Florida Manatees...

Today we took the girls to see the manatees at the Tampa Electric Company's water discharge canal. It was awesome. I've never seen so many of them. We went last year and didn't see nearly as many as this year. They are more abundant when the weather gets colder as they like the warm water that the power plant discharges into the canal. The girls really enjoyed seeing them up close. I've attached some pics below. You can read more about these fascinating manatees at http://www.tampaelectric.com/manatee/themanatee/

All the dark shadows you see in the water are manatees.

This was only a portion of them, there were plenty more that I didn't pick up with the lens I had on my camera.

Here is a mommy manatee.

Here is a baby manatee peeking out of the water, swimming next to his/her mom.

A typical day...

Not much going on today... I uncovered our outdoor plants this morning after the frost disappeared. I think we may have lost one but only time will tell. Other than that, it's a pretty typical Friday here. I did manage to make the final payment on our Caribbean cruise coming up in April. Now we're all set, just counting down the days to go and saving up some spending dough.

Brrrr

Well, so much for "living the life of climate luxury"... It is freezing cold outside and has been this way for two days. It's Florida...I shouldn't have to scrape ice off my windshield (with my driver's license as we no longer have ice scrapers from our Arkansas days). Where did my warm weather go? I took this photo at 8:00 this morning while we waited at the bus stop. For my Northern friends (and Beth who doesn't think she is in the North!) I'm not whining about the cold, I'm just letting you know it's not always palm trees and sunshine here at the beach!

If Jennah Were President...

Honestly, I'm thinking about starting a "Jennah" blog. She has so many funny and interesting things to say every day! I went to her school awards ceremony this morning. She received the Principals Award for having straight A's and the Citizenship Award for always being a role model for her school. Needless to say she was quite proud when she got home...not because she received awards but because they gave her "presents" as she calls them. They were coupons for a free game of bowling at the local bowling alley, a free meal at Golden Corral, a free milkshake at the local hot dog place and according to her, "the best one ever" - a free HALF GALLON of ice cream from the local Publix grocery store! I guess we all benefit from her getting good grades right! Anyway, being that we have a new President, all the kids were asked "What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and YOU were the President of the United States?" Jennah's response... "Well, I would get dressed and ask my mom to drive me to the White House because you know I'm not old enough to drive a car yet." That's my girl... always thinking!

American Idol

The scenerio: Jennah and I had the tv on while we were eating...so the dinner conversation went something like this with Jennah tonight:

"Mom, how many cities do the people from American Idol go to when they look for singers?" I told her I wasn't sure. So her reply was "Well, when they come here to Brooksville, Missy (my brother's girlfriend) and I are going to audition." To which I reply "Well, what about me, should I audition?" Without even looking at me, she says matter-of-factly "Ummm, no." Of course, anyone who has been to our place in the past few months knows that we have our little "RockBand2" thing going and Missy and Jennah have been the singers while Mike is the guitar guy (with a girl avatar!) and I have been the drummer when possible. I guess my singing career is over - not that I have one according to my dear daughter. :)

My BEST AUNT EVER....

Yesterday, we had my FAVORITE Aunt Francine and my Uncle Bruce over for dinner along with my mom and our friend Randy. We all had a wonderful time. It was so nice to visit with my favorite Aunt Francine and my Uncle Bruce. We don't get to see them often as they live up North so anytime we can spend with them is nice.


My FAVORITE AUNT Francine, me, and my mom. (photo courtesy of my favorite "one of these days soon-to-be-sister-in-law!")


Today, we took the girls to Orlando so Mike could register for his upcoming conference. We ended up going to the Millennia Mall which I might add is HUGE. Mike bought himself some new tennis shoes which he desperately needed. Then we had lunch at PF Changs (mmmm yummy) and headed over to the IKEA store. Ok, if you've never been to an IKEA store, if there's one near you... GO! They have a play area for kids (but they have to meet the height requirements and have to be potty trained.) They also have a restaurant and of course shopping for anything you can imagine for your home. Jennah loved the play area... they have movies, games, a rock climbing wall, a ball pit and many other things for them to play and jump on. They give you a beeper too in case there is a problem. After we dropped her off, we went and did a little bit of shopping there. I bought a few things but could go on a crazy shopping spree there easily! After all that, it was time to head home. The girls are out of school tomorrow but I've still got to get Kaylee to therapy! Night night!