Family Fun Day at the Pool

This past Sat. was Maple Creek's Family Fun Day. The subdivision rented a huge slide that emptied into a pool. While the kids certainly enjoyed it, I think the adults had more fun. I wish I took pictures, but it was certainly a sight to see. Tim and I did join in, and, of course, were the first to get hurt. Tim, not following good safety procedures, did not wait for the person in front of him to clear the pool before he slid. In order to avoid wiping out his neighbor's legs, Tim put his feet down fast at the bottom and twisted his ankle. I, in turn, went to put my feet down at the bottom and split my toe nail on a mat at the bottom of the pool. We were quite a pair!

In addition to the slide, there were tents and tables set up for a barbecue lunch. They even served hot dogs in which they bought 100 for $10. (They were actually good.) It was truly fun hanging out and catching up with friends.

It's a Girl!

We found out yesterday that Dana is having a girl! While we would be happy with either sex, it will be nice that our "Della" will have a girl cousin close to her age. Although the wait time just seems to be getting longer and longer, the girls should be within a year of each other's ages. I'm just thankful that she is healthy....and I can't wait to go shopping!

Vegas, Baby!

Tim and I traveled to Las Vegas last week for an AP National Conference and for some R & R. I don't remember the last time we went away for a few days with just the two of us. It was a great time for us to reconnect and just have fun. The first day we walked through many of the hotels on the strip; they are like little towns on their own. While I was at the conference Fri. and Sat., Tim gambled (played in some poker tournaments) and layed out by the pool in our hotel...It was only a "cool" 107 degrees! At night we ate at wonderful restaurants, shopped, and gambled a little more. We even were able to buy third row seats to Cirque de Soliel's Mystere. It was a wonderful show!

All in all we had a great time, but I don't think I would choose to go back for vacation. I much prefer the beach and only 95 degree weather. :o)

Tim and I ate at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in The Venetian, the hotel we stayed at. This was our first night in Vegas. If you look closely, you can see the canal behind us where singing gondola drivers carry people through the streets.

This is one of the singing gondola drivers. In the background you can see the streets of the Venetian where many shops resided...including Ann Taylor, my favorite.

Our room was a suite, very nice. This is the king-size bed we had.

This is a view of our room from our bed. The suites were very nice and spacious.

The photo above is just a small portion of the outside of the Venetian. It was beautiful, but also gaudy...a little like Disney World.

Above is just a small piece of the famous Ceasar's Palace. Hotels went on for blocks.

The Mirage is the hotel where Sigfried and Roy used to do their famous animal act. When you enter the hotel, you see this beautiful white tiger.

Sigfried and Roy also developed the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage. They actually had their first live dophin birth there this year. Above, you can see Duchess, the mother, and Seargent Pepper, the baby dolphin. You can sit right on the edge of their tank to view them.

Lions were also at the exhibit...

...as were beautiful tigers. See how close I got?

Tim and I ate at Margaritaville, Jimmy Buffet's restaurant, the second night we were there. The atmosphere was great; people ate in boats....The food was good too.

Sad News....

Returning home from St. Augustine was bitter-sweet. While it's always good to come home, we came home to a household one animal short. I had to put Katie, our seventeen and one-half year old Calico, to sleep yesterday. She stopped eating when we were gone and started having seizures. (She's diabetic.) Unfortunately, she never recovered from them.

This is a hard loss for all of us, but especially me since I've had her since college. She was a good friend and will be missed....

The picture above is of Katie with Maya just a few weeks ago.

St. Augustine Vacation

Zach and Hannah in their favorite place, the ocean...

The bathing beauty herself...

The kids rode their boogie boards in the surf every day.

We just returned from a wonderful week of vacation in St. Augustine, FL with Dana and Scott. The sand and sun were warm, and the ocean was a perfect temperature, refreshing. The kids and men spent mornings on the beach boggie boarding, swimming, and building sand castles (See above.) while Dana and I walked on the beach and vegged in our lounge chairs. A particularly great picture of her vegging with her "baby bump" is below. The men even woke up early a few mornings to surf.

In the afternoons, we walked through the old city, played mini-golf, shopped, layed by the pool and swam, and ate at wonderful restaurants. Tim and I even took Zach on one of the ghost tours one evening. We had fun listening to the stories and taking photos with our camera phone, but no spirits appeared...that we know of.

We've been going on vacation with Dana and Scott for five years now, (We did skip a year.) and the best part is just spending time with each other. Although we keep in touch via emails and telephone calls during the year and see each other briefly on holidays, it's a wonderful chunk of time for us to reconnect. This year was especially fun with Dana expecting. She looks beautiful and, as long as she ate often and on time, she was happy. I can't wait for the arrival of my niece or nephew. I know Dana and Scott will make the best parents.

From Hannah:

The alligator farm was the best! Maximo was a lazy crocodile. I got a stuffed crocodile at the gift shop named maximo. Plus, I got a webkinz for winning the coloring contest ( I gave it to Zach since I already hade a basset hound.) But I got a webkinz dalmation named Amanda.

The surfer dudes before hitting the waves one morning....

Dana and her 15 week "baby bump"....