Halloween Spooktacular

October begins Halloween Spooktacular at Sea World, so we headed out with our sweet friend Cinnia to do some trick-or-treating! The kids wanted to dress up despite the 90 degree temps. Here they are...Megan in her dance costume from her recital earlier this year and Jacob as a monkey! He was so cute, but we only kept him in that costume for a while since it was SOOOO hot!We headed off to see Sesame Street's Count show. Here are Meg and Cinnia heading in to find a seat.As you walk into the treat area you walk through many bubble machines....the girls just twirled and chased bubbles!

Here's Megan with a Sea princess.

And Jacob and Cinnia checking out their treats.

Cinnia and Megan pose by the pumpkins.
and meet the butterfly princess

Megan was all about posing for some pics this night.....so here she is....
on the rocks.
with the pumpkin.
with the polar bear.
and a final run through the bubbles.
Anyone notice anything about this picture? like the blue color of Megan's mouth? Air Heads are her new favorite candy. We have plans to go back at least one more time with friends, so keep your eyes open for more pictures!

A crazy trip to Sea World

I know I have a lot of posts about Sea World, but for now it's been the economical entertainment option for us to have annual passes there. Maybe one day I'll be posting about weekly trips to Disney, but I'd probably have to go back to work for that which would leave no time to play at Disney......so alas more pics of Sea World!

I got to enjoy a girl's day with Megan and met her sweet friend Matti whose mom is my sweet friend Kari. We had a great time and enjoyed letting the girls have a fun day together. Our first stop was to see Allure. It's a show filled with drama and acrobatics and dance and gymnastics and we knew the girls would love to see all the dancing! Here they are getting ready for the show.

About half way through the show (here's the crazy part of the trip) the power went out! Just as the performers were spinning and climbing and swinging through the air. We tried to wait it out, but noone came to tell us how long it would be or give any further directions, so we headed over to ride the kiddie rides. Well, evidently it was a sporadic power outage, so no carousel, no rides....what to do? Thank goodness for a giant sandbox!
The polar bears had power, so we got to see them and walrus and beluga whales!
We then went to check out Shamu.....because you can't go to Sea World without seeing Shamu at least once right? Well, the ropes were up and it was almost show time! What? No Shamu? And then they opened the ropes.....A nice cool treat of Shamu bars for the girls and frozen lemonade for Kari and baby Michael!
It really was fun to see the trainers interact with all the whales without all the music and lights to drown everything out. I never realized just how loud it was in there! We could hear them calling out commands and talking with each other and hear the splashes so clearly. So even though it wasn't what we expected it was a fantastic trip to Sea World!

New Season of dance

Megan had so much fun last year taking dance that she asked to do it again this year! I loved seeing her confidence and excitement. I remember all too well the sacrifices my parents made for me to take piano lessons and the encouragement they gave to me over the years as I practiced and I want to foster those desires in Megan too. Here's a picture from the beginning of the year.

While Megan is busy with school and dance Jacob is still pretty much along for the ride.....Here's a picture of him in his most used seat....yep, the car seat! I feel like I'm always in the car dropping off or picking up or taking here or running there.....but you know, there's no place I'd rather be. I think of working and then I think of all that I'd be missing! So for now, we'll tote along toys to keep us entertained in the car rider line and dance studio waiting room!
Here's a picture of a rare breakfast out while Megan was at school. It's fun to see his little personality come out and to spend that time with just Jacob around. He's a fun little boy!
Yummy biscuit!

West TN portion of our trip

So after some R&R on my part at my mom's we headed to see Jim's folks in West Tennessee. The kids had fun chasing Chloe and playing hide and seek outside.yep, he's hiding in plain sight behind that tree!



The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we headed to the park. I think the kids seriously ran a circle up the stairs and down the slide for about 30 minutes straight!
It was then off to the mall for Jacob's first Build a Bear! He chose a black lab and we named him Tiger. Jacob gave him a bath and we picked a football outfit for him to wear. Thanks Mimi!
We also got to meet our sweet friends who moved to Memphis and have lunch with them. Here's Megan with Stacey and their foster baby.
And one of Jacob being silly on the car ride home.....both the kids pulled out these seat covers in Mimi's car and used them as toys.That night we headed out for ice cream.....check out poppy's chin...silly man!
Jacob peeking through the window--Jim took him outside to run around.
The next day we headed back to the West Tennessee drive through safari. Jacob wasn't quite sure what to think about all those animals coming right up to the car.
Jim decided to feed Jerry the Giraffe again this year.
Then Mimi took a turn.
While Mimi was feeding Jerry, Jacob turned around, grabbed a carrot and walked right up to feed Jerry. He fed him the rest of the carrots!
He then bottle fed the sheep....
and gave the goats their food too!
Here's a rare shot of Meg on this day...she was not digging the animals like she did last year and hung back for most of our time there.
We headed out on our last night for another dinner out....yummy Red Robin then over to the Old Country Store (a local Jackson place) for hand scooped ice cream (yep, that's twice in one week, but hey, we're on vacation right?). Jacob poses with his silly face.
Megan and Jacob try a game of checkers with Poppy.
We had a blast and as you can see we ate a lot! We love visiting family, but then it was time to head back to Florida! Jim had a meeting late that night and Megan had to get back to school. We hope for another visit soon!

Summer trip to TN

We set out for a trip back to Tennessee to visit family back in August. We picked Megan up early from school with the goal of driving all the way in one day. As I ran in to get her Jim and Jacob waited in the Jeep which promptly overheated. So here are pictures of us visiting our friendly neighborhood mechanic Henri! We enjoyed our picnic lunch while his guys reconnected wires to the fan on the motor which weren't connected when the fan was replaced a few months ago. Fortunately they found it and fixed it quickly (and for free) and we were on our way!



As we got close to Nashville I really started feeling bad. I was trying to wave it off as being tired or changing climates. However the next day was pretty bad. Jim headed to the drug store and I headed to bed. We enjoyed dinner with the family that night and I felt like my fever had broken, but the next morning proved otherwise. So, Jim took the kids and my mom took me to the walk-in clinic. They promptly diagnosed me with strep, gave me a shot and samples of an antibiotic and off we went! The next day since I'd been on my meds for 24 hours and was no longer contagious we headed off to see the Wiggles! Our kids had been so excited to see them and I truly didn't want to miss the experience with them. My brother, his wife and their daughter went with us. Here are the girls heading in with Nana.

Megan and Jim waiting for the show.

Jacob and Uncle John.
Here's one of Megan dancing along!
Sweet girls were all smiles for the whole show!

Here's the McGregor clan after the show. (Sorry it's not a good shot, but the attendant is the only one we could find to take a picture)
As soon as we got to the car Megan was sacked out. She took a nap as we drove out to see my brother's new house that their family is building!

Our visit there seems short to me since I was sick for most of the time there. Jim, my sister in law and mom took all the kids to the mall one day to shop and play. I hear they had fun, but really can't elaborate much. I'm so grateful for my health....and grateful to not have been that sick in a very long time!