Oh the years

Grant and I have been together for a long time, 13 years to be exact.  We don't get away from the girls or work very often, but on this occasion we ran away for a quick dinner at Seasons 52 sans kids.  Grant was being so nice that he actually took me furniture shopping at West Elm, PB and Ballards without complaining.  That part of the evening may be better classified as a Christmas miracle.
After 13 years I can honestly say that Grant and I are not the same people we were when this all started.  I'd like to think that we are much better, well except for my skirt size.  Thankfully we are one of the couples who have grown together instead of apart as the years have passed.  I'm not even going out on a limb when I say that I love him more than I did when we married 9 years ago.  This is in spite of his reluctance to change the toilet paper roll.
Happy Anniversary to us!

More Zoo

I found these on my sisters page and thought that I would share too.  I should mention that at Zoobile there is free alcohol and liquor which explains the photos of my sister.

Football = Sad

Another year, another sad Fall for this family.  The Jags were horrible, the Vols were horrible and there isn't much more to say than that.  The good thing is that the biggest fan in our house doesn't care about the score.  Football is about getting dressed up, yelling and eating popcorn until you pass out.

Here are a few pictures from the season that ended so poorly.  No pics of A from the games, Grant isn't big on remembering to take pics.

More Candy Please

As much as I like to online shop, I am also a big supporter of local businesses.  We have this little town within Jacksonville called Springfield.  Springfield is near downtown and close to the sports complex, the problem is that it isn't necessarily the safest area of town.  A few years back when the housing market was booming and everyone wanted a piece of Florida property there were families and businesses willing to buy and rehab the 100+ year old properties.  Of course when the market crashed the rehab stopped in that area.

We have found one reason to visit this area and it is called Sweet Pete's Candy Shop.  Pete was part owner of Peterbrooke chocolate which is a staple here in Jacksonville.  He eventually split off and opened this little shop.  At the holidays they decorate it beautifully and have special candy activities.  Last year we went for a candy cane pull and this year was all about gummy making.

Check out these pictures to see how much these cousins have grown...

2011

2012

Jaguar Day

This is what happens when we eat too much of the Sweet Pete's candy...AAAHHHHH

Noodles are the way

There are two things I can count on when I get home at night...a frustrating dinner.  I don't mean because of the fact that I don't cook because smart me married someone who enjoys it.  The frustration is with the girls.  Adelaide is too busy talking to eat and Penelope is typically busy yelling more because she eats everything as fast as she can.  

There is one magic food that will always get eaten in our house...noodles.  The only time that the noodles hit the floor is after Penelope is full and she starts throwing everything off of her tray.

Happy Birthday to Grant

What did you get for your last birthday?
Grant spent the afternoon playing basketball with the family and the evening drinking homemade limoncello and having dinner with family and friends.  To top the night off he received the best gift...an avocado slicer for the best guacamole maker around town.

The Zoo and The Zoo

The problem with living in the Florida is that the heat prohibits you from doing somethings like going to the zoo for months at a time.  Lucky for us the weather finally cooled off in time for us to go to the zoo's annual fundraiser called Zoobilee and then we went a few weeks later just for the fun of it.  Grant wasn't able to make it to Zoobilee this year due to a schedule conflict.  Yes, two months ago we thought that the Vols were going to have their golden moment and beat the Gators which had the same start time as our event.  I on the other hand looked like a crazy woman checking my phone every thirty seconds as it kept buzzing with bad news.
Adelaide's favorites last year were feeding the giraffes and the carousel.  This year those were not the activities that were at the top of the Adelaide's Favorites List.  A was terrified of the giraffes while P would have jumped over the fence and try to ride one if I would have let her.  These days A is scared of everything.  The one thing that is surprising is that A all of a sudden loves jump houses and games which she had zero interest in the year before.