skip to main |
skip to sidebar
June 20, 2009
Do I really have to leave this? I mean, I miss Jeff and Pearl but come on! Going home to a messy house, a kid who you love more than anything but will undoubtedly be attached to your leg for the next month, and soggy rain just doesn't sound nearly as relaxing as seeing this every night!
June 19, 2009
We went to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium today and met Winter. She was rescued at just three months of age when she got trapped in a crab trap line and lost her tail and two vertebrae. Winter was taken to the CMA, which is mostly a rehabilitation aquarium and not the big fancy ones you're probably thinking of, where they fitted her with a prosthetic flipper and are teaching her how to swim like an actual dolphin! Amazing!!! Winter wasn't the only amazing creature there either. The CMA is also home to several turtles who have been injured too seriously to be returned to the wild. Some are blind, others are missing their flippers from injuries with boaters, and another turtle was dropped on her shell by a fisherman and paralyzed. It was sad to see them trying to swim because they either ran into everything, couldn't submerge, or would simply float to the top because of their injuries. It really made me stop and think how we sometimes do a fantastic job of trashing our beautiful planet and its creatures. The CMA was a a great break from the heat, crowds, and it sure got you a lot closer to dolphins than the $25 dolphin encounter tour we took.
June 18, 2009
Nothing beats kicking up your feet and watching the sunset on the Gulf of Mexico after a long day of dolphin watching, shopping (boy did Kimmy and my mom go nuts), eating your first world famous original Frenchy's grouper sandwich, riding the Jolley Trolley up and down Clearwater beach, and giggling with your mom and sister, oh and a few hours of meetings.
June 17, 2009
My mom and sister made it to Florida tonight so we hit the beach for night stroll. It started to rain - silly Utahns bringing the crappy rain with them - so we stuck close to the hotel to play in the sand and watch the lightening over the ocean. Kimmy was so excited to be in the soft sand that she immediately "borrowed" some kids' shovel and bucket and built a sandcastle. It was perfect weather at night but the day, well that was another story! With 95-100+ degree weather and high humidity it was HOT! But who cares? We are in paradise!!!
June 16, 2009
I'm on my way to what will be the BEST ever work conference I've ever been sent to! And not because the speakers are great, I'll undoubtedly learn a lot, and come back with more ideas than I know what to do with but because I am being sent to the glorious white sand beaches in Clearwater, Florida! Yes, the #1 rated beach in America folks. My hotel was right on the beach and I was able to talk my mom and sister into coming with me for five days of fun in the sun. I had the hardest time actually working and not skipping all my meetings to work on my tan (sadly my paranoia to get fried beyond belief and the fact that I was stuck in meetings during peak tanning hours didn't even give me the slightest brown color). Even the plane ride in to Tampa was beautiful. I always miss Jeff and Pearl but this time, it's going to be a little easier to keep from worrying about home.
June 15, 2009
Our neighbor boy, Tanner, peaked over the fence tonight just as we were finishing dinner and debating about how we were going to get a robin out of our garage. Being a curious 10 year old boy, he figured we were just teasing him about the whole bird in the garage thing (I'm serious...we actually watched a robin hop right past us into our garage) so he ran over. After finding the bird, Tanner decided it was more fun eating Creamies and playing with Pearl than going home for dinner. It's not too often that our neighbor boys are home in the evenings and Pearl just loves them! So we enlisted Tanner to babysit while we fiddled around with our "curb appeal" project. She watched him ride his scooter and jumped in the driveway with him, colored with sidewalk chalk, played catch, and squealed delightfully "Tanner" every 30 seconds. The love-love relationship goes both ways too... Tanner has always been smitten with Pearl ever since she was a tiny baby. Let's just hope the 10 year age difference keeps him away once she turns 16!
June 14, 2009
Apparently Pearl thinks her bed is now the family bed. She's been fussier the last day or two having naps and going to bed and begged Jeff to lay down with her at naptime. I wasn't really sure what was going on until I hadn't seen or heard Jeff for a few minutes (Pearl in the meantime is running all over the house) so I started searching for him. I found him asleep in Pearl's bed. Then when we tried to get her to go to bed for the night, she freaked out so Jeff had to again lay in bed with her and I had to lean over him so she could wrap her arms around my neck. It was a tight squeeze and neither one of them thought it was as cute of a photo op as I did, so I only got one shot... right before Pearl started screaming and Jeff yelled at me to put the camera away.
June 20, 2009
