Can I Have One?

Guess what I did yesterday?

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You'll never guess.

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I went swimming with manatees! It was ah-mazing. We scored a great deal through Groupon about a month ago and immediately made plans to head down to Crystal River, FL as soon as possible. And I am so glad we did. I have always had an affinity for manatees - they are like big, dolphin teddy bears. They're also known as sea cows, which just makes me giggle for some reason.

We had to be there at 8:15am, so my mom graciously offered to watch Haeden Sunday night and all day Monday. We left around 7pm Sunday night and arrived roughly three hours and forty-five minutes later. It should have taken a bit less time, however, our Garmin had a bit of a hiccup and had us doing circles before we even left town. And then we had to be extra careful driving windy little roads through itty bitty towns known for their speed traps.  Seriously they actually have billboards announcing this fact... they are obviously very proud. The speed limit goes from 65 down to 35 rather quickly. A little research tells me that this actually used to happen within 500 feet, but has since been changed. Either way, one must pay some serious attention driving those roads.

Seeing as we had to be up pretty early in the morning, it would have been smart to go to bed shortly after arriving at the hotel. We're not smart though... we stayed up to watch the end of the MVA's. I really don't know why considering the fact that between the three of us, we still had no idea who half of the "artists" were. Does that mean I'm getting old?

 We got up Monday morning, threw on our bathing suits and cover ups, grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and jumped in the car ready for our little adventure.  We could hardly contain our excitement, though Steph was dreading the wet suit and I was worried about how cold the water was going to be. See, I knew I couldn't be a total wuss in front of the guide and other tourists. I usually hem, hah and, okay, whine over getting into my grandmother's pool every weekend and I know it has to be warmer than 72 degrees!

After donning our gear and watching an instructional/educational video we hopped in the car and drove over to the nearest boat dock. That would probably be my one complaint about the company we booked with. There were a few hidden charges and "oh, by the way's". We had to drive ourselves, pay to park, and then bring all of the wet gear back in our own cars rather than leaving them with the boat (oh and don't forget the twenty dollar "recommended" tip!). This would have upset me more if I'd actually paid full price.

Once we were out on the water the captain hit us with a bit of a reality check. He mentioned that it could take 5 minutes to spot a manatee, or it could take an hour. You never know.  I had been expecting that spiel because a co-worker had that happen to them once, but you can't help but feel a little anxious about it. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes before getting the opportunity to have a little meet and greet with our first manatee. Plus, the water wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating thanks to the handy, dandy we suits we were sporting. And despite the fact that we only got to see three manatees and we had to share the experience with six other people, it was worth every second and every penny.

Tour company. Would definitely use them again!

BABY!

More munching.

They're all full of scars. Breaks your heart!

Snout.

 Huge Tail! I had no idea they had so much stuff growing on them!

Gettin' my snorkel on.

Dan's unintentional impression of a frog.

Peace, love and manatees.

Stephanie!

Cuttin' up.

Afterwards.  We really smelled!

Enjoying lunch.

A couple of my favorite people.

Me and the hubs. Like his shirt? Check out the cause here.

They said peak season is around January and February. While the water gets cold everywhere else, the springs are always hovering around 72 degrees. The protected area around Crystal Springs draws a lot of manatees and I can imagine the bay we snorkeled around gets a pretty good amount of them in the winter months. I'd love to go again during that time!  Anyone want to join me?!

Peace

I love a good peace sign.

Found here.

They're super popular right now, but the majority are also super tacky.

Found here.

I got my love of peace signs from my Mom. And, actually, my sister shares it as well. Lately, anytime we find something fun that is peace related we tend to go ahead and buy three or at least let the others know about it... otherwise it might get "borrowed" the next time one of us visits the other. This is especially true if the peace sign in question belongs to my Mom.

Moms are pretty generous, aren't they? Mine always has been. And because of that I wanted to create a little something special for her to hang in her office. She just happened to be in the process of redecorating when I came up with this idea, so the timing was perfect. Clearly, it was a "sign"!

I got the idea from constantly coming across all of the fabulous DIY wreaths on the various craft blogs I subscribe to. This was what originally inspired me:

Found here.

Those felt flowers are literally the easiest thing in the world. I believe that link shows you how to do it and the instructions have been so overdone that I won't even bother going over them again. As for the wooden peace sign, I asked my stepdad to make it for me. He's got all the tools and I knew he'd be just the guy for the job. And together, this is what we created:

I love it! My Mom loves it! Heck, even my husband loves it. And he is pretty hard to impress, you guys!

Embrace the Camera: August 25

The whole family got in on the "embrace the camera" action this week. Whether they were aware of it or not... ha! It isn't easy taking pictures of teenage boys. Or toddlers. Or... me, really.

Saturday night we went to The Landing for dinner and some live music. A fairly well-known local band was playing and since they usually play bar gigs, we were excited to see them play outdoors in a smoke-free and family friendly environment. It was, however, hot as Hades out there.

The courtyard has fountain in the middle of it and it's usually full of kids splashing around. Haeden saw that thing and I knew there was no way we were going to be able to keep him away. So, I went with it and he loved it, of course. It reminded me that we haven't had any sprinkler time this summer and obviously he would love that, too, so we're going to have to break that out this coming weekend. Can't wait!

Showing Daddy the fountain.

No outing can be complete without a mini meltdown... all because he wasn't allowed to play on the stairs.

Embracing the camera with Mommy. Doesn't he look excited? ha!

Splashing around the outside...

I picked him up to show him that it was okay to get IN it a little more.

"I touched it Mommy, I touched it!"

The face!

Walking back with Daddy.

Checking out the waters, boats and bridges.

Brotherly love.

Oh, this is new. He told us he was a penguin! Look at his tongue... that's his concentration face!

"No more pictures!"

Twenty Eight

Surprise! Last Tuesday was my birthday. I am now twenty eight years young. Fun fact: I share my birthday with Madonna and it's also the anniversary of Elvis' death. People usually chuckle at the first fact and tell me they're not all that surprised (must be my cone bra) and then I think I just totally weird them out with the second. That shouldn't really surprise them either.

I know some people don't really make a big fuss over birthdays once they become an adult, but I can't claim to be one of them. I still look forward to my birthday and all the hoopla and attention that comes with it. It's MY day, you guys! MINE! Besides, there is cake. Who doesn't like cake?! And if you don't like cake, well, fine. But you must like presents, right?! Everyone loves presents!

Super delicious, super rich CAKE!

Some of the gang.

 Blowing out my candle. We had to search far and wide for that candle. Grandma's drawers are mini treasure troves!

NOM. NOM. NOM.

He loves his Oma. She loves him.

 Checking out the cuckoo clock behind them.

The boys got me a gnome. I named him Jasper.

Then I found this guy a couple of days later. He was on clearance at Michaels for $3.63. He is Jasper's new friend, Giles. Crystal has threatened to steal them so I might need to booby trap them. Any ideas?

The terrarium my hubby made for me. It's not complete yet, but I am LOVING it! Thanks, babe!

Adorable and delicious owl cupcakes from the gals at work. Chocolate + owls = best work (birth)day ever!

Not pictured, but very much appreciated is the shopping spree with my mom, jewelry from my dad and Mary and gorgeous owl necklace from my grandmother. A wonderful birthday. How are you guys going to top this next year?! Ha!

Ride em' Cowboy!

We came across an old mechanical horse the other day when we stopped for some delicious dinner at Larry's Giant Subs. The old fella had seen better days and was a bit of a clunker, but I knew there was no way we were getting by that thing without letting Haeden have a ride. Not that I'd want to, really. These things have a little place in my heart, so I was really just as delighted as he was to come upon it.

My dad was a bit of a "picker" when I was a kid. It wasn't nearly as glamorous as the current reality series would like to make it seem. In fact, I was totally embarrassed when my dad would pull over on the side of the road so that he could pick through someone else's trash.

But you know what they say... "one man's trash is another man's treasure". And sometimes that really is true. Thanks to dad's "hobby", we ended up with our very own mechanical horse and a video arcade game to boot! He taught my sister and I how to turn it on without feeding it quarters and it resulted in lots and lots of fun. Oh, and you better believe I still charged the neighborhood kids to ride that bad boy! That is, until I got caught anyway.

Dad, think you can find another one? I bet Haeden would be really appreciative! If not, a real, live pony will do, too. I think we could keep him in our backyard. It's totally big enough...