"My, People Come And Go So Quickly Here!"

Yes, I had visitors!  No, it wasn't a beautiful witch traveling in a bubble, and no it wasn't a terrible witch traveling in a ball of fire.  It was my sweet Mom and my brothers...and they traveled by plane!!

We had so much fun and I can't believe they are gone already.  I am depressed, and we all know how I get when my visitors leave.  It's not a pretty sight.  But we did so many fun things, many of which were "firsts" for us all.

We went to the University of Florida's Natural History Museum.  It was awesome.  They have a Butterfly Rainforest that we loved.  It is a huge area where hundreds of species of butterflies flutter around.  You walk on a little path and at your feet you can find tiny Button Quail families walking around, all in a row.  Normally all these butterflies would really freak me out but I loved it.  And I finally saw the Blue Morpho Butterfly in person that Go, Diego, Go is always rescuing.  

A couple of days later we went to our favorite beach in St. Petersburg.  All 7 of us stayed in a great condo right on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico.  Normally we are Cali Beach-homers but this beach puts them to shame.  The waves are minimal, the water is about 80 degrees, and you can find the best seashells.   Huge ones, and whole, live sand dollars.  Andrew found a huge sand dollar, but when he found out it was alive (because it was a reddish color) he got freaked out and accidentally dropped it, shattering it. Hee hee.  Deacon loved the beach!  He loved the water and playing in the sand, and chasing birds!  Scarlett didn't last too long on the beach.  She didn't want to hang out in her Bumbo that long.  

While in St. Pete we went to see the RED SOX play the Tampa Bay Rays! 

YES!  Our first MLB game in a long time and the very first game for our kids!  They did so good! Deacon was more than content to sit in his chair and eat his tub of popcorn and cheered along when we all cheered.  He even learned to say "Youuuuk" when Kevin Youkilis was up to bat. And Deacon looked especially handsome in his brand new Jason Varitek t-shirt!

Scarlett was so good, too!  She was so content being passed around from family member to family member and wasn't even disturbed when the crowd went crazy in the first inning when Dustin Pedroia hit a homer (who, by the way, almost hit for the cycle that night!)!

It was definately a bummer that the Sox got swept that series.  I guess that just means that the Rays (and their fair-weather/out-numbered fans) are legit this season. 

 

On the Fourth of July we went to get a ton of fireworks!  Most of them were totally 'illegals'. Even though they aren't illegal here, we will call them 'illegals' because they would be 'illegals' in Utah and it makes us feel like we're breaking the law.  We came back and played in the backyard with Deacon while he played in his pool with the hose and Mom pushed Scars in the swing.  That night we let off the fireworks.  My whole street was firework central and everybody watched everybody's fireworks.  Deac loved the fireworks, Scarlett didn't.  He watched and did Sparklers and Pop-Its until the frogs came out and he was distracted, and when the frogs come out that is my cue to GO IN.

The next day, Mom and the Bro.'s left bright and early.  Sad.  But we had so much fun.  I love them and miss them terribly.  Thanks for coming!!  Now, we just have to decide if we can afford to have me, Deacon and Scarlett come next month, what with airlines going all cra-zay-zy on us, who knows.  

Oh, and Dad......we REALLY  missed you!  You MUST come next time!