32ReadyRun

Christmas

2011-12-29T12:48:00.000-05:00

We had a great family Christmas this year. Made the Gingerbread Village.

Had many, many presents to open.

Yankee loves to guard the presents. She would sit there for hours if you'd let her.

Went to St. Augustine to our favorite restaurant, Casa Monica, for dinner.

And we took a walk around the ancient city.

Perfect Day!!!!

FSU - The College Tour Rolls On

2011-12-22T15:32:00.000-05:00

Liza and I made the trip west to Tallahassee the other day to visit FSU, one of her choices for next year. She really liked the campus and the school.

With its rolling hills and old, brick buildings, FSU feels more like a campus in the Northeast rather than Florida, except of course for the occasional palm tree.

One thing that was really cool was that they have a collegiate circus there. Any student can participate and I hear they put on a show that rivals a professional circus. It seems like something that Liza might enjoy.

Liza in front of the Seminole's stadium.

So will she or won't she be a Nole??? Time will tell.

A Cheerful Weekend

2011-12-14T13:27:00.000-05:00

Two cheer competitions this weekend at the exact same time but different cities, one in Jacksonville and one in St. Augustine. Since we had just been to one for Liza last weekend we decided to go to Nina's in Jax. You can certainly tell from the uniforms who does all star and who does school cheer!

A Kiss for Luck

It was the first time I have missed one of Liza's competitions but she did great without me and her team got regional champs!!

Meanwhile, in Jacksonville, Nina is shown here about to go up in her first stunt.

And here in the pyramid.

Her team also did great and here they are getting their 1st place banner.

Cheer Season is Here

2011-12-09T16:30:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was Liza's first competition with her high school team. BT was the only extra large team there so it was actually more of a performance for them. Liza was able to hang out and enjoy some time with friends, some of whom she hadn't seen a quite a while. And the team did a great job! Cheer season has begun!

Nina's Quilt

2011-11-30T13:16:00.001-05:00

Nina is in the Design Academy at school and her first project was this awesome quilt. She really likes this class and I look forward to many projects in the future.

Thanksgiving Weekend Game

2011-11-26T11:46:00.000-05:00

My Dad came down for Thanksgiving and the highlight of the weekend was definitely the BT vs. Columbia football game. BT won the game with no time left on the clock.

Remember this kick Dad?

Wendies First Class Walkers

2011-11-05T08:34:00.004-04:00

Wendie has been a more to my girls than a fabulous tumbling coach the last few years. She has been an inspiring role model and mentor. She also happens to be a leukemia survivor. So when Wendie asked us to join her team for the annual 5K Light the Night Walk, we were thrilled.

Everyone meet at the Landing before the walk. There was about 30 in our group but overall several thousand people did the walk.

It was a beautiful night and we got to walk over the Hart Bridge, my favorite bridge in Jacksonville.

Our group back at the finish line after the walk.

We love you Wendie! We would walk a thousand more!!

80's Girls

2011-10-28T15:10:00.003-04:00

For a Halloween party the other night, Nina and her friends went as "80's girls." I actually was an 80's girl and I never remember looking this cute! ;)

Coach Liza

2011-10-28T12:05:00.006-04:00

Liza had such a great time coaching her little Pop Warner cheer team this year! The girls did great at the games and competition. For such young girls they work so hard. Liza will really miss them next year.

Senior Night

2011-10-16T07:53:00.003-04:00

Last Friday was Senior Night at BTHS. All the seniors in fall sports were honored before the game. Jim and I got to walk the track with Liza.

Here she is with her friend Jordan who is on the diving team.

And with her fellow senior cheerleaders.

Bartram won the game big again. They are still undefeated!! Here are the local news highlights. You will see Jim and I in the stands. The camera man told us to roll our arms like that, not sure why. Also look for Liza in the second row when the cheerleaders are shown.

Reunited

2011-10-11T11:03:00.004-04:00

Some friends from VA visited the other day. They were down here looking at colleges. Hard to believe since Liza and Tori were best friends back in the third grade. She was a beautiful little girl then and is a beautiful young woman now, inside and out. Great to see her again!!

Homecoming

2011-09-29T13:36:00.004-04:00

My beautiful girls on the way to the Homecoming Dance.

Nina with her friends.

Liza with her friends.

They had a fantastic time. :D

Nerd Day Again!

2011-09-29T13:35:00.006-04:00

Homecoming Week at BTHS means dressing up.

Monday was Nerd Day.

Tuesday was Mardi Gras Day. They really did not know what to do with this one so they just put on some beads.

Wednesday everyone wore character t-shirts.

Thursday was gender switch. I think this is a favorite for the girls since the cloths are so comfy.

Friday was school colors get ready for the big game. The kids really love Homecoming week with all its activities. Besides the dress up days, there is a carnival, a pep rally, various competitions between the classes, banner making, the Mr. Ugly contest, tailgating and much more fun. This week was a first for Nina, but a last for Liza and she was a little sad when it was over. Here she is with all the other senior cheerleaders just before the game.

That was about the last picture I took that night because it started pouring. The game went on and BT powered through winning the game 63 - 0!! Go Bears!!!

The Team

2011-09-12T06:33:00.006-04:00

Liza's fall has been pretty much consumed by the cheer team. Hours of practice getting ready for competition season and games. The Friday nights have been a lot of fun though. The team meets for dinner at one of the girls houses and gets ready together before the game. I helped at a dinner last Friday and here they are all ready to head back to school and cheer on the Bears. Such a beautiful, sweet group of girls.

First Game for Liza BTHS vs. Mandarin

2011-08-28T08:56:00.007-04:00

The high school football season began on Friday night and Liza spent the game cheering! She had such fun.

Final Score BTHS 33 Mandarin 7!!! Go Bears!!!

First and Last First Day

2011-08-22T14:49:00.009-04:00

Today was Nina's first, first day of high school and Liza's last, first day of high school. I am glad they get to be together for a year. Watch out BTHS!

Trapeze School

2011-08-22T14:49:00.007-04:00

Nina had the awesome opportunity to go to trapeze school with some friends the other day. It was so cool. I could not believe how far the girls progressed after only a 3 hour lesson. There are videos at the end of this post with the release moves Nina learned. We will definitely be going back again so that Liza gets a chance to try this...so much fun!

First things first, getting strapped into the belt that connects to the safety wires and then a quick lesson on the ground.

Nina climbing the ladder for the first time.

Preparing to step off!

Her first swing.

First knee hang.

Back to ground school for a lesson in doing a split upside down and hanging.

By the end of the day, they were doing release moves. Here is Nina reaching through the air for her catcher.

The whole class, they all did fantastic! The staff was great, especially Tyler, the catcher, who didn't drop anyone.

The Sharks Victory Parade

2011-08-20T07:10:00.007-04:00

The Jacksonville Sharks won the recent Arena Football Championship and since our gym is associated with them, the girls were invited to march in the victory parade downtown.

First we met up with some friends at the Landing for some pictures.

I seriously love cheerleaders. They are always smiling, especially when a professional with a camera comes by. Nevermind that it was over 100 degrees out and raining. Smile!!

Finally time to march.Back at the Landing after the parade for the presentation of the trophy. My girls are in that crowd somewhere. I am sure they are smiling.

Sarasota Lido Key

2011-08-17T07:11:00.024-04:00

We spent a few of our last precious days of summer in Lido Key just off of Sarasota. For the most part we just swan in the Gulf and basked in the sun. We had lovely evenings in St. Armands Circle, shopping and eating. This area is beautiful.

I have never seen racoons out in the daytime like this before.

All of the city benches are hand painted differently. Almost too pretty to sit on.

Of course the prettiest thing there is the daily sunsets.

So nice to spend a little bit of time with the girls before the craziness of the school year takes over.

The Ringling Museum

2011-08-17T07:11:00.023-04:00

On our recent trip to Sarasota we spent an afternoon at The Ringling Museum. First stop was Ca'D'Zan, the home of John and Mable Ringling.

Front of the house.

The house from the Sarasota Bay side.

The grounds were beautiful.

Once inside, each room was more elaborate then the next.

A short walk from the house was the art museum that Ringling gave to the state back in the 1930s. Most of the art was early European Renaissance and was from Ringling's personal collection.

Jim and Nina posing like statues!

Another short walk through the mangrove trees and we were at the circus museum.

Our favorite in this museum was the miniature circus set up. The details were amazing.

For such a flamboyant man, Ringling's grave was quite simple. I highly recommend a visit to the Ringling house for anyone visiting the Sarasota area.

Yes You Canvas Again

2011-08-08T07:55:00.003-04:00

The girls went to Yes You Canvas the other evening. They really love this place. It was a detailed painting that took about 4 hours and I think they both did a great job!

Sneak Peak

2011-07-27T13:27:00.003-04:00

And so it begins...the flurry of events that are coming our way because it's Liza's senior year. Never mind that she won't actually graduate until June, 2012, yesterday was the day to take graduation pictures. We went to a studio downtown, along with what seemed like every other rising senior in the county, and she donned a fake cap and gown and smiled for the camera. They didn't want us to take our own pictures of course, because the idea is for us to purchase theirs, but I did manage to snap a few shots with my phone. I can't believe my baby is almost finished with high school!

Too Close for Comfort

2011-07-24T08:24:00.006-04:00

Our area has been plagued with wildfires this summer, too many lightning strikes with too little rain. Recently we had one really close to our house, about a mile away. The fire grew to cover nearly 200 acres, thankfully all of it back in the woods. No houses were ever threatened, but ours sure smells like a bonfire right now.

The fire burned for almost two days until we luckily got a good, soaking rainstorm and this was our view. So happy to see this beautiful rainbow in a clean sky.

UCA Camp - All American Award!!

2011-07-14T15:08:00.006-04:00

Liza recently went to UCA Camp with her cheer team. Here she is getting dropped off.

The varsity squad.

At the end of the 4 day camp each team puts on a performance. Bartram did great.

Current and former FCA members.

Liza won the All American Award which is a great honor. Only 12 varsity cheerleaders out of hundreds at the camp get it. So proud of her!!

July 4th Weekend

2011-07-10T06:58:00.008-04:00

We had a houseful of Jim's family for his birthday this year. Grammy, Pop, Maryann, Sean, Brenda and Brianna all came to visit. It was a weekend filled with lots of family, food and fun, and most of it was spent in the pool. We also went to a VERY long baseball game. No fireworks though. :( There is a ban in the area due to all the wildfires. No matter, we had a great time visiting with everyone. Thanks for coming!

Gator Nation

2011-06-29T06:08:00.007-04:00

The girls and I went to Gainesville the other day to tour the University of Florida, a school that Liza is considering. It is a beautiful, old campus. Were it not for the palm trees and live oaks, we may have thought we were in New England somewhere since many of the buildings date back to the mid 1800s.

I love the way the live oaks shade the sidewalks.

The tour ended in the Swamp. We learned that during a game when all 90,000 seats are filled, this stadium is so rocking that small earthquakes are measured by the school's geology department!

Outer Banks 2011

2011-06-24T06:35:00.005-04:00

We had another great summer vacation at the Outer Banks with my whole family. Special events this year were meeting my new nephew Noah, and seeing my nephew Sam who was deployed at this time last year. Liza and Nina spent a good deal of time working their standing back tucks on the beach. We always find some excuse for a party and this year it was a baby shower to welcome Noah and in anticipation of Kelley's baby on the way. My girls had so much fun with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandfather.

Once again, our favorite week of the year. THANK YOU DAD! XOXO

Formal

2011-06-08T09:04:00.006-04:00

Nina's last official act as a middle schooler was the 8th grade formal. She looked beautiful and had a fabulous time with her friends. Finally, on to High School!!!

The Graduate

2011-06-07T07:00:00.006-04:00

My baby graduated from 8th grade yesterday!! I can't believe she will enter high school next year. Unfortunately I went to the ceremony with old batteries in my camera so I didn't get any pictures. I had just enough juice to get a quick video of the principal handing her her diploma. It was a packed house and I was way in the back, so it's hard to see. You just have to watch and listen closely. Great job Nina!

Prom

2011-05-30T08:07:00.006-04:00

Liza recently went to the prom with her best friend Jordan.

We met a big group of kids for pictures at Alpine Groves. Everyone looked great.

The pre-prom festivities continued at a friend's house where they had dinner and took pictures by the pool.

Finally they all took off on the party bus and had the time of their lives!

Powder Puff

2011-05-18T15:19:00.005-04:00

BTHS held its annual Powder Puff flag football game the other day, Junior Ladies versus Senior Women. Liza was on the Junior Ladies team in blue. You can see her right there in the middle.

Here she is on the far left about to catch the ball.

And in the huddle listening to the coach.

As is tradition, the senior team got to pin their flags to their shorts so they are unbeatable. However, these junior girls don't look to unhappy since they will get to do that next year. It's all in good fun and for a good cause. All the money raised goes to breast cancer research so they are all winners!

Mother's Day with the Dinosaurs

2011-05-10T09:08:00.016-04:00

We spent Mother's Day checking out the new exhibit at the Jax Zoo. DinoAlive is actually in the woods behind the zoo and features all kinds of dinosaurs from the Jurassic period. The dinosaurs are animatronic so they move around and make lots of noise.

Early in the journey we met up with many peaceful plant eaters including the tall, leaf eating brachiosaurus and this baby stegosaurus.

Things started to get a little rough when we encountered the therizinosaurus and allosaurus both of which looked like they could have ripped us to shreds.

Finally the T-rex.

Fortunately, he lost interest in us.

We made it out alive and even got a chance to see how they make the dinos come to life.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, This is My Floor

2011-05-05T12:51:00.002-04:00

Finally able to put up the videos of the teams. First one is Senior Cheer and the second one is Senior Hip Hop. Love these kids!

Nina's Birthday and Charleston

2011-05-01T07:45:00.013-04:00

Nina turned 14 on May 1st. Since we were going to be away on her special day we had cake and presents the night before we left and went to dinner at her favorite Japanese steak house.

On her actual birthday we were in Charleston and it was a glorious spring day. Perfect for a carriage ride through the historic old city.

We stopped at the beautiful pineapple fountain in Waterfront Park.

And took a walk on Rainbow Row.

We saw the old Charleston jail house which is said to be haunted. Didn't have time for the tour, but that will be on our list of things to do next time we go back.

After a nice lunch with our good friends, the St. Johns, we met up with a few other cheerleaders and their moms who were also enjoying the city. Too bad we didn't have more time and we had to spend the latter part of your birthday driving back to Florida. Happy 14th Nina! Love you tons!! xoxoxo

The Season's Finale

2011-05-01T07:45:00.006-04:00

The teams were invited to compete at the Season's Finale in Charleston SC. Since this wasn't on our original schedule, a lot of the kids couldn't make it. Despite the reduced numbers, the dance team elected to compete and ended the season as Grand Champs in the Senior Hip Hop division. Way to go ladies.

With so many kids missing, the cheer team decided to do an exhibition performance. They added in all manner of difficult flips, twists, tosses, tumbling and baskets that are not normally allowed in competitions. It was a bit scary for the parents to watch, but awesome at the same time.

Also, it was a bittersweet performance for Liza who is moving on from all star cheer and doing her school team next year. She is somewhat melancholy that this was her last performance with Jordan and Nina, but looking forward to cheering and competing with the girls at school. I think she is going to have a great time!

Cheer Banquet!

2011-04-21T08:52:00.006-04:00

The Cheer Banquet didn't quite mark the end of the season this year because the kids still have one extra performance that they were invited to do, but it was the last time the full teams were together. Here they are receiving their awards for cheer.

And again for dance.

My girls with Mama Kim, the coach's mom and honorary mom to all the team members.

And my girls with their dance coach, April and their cheer coach, Kimberly.

With six teams and many kids to give awards to, the afternoon got pretty long, but it is always fun when the whole gym gets together for a celebration.

CheerSport Jacksonville 2011

2011-04-11T11:12:00.007-04:00

Grand Champs! Woo Hoo!

I got some great action shots of my two favorite people on the team!

Nina - flying high!

Liza - looking adorable during the hip-hop routine!

Cameron Visits

2011-04-11T06:04:00.004-04:00

My nephew Cameron and his friend Laura used our house as home base during their spring break week. They went up to South Carolina to the beach and down to Orlando to the parks. Unfortunately they did not have the greatest weather, but I think they had a good time especially at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal. On the last day they were here the sun finally came out and we got them to the beach for a few hours. It was fun having them here.

Lucky Seven

2011-04-01T19:05:00.001-04:00

Happy 7th Birthday Little Dog!

Diamond Cheer and Dance 2011

2011-03-30T08:10:00.002-04:00

Diamond is a small local competition and even though I remembered to bring my camera, except for a few shots at the beginning of the day, I forgot to take pictures.

This time the kids finished first in cheer and second in dance so overall another successful day!

Clash of the Titans

2011-03-24T11:10:00.005-04:00

This was our teams first time going to Clash of the Titans at the beautiful convention center in downtown Jacksonville. It was a really fun competition.

The dance team had to be there early in the morning.

Here are the girls waiting for the team to be called to perform.

And here they are in the middle of the dance routine.

Much later in the day it was time for cheer. I love that at this competition you can see into the warm up area. Here are the fliers practicing their bow and arrow which is a really difficult stretch. That is Nina looking very limber on the far left.

Cheer team waiting to perform.

Love the end of the routine when they hit the pyramid and everything has gone well. I can finally relax.

The dance team ended up taking first in the division and cheer was second by a half a point. A great day!!

The Forbidden Journey

2011-03-18T12:09:00.004-04:00

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal opened almost a year ago so the lines for the feature ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, have finally started to calm down. We went last weekend and only had about an hour wait for the ride, which isn't bad considering just a few months ago people were waiting up to 6 hours!

The ride takes you though Hogwarts on a broomstick and is a combination simulator, dark ride and coaster. It was different than any ride we have ever been on and really fantastic. We Loved It!!

After surviving the Forbidden Journey we celebrated with a delicious butterbeer and had a chance to meet the conductor of the Hogwarts Express.

American Cup Gymnastics

2011-03-18T11:37:00.007-04:00

We recently saw the world's 14 top ranked gymnasts compete at the American Cup Meet in downtown Jax. Barring injuries, these will more than likely be the same athletes we see in next summer's Olympics. They were so amazing.

The day started with an opening ceremony.

Top American man Jonathan Horton on the rings.

Top American woman Jordyn Wieber on the beam.

Great day for the Americans, with Horton and Wieber taking first. Jake Dalton and Alexandra Raisman, also from America, both took third.

Here is Horton's winning high bar routine.

Time to Catch Up

2011-02-28T12:41:00.002-05:00

Since we live pretty close to I95 we often get a chance to see friends that are driving further south in Florida. That's just what happened yesterday. We got to see the Ramsey crew as they were heading to their vacation. Not for long, just a quick lunch and time to catch up, but it sure was nice!

From the Peanut Farm to the White House - Plains GA

2011-02-21T18:13:00.012-05:00

On our recent road trip to Atlanta, the girls and I took a detour through Plains, GA to see the boyhood home of President Jimmy Carter. First stop was the welcome center at the old Plains High School that both President and Mrs. Carter attended. We learned quite a bit about their lives in rural Georgia during the Depression and were amazed that from such a humble background came a future President. We saw President Carter's Nobel Peace Prize.

We also got to sit at a replica of his Oval Office desk,

and visit his high school English classroom.

President and Mrs. Carter still live in Plains and we were told that they stop in at the museum often. Alas, we were not lucky enough to be there during one of their visits so we settled for a picture with the cardboard cutouts.

When we left the high school, I asked one of the park rangers how to get to the farm and he said to go down the road a ways and turn left at the muffler family. I had no idea what he was talking about until I came upon this. So cute!

Once we found the farm we were surprised to be the only people there, no park rangers, no other visitors. It was so very quiet and isolated we felt like we had stepped back in time

The only one there to greet us was this beautiful cat.

Front porch swing.

The kitchen.

The living room.

Love the shower head. Cold water from the well pumped up to a bucket with holes in the bottom.

President Carter's childhood room.

The homemade tennis court where he learned to play. Just scrape off the grass and you have a Georgia clay court.

This was truly a beautiful and peaceful place. So glad we stopped.

Cheersport Nationals Atlanta 2011

2011-02-21T18:10:00.006-05:00

922 teams, 19,000 competitors, 50,000 spectators and 2 and a half minutes to prove yourself. That's Cheersport Nationals, the single biggest cheerleading event in the world. We went to it for the first time this past weekend. It was an awesome experience.

The team had some really bad luck in warm ups. One girl dislocated her shoulder and one hurt her knee and had to be pulled from the routine. This meant there were tons of last second changes. The girls said the coach was calling changes to them as they ran onto the performance floor. Somehow, the team still managed to looked great. See all the smiles below after the performance.

Here is the awards ceremony. They finished 5th in a large and very tough division. Way to go ladies and gentlemen!

Grandpa and the Art of Seating

2011-02-15T14:06:00.010-05:00

Grandpa came down for a visit in early February to get away from the cold weather in Virginia. Unfortunately, the cold weather followed him here. I'm not kidding, it was freezing and rainy nearly every minute of his visit. We had fun hanging out however, and were glad to have a chance for a little birthday celebration. He had recently turned 85!

One day when it was sort of warm and dry, I dragged them all downtown to an exhibit at MOCA called the Art of Seating, 200 Years of American Design. I love furniture design so I enjoyed myself, not so sure what everyone else thought.

How are you supposed to sit in these chairs?

The red chair in front was designed by one of my favorites, Frank Lloyd Wright, for the SC Johnson Company. The story goes that Wright and Johnson argued over the chair legs, Wright wanted 3 and Johnson wanted 4. Wright designed the prototype with 3 legs but while he was demonstrating the chair for Mr. Johnson, he kept tipping over. Eventually, the chairs were made with 4 legs and are still in use today at Johnson Wax in Racine WI.

Wedding Bells

2011-01-31T12:25:00.016-05:00

Our nephew Sean and his long time love Brenda got married on a glorious January day in Palm Beach. It was a beautiful celebration.

Time for a quick picture with the girls and one of their favorite Grandpas.

Front row seats with cousin Donna.

Our niece Heather and her adorable son Anthony.

Jim's sister Maryann and nephew Brent, mother and brother of the groom.

Brianna, beautiful daughter of the groom.

The happy couple.

Brunch with Pop and Grammy.

The peanut butter cake was delicious.

We wish you guys all the best!!!

COA

2011-01-31T12:25:00.008-05:00

Our second competition of the year was COA in Orlando.

Here is the team set and ready to go but the music has not started yet.

As a mom and spectator, this is the moment when I am the most nervous.

Nina in the air!

Quick change and its time for dance!

Both teams did great this time, winning their divisions and grand champions at their levels. Yay, medals and jackets for everyone! We love swag.

We can't post any videos of the routines this year until the season is over, but here is a little clip of the awards ceremony.

Tis the Season

2011-01-31T12:24:00.008-05:00

Cheer season that is!! We started off the year by heading to States in Daytona with a well decorated car.

I always love the view from the hotel rooms here.

I think the girls favorite thing about this year is the addition of some boys on the team, especially Liza's BFF Jordan.

Liza and Nina are both on cheer and dance this year and the teams were fabulous. Great job ladies and gentlemen.

Happy 17th!!!

2011-01-12T10:25:00.001-05:00

Liza turned 17 the other day! Wow, she is growing up too fast.

Most of her day was spent at the gym since competition season will be starting soon and they had some last minute practices. We did find time for presents and cake and hanging out with a few of her besties. Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-28T06:59:00.012-05:00

Our traditional Christmas Eve picnic happened this year even though it was freezing. We had the whole beach to ourselves. Luckily it warmed up for Christmas and brunch at the beautiful Casa Monica hotel in St. Augustine where we did a bit of sunbathing on the roof.

It was a nice, quiet, family day with three of my favorite people and I loved it!

ICE!

2010-12-22T07:40:00.005-05:00

The girls and I made the long trek down to the Gaylord Palms in Orlando yesterday for the ICE exhibit. Every year the Gaylord takes 2 million pounds of ice and transforms it into a Christmas story book. This year's theme was The Night Before Christmas.

They loan you these massive blue parkas because the temperature is kept at a chilly 9 degrees. Brrrr!

Absolutely everything you see here is made of ice.

The ice slides were a highlight.

I thought this crystal clear ice creche was beautiful.

We ran into some of Nina's friends who were down there at the same time.

Afterwards we explored the lobby of the hotel which is a massive atrium split into three sections representing three different areas of Florida.

St. Augustine

The Everglades

Key West

Painting Date

2010-12-15T07:41:00.002-05:00

Nina and Jim went to Yes You Canvas the other day. That's the place where you "come as you are and leave as an artist." They had a nice time painting the Christmas Puppy. :)

Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T09:06:00.005-05:00

Quick trip up to Virginia last weekend to spend Thanksgiving with the Hills and my Dad. Thanks for having us and doing all that cooking!

On Friday, we all met with our friends the Ramseys for a day in Staunton, Va in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. We had lunch, did some shopping and took a tour of Woodrow Wilson's birthplace.

The kids reconnecting over rock candy from the museum gift shop.

Stuck like glue, as usual!

Happy Birthday Pop!!

2010-11-20T07:30:00.007-05:00

We had a great time celebrating my father-in-law's 85th last weekend in Fort Lauderdale.

Happy Birthday Pop! We love you!!! :)

College Visits and South Beach

2010-11-20T07:00:00.012-05:00

During our weekend in South Florida, we took some time to visit a couple of colleges in which Liza might be interested. First up was Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and next was U of M in Coral Gables.

Both schools were good possibilities for her, each having its pros and cons. We thought it was interesting that FAU, which is a public school and runs under $18,000 a year, had much nicer facilities than Miami, which is private and costs in excess of $50,000 a year. Nice to see our tax dollars hard at work! I'm sure we will do many more colleges visits before Liza has to make a decision about a year from now.

Since we were in the Miami area, we decided to have lunch on South Beach. Here we are at the News Cafe, our favorite brunch place. Sitting at the table next to us was Anna Kornikova, the tennis great. I didn't dare take a picture of her as she had just seriously yelled at a passerby for trying to talk to her. Guess she wasn't having the best day.

The girls were excited to find the gelato shop that the Jersey Shore kids worked at during their season in Miami.

Children of the Corn

2010-11-04T13:10:00.006-04:00

Corn mazes are not an easy thing to find in Florida. I guess they don't grow much corn here. However, for the first time a local farm decided to make a maze this year and they did a great job. It was actually a hard maze to find your way through.

Eventually we did find our way out an took the obligatory hayride. Definitely helped get us in the mood for autumn, even if it is still in the 80's here.

NAS JAX Airshow

2010-10-27T08:13:00.003-04:00

Jim, Liza and I went to the air show at Naval Air Station - Jacksonville last Sunday. There were many planes on display and exhibits to see. Of course the highlight of the show was the Blue Angels. Only inches apart at hundreds of miles an hour, they are amazing!

Homecoming

2010-10-26T13:25:00.004-04:00

Despite all the school spirit shown at the game, BTHS didn't win. :( The disappointment was forgotten pretty quickly though, because the next night was the Homecoming Dance.

After a hair and makeup session with Nina, Liza was looking fierce!!

Biffles!

Jim waited patiently through the long photo session. Got to love the sunset over the St. Johns.

Dress Like a Nerd and Gender Switch Day

2010-10-22T07:47:00.004-04:00

It's homecoming week at BTHS and Liza has been having a great time. She and her friends made this awesome junior class banner.

Everyday at school this week was a different dress up day. Favorites were Dress Like a Nerd Day and Gender Switch Day.

This was first for me, having a couple of boys come over in the morning dressed as themselves and after a quick transformation, they left for school in full drag. I think they look fabulous!

Riverside Concert

2010-10-22T07:22:00.002-04:00

My friend's daughter has a little garage band and they were invited to sing at the Riverside Arts Market. It was really cool to watch a 10 year old belt out a few songs by the Rolling Stones and Cream. Rock on Riley!!

Kingsley Plantation and the Ribault Club

2010-09-30T15:57:00.006-04:00

We took advantage of National Public Lands Day by visiting Fort George Island National Park and walking around the grounds of the Kingsley Plantation. Kingsley was a sea island cotton plantation. The house is being restored, so no tour, but it was the slave quarters that were most intriguing.

Built in a perfect semi-circle on one side of the house, nearly all of the tabby foundations are still intact. The other side of the house faces the river.
It was hard trying to envision the lives of those who lived here. The quarters are said to be haunted by several ghosts. Honestly, we didn't feel any strange vibes but I would think that after dark this place would be pretty spooky.

Also on the grounds of the park is the Ribault Club which was a swanky private club back in the 1920s. Does that mean it was a speakeasy? The ranger didn't think so, but I'm not so sure. The Park Service fully restored the building and it is available for weddings and parties. It was a really beautiful setting and I took a ton of pictures. Below are some of my favorites.

Potters

2010-09-13T11:55:00.004-04:00

We were in St Augustine the other day with not much to do and ended up going to Potter's Wax Museum. As far as wax museums go, this one was pretty good with its displays of odd, surreal looking characters.

We were first greeted by Henry VIII and his wives, who were in the correct order (divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded survived).

Here is Jim with Al Capone and some other gangsters.

The girls at the signing of the Declaration of Independence and with some modern day Presidents.

And the gang from one of our favorite shows.

Choreography

2010-09-05T07:04:00.003-04:00

The girls recently finished 7 nights straight of choreography. I stayed and watched a couple of times and it was really interesting. We have a huge team this year, 36 members including a few guys. The choreographer carefully figures out the best spot for each athlete during what will be the nearly 3 minute routine. Keeping in mind that they will be moving fast, stunting and tumbling through the whole thing, each step has to be thoroughly considered.

It was a ton of hard work for all the kids, but after a summer of working on skills and conditioning, it is rewarding to finally start seeing the routine come together. It will be tweaked a million times before the first competition, but they are off to a fabulous start!!

First Day

2010-08-23T10:09:00.007-04:00

First day of school.

Nina 8th Grade Liza 11th Grade

I miss them already!

Universal Studios

2010-08-19T08:20:00.003-04:00

Another trip to Universal! We love this park. :)

Jaguar's Private Practice

2010-08-16T08:24:00.005-04:00

Jim and Liza will be working the Jaguar games this year for a fund raiser and were invited to go to a practice session closed to everyone except volunteers and their families. The three of us went while Nina, having other plans, decided to sit this one out.

In this house we will always and forever be NY Giant fans. However, we still enjoyed being right on the practice field next to the stadium watching all the action.

One thing the Giants don't have is cheerleaders, but the Jaguars do! I believe Jim's favorite part of the event was hanging out with the Roar girls.

The few times we have been to the stadium in the past have always been with a huge crowd. Somehow we never even noticed this memorial just outside of the main gates, dedicated to all the Duval County service men and women who have died since WWI and inscribed with all their names. It is a beautiful and moving tribute.

Cooling Off

2010-08-11T08:25:00.006-04:00

With the temperature hoovering in the high 90's our pool feels like a bathtub. Even the ocean has become too warm to be refreshing. What to do to cool off? How about ice skating!

It was wonderfully cold inside the rink!

My gang has not been ice skating in awhile so the first lap was spent hugging the wall. Even Nina, who is pretty fierce on roller blades, stayed close for support.

However, it wasn't long before they

were looking like pros.

When you have a 16 year old daughter, it seems like everywhere you go someone is trying to flirt with her. This time it was the skate guard who was trying to impress her with his ability to skate backwards and talk at the same time. Sorry dude, she is here with her parents, you've got no shot.

Hilton Head and Savannah

2010-08-05T08:29:00.008-04:00

Since the girls have been busy this summer with friends, cheer, camp and work it took awhile, but we finally put a few days together and went up to the beach apartment in Hilton Head. It was nice to have some time to relax and enjoy the surf.

Liza continued to work on her tan.

We spent one afternoon down in Savannah taking in the sites and sounds of City Market and River Street.

The Candy Kitchen was our favorite stop on River Street because of all the free samples being throw at us.

Warm, fresh salt water taffy is the best!!

Jim joined us for dinner at Tubbys.

Love this water fountain! :)

Sea World and Aquatica

2010-07-22T07:58:00.010-04:00

We spent last weekend down in Orlando visiting Sea World and Aquatica.

Favorite Rides:

Nina - Journey to Atlantis

Liza - Manta

Me - Wild Arctic

Jim - The Sky Tower

Actually, we all really liked the Sky Tower which is a gentle ride that takes you 300 feet up for some awesome views of the park. Mostly I think we all enjoyed it because it was seriously air conditioned and it got us out of the 95 degree heat for a few minutes.

Favorite animals:

Dolphins

Penguins

Seals and Sea Lions

This little squirrel who shared our lunch.

The shark tank. It was impossible to get good pictures in here but it was very cool to be riding on a 60 foot moving walkway under 500 tons of water filled with sharks.

Polar Bear

Sting Rays

Manatees

These are always my favorite. There is something about them I find irresistible.

All the manatee here are rescues. You can see this poor guy has a huge chunk of tail missing.

A must do at Sea World is the killer whale show.

We closed the park. It was a long, hot day but a lot of fun!

Another nice thing about Sea World is that when you get your ticket, it comes with a free ticket for Aquatica, Sea World's water park. I took this picture when we got there the next morning and didn't get my camera out the rest of the day. We were too busy enjoying the cool water of the slides, wave pools and lazy rivers to take any pictures.

Gator on the Beach!

2010-07-16T09:09:00.006-04:00

Liza spent a couple of days in Hilton Head this week hanging out with Jim and taking advantage of the beach apartment to work on her tan.

They had quite the surprise one afternoon when a huge alligator came climbing up out of the surf! Who knew alligators ever went in the ocean?

Needless to say the water cleared out in a flash (all arm and legs intact) and everyone gathered round to look at the gator.

There happened to be a fisherman there who was also an alligator wrangler and he knew what to do.

He jumped on the alligator's back and held its jaw shut while his son tied the jaw closed with some rope.

They were going to take it back to a nearby swamp for release, hopefully no worse for the wear. Good thing they were there because the beach patrol people wouldn't even get out of their truck.

Since moving to Florida, I am always on the lookout for alligators when we are near a pond or river. I guess I am going to have to be scanning the beach now too.

The Trampoline

2010-07-13T10:24:00.005-04:00

It took some time and a lot of convincing, but I finally caved and got my kids a trampoline. I had heard horror stories about how hard it is to put one of these things together but it actually only took us a little over an hour. First, Liza, Nina, and Jordan set the frame out.

As soon as Jim got home from work, he was recruited to put the frame together.

Next, they had to stretch all the springs. This part took the longest.

A quick bounce before the net went up.

The last step was attaching the net to the trampoline.

And it was time to have fun!!

They bounced well into the night.

Born on the 4th of July

2010-07-06T07:20:00.008-04:00

Happy Birthday Jim!!!

Yes You Canvas

2010-06-27T09:35:00.005-04:00

The girls and I recently spent the evening at Yes You Canvas, a painting instruction class. Basically even if you have no artistic ability (I fall into that category) all you have to do is follow along with the instructor and you go home a few hours later with a fairly decent painting.

Liza and Nina both painted their backgrounds pink and their lines in red.

Liza working on her flowers.

The girls and David, our teacher, as he is giving them some pointers for finishing touches.

Here is our whole class at the end of the night. All of us were first timers here so I think we did a fine job. We will definitely be back.

OBX 2010!

2010-06-21T08:50:00.022-04:00

We just got back from our annual trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, our favorite week of the year.

We are there with family,

and friends.

From Ohio, Max, Jack, Karen, Daniel, Kelley and Justin.

From Virginia, Dan, Cameron, Danna, DJ and Derek.

From Nebraska David, Marina, Luke, Sasha and Katya.

From Florida, Liza, Maureen, Nina and Jim.

Missing this year was my nephew Sam who is deployed in Iraq. We did get a chance to crowd around the computer and chat with him on Skype, but it wasn't quite the same without him.

Some of our favorite things from the vacation include;

Watching the sunrise from the deck, so beautiful.

Mini Golf.Baking in the sun, the weather was perfect all week.
Toasting marshmallows on the beach at night.

Playing on the dunes at Jockey Ridge State Park.

Enjoying the swimming pool.

Many highly competitive beach volleyball games.

Completing the jigsaw puzzle Dad has made from last year's beach picture.

Face painting sessions.

And of course just hanging out with family and friends.

I especially loved watching little Luke catch a cat nap whenever he got the chance. I think we wore him out.

Once again, thanks for a great vacation Dad. Already counting the days til next year.

No More Pencils, No More Books!!

2010-06-12T11:56:00.002-04:00

The girls finished school this past week. To celebrate, Nina and the rest of the 7th grade at SPMS went to Universal for the day. She had a great time. No such luck for Liza who had finals right up until the last minute of school. But now we have two and a half months of sunshine and fun to look forward to. So happy to have them home for the summer!!

The Long Overdue Project

2010-06-07T08:33:00.008-04:00

It has been so hot and sunny here the last few weekends that all we have done is play in the pool, but yesterday we took advantage of a rainy afternoon to do a project the girls have been wanting to do for a long time. They have both been asking for a spot in their rooms to display the various cheer medals, trophies and other things they have won over the years. Each one of those items represents hours of blood, sweat and pain for the girls so it is nice to finally have them out where they can be proud of them.

Just like old times

2010-05-27T10:15:00.002-04:00

When the Molinari family lived across the street from us in Virginia, it was one of those rare friendships where the wives,the husbands and the kids all got along perfectly. We never tired of the countless hours we spent talking, laughing and playing with them. But then they moved and we moved and sadly we don't get to see them very often. So when Ana called and said they would be in the area last night, we jumped at the chance to met up with them. Happily, it was like no time at all had passed. Even Ana's parents, Fernando and Sara (aka: TaTa and YaYa) were there!

It was a fantastic night and soooooo nice to reconnect!!!

Chicago: Up Close and Personal

2010-05-24T09:18:00.004-04:00

Last night we went to see Chicago and really loved it. I had purchased our tickets several months ago and thought we had pretty good seats. About a week ago, I got a call from the theater saying that our seats were going to be covered by some sound equipment and would we mind sitting in some special raised seating in the orchestra pit? Of course I said we wouldn't mind. There is no photography allowed during the play, but I snapped the picture below while the band was setting up and you can see just how close we were to the stage. It was like we were part of the play!

Sharks!!

2010-05-20T09:48:00.005-04:00

Well not real sharks, but the Jacksonville Sharks arena football team.

The field is short, the action is fast and furious and the scores are high.

And the dancers are pretty cute too. That's April, Liza's dance coach, looking fabulous.

We had a fun time.

Can you spot the difference???

2010-05-12T14:41:00.004-04:00

Can you spot the difference between these two photos taken just hours apart???

A Sweet Mother's Day

2010-05-12T11:59:00.008-04:00

In lieu of presents for Mother's Day, I always ask my gang just to do stuff for me. This year they really came through. Mountains of laundry were washed, folded and put away. The fence in the backyard was stained. The landscaping project in the front yard was completed. They made me a delicious dinner including this cake which Nina made by herself from scratch! It was yummy. Thanks guys! XO

It's off to work she goes...

2010-05-10T11:08:00.006-04:00

Liza started her first real job over the weekend. She is working at a shaved ice booth owned by a friend's parents. I had never had shaved ice until I moved to Florida so for those of you not familiar with it, shaved ice is not to be confused with a snow cone. It is more like eating freshly fallen, light, fluffy snow with delicious flavors poured over the top. The booth is movable so for the next few weekends Liza will be working at the local soccer fields. Over the summer, she will be stationed at various local beaches. I think she is going to have a good time and earn herself some spending money to boot!

Nina and her friends thought it was yummy! ;D

BTHS Dance Recital

2010-05-08T09:03:00.007-04:00

Liza's high school has a fabulous dance program with an award winning director and a studio that rivals anything you would find in NYC. Altogether about 150 students are in the classes and last night was their end of year recital. Each class did a group number that featured a different style of dance. Below is Liza's class doing a swanky jazz number that highlighted the lone guy in her class.

At the end of the recital there was a tribute to Michael Jackson with all the kids participating.

In the middle of the program were the student choreographed routines either as individuals, duos or trios. Liza did a terrific trio with a couple of her friends. All in all there were about 70 routines which did make it a long night. And so we watched patiently through routines both good and bad, along with 600 other family members in the sold out auditorium. All grateful that our high school is still able to afford programs like this.

28 Countries in 3 Hours

2010-05-07T13:41:00.003-04:00

Doesn't seem possible, but that is exactly what we did recently at the World of Nations Celebration. At this event, 28 countries set up tents you can visit to learn a little bit about the culture, history and people of their lands.

Among many other things, we celebrated the New Year in China and posed with an alpaca high in the Peruvian Andes.

There was a belly dancing lesson in Turkey and a beautiful choir from Kenya.

Of course, we got our passports stamped at every stop. Maybe someday we can get some of these stamps for real.

Lucky 13!! Happy Birthday Nina

2010-05-07T13:05:00.007-04:00

My baby girl turned 13 on May 1.

She had a sweet surprise on her birthday when Audrey and most of the gang from Ramsey Central showed up for the afternoon, all the way from Virginia!

There was swimming,

and cake and presents.

As usual, Caden was glued to his sweetheart, Liza.

That is except when he was entertaining us trying to touch his elbow with his tongue.

It was a great day and a nice treat for all of us.

Please indulge me for a moment....

2010-04-26T14:41:00.005-04:00

while I brag about my kids a bit. At last night's end of season banquet, my girls walked away with some sweet awards. Nina got an award for being an outstanding individual competitor and Liza was voted by her teammates as the friendliest person. Both girls got the team's academic honors as well, Nina for having straight A's all year and Liza had the highest GPA of any of the high school girls on the team. It is no easy task to keep good grades while involved in such a demanding, year round sport. We are really proud of them!!

The girls love hanging out with friends at the banquet.

Each year one of the highlights of the cheer banquet is the team poems. The coaches write a lovely poem dedicated to each team and highlight something special and unique about each and every team member. You see the senior team here reading along as Kimberly reads their poem aloud. It is really sweet.

Thanks again to Coaches Nicole and Kimberly.

All-Levels Atlanta

2010-04-21T14:11:00.008-04:00

FCA Seniors had earned a bid to the International All-Levels in Atlanta which was held last weekend. It is a huge, tough competition and the girls performed beautifully. Just not quite enough for first place, but close. This was a bittersweet performance for Liza and Nina since it was the last one of the season. They are sad this year is over and they will not perform again with this exact group of girls with whom they are so close. At the same time, they are excited for tryouts next week and all the excitement, challenge and promise a new season brings. Happily, most of the girls will be back for the new year and we look forward to meeting some new ones.

Cheersport Jacksonville!!

2010-04-14T13:41:00.007-04:00

Another great competition for FCA Seniors. They won first place for both Cheer and Dance!

That's Nina in the air on the far right.

This was the last competition for the Dance Team this year. Liza really enjoyed all the girls and Coach April.

Here is a video of their final performance.

Next week Cheer competes at International All-Levels in Atlanta. That will definitely be our toughest outing of the year. We are so excited.

Easter with Grandpa

2010-04-09T09:27:00.009-04:00

Liza and Nina really love their Grandpa and look forward to his visits. They especially love when he comes at Easter because he hides plastic eggs with $20 bills in them. After spending the morning searching for cash, we took Gramps out for brunch.

A scenic ride on the water taxi took us to the River City Brewing Company where we feasted.

Thanks for coming to see us Dad and remember you have a standing invitation for Easter. ;)

Yankee Turns 6

2010-04-03T09:17:00.010-04:00

April Fool's Day is always fun at our house. Partly because the girls and I get Jim every year with an elaborate prank or two, but also because it is Yankee's birthday. Because she was a shelter dog, no one knows Yankee's real birthday, but we know she was born in the spring. Since she is such a foolish dog, we picked April 1 to celebrate.

Nina made Yankee a special dog food birthday cake which she devoured.

Hilton Head

2010-04-02T13:34:00.006-04:00

Spring Break found us in Hilton Head, SC for a couple of days. Jim has been working here so much lately that he has taken a corporate apartment.

It is a tiny little place. One bedroom, a small living room/kitchen combination and these two bunks in the wall that serve as the guest room.

It doesn't really matter how small the place is because when your building is right on the beach you hardly need space inside.

He is on the side of the building, but still has a nice view from the balcony.

Of course we hit the beach where Yankee seemed to enjoy herself more than anyone else.

We spent one afternoon exploring the island, doing some shopping and having fun at the playground.

These are the ruins of an old plantation house. All that is left is the tabby shell foundation.

Harbour Town Lighthouse is a must see when you visit Hilton Head.

It is an easy climb to the top (only 114 steps) and the view is spectacular.

Diamond Cheer and Dance

2010-03-28T09:05:00.013-04:00

Last weekend's Diamond Cheer and Dance was a fun competition partly because it draws an interesting group of teams.

There was an awesome level 6 team.

One of the gyms even brought a parent team. Look at that mom flying high!

Also a sweet little special needs team that got a huge ovation.

The highlights for us were Senior Dance, 1st place in their division.

Senior Cheer, who not only won first place but won the Grand Champion Award for level 3, which means they had higher scores than all the level 3 teams there, including several co-ed teams!

Another highlight, Nina's individual performance. This was the last time she will be doing indi's this year and she did an amazing job.

Happy Birthday Again Liza!!

2010-03-26T11:00:00.008-04:00

When Liza turned 16 a few months ago, she asked that in lieu of a party, could we go to Universal together. I was only too happy to accommodate her. We waited patiently for the timing and the weather to be perfect. The day finally arrived last weekend.

First stop, Islands of Adventure. Getting there pretty early in the morning, we nearly had the place to ourselves. No lines!!

We got a little peek at the new Harry Potter World which will be opening soon. Their rendition of Hogwarts is below. We are looking forward to going back once this new section of the park opens.

Later in the day we hit Universal Studios. Jim was thrilled to stand in front of Genco Imports, which any Godfather fan will know is the Corleone family business.

The Mardi Gras celebration is still going on at Universal so there were people on stilts everywhere. In the background of this picture you can see Liza and Logan's favorite ride of the day, the Rip Ride Rockit.

Everyone had such a fun day. Thanks Liza for wanting to celebrate your birthday with your family. You truly are *Sweet Sixteen*

An Afternoon of Stories and Song

2010-03-15T09:29:00.012-04:00

We heard that Arlo Guthrie was playing a fundraiser at Alpine Groves, a beautiful little park near our house, and thought it might be interesting. So that is where we headed yesterday afternoon. It turned out that the performance was a benefit for the Stetson Kennedy Foundation. I have to admit, I had never heard of Stetson Kennedy before, but what a fascinating man and a great storyteller.

Stetson was born here in Jacksonville in 1916 and has been a civil rights activist all his life. It started with his first job for FDR's Writers Project in 1937 when he was paid $37.50 a month to seek out and record the oral histories of former slaves before those stories were lost to time. It was here that he found his love of oral tradition and folklore. In the 1940's Stetson went undercover into the Ku Klux Klan and exposed many of their leaders. In the 1950's, after his house was firebombed, he lived in France for a time and wrote several books, the most well known being The Klan Unmasked. Stetson, at 94 years old, continues to work on the things he finds most important, equality and justice and the preservation of American folklore. Thus, his connection to the Guthrie family as he was a great friend of folk legend, the late Woodie Guthrie.

After Stetson's spun tales for about an hour, it was Arlo's turn and he is quite the story teller himself. Very funny and sarcastic, he talked about growing up the son of an American folk singing father and a Russian Jewish mother who was a dancer. He talked about his coming of age in the 60's and his experience playing at Woodstock. Also, a lot about his children and grandchildren, many of whom you can see singing with him in the picture below.

It was my favorite kind of afternoon, you know, the ones where you learn a little something new and enjoy yourself along the way!

Featured Artist!

2010-03-08T09:02:00.005-05:00

Liza's photography was selected to be featured at a nearby coffee house for the month of March. It was exciting to see her work on display.

Great Job Liza!!

American Cheer Power

2010-02-24T11:05:00.004-05:00

On Sunday we headed to Lakeland for American Cheer Power. It was a one day competition with two events for Liza and three for Nina. Liza had both dance and cheer. Nina filled in again for one of the dancers as well as doing her individuals and cheer. For me this means carrying a lot of stuff all day and meeting the girls between performances to help them change hair, makeup, costumes and shoes. It was a hectic and fun day.

Here is a video of the cheer routine. They not only won their division, but got the high point award for all teams at their level!!

A nice thing about this competition was all the swag. Nina got a trophy for indi's. Both girls got medals for cheer and dance and tee shirts for cheer and dance. Best of all, they got a cool, red sweatshirt for being high point champs. Way to go ladies!!

The Manatees at Blue Spring

2010-02-23T12:57:00.016-05:00

On our way to a cheer competition we were passing right by Blue Spring State Park. Blue Spring feeds into the St. Johns River and is a constant 72 degrees all year, much warmer than the river in the winter. I had heard that this was a place manatees gathered for warmth this time of year so we decided to stop and see if we could catch a glimpse of one. I am so glad we did. We ended up seeing about 25 or 30 manatees in the crystal clear waters of this breathtaking spring. It was great that Danna was here to enjoy it with us!

To see the manatee we stood out on a dock over the water and several of them swam right below us. Many of them had scars from boat propellers. Here is a small one, you can see the deep scars on his back.

This one had a fish clinging to him. Every time the manatee would come up for a breath, the fish had to struggle to find a new spot to hold on.

In the picture below, you can see quite a few manatee gathered together. This must have been a particularly warm spot because they seemed to be resting there.

There were many fish in the spring as well.

And birds preening in the sunshine.

Spring blooms and Spanish moss.

This is one of the prettiest and most peaceful places I have ever seen. People are allowed to swim and snorkel at Blue Spring once the manatee are gone for the season. I really hope to do that one day!

State Fair!!

2010-02-17T10:27:00.020-05:00

Last weekend the girls and I took off for Tampa and a competition at the Florida State Fair. It is a big event with many teams from all over the state participating. Tampa is usually fairly warm this time of year, but not so last weekend. Temperatures were in the 30's with howling winds, add to that, cheer and dance costumes are pretty skimpy not to mention the fact that the arena is outdoors, and you can imagine how hard it was to perform under those conditions. Despite all the shivering on stage, they had a great time and were quite successful!!

They appear at the Ford Amphitheatre which is a huge venue and is pretty intimidating.

Here is an overhead picture of it I found online so you can see just how big it is.

Saturday night was Nina's individuals. Here she is doing her medal winning routine. Can you see the goosebumps? She said she was so happy when she finished so she could go put her coat and sweatpants back on!!

Sunday we had an early morning call for Liza's dance team. Even though the sun was out, it felt just as cold. You would never know by looking at Liza who was having a great time dancing.

One of the girls on the dance team could not make it to Tampa so Nina was recruited to fill in for her. The dance team did beautifully and won their division!

Here are the girls with Coach April.

After dance we ran back to the hotel for a costume change and went back to fair for the main event, Cheer. This is the event the girls put in the most hours for and all their hard work paid off. They beat 8 other talented teams in a super close competition, edging out the second place team by a tenth of a point. Here they are back on the podium.

Way to go FCA Seniors :D

All smiles from coaches Nicole and Kimberly!