Our Adventures in Florida

It's officially a year before we will be able to move to Florida (assuming all the pieces fall into place when we want them to), and we took a trip there to look around a little more and figure out which neighborhoods we like. We also visited the school Fiona will be attending the Fall after we move. It was a very useful trip...we learned a lot....and I kept getting signs over and over again that we belonged there. It really felt like home, and now the move and the place don't seem so far away anymore.
Fi did great on the plane. (Me...that's another story!) We ended up spending a lot of time in the car, unfortunately, but we did get to go to the beach a couple of times, and to the pool, and we took Fi to some fun places, including a place called the Children's Garden in Sarasota, a dolphin cruise while the sun set, and the Busch Gardens there. Luckily for us, she likes to look at houses, inside and out, like we do, so she enjoyed our house hunting too. Fi loves being in new places, and didn't say anything about wanting to go back home until a couple of days before we came back. She loved seeing the palm trees (we'd been talking about that) and all the wildlife that's different from here...plentiful frogs and lizards, and very big birds that beg for food like the seagulls do here.
We did end up finding three houses we really loved, and if one of them is still on the market next summer, we will snatch it up. We went looking for a 20's Craftsman-style bungalow, but fell in love with some of the very old Victorians. The three we have our eye on were built in 1906 and 1901!
The Waldorf school turned out to be lovely too. Fi liked it there...she played with the babies and on the playground. She's excited about going to school next year, and about having "lots of friends", as she puts it. It's so hard to believe it's almost that time already!!

Father's Day preparations

Fi and I went to a paint-your-own-pottery place for our traditional Fi-made Father's Day mug. This was the third year in a row! This year I pretty much just sat and watched, and got more paint when she asked. Haha. She had a great time.
Funny, someone there commented that she looked like Shirley Temple, and I just shrugged it off....but then as I sat looking at her, the resemblance struck me. I'll have to find a picture to compare and post it, just for fun.

Strawberry picking!

We had a nice adventure last weekend...we found an organic strawberry farm and went picking. It was a bit of a drive, but it was a beautiful day and a beautiful area...Pungo, in Virginia Beach. Fiona was a pro this year, after practicing last year. She looked for the red ones and got really excited. She'd say, "Look! This one was waiting for me to pick it!", or "Look! Somebody already started eating this one!" We left those for the bugs and the birdies. After we picked a couple of buckets full, we went wandering around the area and had lunch at a little pizza place, where a nice man gave Fi a quarter...she's saving it to put in the carousel outside the store here.

catching up...

ok, looks like I let this blog get away from me over the winter....and the spring.....

not too unusual for me, since I do tend to hibernate, but I'll try to catch up a little bit before carrying on...

Fiona has been visiting with her Grammy once a week, which she really enjoys and looks forward to.
































She has learned to love baking, and helping Mama with anything in the kitchen.














































Fi has also become very creative, learning to paint, sculpt with playdough, and cut with scissors.
Here is the first thing she made out of playdough...a "funny boy":















































Here she is using the scissors..







































I'll be back soon with more updates and pictures....I promise I'll keep up better! :)

Enjoying the warm autumn...

We had such a good time at the pumpkin patch. It was the middle of October but was in the mid 70's and sunny. We met Aunt Nicole and Kaulini there and went out to look for pumpkins...one for everyone. Fi and Lini got to carry little toddler-sized ones back. They had a great time climbing on the hay cart and sitting on the tractor, then they spent some time walking through the little country store together.

Fiona's second birthday party!

She's two!! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday she was sleeping in my arms and she fit right in the crook of my elbow. It has been an amazing journey so far.....and it has been a wonderful year for Fi and for us. It is so much fun to watch little Fiona unfold into her own person...

Her party was wonderful. The day was absolutely perfect....cool and sunny. My mom and Bill came, along with our friend Tiffeni ("Aunt Tiffeni") and our friend Nicole ("Aunt Nicole") and Fi's friend Kaulini. Nicole and Lini ended up spending the day with us, which was very very nice. The girls played outside on the slide, played with the ball, and decorated the patio and house with chalk. We had a bubble machine going, which was a really big hit! There was also dancing to swing music inside. Fiona finally got to have some cake, which she was waiting until she was two to be able to do. She kept saying "two!" while she was eating it, feeling very accomplished.


Here are some pictures of the party....


Kaulini and Aunt Nicole arrive... .
























The girls playing outside....

Here is the table all set up with her birthday ring, a baby picture and the birthday cake...

Last year we added a mama swan with a baby on her back....this year we added a kangaroo with her joey peeking out....

The birthday cake.....Fiona's first cake!

Fiona checking it all out...

She was a little embarrassed by us singing to her...

Finally, being offered a piece of cake...

A few gifts to open....
























One of Fi's favorite gifts...a tea set with tea bags....

The girls played the rest of the afternoon.......