Ron went to see his brother over the fourth of July weekend, which is great because they really don't see each other enough. I took advantage of his being away to plan a fun girls weekend for the three of us staying here. I know, what was I thinking?! I wanted to take the girls to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to see Winter the dolphin (did you see the movie Dolphin Tale? It's a fictionalized version of her story.)
The west coast beaches are so different from the east coast beaches. Beautiful, soft sand, the water was just shy of being too warm but really felt lovely and was almost completely refreshing. Devon brought home a bagful of pretty shells we collected. Aubrey looked for shells but threw them all back. Yea! We celebrated our fun day by all getting hair wraps. I really wanted one and figured I had to get them for the girls, too.
They loved it, though, and were really appreciative. The big treat on Sunday was feeding the no-sting stingrays (they had their barbs removed, poor babies) and being the center of attention as the helpers at several presentations throughout the Aquarium. We all also really enjoyed the boat ride from the "Dolphin Tale Adventure" downtown back to the Aquarium. Next time, I would consider taking the boat both ways, although there is a 2 block (up hill) walk from the dock to the Adventure. Really interesting place, though, and I splurged and bought a lot of the pictures they took. It's a good cause, right? supporting the Aquarium. The girls volunteered every time the staff at the Aquarium asked, so they got a couple of prizes and just really had a great time. The big disappointment, of course, is that they didn't get to actually swim with a dolphin. Let me save a while longer before we go there, please!
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| They said "face painting" |
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| but they meant "arm painting" |
Aubrey's been doing really well at her summer school program, and we're almost not minding getting up at 6 to get her there. I can't believe we would actually consider sending her there during the school year. Remind me later on in life to throw this back at her to make sure she waits on me hand and foot in my old age. Ron and I take turns driving her the half hour to get there by 7:30 so one of us gets to work early each day, which is actually nice. Devon has been alternating going to a friend's house (the one with all the kittens) and horseback riding camp. She actually has her first show this weekend. She's riding "slow Randy" and says she won't get any ribbons or anything because he doesn't listen and won't turn when you tell him to. If that's the case, I can't imagine why he would be the horse they take to the show, but what do I know? And Devon is my source of information for this, so who knows what reality is. The really bad news is that the horse show is in Ocala, which is over an hour away and she has to be there no later than 7 am. Why is nothing close by and at a decent hour? I need my beauty sleep! And I can't really sleep in on Sunday, as Aubrey has her first bat mitzvah lesson with the Rabbi Sunday morning. We've actually listened to a few minutes of her haftorah in the car already so she can start to learn the melody but the Rabbi is chanting it so slowly that it puts me to sleep! Hopefully the pace will pick up once she starts learning the words and melody, or we'll have a bunch of sleeping people at the synagogue that morning! (Not that this would be a first - we have a cousin who slept - and snored - through one of my brothers' bar mitzvahs.)
Meanwhile, work has been crazy busy. Why do people think the summer is slow? I have just as much work now as in the other seasons....plus my co-workers take time off so we all have to pitch in to help out and get that much more work. I'm not complaining, just wondering.....maybe it's the brokers who have less work and they're projecting.
Did I ever tell you about the meeting Ron and I went to to learn about second grade? It's the night my ACL finally ripped through and down I went! The principal kindly brought me the wheelchair from the clinic so I could get to the program. The biggest change from first to second grade is the emphasis on the BYOD program. That's "Bring Your Own Device", and they are encouraging the kids to come to school with their own tablet or smart phone. Excuse me, but we are talking about second grade, right? Devon is dying to get a phone, Aubrey says there's no way Devon can have one at 7 since she (Aubrey) didn't get one until she was 11, and it's a non-issue for Ron and I - there is no way we are buying a device for Devon to bring to school for the second grade. Apparently Florida is moving into the 21st century and moving away from the dreaded FCATs and into using the "Common Core" standards.....that's great except that Common Core states that you stop teaching handwriting after the first grade. Wonderful, we're going to be raising a nation of people who write like first graders. Forget cursive (what's that?) People are going to be barely able to print properly! Who creates these standards, anyhow? Possibly the same group of people who determine the nutritional value of school lunches (chicken nuggets and tater tots, anyone?) Devon always liked when I joined her for lunch because I could buy the teacher's lunch which she would steal from me. We are talking about the child who orders salad at McDonald's and Wendy's.....
Anyhow, last night we had chicken for dinner. The girls usually love the chicken we were having but for some reason, Devon decided she doesn't like chicken anymore and refused to even eat one bite of it. Aubrey ate the chicken, but not happily, as it is exactly what she had for lunch at school. Sorry, sweetie! Devon and I met up with Aubrey and Ron after the work/camp/school day was done today - what's for dinner, Mom? Fish tonight. Devon doesn't eat fish (except for crab legs and Gorton's fish fillets), so it's no biggie that she says no to fish for dinner. Aubrey likes fish, though, but guess what they had for lunch today? Right, fish! We went out for pizza instead. She said they're having burgers tomorrow so we'll cook up the fish tomorrow night. Of course, now that the girls are getting chickens we may have to eat chicken a little less. I love to tease Aubrey that we're going to eat her chickens, but I would never do that! Just like I'd never eat a pet fish. There's no way I would clean it - yuck!
So, Aubrey's geckos and lizards live at her friend's house, we're not keeping the stray puppy we found
And, when I think about more animals coming our way my mind goes blank. And I think I'll leave it like that for now.
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