It's a beautiful crisp fall day. Great for bonfires and baking I say. Prince Charming thinks it's a great day to paint the front porch.

Well, we are now on to part 2 of our Florida vacation......from July. Our journey landed us in Palm Harbor, FL, the home of my parents, Gramma N and Papa H. Boscoe and George couldn't wait to get to the beach and we usually go to Clearwater or St. Pete beach, but wanted to visit some place different. My mother recommended Honeymoon Island and it was so much fun. We went to one part of the beach that was very rocky and saw little fish, sting rays, and crabs. We also saw a couple of waterspouts that we liked to call tornados or down spouts. We were excited to see those - it's not something that you see every day - meanwhile, my mother is trying to call us on our cell phones to let us know that the weather is getting bad and to watch out for the storm. The boys had so much fun swimming and what you see in the pictures is what we saw all day long - basically heads bobbing in the water or else they were way out in the distance. Boscoe and George searched for shells and found some very nice ones - they even found an intact pen shell which we've been told is hard to find.

After a while we went to the gift shop and the nicer part of the beach - aka, the part of the beach without rocks. It was very nice, no rocks, clean, and you had to watch out for the birds - they were worse than any other scavenger we've seen.

This is what we saw of George most of the day.

Boscoe would love to torment his parents and swim far out. Here is the start of another attempt to give us more gray hair.

We did so many things on vacation and it was so nice to see my parents and my "step sisters". They are sooooo spoiled - I don't think I was ever treated the way they are :) Here is a picture of my dad and my step sisters, Fatso and Peanut from my nieces birthday party.

We also went to Busch Gardens and although we were were a little dissappointed at first, it turned out to be a wonderful day. We saw some animals - the hippo was the most interesting and funny. If you ever get a chance to talk to George (our nine year old), ask him about the hippo wagging it's tail. I already know that Prince Charming loves to ride in the very front or very back seats of roller coasters, and now I think he's passed that gene along to George. For a nine year old, he's pretty fearless. We rode almost every coaster there, but the most exciting one was the Sheikra.

Here is Prince Charming's description:

The ride starts by hanging over the edge about 200 feet high looking straight down at the ground....your life flashing before your eyes......and then boom - there you go. It's exhillarating, scary, exciting, thrilling, and it's got a good beat that you can dance to.

Here is the description from the Busch Gardens website:

It's not a dream - or a nightmare. It's SheiKra: A fierce, floorless, blazing-fast thriller in the heart of Busch Gardens. After a 200 foot climb, this cunning coaster takes you just over the edge of a true 90-degree drop. And stops. For 4 seconds, you find yourself looking down - straight down - at the ground below as you're held suspended above it. Then, like the sub-Saharan bird of prey for which it's named, you plunge straight toward the ground, racing at speeds of more than 70 miles per hour. An Immelmann loop and a second vertical dive into an underground tunnel end with a surprise twist for those who look on - because with SheiKra, even they cannot escape.

Really, you go from 0 to 80 in a matter of seconds then it rolls out into another turn. Overall, we like the park, the coasters, etc.

We also visited my sister, Aunt K. She just moved into a new apartment and we had to check it out. George has so many names for Aunt K. and it's funny to watch them joke around with her.

On our last day we went to Treasure Island/John's Pass and all got tattoos. It was something called jagua - a gel that lasts from 10 days to a month. It was a fun thing for the family to do together. We also went to Madeira Beach and then to Untouchables Pasta & Pizza in Largo. That restaurant is a family favorite!

I have to say that this was one of the most enjoyable trips to Florida that we have ever had. Stay tuned for Part 3 which includes a visit to Aunt C. and Uncle T., clogging, and a dragon.

See you next time!

Legos, Legos, and more Legos!!

A few weeks ago, Grandma and Grandpa took Boscoe and George to a town close to us to see Dr. Darrow's Lego Show. And the reviews are....it's awesome, cool, legoy, plasticy, and a dream come true for George. This is "true Lego architecture" according to George and he informed me that it took Dr. Darrow 6 years to build each display, plus 6 hours to take apart and assemble each display. There was also a game where you could play tic tac toe against a Lego machine. Here are pictures of Dr. Darrow's creations.

George would really like to have this display in his bedroom.

This is a replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

George posing at the back end of the replica.

This robot would come toward you if it saw you.

George and Dr. Darrow.

George really likes Legos and has several sets, plus some that belonged to Prince Charming when he was a young boy. He also has a subscription to the Lego magazine with plans to submit a picture of one of his own creations. Maybe one day he will build "true Lego architecture" like Dr. Darrow.

An Evening of Riding with George and Boscoe

I've been telling one of George's friends that I would post more pictures of him riding. So Elliot, here it is. I hope you like watching it. By the way, did your mom tell you that George wants to jump our house?

French Onion Chicken

We just finished dinner and I must share this recipe with everyone.  My DH and youngest son asked for it again (plus the Pillsbury instant cheesy potatoes) - yummy :)

French Onion Chicken

Boneless chicken (I used chicken tenders)
Mayo
French Onions (I used Kroger store brand)

Basically I coated the chicken with the mayo and then rolled in the onions.   Place the chicken on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. 

I think I like the inexpensive store brand of onions better, plus I tried to crush them to make it easier for them to stay on the chicken.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.