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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Woohoo! Fall is here! Let's build a sand-man.....

I know. I am waaaaaay behind here. I still need to wrap up October with all of the fall festivals, that little holiday at the end of the month, a train ride, birthdays, a trip 2000 miles away with screaming child, and then start tackling November.

But, today's post is none of the mentioned above and actually, not very "fall-ish" at all.

The weather has been warm and even a little hot in the sun. So, in the spirit of spring, we threw on some shorts, no shoes, and Mike turned on the bubble machine, and we soaked up some rays...in November...less than a week before Turkey Day.

Where is the cool weather?!?!?
WARNING: You folks up north who are already layering and waking up 10 minutes earlier to scrape off the ice and snow from the windshield may not appreciate the video below.

Please, no hate mail.




When the excitement of the bubbles fizzled out, we played in the Florida sand...box. Built a few sandcastles, found a bug, buried his feet and legs (Bryce's...no animals or bugs were injured in the making of this post.)

Bryce must have been missing the "feeling of fall." When I asked him what he was making, he said, "Pumpkin pie."

Sunday, November 15, 2009

October Ingredients: Fall festivals, pumpkins, new experiences, and a pinch of pumpkin carving and Halloween costume wearing. Serve warm.

October was a very busy month for the Byrds. Fall festival, lots of playing new games, train rides, pumpkins, pony rides, another fall festival, trip to Indiana, Halloween, and candy.

Let's back up to the first fall festival that we went to. Yiayia and Paupau met us up there.
It was at the bank on 60 right by the old Winn Dixie. It was free and very "small town" so of course I was lovin' it.

There were farm animals that the kids got to pet (rabbits, sheep, goats, chickens)

Bryce got to ride on the "train" which Mike told me later was just a riding lawn mover decorated like an engine pulling a small trailer/cart. Bryce didn't care what it was as long as it looked like a train. He was VERY excited and was not thrilled when our ride was over. But we moved on to the dog show and he calmed down.

There were girls dancing, clogging and tapping, and the boy scouts sold hot dogs and drinks.
Pizza was only 50 cents a slice (which is still not an excuse for eating 3 pieces...)
I couldn't believe how many people were there. I guess the cooler weather and the fact that it was free was attractive to families.

The atmosphere was just very laid back and I felt like we were part of a tight-knit community.
Very fall, small townish.

Bryce got to ride a pony for the first time (with the help of Paupau.)He hasn't quite got the idea of "taking turns" or waiting in line. It's now and that's it. Waiting-shmaiting. So Yiayia and I shoved pizza in his mouth to quiet the whining. We were able to make the slice last until we made it to the front of the line. He was excited and loved it. Paupau said he was repeating over and over, "Paupau, horse."
They had face painting but I thought Bryce would just rub it off so we passed. We did get a balloon from the balloon "guy" who I believe was really a "gal."
He had to bring the balloon-sword the "guy-gal" made him in the crib with him...
Fall festival numero uno- check.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Zoo....Again!

**I am finishing this blog over a week after we went to the zoo and a lot has gone on in between then and now. So, I am going to keep it short and really just write a short bit and use pictures instead of words to help capture the memories of the day.


Bryce and I went to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa yesterday. The weather has cooled down but yesterday was a little warm. All of the animals were out though which was great. We also got to see a group of annual-pass holders feed the animals pumpkins filled with fruit. They dropped one over the boardwalk to the sloth bear and when the pumpkin smashed open, Bryce started repeating, "broke" and "pumpkin broke."
(the panther with his pumpkin)
We rode the camel and he LOVED it. Mike will ride him around on his back and we call Mike the camel, or "Cay-mull" as Bryce says. So to ride a real camel was very exciting (he rode the camel either last year or the beginning of this year...can't remember.)

I brought the stroller but I thought I would let him run around, burn off some energy.
We saw most of the exhibits and bought some ice cream. I let him play in the water which I think was a highlight of his day. It was warm out and the water was cool and he, like most toddlers, loved splashing around. He would run around to each fountain and then stop on one and hit the water.
I let him play for awhile but it was getting close to 4 o'clock and if we left any later, we would have to battle with rush hour traffic. I stripped off his completely soaked clothes and bribed him with food to get into the stroller.

We went to the gift shop and luckily he picked out a souvenir that was under $50! (He got this frog toy that was only $3.95!!! Way to be thrifty Bryce.)


He behaved pretty well considering he hadn't had his afternoon nap....conked out as soon as we hit the interstate.
Don't forget to turn off the music up top...