Florida Gators

I can hear Cameron in the living room watching the Florida Gators get destroyed by Alabama (boo!), and it reminded me that I forgot to add pictures of the alligators at Busch Gardens. They were HUGE!! Scary because they are everywhere down here. I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more of them as the weather cools off. Hopefully the ones we see won't be quite this big. There was a baby gator that lived in the pond by the townhouse we rented when we first moved down. That's more my size! :)

Check these guys (or girls) out. The pictures really don't do them justice.

Yikes!

Busch Gardens

We've been so jealous of all the fabulous weather comments from Arkansas lately. Of course we miss our family and friends back home, but we're also missing Fall. Luckily, it's beginning to cool off a little in Florida. I'm not sure if it's really that much cooler or just less humid...much nicer either way. We decided to take advantage of a gorgeous day with no Razorback football to have a heart attack over and took the kids to Busch Gardens. We had a great time!

I love how close these two are. Don't get me wrong...they can fight with the best of 'em. I remember lots of fights with my brothers and I love them tons (yes Ryan, you included). Sydney is so sweet to him, and Carson wants nothing more than to be just like her. I love it!
Sydney and I loved all the animal shrubs. I think we took her picture in front of all of them. We thought this kangaroo was especially cute with the baby in its pouch.
As you've seen from previous posts, Carson is obsessed with Spider-man. He had his face painted today and loved looking like his favorite superhero. I was amazed that he sat still enough for the lady to paint it. He almost feel asleep!

Carson was "terrified"(if you know him very well I'm sure you can hear him saying, "I was terrified!") of Big Bird. He did want to meet Burt and Ernie, but only with his sissy. She's a trooper because I know she could have cared less about the Sesame Street characters.

Carson and his daddy waiting on the train.

Sydney "monkey-ing" around.

The animals were fabulous! We took a train ride around the park and saw everything from giraffes to flamingos. They were so close, and there were several of each animal. Carson's preschool class has been studying about animals from around the world the last couple of weeks so he loved this. He's been telling us if the animals live in hot or cold places, how they walk, what colors they are, and what they sound like. He's a sponge at school!

I hope you all had a great Saturday, too!

Is it Halloween yet?

I think we still have about a month to go until Halloween...wish someone would tell Carson. He is obsessed with Spider-man right now. We decided to go ahead and get his costume, and he won't take it off. It was a knock-down, drag-out at bedtime last night to get it off, and then he wanted to wear it to church this morning. He likes to take all the couch cushions off, stack them up, and climb on them. He played so hard yesterday...

and finally...
crashed in the floor with his sister's sleeping bag. The second we started taking the costume off he woke up and the struggle began. I love this little superhero!

Syd's Haircut

She looks so old with shorter hair!! I love this precious girl!

Lately...

I keep thinking things will slow down and I'll have time to update our blog regularly, but it's just not happening. However, I'm extremely thankful to have precious babies, a husband, a house, and a job to keep me so busy...I can't complain! Here's what we've been up to lately.

We went to watch the Rays vs. the Rangers just before school started. Cameron really wanted to watch David Price vs. Cliff Lee, I just like going, and the kids will do anything for cotton candy so it was a win-win situation for everyone. It was a great game and the Rays pulled off the win.

August 24th was the first day at our new school. I can't believe Sydney's in the fourth grade!! I hear more than ever that we look like sisters. She'll be taller than me in no time.

School uniforms have been the best thing to ever happen to our morning routine.

Syd is loving 4th grade at Deer Park. She has two teachers this year, and they're sisters (both named Maria). They co-teach in a class of 42 kids and are FABULOUS! Three weeks ago she tried out and made the Deer Park Dazzlers. This is a lot like what she did at Fulbright except she's doing Pom and Hip Hop. She had her first practice last week and loved it. She's also joined the Ranger Chorus (we're the Deer Park Rangers).

I'm enjoying my 3rd graders. It's been an adjustment getting used to a younger age group and a new school, but I think I've finally gotten it figured out. ;)

We bought a house and moved in 2 weeks ago. We love it! We wanted to keep Syd's room as much like "home" as possible. If you remember this, I think we did a pretty good job.

Carson is still here, too...even thought I've hardly mentioned him in this post. We had to change preschools once but now he loves his new school. He's started playing soccer at school on Tuesdays and thinks it the most fun thing ever. He also finally potty trained this summer...praise the Lord! He's a ball of energy and keeps us laughing all the time. He thinks his sister hung the moon and wants to do everything just like her.

Lolli's (Cameron's mom) birthday was this past Friday, and she got the best present ever...ALL CLEAR on her cancer scans. If you don't remember she's been fighting ovarian cancer since last Thanksgiving. Happy Birthday, Lolli!! We love you!

I haven't taken many pictures lately, but plan to get back in the habit. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts this time. We love and miss you all!!

Saturday @ the Beach

" Miss Priss"

I love that Wild River Country is no longer our "beach within reach." Don't get me wrong, there are many down sides to moving so far from home...leaving our family, friends, church, schools, etc...but being able to spend Saturday at the beach is not one of them. I have always loved the beach. I looked forward to going every summer when I was growing up. It's nice to be just a short drive away and for my kids to be able to enjoy it so often. Love, love, love it!

Familiar Faces

We went to Clearwater Beach last Thursday to visit some Fulbright friends. Their family was there for vacation and invited us down for putt putt golf. We also had a great lunch at Frenchy's Rockaway Grill. Sydney and Timothy have been in the same class a few years and got to be really good buddies this last year. She had lots of fun playing golf with him and his little brother John. I did my best to let Carson play without getting in the way too much. They were so funny "cheating" for him. It was great to see some familiar faces!