Thanksgiving

Somehow we didn't get any pictures of us on actual Thanksgiving Day - I guess we were too busy cooking and chasing Coby. But today we went out to San Felasco Hammock Preserve to work off some of the calories we packed on this week.
We brought along some trail mix to snack on along the way.

Here are Coby's rejects:
He also wouldn't eat the peanuts or almonds. Maybe we would have been better off to just buy a bag of M&Ms?

The trail is about a 3 1/2 mile long loop and Coby walked about half of it.
There were plenty of pit-stops along the way though. We were at this bridge for 10 minutes while Coby played Pooh-sticks =o)

He also learned the word, "spider" after finding one crawling on a tree as we walked past.



About that same time he started to slow down...
...eventually getting carried by Robert...
...and then falling asleep.
While he slept, we got ready for Thanksgiving Part II out at Gram and Aunt Lulu's. It was great to see Cory, Ada, Chaz, and Valerie and Paul too!

We tried to get a picture of the cousins looking at the camera together. Here's the best one of Cory and Ada:
Here's the best one of me and Coby(not sure what happened to Cory???):

And here's the one where everyone is at least looking at the camera:
Chaz is thankful for pie.
Great-grandma Malcolm is thankful for all of her grandchildren (she's talking on the "phone" with Coby right now. She has a remote and he has the chair adjustment controller up to his ear).

Paynes Praire

Went for a walk this afternoon on Paynes Prairie along the Lachua trail. Very peaceful and wonderful. Just what we needed.

Not nearly as many gators as when Mom and Dad were here in March, but boy were they BIG!!!


There were some white egrets out and Coby kept calling them ducks. Quacking at them too :o)


And here he is with his prized possession...the lovey. How we haven't lost that thing yet I don't know. The funny thing is that he's also formed an attachment to this miniature football that Robert caught at an FSU football game his freshman year of college. Now THAT thing goes everywhere with us too! Ugh...by the time this kid gets to kindergarten we'll have a backpack of comfort objects!
Not too long after we stopped to look at the "ducks" the sun started to set.

So we headed back to the car. That grass is high and the banks are steep - no way do I want a gator sneaking up on me! Coby ran almost the whole 1/2 mile back to the car. That kid has got some energy!

Fantastic Fall Weather!

Another semi-relaxing week for us. We've gotten back in the habit of getting together with our playgroup once a week and are taking advantage of the beautiful fall weather to go to the park with the kids.


On Saturday I took Coby out to the Lubee Bat Conservatory. They open their doors once a year to the public for a BatFest. It was AMAZING!!! They have tons and tons of different kids of bats. The most interesting ones being the fruit bats which are HUGE!!! Did you know that bats spend their entire lives upside down (when not flying)? In fact, if they were to stand with their head up they would get dizzy because of the way their circulatory system works. They even give birth upside down, often in flight. The umbilical cord acts like a bungee cord to keep the newborn bat safe. Who knew? Coby thought the bats were "yucky" but sure did love pointing to every single one of them and kept saying "Bat! Bat! Bat!" He had a tantrum when we left. I swear we could have stayed all day. Not many good pictures unfortunately, Robert was working and I had my hands full.


We had been planning on having guests from South Carolina visiting us this weekend, but at the last minute they had to back out. Instead I got to go with my friend Melissa. Coby and I got on our blue gear before I left. Robert and he cheered on the Gators from home.


Today we went to watch Robert play in a tennis match. When I told Coby we were going to Westside, he grabbed his racket and headed to the car. Then, when we stopped to get some Subway on the way, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Tennis?" as I tried to get him out of the car. Was NOT happy that we were making a pit-stop on the way to his favorite park! As soon as we got there he took off for the courts. We generally sit outside of the fences so he can run around and play without being distracting. Today there was a little girl hitting tennis balls against the wall and she took it upon herself to try to teach Coby the proper way to hit the ball. He totally fell in love with her and cried when she left. Yes, we have reached the terrible twos.



Watching Daddy play tennis.

Relaxing Week

For the first time in I don't know how long we didn't have ANY plans this last week - and that was WONDERFUL!!!! It gave us a chance to relax, rake some leaves, and Robert and I finally got our anniversary "date night" out to Chop Sticks.

Coby and I went to the park with our friends Tristy and Andy on Wednesday and had a wonderful time playing at Westside. It's so nice to be outside is the crisp fall air!
The Downtown Arts Festival took place this weekend and we all went together. Robert kept checking his phone for football scores, but I know deep down he had a good time =] The best part was that I found an art print that I had been thinking about since LAST year's Art Festival and actually bought it this time! Coby had a great time at the kids station painting and watching the flea circus. He clapped after every act and especially enjoyed the clown and trick dogs. While walking around the festival we kept seeing these huge birds. At first Coby wasn't so sure about them, but the more he saw them, the more he seemed to accept that they were all right...
Back home we decided to rake some leaves and throw the football around the yard.
Today it was back outside for a playdate at Westside with our playgroup. So fun to see them starting to interact and "play" with each other.

With the holidays around the corner I know there won't be many more slow weeks like this past one. Glad we had time to slow down and enjoy spending time with friends and family.