St. Pete Beach

Tanek's idea of building sand castles (which we just had to do) is watching Mommy and Daddy build the sand castle while he dumps water everywhere and practices making mud. But, we had fun building a couple of different sand castles that he put the "finishing touches" on using shells that he found.

He had a good time playing down at the beach everyday before we went to the pool!

The water was a really pretty green and very calm. Not as nice as Siesta Key (in my opinion), but still beautiful. You can see the Splash Island in the background of this next picture. Looks like fun, right?! Trampolines and slides...looks pretty cool to me (depending on how many people are out there with you).

Tradewinds Resort, St. Pete Beach

This is the resort that we stayed at in St. Pete for Kazapalooza. There were several different buildings and multiple pools. The landscaping was beautiful and everyone working there that we talked to was very nice. They also have at least 5 restaurants on property which we found quite convenient. They have a huge 3 story water slide on the beach and a splash zone in the water, but of course it was not included and was a bit pricey. Thankfully, Tanek didn't ask to go on any of that stuff. If he was any older, I'm sure he would have!

Tanek was happy to have some legos and cars to play with in the room to keep him occupied when he wasn't jumping from bed to bed or climbing on the air conditioner to look out the window!

The resort also had a lazy river running through the property that you could ride paddle boats....this was Tanek's favorite part and we rode on the paddle boats 3 times while we were there. Of course, he couldn't reach the peddles, so what's not to like about taking a nice ride down a peaceful river with ducks and swans and koi?! It wasn't quite as peaceful for Ricky and I, it was actually pretty tiring....but we still had fun!

Here is a picture of one of the swans we saw on the river. Tanek had fun watching them duck under the water looking for food!

On Saturday night, we went to a pirate show at the resort with Captain Red Beard. Tanek had a lot of fun dancing with the other kids before the show started, and he really enjoyed the show. Luckily for me, he is still under 6 and couldn't volunteer to be a "pirate in training". The parents had to go with them and they had to do some embarrassing dancing! The kids didn't have to do it, just the parents! It was all fun, but I don't think I could have done it! And I know...it is something Tanek would have volunteered for in a heartbeat!

Vilano Beach

We went to the beach last Sunday evening so we could just relax and be at the beach when we woke up. It was kind of a girls' weekend with Heather, the girls, Dellynne, Karen, Casey, both of our Mom's, and me (plus Tanek). We spent the night at Vilano Beach so we could look for sharks teeth on Monday morning. Then we drove to St. Augustine Beach and spent the rest of the day there. It was perfect weather and nice to have a calm day with nothing to do except enjoy spending time with family!

First Swim of the Year

Tanek had such a fun week with his cousins this past week! Heather, Kirsten, Hannah, Emily, and their friend Dellynne came down to visit during their spring break....it was quite a journey to get here, too, as they travelled through tornadoes, but thankfully, they finally made it safely! As soon as they arrived, they all went in the pool for the first time this year. It was quite cold, but they had a great time. I, of course, did not venture in yet...it needs to warm up at least 10 degrees before I will get in!

Dellynne was the only adult brave enough to go in! Such a good sport!

Yearly Cardiology Visit

Tanek visits the cardiologist once a year to check his heart and monitor his VSD. We were really hoping it would be closed by now since the murmur was barely audible this year, but, when they did another echocardiogram to check, there was still a tiny hole. There is nothing that needs to be done for it other than making sure he has excellent dental care, so we will just continue to have his yearly checkups. He does amazingly well at his visits and loves to watch what they do. Here he is at the doctor's office and having his EKG done:

Tanek's Birthday

This past Saturday we had Tanek's 5th birthday party at USA Gymnastics of Florida in Starke. He wanted to have it at the gym so he could jump on the trampoline and play in the foam pit. His theme was Lego Star Wars, which was not all that easy to find supplies for. Lego party supplies, in general, are very limited... he would have liked to have a Lego City party, but there are absolutely no lego city supplies to be found (at least that I could find). The Lego Star Wars supplies were challenging enough to find, but at least there are some out there if you look hard enough. This was the invitation I had made for his party, by Aimee Brown at princessandthepeas.com. I thought it turned out very cute! We ordered a Lego Star Wars frosting sheet to put on top of his cake, and then just put some lego star wars minifigures around it. The frosting was supposed to be dark blue instead of white, but I guess it turned out okay. Tanek liked it and that's what mattered most!

We found a lego star wars t-shirt on sale at Kohl's...perfect to wear for his party

Tanek was excited that Gramps came to his party. Tanek made him a personal, homemade invitation, which wasn't the most legible, but special just the same!

Tanek loved jumping on the trampoline!

The foam pit was a big hit, too! Here is Hannah, Tanek, Juliana, and Walker...

Aiden preparing to jump in...

Gracie, Chloe, Serina and Adam, Liam, Juliana, and Tanek...

Liam and Logan...

Walker, Tanek, Juliana, and Brandon taking turns on the trampoline...

Mommy jumping with Tanek...

Chloe and Juliana in the pit...

and Hannah and Walker...

Serina, Adam, Juliana, and Tanek...

The beginning of presents!Everyone checking out the presents as he is opening them!

And, the very happy birthday boy!

Tanek had such a fun time at his birthday party thanks to everyone who came to help make it a special day for him! I think all of the kids had a great time playing in the gym!

Here are some pictures of him on his actual birthday:

ICE! 2010

Today we went to the ICE! and SNOW! festivals at the Gaylord Palms Resort. Tanek has been wanting to see real snow so he could throw snowballs in real life (not just on the Wii), so today he got to see it all....and feel the cold that comes with it.

Everyone gets a blue parka before going in to the ICE arena because it is kept at 9 degrees.

It's hard to tell who is who when everyone is wearing the same thing, but I could distinguish between Tanek and the bear pretty easily.

The ice sculptures told the story "Twas the Night before Christmas". The sculptures were really amazing with the amount of detail and color that they had. I can't imagine how the artists accomplished all of these sculptures, and how did they do it without having their fingers fall off from the cold?!

It was a very impressive site to see! The ice used for the sculptures is specially made just for this event, and artisans come from China to create the sculptures. In order to make the colors consistent throughout, the water must be stirred constantly while it is being frozen - very interesting, but I'd hate to have that job!

Can you imagine how much all of this ice must weigh? I would hate to think how much it must cost to keep the building cold enough to keep the ice from melting.

I think this Christmas story will always bring special memories for Tanek. Whenever we read it, he can think of when he walked through the story, larger than life, in the ice!

My camera battery died before we made it too far into the story, but here are a few more.

They had some really cool ice slides, too, but I couldn't get pictures of them. I'm sure some pics will be up on my Mom's blog, though. Once Tanek discovered the slides, the cold didn't bother him anymore...all he could think about was going down the slide again! But, eventually, we had to stop sliding so we could go play in the snow! He had a blast playing in the snow and throwing snowballs at Mommy and Nana! He did decide he would rather live where he could play in the pool more than where he could play in the snow, though!