Cousin Samantha

Yesterday, Grandma and Grandpa Mann celebrated there 40th Wedding Anniversary. We all went to brunch together and afterwards, we got to take our Cousin Samantha home with us to play. Having a two year old back in the home was a blast! She has such an energy for life, and everything is fun to do. The kids were so excited to be able to share some time with there cousin!


Playing in the sand. (Actually, it was ground up dirt and woodchips, but to a kid--it's called sand!)


Caleb, Emaleigh and Samantha


All tuckered out.


Cookies to get us going again!

My Two Front Teeth

Since April, Caleb has had a very stubborn set of loose front teeth. They have been battling it out in his mouth. One gets loose only to be pushed over by the other. On our trip to Florida we noticed that one of the two was turning pink. We thought it was the tooth dying or blood accumulating in the space...really we had no idea we were just trying to justify why it was turning different shades of red! Anyway, upon our return home, the kids had dentist appoinments this morning. To my delight and Caleb's dismay, the dentist suggested we pull the one that was overlapping the other. She said the pink coloring in his tooth was actually his gum suctioning itself to the tooth. After the first five minutes of attempting to twist it out, it looked as if that tooth was going to remain as stubborn as ever. The dentist decided Caleb had to have his first shot of novacaine if the tooth was ever going to come out. So after a few tears from the shot, the mouth was numb enough for her to pop it out in less than a minute! "How cool," he said, "I can't wait to show all my friends!"



As soon as we got home, Caleb started twisting and pulling the other tooth. After about 45 minutes, it too was out! What a wonderful treat for Caleb to be able to leave the tooth fairy two teeth under his pillow tonight!

We're Coming Home

This morning we are getting ready to come back to Colorado. While we have had an unbelievably fabulous time with our family in Florida, and we are very sad to be leaving them, we are ready for our home. Our surroundings. Our belongings. Our family and friends. We hope you have enjoyed keeping up with our happenings here, and we will see you all very soon.

This One Is for You Nana!

Do I really need to comment?

Jungle Gardens

On Monday, Aunt Mika joined us for a trip to Jungle Gardens in Sarasota. Another fun filled day that included many different wild animals. We saw lots of tropical birds including, Macaws, parrots and flamingos. We also saw turtles, alligators, snakes, and fish. The jungle hike was amazing. While it was a balmy 90 degrees when we entered the park, by the time we got into the heart of the "jungle" it was probably close to 100 degrees. Amazing what a bunch of trees can do to the heat index!














Thanks for a great day Aunt Mika!

Upon our return back to Grandpa's we treated ourselves to a few hours at the pool. After spending the afternoon in the jungle we needed it!!

Learning How To Bodysurf

Once we got to the beach today, we realized we forgot our blue tubes that we bought the first week we headed to the beach. So the kids had to improvise. Caleb was the first to learn and then taught his cousin Matt and his sister Emaleigh.

Bay Watch Babes Watch Out!

Do you remember the show bay watch? Well today, Caleb and Matthew came running up and reminded me of that show. What do you think?


Maybe he might become a swimsuit model?!!


What a pair of cuties!

My Grandpa Buick

I just love my Grandpa Buick. He's really great at:

1. Making me fresca and orange juice.
2. Teaching me how to draw molecules.
3. Cooking waffles and pancakes made to order with blueberries, strawberries, chocolate syrup, peanut butter syrup, or any combination of them together!
4. Taking me to the swimming pool and watching me do my swimming tricks!
5. Giving me eggs and chocolate chip cookies for breakfast!
6. Teaching me about the universe.
7. Eating chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with me.
8. Letting me raid his office closet to pick whatever I want to have...like books, lab notebooks, pens and staplers!

But the best thing about my Grandpa Buick is that he loves me soooo much!

I love you Grandpa!

MOSI

Today we trekked to Tampa to visit the Museum of Science and Industry--or as the locals call it---MOSI. It is similar to our Museum of Nature and History in Denver. The IMAX was a little different because the images were not only projected across the room, but it was shaped like a dome so it projected onto the ceiling, as well.

The planitarium was neat because the gentleman told us about some of the things we could see in the Floridian skies tonight. The only problem is that the skies have been very cloudy due to the fact that it has rained all day here and it doesn't look as if it will be clear enough to see anything. Hopefully tomorrow it will clear up, as it is our last Sunday Beach Day at Siesta Key. The lunch has been packed they toys are ready...let's just hope the weather cooperates.

The kids favorite part of the day was the weather rooms...there was a tornado room, a hurricane room and a wildfire room. Each providing the experience of being in a house under the various conditions.


Hanging out in a hurricane.

My favorite was going in the wind tunnel where the winds gots up to 80 mph.



Upon our return home, we were greeted by Grandpa who was ready for a super soaker attack!





Another fun day!

Solitude

Today was my day. No camera...no kids...no noise! What a treat. This morning I got up and walked the neighborhood. All four miles of it. Upon my return, Grandpa said he would like to take the kids to the pool today, and that I should go and enjoy myself. So that's just what I did.

I started down the Tamiami Trail (that's the road that goes from Tampa to Miami) Stopped at some shops, took myself to lunch and then on to the Nokomis Beach. In talking with a local at the pool this week, she suggested I try it because it is not as far as Siesta Key (the white sand beach), and not quite as steep as Venice Beach (the closest beach). White Siesta will always be my favorite for it's pristine, soft, white sand, this beach was pretty nice. Very nice for taking an hour long walk all by myself.

For this first time since I left Colorado, I was reminded of home today when a flock of 15 or so pelican's flew overhead. How do pelican's remind one of Colorado you ask? Well, they were flying in the infamous v shape that geese fly. How often we see this on our Sunday drives down to Church! While I am not really ready to come home, I am still in love with my local home town and what it has to offer.

I ended my day with a trip to the local...WALMART. What vacation would be complete without a trip to Walmart? (Actually, I've been there 2-3 times already!) I was in need of some supplies for our Weekly Sunday trip to Siesta Key Beach, so I thought I would get them while I didn't have the kids along to put 'unnecessary' items in the cart!!

Tomorrow we'll be heading to Tampa to visit the MOSI Museum. It's a hands on museum with lots of things for the kids to do! Should be fun!

Field Trip to the Movies!

Today we woke up to thunderstorms. Loud thunderstorms with lots of rain! In order to keep the kids happy, I decided to take them to the local movie theater. Kung Fu Panda was what they decided on! What a cute movie (especially if your a Jack Black fan). When we came out of the theater, the sun was shining and the blue skies had returned. A trip to the pool or the beach is what sounds good for the afternoon!
We'll keep you posted!!



Craig, the kids finally spotted their first panther...and it was black!!

Poor Craig!

Yesterday, Caleb, Josh, Matt, and Grandpa took Craig to the airport. On their way home they decided to stop off at the Tropicana Stadium for a Rays vs. Cubs game! The boys had a wonderful time. All the goodies they could eat and spending time with Grandpa...who wouldn't have fun! Craig on the other hand waited around six extra hours to catch his plane. There were pretty severe thunderstorms in Ft. Lauderdale, which is where his plane was coming from. While he should have been home around 9:00 he didn't arrive until 2:00 a.m. Gotta love air travel!!

The Love of My Life

Enjoying this last evening with you has been great! While I am saddened that our week together as a family is ending, I am grateful to God that it was such a fabulous time together. I prayed we would have a good time, and as always I am amazed at how much fun we had. You always seem to make our time together so special, and for this (as well as many other reasons) I am grateful to God that He brought us together.

While I will surely miss you this next week, I must admit I am looking forward to another week away in paradise! The beach excursions and the pool days along with a field trip or two to some local hang outs are just what I still need! Thanks for being my fantastically supportive 'Mann'!

Sunset Beach/MoonWalk

Tonight, we took the kids to the beach for dinner...Venice beach has a great pavilion where you can order burgers and fries and eat right at the beach. The flies were a little bothersome tonight, but nothing mattered once we started walking the beach!





What a gorgeous sunset!


Only to be surprised by just as beautiful of a moonrise when we turned around to walk back...

God's greatest gifts to us are the ones we usually take for granted day to day. Be sure to take time to enjoy those mountain sunsets this evening! No matter where we are on the earth...a sun setting is always amazingly beautiful.

What about Bob?!

Ever since we took Emaleigh to Minnesota when she was 1 year old, we have been on the quest for Bob. Who is Bob? Bob is the man that will one day be the man for Nana to spend her life with! Bob is currently the statue on the bench. You know...the one you see on almost every vacation. For us it started at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. He was a Native American with gorgeous long braids. We have encountered many Bob's along our various adventures. Our favorite so far has been Lego Bob. For this time, we'll have to live with Ireland Bob found at the Fish and Chips Pub in Downtown Disney. Bob...we know your out there somewhere!

A Mini Vacation to Disney

Monday and Tuesday found us spending time in the Orlando area visiting Mickey and all his friends! After seeing our friends blog about the different resorts on their family trip to all four theme parks, Emaleigh and Caleb chose to spend their day at Epcot. They both really wanted to travel around the world in less than a day!

Our favorite ride was Test Track! We were lucky enough to get on in the morning, and then a nice gentleman gave us his four fast track passes, as his family would not be there during the ride times. What luck! We also enjoyed Spaceship Earth in the big Epcot ball and the Mission Mars ride.

We ended the evening with a fabulous fireworks show in the World Showcase Lagoon. The day was perfect!


Craig and the kids are there somewhere in the picture!!


Ema's first "roller-coaster" ride! As you can see, she enjoyed it very much!


Our boat ride "Living with the Land" ended abruptly, with an unloading through the food reproduction area and a walk in the back lot of Epcot. That's an experience not too many visitors get!


Visiting all the different countries provided the kids with an opportunity to make a really fun mask with stamps and identification tags for each country to add.



Caleb and I learned all about Japan this year while we were both in first grade, so a trip there for lunch only seemed appropriate. After lunch we watched a woman make animal lollipops with a special rice candy. Too cool! (Unfortunately, I was too busy watching to take pictures! Maybe I should have invited her to CO, so she could put on a display for my first grade class next year...)



Emaleigh enjoyed being a painter in France, even if it was only for a day! The Eiffel Tower is so beautiful this time of year!


What a sight!


It really is a place of "Dreams Come True!"

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day, Craig wanted to go to the SweetBay Market. For those of us who know him, there should be no question how much this would thrill him. His love for grocery stores goes way beyond normalacy! Happy Father's Day Sweetheart!



Afterwards, we took a walk along Casey Key at the Venice South Jetty. It was here that the kids found their first tide pool stocked with mini crabs and minnows!