Our Extended Stay in Florida

We got back a week ago from a 10 day trip to Florida. I feel like it's taken me this whole time to get back in real life mode.

We had a wonderful time there. A big thank you goes out to Christi and Joel and their family for letting us stay at their house every night but one. It was so nice to have an actual home to go back to every night. Also, thank you to Pam and Ted for letting us stay a night with them and help with the wedding preparations.

The reason for the trip was Ken's brother, Craig, was getting married. He was invited to the bachelor party a week before the wedding, and wanted to go to that, and have time to do all the fun stuff Florida has to offer.

Ken and Syd at Magic Kindgom

Cute little digital enhancement from the photographer at Disney

Our first night, we went to a Mexican restaurant. There was a guy making balloon animals for the kids. He came over and introduced himself as the "Amazing Kenny." Ken heard that and told him he was the only Amazing Kenny in the world. The balloon guy told him just wait and see what I can make and see if you still think you're The Amazing Kenny. After watching him do some very crazy stuff with balloons, and be funny and entertaining at the same time, we decided that he definitely was amazing. Ken agreed that he couldn't do any of those things, and was fine with being Mediocre Kenny :)



We went to Busch Gardens twice. The first time the tigers were really active, and visible. I was trying to get a picture of the cool tiger behind me, but ended up with reflections instead.

All over the subdivision, there are ponds of various sizes. We asked if there were alligators in them, and Joel told us he'd seen one a few times. As we were driving out one day, we saw this one on the bank. I got out of the car to take the picture, and was somewhat nervous about it. Until a lady walked behind me with a Dauchsund. I felt much better about my chance of not being his next snack with a walking hot dog right behind me.

Ken and Syd coming off the Hulk rollercoaster at Universal for their 2nd back to back ride. I didn't know this until later in the day, but something about doing that ride the 2nd time made Ken really sick -- almost to the point of blacking out twice during the ride! He was nervous about doing any more big rides and felt queasy all day. Poor guy, since this was the first ride of the day. He was a trooper and didn't complain at all as we walked all around all day long.

It wasn't quite warm enough yet for us to want to get soaked on the Jurrasic Park ride. But we did almost get eaten by the TRex :)

The thing at Universal I was most excited about -- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- wasn't open yet!!! We were 2 months too early. I was so bummed. They had big white walls surrounding most of the attraction. You could only catch glimpses of it as you walked by. This was as close as I could get to Hogsmeade - separated by a moat :(

Some of the rides are getting to be a little old school. Syd has never seen (or really heard of Jaws) but we did the ride and had to take a picture getting eaten by him. She was also a little freaked out by E.T. since she's never seen that movie either.

There is no Back to the Future ride anymore - just a Delorean on display. I had to look in the windows and see the flux capacitor. This is my dad's favorite movie, and I will never forget his birthday because it's the same year they go back to -- 1955. The actual day is his cousin's birthday, and his is 2 weeks before that. Every time we watched the movie he wou ld tell us over and over that was the year he was born.

I finally remembered to get a family picture taken. Pam kept asking me for one last year and I never did it, so she had to frame our Christmas card.

Ken was one of the groomsmen at the wedding.

Cute cousins at the wedding - Jack (4), Lauren (8), Allison (3), and Sydney (8)

Ken had to sit up at the head table with the rest of the wedding party at the reception. But he found some time to come hang out with us too.

Ted, Pam, Izzy, Ken and I at the reception.

Christi, Jack, Pam, Izzy, Ted and Joel at the reception.

Ken getting into the Electric Slide.

Mandy and Skippy were my buddies the whole time we were there. Mandy is a Wheaten Terrier and a very cool dog. Skippy is a collie - the exact kind of dog I've always wanted.

Our last day we took Christi and Joel's boat at the the islands and hung out on the beach. It was a little bit cloudy and cool, but nice to hang out by the ocean for a while.

Jack found this dead crab and was very proud of it. Every once in a while, it's legs or eyes would move, which was extremely freaky. The rest of the time it just sat there like a dead crab should.


Lauren and Syd digging in the sand.

Ken and Joel spent a lot of time digging for sand crabs

He got one! Sometimes when he uncovered them, they would be so agressive -- running right at him and snapping at his legs.

For our last supper, we went to a tapas restaurant in Tampa. Everything we ordered was wonderful. Tapas is definitely my favorite type of food.

The whole crew - Jack, Joel, Christi, Lauren, Cindy, Sydney, Ken

We had a wonderful time. We did a lot of fun things, but I didn't feel like we were going, going, going the whole time. We had some good relaxing time too. We're not sure when we're going to Florida again, but we are already looking forward to it.

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny only brings a basket for Syd. Ken and I take her shopping to pick out out stuff for each other's baskets. It makes it more personal and fun for her, and prolongs the mystery of the Easter Bunny too.

She found this cute bunny basket on her bed. Filled up with all kinds of treats and fun stuff.


Syd and Ken know how much I love Peeps. They always get me a rainbow of all the colors.

Syd and I did something a little different for Ken's basket -- a blast from my past. When I was a kid, the Easter Bunny didn't come to our house. Instead, my parents would put on a treasure hunt for my brothers and I. We would go in a room with the door shut while they hid candy and prizes all over the house. So Syd and I sent Ken on a treasure hunt to fill up his basket. We had tons of fun hiding all the stuff, and I think he was surprised by it too.

Ken showing us his basket is empty when he was summoned from the bedroom.

Ken was very impressed with his haul. Notice the huge chocolate bunny. It was the biggest one at the store.

Ken and Syd trying out some of the outside games Ken found on his treasure hunt.

Syd picked out a cool kite to put in Ken's basket. We thought it would be the perfect toy for a windy day....

Until it ended up on the roof! I didn't know it could be too windy to fly a kite.

My Current Workout Regimen

I like to work out. But I hate going to the gym. It kind of freaks me out, with the intense lifters, the sweat covered equipment, and public changing areas. I'm not comfortable trying to figure out how the machines work, and the group classes are never at a time I can or want to work out. I'd much rather work out at home. But the problems there are finding a routine I like without getting bored. You can only do the same 5 videos over and over. Also, I am not good at thinking up workouts on my own. I need someone to tell me what to do.

Ken happened to find the perfect solution for me. It's a martial arts based workout done through an online portal called Warrior X Fit. There are several things I love about it. 1) It only takes about 20 minutes, but feels like I worked out for an hour. 2) The only equipment needed is a resistance tube. 3) It doesn't require a lot of space to run/jump around. I can do it in the living room in front of the laptop. 4) It keeps track of my progress and gives me virtual goals to work toward. (I've almost gotten my Camo belt). 5) Every day of the month has a different workout so you aren't doing the same exercises over and over, day after day.

Warrior X Fit workouts are 6 different exercises, done 6 times each for 20 seconds each with 10 seconds rest between sets. The workouts are all planned out, with short videos and pictures to demonstrate what each one is.

Side V Ups

One arm press, other arm hold

I've been doing Warrior X Fit for about 3 months now. I think I've done every workout at least once. After each workout I can definitely tell I worked hard. My arms are shaky and my legs are tired. The next day I'm just sore enough to know I had a good workout. It's definitely the right workout plan for me.