Busch Gardens

I had Monday off because of veterans' day, so I decided to let Sam skip school and head to Busch Gardens.  I get in free because I belong to AZA (zoo association), Sam had a free preschool pass they did this year, and Zoey is under 3.  Mom and dad bought reduced price tickets from Publix.  

We started the day looking at primates.  Here are pictures at the statues.  Dad/Papa and I rode tons of rollar coasters, while Mom/Nana took care of the girls.  

At the aviary, Papa caught a bird.  It ended up pecking his arm so hard it bled.

Sam would not ride the kid roller coasters, but she loved these cars.

She got to feed a flamingo.

Both girls loved the carousels.

Sam really enjoyed the tiger exhibit.  There was a beautiful topiary.

And a pop out that one tiger was sleeping on.

Although Zoey loves Sesame Street, she did not like the characters.

She did love the train.  She even rode it once or twice totally alone.  No other kids on it.

 We ended the day riding the sky buckets.  We actually had to stop on them for a bit, but finally were let off and ended a long fun filled day as the sun went down.

Halloween

We filled up the end of October with Halloween fun.

Sam and I went to a fall fest at the local children's museum.  It was amazing.  Such great activities and prizes.  They even gave out a pumpkin.  Sam wore her costume from Halloween 2010.

Zoey has also taken to wearing dress up clothes lately, including the fairy costume.

I saw this on pinterest and got Nick to carve it.  Unfortunately, I did not bleach it right away and in just a day or two it started to rot.  So it was gross by Halloween.

The moms club had a Trunk or Treat event.  We went as avengers characters.  Sam was black widow, Zoey was the hulk, Nick was Tony Stark and I was Pepper Potts.  I did not even take any pictures of us or our decorated car.

For Halloween, Sam wanted to go as a cheerleader.  A friend gave her this American Idol dress up costume and she wanted to wear it, but I thought it was a bit too revealing for out and about.  I was going to have to talk her into something else, but our neighbor asked her what she wanted to be and offered to loan her a Miami cheerleading outfit.  So that is what she wore for trick or treating.  To balance it a bit, I put Zoey in the GT one, even though Tech's season is not going well.

Sam was so excited and could not wait.  She got ready so early and loved trick or treating.  Zoey had a blast too.  She would ride in the stroller, but would jump out, demand her pooh bear pail and run up saying "Treat, treat!"

At my parents, she let herself right in and tried to make off with the whole bucket.

We celebrated my dad's birthday in early November because of trick or treating.

And you can see Zoey is sporting a new injury from falling off a bench.  Yikes that girl falls a lot!

 And that brings us to election day.  Sam was so excited that she begged us to take her to vote with us, which we did.  Nick thought she could even use the machine, but we had to bubble in our ballots.  After dinner, I suggested a starbucks run.  They had been giving out bracelets if you had an I voted sticker.  They had run out by evening, but we all got a treat and celebrated the electoral process.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and thankful November.

Fall is here?

We stay super busy.  Seems like we just started the semester and it is almost Halloween.  Although the weather here still feels like summer.  I remember pumpkins in Huntington would last and then freeze.  Here they rot so fast.

We recently went to the air museum near us on the Smithsonian free museum day.  I was with Sam most of the time, so there are more pictures of her.  But Nick, Zoey, Nana and Papa came too.

A replica of a plane belonging to a famous woman pilot, but I cannot remember her name.  I know it was not Earhardt.

One of 8 Spruce goose engines.

One you could sit in.

A jeep.

One the path between the museum and the hanger.

Zoey on the path.

 I recently decided to do some of the activities I had found on pinterest.  Here is constarch and food coloring and water in a balloon to paint the sidewalk.  They were tough balloons, but Sam had a great time.  Zoey could not throw them hard enough.

Here is food coloring in vinegar dropped onto baking soda.  That was a blast for both girls.  

Sam was playing recently while I put Zoey down for a nap and I found this.  Notice how she spread out the cards and each one has an object on it.  Never know what she will come up with.

Sam is a great reader now.  She can even sound out things.  So impressive.  If you ask Zoey, she tends to pick "sista" to read her bedtime story.  They have such a great bond.

Sam can also do some simple math, like adding 2 numbers with 2 digits each.  Just no carrying yet. But so impressive for a 4 year old.  She and my mom work together a lot.

Nick has been going to the main campus in Tampa a lot of Fridays.  The girls and I dropped off for a meeting one day and had a picnic and played at the science museum, MOSI.  I had my hands full and could not take many pictures, but here is one outside in the butterfly garden.

We have been trying to get outside in the cooler times.  We left Sam drive Zoey in the gator.

                                 

Some sidewalk chalk time.  A hand print turkey

A castle and pumpkin.

 Zoey loves playing tag in the grass.

We also decided to redo some of our landscaping.  We got a bunch of rocks and Nick, with only a little help from me, put them around.  We have rocks with gaps filled by lantana.  It is so much nicer than what was there, but it was a lot of work.

Zoey is on the go a lot.  She has taken to throwing some dolls in the cart and pushing it in the play heels.  Sometimes she even grabs a play cell phone.  Cracks me up.

Sam got to go to a Halloween birthday party.  They had a balloon pumpkin to pop and get prizes instead of a pinata.

And the kids got dessert first, but they had to eat it with no hands.

Parenting fail moment.  Nick was in Boston and Zoey was being so cute at Sam's school playing with her shadow.  I wanted to get a picture to send him, but she tumbled off the bench and I only caught this shot.  I did not catch her.  She was upset but no major injuries thank goodness.

The after shot.  You can see the red spots on the side of her face and shoulder.

 And that brings us to today.  Zoey and I went to a playdate this morning, my mom picked up Sam and then we all went for a picnic at a local lake.  I brought all our old bread that we had saved so we could feed the birds.  Sam had a great time.

Zoey was a little more hesitant.

She wanted bread, and would say throw, but often just handed it my mom or me.  

Next up was the pumpkin patch at the church across the street to pick some pumpkins and get some pictures.  Sam was great, but Zoey did not want to sit still.

Zoey loves to smell things, so the first thing she did was say "smell, smell" and sniff the pumpkins.

The pumpkin Sam picked.

Zoey trying to lift a huge pumpkin.

 The best shot of Zoey.

We hope everyone has a great halloween.  We have a bunch of events so many pictures to come I am sure.