the Scoop from the Loop...

Evan's Birthday Party...

2009-12-13T19:25:00.005-05:00

Evan had his birthday party today! Bruce took him and a bunch of his friends to see The Blind Side...they all loved it!

Cruise !

2009-12-05T20:41:00.007-05:00

Just got back today from a 5 day cruise from Tampa to Grand Cayman then Cozumel! We had such a great time and we're already planning our next cruise! There were so many activities on board for the kids that we didn't see them most of the days because they were having so much fun at their "camps!" The kids loved the 24 hour pizzeria and ice cream machine and Evan even liked joining Bruce and I in the formal dining room!

We set sail out of Tampa on Monday afternoon. It was very cool sailing under the Skyway Bridge at night!

Another gorgeous Gulf sunset!

View from the upper deck onto the Lido Deck on the Inspiration
Setting sail!
Evan and Isabella with Funship Freddie...Evan got first place in the boys' dancing competition!

The ship had an awesome water slide and racing slides!
This is the view Bruce and I enjoyed on the upper deck of the ship while we sipped umbrella drinks, soaked in the sun and actually had uninterrupted conversations!
On Wednesday, we took a tender to Grand Cayman Island then took another boat to a sandbar called Stingray City!
Our view of the Inspiration from the tender.

Stingray City was amazing! The water was crystal clear and there were stingrays EVERYWHERE! You could hold them and they would pucker up and kiss you! And yes...they did still have their stingers, but they're very gentle and not at all aggressive.
Bruce getting a massage from a stingray...they feel like wet mushrooms!
Can you believe we found this while swimming with the stingrays?! Unfortunately, it was inhabited so we had to leave it.
On Thursday, we docked in Cozumel. We did a little shopping at the pier then set out on our own to the beach at Dzul Ha, where we rented snorkel equipment and had our own guide take us snorkeling on the reef. It was totally amazing as you can see from the video! Afterwards, we had a real Mexican lunch right on the water then headed to downtown San Miguel to explore the shops. We found a little store that had this crazy monkey swining outside. Her name was Pancha and she LOVED Evan's hair!

It was just an amazing trip and we made some awesome memories!

Thanksgiving 09

2009-11-28T13:29:00.005-05:00

We had an awesome Thanksgiving celebrated with good friends! I cooked the massive turkey and mashed potatoes and everyone else brought something else..Bruce even tried sweet potato casserole...and liked it! The Strobles and the Stilwells and all their kids joined us for a fun day of eating, swimming, games and football!

Isabella, Bruce and Gracie enjoying a little football!

Sea Plane Videos!

2009-11-23T20:05:00.003-05:00

Sea Plane!

2009-11-21T17:03:00.003-05:00

We won a ride on a sea plane at a local christian school silent auction so today was the day that Evan, Jonah and I went!
Evan and Christian, the pilot

Evan was so excited because he's been playing Flight Simulator for months and was sure he could fly it...and the pilot let him! It was an amazing ride and we saw so many sharks and dolphin!

Isabella's 8th Birthday Party...

2009-11-15T15:50:00.005-05:00

Isabella decided to have a DOG party for her 8th birthday!
The girls painted wooden dog houses for their craft.

They played Pin the Tail on the Dog!
After presents and cake, they all went for a swim!

Isabella Turns 8...

2009-11-12T21:07:00.004-05:00

Our baby turned 8 today despite us telling her that she was NOT allowed! I think she had a really fun day! She convinced us to let her open just one present before school and she chose Evan's gift! It was a hit! He picked it out himself!
Lunch at school with the traditional birthday crown and cupcakes for her friends!
She chose Applebees for dinner and had her favorite chocolate dessert!Relaxin' with a few of her new presents!

Evan's Field Trip to G Wiz...

2009-11-06T07:07:00.003-05:00

Evan took his first field trip of the year to G Wiz Science Museum in Sarasota! There was an awesome exhibit with drawings by Leonardo da Vinci that were made into models...very cool!

Lots of hands on displays and exhibits

Evan and his best friend, Maks

Isabella's Field Trip to Hunsader Farm...

2009-11-03T12:56:00.003-05:00

Today Isabella's second grade class had a field trip to Hunsader Farm, the local fruit and veggie farm. The weather was perfect and almost felt like fall!

Lots of animals to feed including donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens and bunnies!

Isabella and her friend, Noel

There was even a litte butterfly garden!

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-01T20:27:00.007-05:00

Halloween was kind of different this year...Jonah went trick or treating with a friend so we didn't even see him on Halloween; neither Jonah nor Evan wanted to carve a pumpkin so Isabella and her friend, Katie carved them. Our street was unusually quiet this year too, maybe because there are so many empty houses compared to last Halloween. I think the kids still had fun trick or treating with Dakota and Hunter though!

Isabella carved an awesome bat pumpkin!

Gracie made a very cute witch!

Cooper was a scary spider!

Dakota, Isabella, Hunter and Evan
Cutest.Cat. Ever!

Evan as Jason from Friday the 13th

Thriller!

2009-10-31T08:48:00.004-04:00

Isabella's Dance Team performed at the Boo Fest on Main Street yesterday! This was her first performance because she missed all of the performances last spring because of her surgery so she was really excited! The streets were packed but she did a great job dancing to Thriller!

A Visit with Nana and Papa...

2009-10-25T08:11:00.010-04:00

On Saturday, we took a drive to the east coast of Florida to visit Bruce's parents, Nana and Papa. We hadn't seen them in a while so it was a nice day of catching up!The boys were fascinated with the turntable and record albums!
Everyone had lots of fun with the ping pong table!

The Creek...

2009-10-17T19:05:00.005-04:00

When we lived in MD, the boys spent lots of time in the woods behind our house, playing in the stream and exploring the forest. After moving here, they traded in the woods for a creepy creek behind Jonah's friend, Ben's house! It seriously looks like a movie set...water the color of dark tea, spanish moss hanging everywhere...Ben's dad said it reminds him of Huck Finn. I try not to think about the creatures lurking in the water there ...the ginormous catfish, small gators, snakes and more snakes. The boys spend hours there fishing, building stuff and jumping off the side into the water. They built the dock you see in the picture and have hung ropes from the trees so they can swing into the water.

They come home stinky as all get out (usually Ben's mom lines them up against the house and hoses them down!), but the memories they're making are something I'm not willing to interfere with. What I do worry about is the two of them ending up on an episode of Monsters Within Me...or on the nightly news.

Catfish...

2009-10-16T10:03:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, Evan and Bruce went out while Jonah was home sick with the Swine Flu. They caught two, huge catfish and had an awesome day on the intercoastal! It's always an awesome day on the boat...better known as Bruce's "happy place!"

They also saw their old friend, Mooch!

Playin' Hookie On The Bay...

2009-10-02T20:02:00.005-04:00

Today, we got the kids off to school and then went out on the boat with our friends, the Wilsons and the Stilwells! We started at Regatta Pointe and headed up the Manatee River to Tampa Bay. Once we got to the bay, we were surrounded by a school of dolphins! I've been listening all summer to the boys talking about the dolphins and today was my day! They were so graceful and beautiful...they took my breath away!

Lindsey and Chris Wilson

Notice Bruce has no shoes? This is a recurring theme with him...he lives in paradise so he never wears shoes and then hops in the car without them!

We went up to the Pier at St. Pete's and had a yummy lunch at Cap'n Als. The best part was the fried pickle appetizer!

Kelly and Tim Stilwell

Build A Bear Jonas Brothers Event...

2009-09-26T09:24:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Bruce, Evan, Isabella and I spent the day together while Jonah went to Busch Gardens with his best friend, Ben. We went to see the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs! It was different from the book, which has been a favorite in our family for years, but they did a great job of building upon the original story.
Afterwards, Isabella and I went to a VIP event at Build A Bear to launch the new, special edition Jonas Brothers dog. They had lots of fun stuff going on as Isabella built her dog...it was really fun!

Cooper's New Trick...

2009-09-18T19:47:00.002-04:00

Goodbye Old Friend...

2009-09-11T16:26:00.010-04:00

Today we said goodbye to a faithful and loyal friend...our beloved dog, Harley. Everyone who ever met Harley said what a great dog he was and he will be missed. He shed like crazy, but because he was so amazing, we all put up with it! Harley loved to run in the snow when we lived in MD and lay on the warm grass once we moved to Florida...and even took a swim in the possible home to alligators (the lake behind our house) on the very first day in our new house! He liked to lay on his belly with his front paws crossed and knew how to shake. One of his favorite activities in his younger days was wrestling with Bruce and he often tried, unsuccessfully, to join in the "reindeer games" with Cooper and Gracie when they wrestled with Bruce.
We love you Harley and know that you're chasing rabbits in heaven! Thank you for many years of love and devotion....

When Will They Just MOVE Here??

2009-09-02T17:41:00.010-04:00

The day before we left for Captiva, we got together with our good friends, the Butehorns, who were visiting our area of Florida again! This time, they vacationed on Longboat Key so we got to spend the day with them at The Colony. The kids had a ball playing football in the pool, since the Gulf was really rough because of a hurricane that was heading toward the panhandle. Afterward, we all went to Moore's Stone Crab Restaurant for dinner...yummy!

Dog Tricks...

2009-08-27T20:25:00.003-04:00

Evan is really good at teaching the dogs tricks! Here are just a few!

This is Gracie doing...Play Dead!

This is Cooper doing...Shake! The shaking back leg is not part of the trick LOL

Meet Mooch!

2009-08-26T20:03:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Bruce and the boys took the boat out of Venice for the day. As usual, they had a great time and this day was no exception! This dolphin followed along side of the boat for quite a while and even let them feed him! How amazing is that??

Back to School...

2009-08-24T19:27:00.004-04:00

Jonah headed back to middle school in the 7th grade...a year I so wish that all of my children could completely SKIP!
It's hardest for me to believe that Evan is in the 5th grade! How did that happen? He was sooo excited to have lots of his friends transferred into a new group with him (since at his school, they have the same teachers for three years). And in case you were wondering? He most certainly did get a back to school haircut just last week!
And finally, Isabella went into 2nd grade at a brand new school this year...fortunately Evan already goes to that school too! She was excited to see a few friends from her old elementary school had transferred there as well! It was a tough day for both of us since she hasn't been in school since March, before her spinal tumor surgery, but we both did just fine!
After the kids got to school, Bruce and I packed up the dogs and spent the day on the boat...ALONE! It wa a perfect day on the bay, just cruising around looking for dolphins and stopping for lunch in Gulfport. The dogs seem to really love the boat except for when it's choppy (they jump into Bruce's lap) or if Gracie gets splashed by the spray and she runs to the back of the boat! We've decided that we'll do this again at least once a month!

Jonah's Trip to MD...

2009-08-22T19:38:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago, Bruce went to MD for work, so Jonah tagged along. They met up with Chelsea and Collin for dinner at CarterQue the first night then Bruce drove him up to Finksburg to spend a few days with his very best friend, Payton! They had a great time exploring the woods, playing with Sofie, their dog and going to the creek and sliding on the rock waterfalls Jonah with Payton and his younger brother, Sawyer Apparently the boys picked up right where they left off...just like when I visit Payton's mom!The rest of the week Jonah spent in his old 'hood hanging out with his posse!

Captiva Island...

2009-08-21T23:16:00.011-04:00

We've had a pretty quiet summer so when Isabella finally got her brace off, we decided to spend a few days at the South Seas Resort on Captiva Island. It's about a 2 hour drive south of where we live and it was so nice to get away for a while. Bruce and I had been to Sanibel Island a few years ago and visited Captiva, where we completely fell in love with the Gulf coast. We always said we would return and this was the perfect opportunity!

Crossing the causeway to Sanibel Island, then a little farther north to Captiva!

Our first stop was lunch at the original Cheeburger Cheeburger on Sanibel Island!The beach at the resort...we're so spoiled by the powdery white sand beaches on Anna Maria Island (Isabella said the sand here was "dirty" LOL)

Evan had fun taking pictures of the fish nibbling on his toes!

The boys chillaxin' in the hot tub!

The resort had lots of pools, but I think the favorite was H2Whoa because of the water slides!

Where, oh where did my little boy go?Bruce, Evan and Jonah went fishing one night and Jonah caught a 12 inch Redfish!

Isabella loved going to the craft activities they had for kids! She made a cool shell frame one day and painted a coconut another day!

This stingray hung out in the water next to the pool for most of the morning!

The views by the pool were sooooo relaxing!

Weird Weather...

2009-08-15T19:05:00.004-04:00

On Monday night, we were all hanging out doing our thing after dinner and suddenly noticed that the sky was ORANGE! The top picture is looking down our street and the bottom one is looking up the street....very strange and kind of scary! If you look closely, you can see Miss Gulch riding on her bicycle!