Park Pets

This is the park near our house. It has a big pier were you can go out and look over the lake or I have seen people fishing there also. Ariel likes to play at this park because it has a huge playground.

This park is bordered by a lake. My mother and Ariel were in the park walking the track around the lake when they spotted an alligator. Ariel then called to tell me that they see an alligator in the lake. We have heard stories from neighbors that there were alligators in the lake, but we just didn't believe they could be very big. After they came back, we grabbed the camera and went back to the park. I couldn't believe my eyes, right on the edge of the lake was this huge gator! Ariel and I stayed back and Jerry, as you could have guessed, ventured closer for a picture.
(make sure you click on the photos to enlarge the picture)
More people came to watch the alligator, which probably disturbed him because he swam off and disappeared underwater. It was a sight to see! Jerry proposed that we go and get raw meat to feed the alligator. I am sure you can guess my response to his proposal.

Bird Watching

After the alligator went underwater, we then began watching the birds along the edge of the lake. We were hoping to get a shot of the alligator feeding.

St Pete Yacht Club

Ariel's Level 4 Gymnastic Awards Banquet (she now is a level 5 gymnast) was at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. The team was awarded individual plaques by their coaches for winning 1st place at the State Meet in Daytona back in December. This was a first for the gym. Ariel was one of the gymnast that "swept" (took 1st place in all four events, including all around gymnast) for her age group. Congratulations Ariel!
Her team was also presented with a big banner that has each gymnasts name on it and will be hung in the gym were they practice.
Ariel with her coach, Carlee and two other gymnast from her team.

11 more days to June 5

May 24- At Ariel's Gymnastic Award's Banquet and 12 more days (11 more days at the time of this post) until we meet little Cailin Imani. I look at pictures of me and can hardly believe I am this big. I'm thankful that I don't always feel this big though. As we near the end, I can't believe that the time is nearing and we will have another kid in the house. It's been a really long time were we have been a family of 3- just Jerry Ariel and I. We are all excited though! And I am thankful that this journey is almost over.

Swimming Time!

After the award's ceremony, it was swim time!

Ariel's 9th Birthday Party

Ariel's birthday party was at the movie theater. We went to see Shrek 3 and it couldn't have been more perfect, the movie opened the weekend of Ariel's birthday- May 19. Ariel and her friends had a great time! I was amazed at the things that the kids thought of to do. Some of the kids painted their faces with the icing from the cake and in the goodie bag was ogre goo, which led the kids to put it on and under their noses, pretending it was snot. I was a little nervous about having so many kids and thankful everyone made it back to their parents safely. After the party we took pictures with Shrek and friends. We also took pictures with the Simpson clan, since they also were on display in the lobby. The best part however, was leaving all the mess behind and not having to do much clean up after entertaining 16 kids!

We all sing- Happy Birthday!

Gift opening time! Ariel is such a thoughtful girl- she read everyone's birthday card aloud before opening the gift.

St. Pete Beach

May 20, 2007- We are at St. Pete Beach and Jerry decided to draw our name in the sand and take this picture. I think this is the perfect picture to start this blog out with, because the focus is on family. I'm 9 months pregnant with Cailin and I'm feeling a little uncomfortable and bored. I've been at home for 3 months now and I'm starting to feel like a bum. I have never spent so much time being inactive before. It's very hard to keep the big picture in mind- a healthy baby girl. Anyway, I think this blog is a good way to record memories and share them with family and friends because we live so far away and no longer get to see them very often. I only wish I had started this sooner.

At the beach, Ariel can spend hours going to the ocean, filling her bucket with water, and dumping the water out on the sand. However, this time she has caught a small fish and what looks likes seaweed in her bucket.

Jerry thought it was a good idea to gather enough seashells to make a smiley face on my belly.