We almost missed it because I was thinking it was an open house for elementary school kids that were entering intermediate.
Katie’s 5th grade open house
Category Archives: Kids
A great start to this mother’s day.
Sleeping in, hubby cuddles, crispy waffles (cheesy eggs and sausage not shown!), a handmade card, and hot chocolate…
You mean raising a girl doesn’t have to be a white-knuckled roller coaster ride?!
This was next up on my #goodreadschallenge2023 list but I have a feeling I’m gonna need to refer back to this again and again so I just ordered it.
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood
Oh college…good times.
I ran across this photo from college this morning and showed it to Katie. She did NOT believe it was me. She kept looking back and forth from me to the photo like HUH? WHAT? and I assured her it was indeed me.
What I didn’t tell her (but will later — she was running behind for school) is that this was NOT my normal look. This was after my roommate Angi plucked my brows (for the first time ever!) and put some “more involved” makeup on me.
I remember being in sweatpants and was like “Well now we need to go out somewhere!” but it was like a Tuesday night or something.
Last jazz band concert
Katie’s 5th grade music concert
We finally got to hear them play their recorders! And sing!
Katie REALLY wants a cat.
I found this note on her door this morning.
Felix is at PetSmart and has been there for longer than normal. She knows I’d love an orange tabby…so she keeps trying to convince me.
But unfortunately it’s just not gonna happen. He’s not declawed. Tom is allergic and doesn’t want to take meds every day (again). I’m leery of adding a cat to two dogs. And I’ve fully enjoyed no more litter duty.
Baseball picture night
I never order the photos but I do try to get a photo of them myself!
And let’s reminisce… Baseball in 2015 (his first season):
Olive cuddles.
And this face!
Oh Ivy… that’s not a toy.
Sooooo Ivy just brought a baby rabbit into the house…in her teeth. It wasn’t quite dead…so Tom had to kill it. Katie was a mess. Poor Ivy, I’m sure, just thought it was a toy.
We went outside to look for more (just in case) and Tom found the nest (and another bunny). As he was moving it outside the fence (to be near where we saw the mama bunny), I almost stepped on this one hiding in the grass.
We relocated that one, too.
Every. Single. Meal.
Apparently 5–5:30 is the time.
Every morning been 5 and 5:30 is when the dogs start whining. I’m pretty sure it’s Ivy. But Which means that’s when my day starts… But I take advantage and chill on the couch with them as long as I can. Unfortunately this morning the housekeepers were coming at 8:30 so I didn’t get my usual cuddle time.
Today’s reading helper
And then Katie came home…
Where’s Katie?
This is what happens when I want to take a pic.
Watching their girl leave for school.
How the girls say good morning to Owen!
Look how many pairs of shoes of Katie’s I can see in one shot.
Katie’s room part 742.
Well. It’s time. Katie has ignored all requests to clean up her room so it’s being emptied. I even gave her two extras afternoons and she didn’t do a single thing.
I literally scooped piles of shit from her closet, using my feet as rakes because it was legit a foot deep. Including dishes, MY SHOES, actual garbage, and lots of stuff she’s gonna miss.
I’m making her sort it now so she can see everything she’s losing.
She pretty much admitted she thought I was going to pull stuff out and she’d get to pick what she wanted to keep. Hahahahahahahaha I told her she lost that option a long time ago. She’s losing A LOT OF STUFF.
Egg hunt 2023
Katie’s note to the Easter bunny
They still steal shoes.
Ivy cuddles
Tell me you have kids without telling me you have kids.
Spring Break Day 6: State Parks
We were up early to start the day at Weeki Wachee State Park — we were planning on hitting the waterpark and the live mermaid show (which they are famous for). But unfortunately, Linda and I BOTH read the information completely wrong in the exact same way…so the actual waterpark (slides, lazy river, etc.) wasn’t open. There were some birds wandering around but other than that it was pretty dead.
We did stay for the mermaid show and though it was neat it wasn’t super exciting. I guess it’s a cool “Hey we did that” time!
So then Lin wanted to head to another park—Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. We stopped for lunch at a random pizza place I found on Yelp and had to laugh when it was right next to a Marine Corps recruiting office!
I can honestly say I’ve never seen this sign before:
Then we stopped for ice cream on our way home…because how could you NOT stop at this huge ice cream cone?!
And then it was time to go home…which the kids were excited about because Grannie said we could go to the pool and promised Owen he could drive!
It was pretty dead when we got there around 6. I actually went in the pool and underwater with Katie! She was impressed I could do a front and back somersault — and she finally did a back one on her own. When Owen and Grannie came back about an hour later, the pool was empty except for my two.
Sidenote: The yacht-rock-esque station is playing Soldier of Love by Donny Osmond. It’s from 1989. GET OFF MY LAWN.
Then Katie and I sat on the back of the golf cart for our final ride…and had some fun as we rode over some bumps and Owen took some corners a little crazy.
Spring Break Day 5: Manatees!
Linda surprised us and told us she wanted to take us swimming with the manatees! So, being in a wetsuit was a first for me and the kids!
Unfortunately, this time of year is the end of the season — most manatees have already begun the trek to warmer waters — so we actually had to hunt for them a bit. We eventually found this mom and baby and followed them, hoping they’d go into calmer waters…which they did, but they didn’t really go to a place we could easily get to them.
We did eventually get into the water but it was hard to see much since the water was so cloudy. That said, at one point, a manatee swam directly under me! Like inches below me!
The guide was taking photos for us so that was nice not to have to worry about…but the manatees weren’t very calm today so we didn’t get pics of us with them underwater. This is about the best we got of us in the same photo:
The kids loved the guide’s description of them as “2000 pound sea potatoes!”
Back home, we completed the beach glass puzzle with one day to spare!
Owen was serenading us with his snoring.
Spring Break Day 4 Sunday
Today we went out to eat a late lunch with Linda’s Aunt Carol (who lives about 30 minutes away) and then went back to swim in her community pool! The kids loved the indoor pool!
Once again, Grannie and the kids went to the village square to listen to the live music while I stayed home and worked!
Spring Break Day 3
We started the day with a delicious breakfast at The Flying Biscuit and then did some souvenir shopping.
On the way home we stopped at a farmer’s market to get some Honey Bell oranges (omggggggg they were super juicy and delicious) and couldn’t resist taking a pic of this gigantic carrot!
Then we went home and went to the pool again for a bit.
It was nicer outside than in so I did my reading thang on the porch (yes, with sunglasses and reading glasses).
Grannie and the kids went to the village square to listen to the live music while I stayed home and worked!
Spring Break Day 2
Grannie surprised the kids with a longer golf cart drive…for Johnny Rockets for brunch — somewhere we ate on the cruise! They loved it! Grannie and I enjoyed adult shakes.
Then we walked around a little, Katie named two turtles in the bay, we got some souvenirs, and then went to another pool.
I had this exchange with the waitress:
Waitress: So that's a strawberry daiquiri.
Me: Margarita.
Waitress: Yes, daiquiri.
Me: Not daiquiri, margarita.
Waitress: Yes I know what you mean.
Aaaand it tasted like a daiquiri to me! (Not bad but…not a margarita!)
Back to the pool after dinner…
Unfortunately someone got a little too much sun…
Soooo happy to be able to wash my face tonight!
Spring Break Day 1
Welcome to creepy crawlies!
First practice session driving the golf cart! Grannie is brave!!!
Driving all of us to the pool!
My view today from the shade of a cabana at one of the “executive” pools.
Katie: I haven’t put sunscreen on in a long time. This feels weird to be doing it in March.
The kids immediately disappeared in the pool. Grannie was in the sun. The music was great. I read my Kindle and hit the adults-only hot tub — then ordered a frozen margarita!
Of course I was 100% in my element—so the kids didn’t want to stay too long. (I thought we’d be there all day like we are when we go to our pool…but we were only there like 1.5 hours!)
