Florida - Beach Day

Another sunny and beautiful day in Florida! Today was beach day, and the water was like a warm bath - awesome!

Xander, of course, loved it. He kept dragging me further and further from the shore so we could jump the waves. This kid must've swallowed gallons of sea water today, but nothing dissuaded him from being out there. In fact, it was a struggle just to get him out when it was time to go.

Joe hung out and got some sun - too much sun. He's burned, I'm crispy, and even Xander got too much sun on his shoulders. And yes, we used sunblock. Not too successfully, it would seem.

After the beach we went to Doc's for lunch and ice cream. The burger I had was good, but the foot long hot dog was too much for Xander. And Joe battled his banana split and lost - he wore quite a bit of it by the time he was done.

Joe and I crashed once we got back, but Xander dragged Mom and Vikki off to the pool. That kid can't get enough water! A quick trip to Publix, some awesome BBQ for dinner, and here we are. It was a good day, despite the sunburn, and I'm looking forward to doing some shopping tomorrow. See you then!

Vacation Day 2: Off the Train in Florida

Well, the Brunos have survived their first train trip...barely! Let's just say Big B and Little B need to occupy a larger space when they're together. LOL! Our sleeper room on the train was actually very nice, with a bathroom and everything, and plenty of storage for our many bags. Still, a tight fit for us.


But we made it through. Our porter, Phred, was a big, friendly guy who helped out with anything we needed. The waiters (?) in the dining car were nice, and the food was pretty good. Just the fact that they had cheesecake won Joe over.

While en route to Florida, we took turns playing games and watching movies on the laptop, playing the DS games, reading, napping, and just generally hanging out. At one point Joe went to the Club Car and spent some time meeting new people. The worst part was trying to sleep last night - Joe and I on the pull-out bed? Not the best experience. Xander loved the top bunk, though, and I'm pretty sure he slept like a log.

We rolled into Delray Beach a little after four this afternoon, and almost immediately upon getting to Mom's we hit the pool. And then it was all we could do to drag Xander back out so we could have dinner. That boy loves to swim.

So right now I'm on Mom's laptop checking my e-mail and updating this page. Xander and Vikki are in the spare room watching SpongeBob - she's his new TV buddy. Joe is watching some TV, at least until he passes out from sheer exhaustion. It's been a really full day, that's for sure.

I'll try to update again tomorrow...I think we're going to the beach. Yay! Stay tuned!

A Raging Case of Hatter-itis

Okay, first off let me say that I've always been an Alice in Wonderland fan. I'd watch the movies that they made for tv - you know, the ones that were full of celebrities wearing animal costumes. I have the books. All good. And then I saw that Tim Burton was making a Wonderland movie and decided I'd skip it. Why mess with a good thing? Ha! Joe brought the DVD home from Blockbuster one day and I watched it beause there simply wasn't much else to do. And I was hooked.

Johnny Depp's Hatter was indeed Mad. But also heroic and vulnerable. I started reading some fan fiction based on the movie, and it just made me love the Hatter even more. I changed my Facebook pic, bought the movie on Bluray, and settled back to enjoy the best Hatter ever.

Until Joe brought another DVD from Blockbuster - the Syfy channel's miniseries take on Alice in Wonderland, called simply Alice. I looked at the cover, saw mechanized flying flamingos, and figured that was definitely not worth watching. Ha again! Xander wanted to watch it, so I watched with half-interest while we played some board games and things.

Andrew-Lee Potts' Hatter wasn't Mad, not really, but he was so incredibly awesome! First off, cutie deluxe. But I really loved his tough-on-the-outside, soft-and-vulnerable-on-the-inside take on this character. And the ending makes me melt each time I watch it (and that has been many, many times). You can bet your sweet bippy I'll be getting that for my DVD collection, and very soon. And thank the fan fiction writers who have given me much more Hatter to enjoy.

Joe says I'm obsessed. I say, "all your fault!" He brought both those Hatters into our house, so it's not my fault that I wanted them to stay. And if you haven't seen the movies, you might want to check them out. Or not. I don't mind keeping those Hatters all to myself!

More T-Ball - And Finally A Shirt!

We had T-ball again on Saturday (only one more to go!) and this time almost all of the kids on the purple team had a shirt. But it seemed like very few of them actually wanted to be there, and in fact there were only about six kids there from the green team. Xander looked mostly bored as he played the field, which is not unusual.

The kids played one game, with each one getting two chances at bat. That's Xander's favorite part and he's a very good batter.

He's pretty good at running, though a lot of times he does this prancing thing more than actually running. But I got some good running shots today, like this one.

I was annoyed about one thing - we missed the team photo. The photographer came the day we went to Richmondville Day. None of the parents were notified ahead of time and some had to scramble for money to pay that day. But that's okay. I'll take my own picture of Xander in the yard at home and it'll be just as cute.