Post-Thanksgiving Day

Traditionally called "Black Friday" because of the crazy Christmas shopping that happens today (the day after Thanksgiving) - Daddy, Mommy, and me decided that we would just hang out around town today. Right before lunch, we headed over to the playground near the beach and had a great time climbing & sliding.
We even saw LOTS of birds & ducks - here are some of those seagulls all lined up ready to be fed (Mommy forgot to bring bread chunks to feed them). I couldn't believe they just sat there and stared at me.

Peek-A-Boo

A long walk down the dock..... but isn't it beautiful? Daddy told me that this should have been a fishing day because the water was so nice (and the 75 degree air temp also)

Getting brave... no hands Mom!

Mr. Mischievous

Video Clip - Very curious, very nosey and very mischievous lately. But you just can't help but smile and laugh (at him & with him). He keeps us on our toes, but makes life that much better every day.

Little Gardener

Video Clip - Here is our new little gardener in action on Thanksgiving Day

Speed Bumps

Video Clip - The newly "discovered" fascination... the speed bump. Enjoy.

What the....?

Mommy Blog: So, I walk around the corner into the office today and this is what I find... my two boys both on the computer. What the...? OK, so Thomas really isn't on the computer - just clicking away on all the keys. He thinks he is big stuff because he is doing what Daddy is doing. This really was too funny and I had to laugh - that is until he started banging on the computer keys and the "T" & "K" key popped off. Just great............

Does this come off?

Trust me when I tell you that I LOVE pudding! No, this wasn't my first time eating & enjoying it, but it was my first time with my own small serving of it. I used my spoon the entire time and didn't even knock it over. I was extremely careful (& painstakenly thorough) to get all of the chocolate pudding & whipped cream out of the glass. As a final resort, I had to use my fingers to get down to the very bottom and get the scrapings. Will this come off of my face, Mommy?

A boy & his rocks

Video Clip - Here is a prime example of what happens on our daily "Ziggy" walks... this little boy is completely preoccupied with ROCKS. Loves them. Loves the feel of the rocks; Loves the way they drop; Loves how you can slide around on them, etc. Needless to say, poor Ziggy has to be patient and wait.

Surprise Santa visit today

Mommy & me went to "Blaze & Glaze" today to paint some stuff for Christmas. After picking out what we came for, the lady helping us told us that Santa was around the corner sitting by the fireplace waiting for little boys and girls to come and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Mommy was so surprised and I guess I was too (who is this guy anyway?). Mommy told me that I sat on his lap last year and giggled and laughed... huh? That was last year... this year, things were VERY different. I didn't want to get to close to the big jolly fellow. He seemed real nice and even gave me a candy cane, but his big white long beard was what made me very unsure of this guy. Anyway, as you can see - I did warm up to him a little (you can see a slight smile), but I definately wanted Mommy in between him and me the entire time (you know - for safety reasons).

Here is me in the middle of painting some of our Christmas stuff. I can't wait to get them back in a few days after they "cook" it in a really HOT oven to make everything permanent. It did get a little messy (thank goodness for wash-out paint), but what made everything really neat was they served us fresh baked cookies while we painted.

Flashlight Tag

Video Clip - Apparently Mommy & Daddy thought this was so hilarious the first time I did it. Unfortunately, by the time Mommy ran and got the camera and Daddy coaxed me back into the garage - it only worked for a few seconds. The first time it happened, they had me chasing this darn thing everywhere. Check it out.

Doing things with Daddy

When I hang out with Daddy, I do things the way Daddy would do them. For example, last weekend, we were "working" in the garage together and we needed a snack. So, we set up a snack table. As you can see, the "guy" way to do it is use a step ladder, a couple of clamps, throw in a paper towel for good sanitation (actually, only because Mommy said so) and you have our snack table that worked great.

One night after work this week, Daddy's boots were laying around and I wanted to try and put them on my feet (like I do my own shoes), so....................... this is what happened!

With every step, my feet and legs kept coming out.........so......... Daddy rigged up the boot laces and it worked like a charm. Pretty neat, huh? I love doing things with Daddy.

Wish you were here...

Mommy Blog: Don't need to say much more than that... it was beautiful...from dawn to sunset.

Yes, I'm doing the dorky tourist thing. But, I am proud to say that I was standing at the "Southern Most Point" in the US... only 90 miles from Cuba (& of course Castro). We left there and went immediately to the "Southern Most Bar" and proceeded to have a few drinks. We felt a lot less dorky after that. Ha-Ha.

Again... taking the dorky tourist pictures. Brian made me do this. But wait... look at how much more of a goober he is in his picture below...

DORK

Beauty & quirks about Key West

Mommy Blog: We are back and had an amazing time just relaxing and enjoying some "along time" together. Wanted to post a few pics from Key West and tell you some quirks about the place. First picture - Brian's favorite view in Key West... the docks. Yes - they are boats. If you know Brian well, you aren't surprised at all. Each morning, after having breakfast at our B&B (The Popular House B&B), we headed 2 blocks to the historic fishing district where this was the view from a favorite restaurant. For those of you who have never been to Key West and are from our area... it is what Destin used to be before it blew up into a rich, wealthy and ridiculously tourist town. Key West is laid back, relaxing and we can't wait to go back.
When we were touring Ernest Hemmingway's home, we found these brick pavers outside around his estate & gardens. Yes, they are "Baltimore Bricks". When his home was constructed by Caribbean builders in the late 1800s, the only way to get bricks was to have them brought in from the mainland by train (or boat). These of course were brought down from Maryland. Pretty neat, huh?

All around the docks, you just had to look down and you saw a TON of tarpon swimming all around. These were HUGE...70-80 lbs each. Tarpon are "catch & release" fish that can not be kept. It was so amazing to just see them swimming around and enjoying themselves. See... even the dang fish are relaxed in Key West.

The Key West Lighthouse. It is out of commission now, but what a beautiful view we saw from the very top. Yes... I climbed to the top. If you know me well, you'll know that I am afraid of heights... I pushed myself so far up against the outside wall of the lighthouse that I was practically part of the black paint. And of course Brian made fun of me.

New stuff

Mommy & Daddy brought me home some "Key West Maracas" - how fitting since I LOVE to make noise. They told me they thought it would be a much better present than a t-shirt... boy they might be regretting that after a few days of some "shimmy-shimmy-shake" music.
Mommy joined a Book Exchange with a few friends of hers last month. Well, today in the mail came my 1st book - a Christmas classic called Rudolph the Reindeer. This is Daddy & me sitting and reading it together. Actually, Daddy did the reading and I turned the pages (that is my job... I'm the best "page-turner" west of the Mississippi).

At Grannie & Poppie's house

So I got to spend the week at Grannie & Poppie's house while Mommy & Daddy went away on vacation (alone time for them)! We had a great time together. Actually, I went to school each morning like I normally do, but then they picked me up each afternoon - Mommy has this thing about keeping to a normal "routine". Didn't matter - I still had a great time when we got home to their house each afternoon. I have to tell you....... I'm pretty sure I wore them out. They aren't used to seeing me in "full-go, full-steam-ahead" mode. They probably collapsed on Friday when Mommy & Daddy came to pick me up.

Here are a few pictures from us playing in the leaves in the backyard this week. I love the way they "crackle" when I step on them. I tried to help rake, but it was much more fun to just play in the pile & throw the leaves into the air.
Poppie and me doing my two favorite things - reading & playing with my cars (along the arm of the couch)

On Tuesday (Veterans Day Holiday), there was no school. So... we went to the zoo and I got to see lots of animals - deer, lions, monkeys, giraffes, etc. It was so neat to see them up and "personal" after reading about so many of them in my books. It was a good day - seeing animals, eating "zoo snacks" and hanging out with Grannie & Poppie.

Daddy Moments

"....Easy like Sunday mornings..."
It doesn't get any better than this tender 'Thomas-Daddy' moment!

Much needed vacation...

Mommy blog... Well, it is finally here - our much needed vacation to Key West. Brian and I have been planning this get-away since early summer and are so excited. Actually, Brian did all the planning from Iraq (go figure). Just the two of us are flying to Miami tomorrow and then heading south to Key West for the week. Thomas is staying with Grannie & Poppie while Ziggy is staying at Nana's house and we are more than excited to just have some alone time while we veg & slum around the Keys drinking yummy beverages and eating delicious foods. We have reservations at a B&B right in the heart of Key West (but of course, only blocks from the water). I keep telling people that it is "our" vacation - we both had to handle lots of crap while we were apart for the 7 month deployment and now... we can just enjoy each other. We will take pictures and share them next weekend when we return.

Toodles... Michelle & Brian

One fish, two fish...

Tonight after having a birthday dinner with Nana, we decided to go over to one of Daddy's favorite fishing stores... Bass Pro Shops! In the back of the store, there is an enormous aquarium filled with all kinds of wonderful fish. Here I am with a really big grouper behind me. I just loved seeing all the fish swim right by me. I can't wait to start learning all of their names so Daddy will take me on the boat one day.
Here are a few more fish... I think these are AJs (Amberjacks). Pretty neat, huh?

Rocks & Airborne

While Mommy & me played outside of a store while Daddy was finishing up some purchasing today - we came across an entire parking lot of my favorite things......... ROCKS! I couldn't believe they were everywhere and also so BIG. We're not talking pebbles... these were palm-size rocks. Of course I tasted them, threw them, banged them together and then lined them up next to me (as you can plainly see). Have I told you that I really LOVE rocks!

Here I am doing my best impression of Daddy when he has to jump out of airplanes (airborne) and wear his "jump" googles. What do you think... do I look like him? Mommy even thinks that me strapped into my carseat looks like I've got a parachute attached to my back... he-he, so funny!

Big Muscles and Silliness

This week I really started to help Mommy a lot more around the kitchen. I really like to pull out the spoons/forks out of the dishwasher... although I've not mastered putting them away - instead, I usually just play with them and then drop them on the floor (thus making them dirty again)... Mommy just loves that! Anyway... here is my best attempt at putting the big pot back into the bottom cabinet (mind you - I pulled it out without dropping it)

Here I am just being silly on Saturday morning right after I woke up... with milk, blanket & my dogbear right in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Don't worry... Daddy didn't hurt me. This was actually too funny and I was laughing the whole time. Daddy picked me up like a stuffed pig with its feet bound together and then swung me. Like I said... I was fine and he was careful (that is the clue for the grandmas to exhale now).

Halloween for Mommy & Daddy

After I was tucked into bed following a night of trick-or-treating... Mommy & Daddy dressed up and went out to a Halloween party to have fun. I spent the night at Grannie & Poppie's house. As you can see, Daddy was dressed as a brave & loyal knight and Mommy was dressed up as "Maid Marrian" - a beautiful princess!