Thanksgiving week 2014

We had an awesome Thanksgiving week with family this year.

We took a trip to the sandcastle festival on Fort Myers Beach. It was the beginning of the festival so many of the sculptors were still working, but it was neat to see the beginning of the process.

The next day we went out on the water.

I love these girls!

Everyone took turns as captain.

We had some good grub! Caught ya, mom! Honey baked ham on the water just tastes so much better!

Uncle Scotty gathering the girls!

On Monday, Mom babysat the girls while Tiffany, Rob and I went to the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. We meet Andrew and Chandra Sale there too! The museum building and location are both stunning. The museum was also featuring Picasso at the same time. I enjoyed learning about both their work and lives. Thank you for watching the girls, Mom, and giving me this adult day!

The girls were sharing a room and waking up much, much earlier than normal! So mom entertained Audrey while we waited for the sun to rise!

We got to celebrate my Dad's 68th birthday over some yummy stir fry!

We took a trip to the Naples Zoo. Addison and Mom fed the giraffes! So cool!

These cool boys met us at the zoo...good uncles!

The morning of Thanksgiving we woke up incredibly early for some reason and walked the Turkey Trot. 

We had Thanksgiving meal out on Captiva. 

Here's the whole group minus Rob.

 And the whole group minus Andrew.

My Ritter Family

Crooks Family

 More Crooks Family

Scotty, Amanda, Zach, Colin, Bradly, and Madilynn

The Rankes

our family

 Andrew and I

Tiffany and Rob

 Papa and Nana

 Ritter boys

Addison and her bud Bradly

After dinner we went to see the sunset, it was the first time for the girls to see the sunset on the ocean.

We went to the Six Mile Cypress Slough for a walk. 

We didn't manage to scare away all the wildlife!

Collecting tiny pinecones.

 We stopped by Nana and Papa's house for an amazing dinner with family before heading home!

Happy 1 1/2, Audrey!

Okay, this is going to be a month late because today is actually her 19 month day...but I will cheat and date it for last month! 

Audrey Diane is 1 1/2 years old! We celebrated with a half a birthday cake at Mom and Steve's house. The cake was delicious. In fact, the night before her half birthday Rob, Tiffany, Andrew, Steve and I ate the other half of the cake. 

Audrey has been cutting molars all month and she was very mad about that! I'm glad to be able to report that she has all four of her one year molars now! Total she has 10 teeth...half way there.

She is still tiny, 19.5 pounds. So tiny that our pediatrician wanted to get a second opinion on her growth. After a visit with the pediatric gastroenterologist, we were able to confirm that she is perfectly healthy, but just taking after me in the size department.

She is very active and expressive. I love her. She is starting to talk a lot more now too!

She loves trees and her Anna doll!

Our weekend

Andrew went to Boston this weekend to visit some friends from law school, but we kept busy thanks to our Canes obsessed family! On Friday we went to Fort Lauderdale to hang out with Dad and Kim at the hotel they were staying at. We had an awesome time and made some fun memories with Grandma! Like broken snow globes and late night swims! Also, the girls will look so fashionable during the holidays this year thanks to the fancy dresses Kim picked out! 

On Saturday morning we went to the Storybook festival at the library and it was fun. Audrey had a hard time sitting through the story telling aspect of it, but Addison loved it. And they got to meet Pete the Cat, Cat in the Hat, the pigeon from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Red Ridinghood, the Big Bad Wolf, and Froggy! Frog and Toad were not there, which was a huge bummer for me because I love those stories (we saw pictures of them there last year). All the characters were high school volunteers and they did a cute job. I can definitely picture Addison signing up for that volunteer opportunity in high school! 

Saturday afternoon Scotty, Amanda, Colin and Madilynn came over! Scotty and Colin went to the game while we played at home and at the playground. Madilynn and Audrey share a lot better with older kids than they do each other! Haha! A battle of the babies of the family! Addison adores Colin and Colin is such a fun older brother and cousin! Can't wait to spend more time with family over Thanksgiving week!

Enjoy this video of Addison practicing one on one with her coach at SoccerTots:

I think we need to start practicing more at home! I love how careful she is though!

The Fair!

Right outside our neighborhood there is a fair each year around this time. Addison ooh and ahhed over it each time we drove past it (which was every night for a week). So when she filled her marble jar this week we took her! It was her first fair. She rode on the ferris wheel, a little car ride, and we all rode on the carousel.

This is before the man stole our money basically. Typical fair scuzball. Andrew popped 5 balloons too! Instead of getting angry at the man, Andrew took the girls to Toys R Us for a stuffed animal. haha.

First carousel ride for Audrey!

Okay, get ready to see the cutest thing you've seen all day:

Addison's first time in curlers! I'd love to have an after picture too, however Addison got a little too anxious and couldn't wait for her hair to dry in them. Next time I may try having her sleep in them, but that may be a disaster.

Audrey's first time using a pillow in her crib! She's not too sure how to keep her head on it though!

Tonight we grilled shrimp, lobster, and mango for the first time! Yum!

Today was a sad day in the animal kingdom...

Earlier this week we found an injured goose behind our house. It must have been hit by a car because its feet were completely black and it could hardly walk. After talking with the Wildlife Care Center, they suggested to bring it in. So I loaded up the girls and the poor goose (in the dog crate!). Everyone at the office was so appreciative and kind. Today we found out that the goose didn't make it. One foot was completely black and the tissue was dead and the other foot was almost dead too. It couldn't walk and didn't even try to fly.

This morning the girls and I were walking the dogs and found a small, gray dead mouse on the sidewalk by our mailbox.

This afternoon, as we were leaving our neighborhood. we came across a dead iguana in the middle of the road (clearly hit by a car) and a live iguana on top of it as if it were protecting and mourning it. We called the clubhouse to send someone to clear it from the road.

Each of these deaths made me so sad today and made me cry. Addison asked if animals go to heaven. I told her I wasn't sure, but that we'd find out one day. I told her that God created animals and asked us to take care of them.

We just have too many distractions while driving, myself included (ask me about how I ran into the garage door last week sometime). I think I was so emotional about it because it (in conjunction with the garage door incident) was a real eye opener. The speed limit in our community, where these animals were hit and killed, is 25 mph. That should be a slow enough speed to prevent this type of thing if drivers would obey it. We need to slow down and become more patient drivers. We need to plan ahead and leave enough time so that we don't feel as rushed to get to our destination. We need to put our phones out of reach and pay attention. We need to move back to Chicago and sell the cars....(ha, I wish).

This is a weird post, but I find myself feeling so much more protective and emotional now that I have two precious babies in the car and on the sidewalks of our neighborhood.

Addison what are you thankful for?

This morning I asked Addison what she was thankful for and here is what she told me:

• Daddy because he loves me
• the trees and the plants
• peanut butter
• poo poo, hahahahhahah just kidding (let the bodily function jokes begin!)
• Elsa
• my beautiful dress

Sooooo, either I need to do a better job pointing out what to be thankful for each day or she's just a silly 3.5 year old without a care in the world!