. 

Upcoming vacation

We've made plans to go to Florida this winter and I've been searching for deals and coupons the last few weeks to use while we are there.  I've been able to find a coupon for $4 to save us on admission to the science museum for kids, and one for $8 to save us on admission to the aquarium and boat tours.  It's better than nothing.  I'm hoping to find a few for food as well.  It's certainly a nice perk the Internet gives. 

When we were planning the trip we initially tried to limit the amount of school that the kids would miss.  We thought we were being "good" parents by planning our trip around a week that there was already a day off from school, and only doing something like a Wed-Sun trip.  Quickly though, the trip evolved into more days off from school, but I took comfort in knowing that there was already a day off that week so they weren't missing too much. 

I just realized that I was looking at the wrong calendar - Will has a day off from school that week, but Katie doesn't.  So she will miss a whole week.  Oooops.  And you know what?  I don't really care. :)

My dream....before I forget

Geez, last night was a weird dream night.  I'll share what I remember, and you tell me what the heck it means.

I was at a party at someone's house.  No kids.  In fact, I didn't even have kids of my own.  There were lots of people there that I knew....from all areas of my life.  Laurel was there from college, and we talked about her job at the hospital.  John's work buddies were there haning out with John, etc.  Oh, and John was there too - but he was dating someone (who appeared to be) 30-40 years his senior .  It was like we had ended our relationship and he took up with this other person because there was still romantic tension between us.  And it was clear that he was not happy about being involved with the "older" woman.
My friend Anne C. was there and she was fairly plastered.  John kept asking me if I had given Anne's husband Mike a hug yet, and urging me to do so.  Now, I really like Mike....but....not much of a "hugger". :)
(I had to mention this because I think it will make Anne laugh.)
My friend Vickie was there as well and she kept telling me to eat a piece of cake.  When I did finally grab one, I spilled crumbs on the floor, which made the host of the party (the one person I did NOT know) angry that he had to clean it up.  Seems everyone else could eat their cake without making a mess. 

Finally the party seemed to be wrapping up - John was getting his coat on along with his "date's" (who couldn't get out of her chair) and I was so upset I ran out of the house and slept in a car, that I think was supposed to be mine.

There's always more that I forget, but that was the overall idea.  Seems like there were so many little details this time.....and so many people involved.  On another note - I'm really tired this morning.

Friday Funny

We had to take Molly to the vet today for an exam and some shots.  The vet said she is a very healthy, petite cat.  She gets "fixed" in 2 weeks, and they wanted to run all these blood tests to make sure that she could handle the anesthesia.  I refused all the tests and felt like a schmuck who doesn't love their cat.  I actually said "There's always more where Molly came from."  So in honor of cats everywhere.....

Iowa Christmas

Katie got a ping pong set for Christmas, and so the kitchen table was set for

ping pong for most of the time we spent in IA.  She really likes it and it works well on our table at home - even if it's a round table.

From about 1989 - 1996 my family ran "The Village Motel."  We rocked so much that my parents ordered coats for each of us with our names on them....cool - I know.    

We look like a retired gang back for one for one more hit.

Oddly enough, living at the "motel" was where I lived the longest while growing up.  Those 6 years were spent learning how to do "motel corners" while making beds, folding towels, sheets, vacuuming and cleaning toilets.  Actually, Dad was in charge of bathroom cleaning.  He never trusted me to do it - he did trust my sister Janet a handful of times though. 

Christmas summary

I realized I never shared any of our Christmas "doings" - so I'll do that now.  Once New Year's is over, Christmas seems like a LONG time ago!  I'm ready to take the decorations off the tree soon....it'll get picked up on the curb next week. 

Will was excited about the peanut butter cups in his stocking....

Katie was more excited about the toothpaste. 

Will's gift from Santa - the Toy Story Landfill playset.  Yes.....landfill. 

Katie and her awesome hypotrochoid art set.  It really is a lot of fun. 

Even more fun: looking at the graphing animation and formulas of these online. (really!)

Will (as Iron Man) and his entourage of Green Lanterns. 

The aftermath....

More to come....Christmas in Iowa.

We're back!

Happy New Year everyone!  The whirlwind of holiday activity is starting to settle down and a routine is looming ahead on the horizon again.  We spent the New Year weekend at home and it was great.  John had Friday through Monday off and we just hung out with the kids.  He took them to the library, sledding (sort of....in 2 inches of snow), and today everyone went bowling. 

I took a screen shot of my score because otherwise my mother and sister wouldn't have believed me. 

5 strikes in a row, baby!  182....so close to breaking 200, which I have never done before!

Oh, and if you're keeping track of the frogs, we are down one.  Three left.  One of Katie's appears to have died of natural causes.  She's taking it very well.  It was floating and wouldn't move, despite my pencil poking.  So I fished it out and threw it away....hoping to hell it doesn't hop back out of the garbage.