No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard

Oh, dear, dear, dear, dear.

This is one of those moments where I haven't caught up here as soon as I should have.

Where I took many, many, pictures and have many many exciting things to share... so much

so, that I keep putting it off and it .just.keeps.adding up!!

I know that I will leave things out;

I know that you will hate me for carrying on.
But.

it's vacation time baby, Vacation TIME BABY!! (Ri has been off work since the 1st)

I know you will get tired of looking at all the pictures.. but the pictures are awesome and we have had a great time the last few days.

so,

suck it up ,Buttercup!

Feb1st.. Ri found out his friend was packing up and moving back to Texas. He decided he wanted to go help him pack up the Uhaul. and see him before he left
Harvey and Hether really wanted to go too... but they had Miranda...
I REALLY don't think Princess Rory will mind the company:



They had so much fun.
It was like a mini sleepover.
(Since it was sort of late and a school night for Miranda.)

They did make-up, dressed up as princesses, colored, and Miranda brought a snack.


By the time everyone got back they were very tired and curled up on the floor together watching tv, and pretending to sleep.


Working at the taco stand has brought Ri the ability to meet SO many St.Augustine locals, interesting people, and many new friends. Walking around town with him has become almost bizarre :it seems everyone knows him.
Well, a conversation on where we get our fresh honey locally (a stand on the road near our house)- ended with Ri regularly bringing big containers of it to this guy that works at the alligator farm.

Anyway, He got us guest passes to go to the Alligator Farm! We went on Wednesday.
He just had to show us the AWESOME nightly sight of the birds coming into the trees above the swamp.
Last time we went Rory was around 2.
Pretty impressive place-far more than just Alligators, All sorts of cute zoo critters that I love.

Rory says she wants an Acouchi(the large rodent) .. the toucan was a total show off for the camera

There are also crocs- all different sorts from all over the world, and turtles

lol we giggled at the algae covering making them look all fuzzy in the watter.
... and the many times we would look in a habitat and not see all the crocs.. like this one where I only saw the top one! :O

I love the albino alligator.. Rory thought it was extra creeepy.

There is a special place in my heart for marmosets.. Can I have one?

Sigh... I guess it isn't a good idea..

back to looking at crocs

... I forgot what this bird is called?
Any guesses? or google mastery? Pretty though, and LOUD!

The kidzone overlooked(or perhaps was overlooked by) the birds of africa exhibit.

I sort of love the Cape Vulture..
So ugly he is is pretty,maybe?

It was a surprisingly cooooold day. But Rory played as much as she could.

Ri says when he was a kid they let them ride REAL Galapagos turtles. Now, no one is allowed in their habitat but zookeepers.. lol sort of happy for that one.
"Whoa there mr.turtle"

We did get feed the swans ,and ducks, pellets from a little gumball machine. There were beautiful black swans too, but they were busy with a nest.

We did NOT feed the begging monkey, that did not stop other tourists from ignoring the signs.

There were macaws and cockatoos, too- noisy attention seeking ones . Ri says this one almost acted like he wanted to jump onto his shoulder;

Yeah. There are alligators-

Lots.
Big ones and small ones

And rooms talking all about the history and facts about them.

.. is it bad I sort of want some of those wooden masks?

Don't answer that.
also... such rooms were warm. It was cold. We read a lot.

We also got to feed the gators some kibble.

Then we went to see the DRAGONS-

komodo
and some snakes and similar critters.

Rory dug that part, but I think she enjoyed the birds more.

Last time we took her she was in a much more boyish phase and snakes were her favorite creature. Now... she still likes them but is icked out a little.

I miss the two year old who was more likely to pretend to be a pirate than a princess...

though I also love the princess, the princess that watches the movie Annie captivated . :)

We circled back around while waiting for the reptile show. Found this critter - small deer near the cockatoo and swans...

Soo sweet, he acted like he wanted us to pet him. We didn't but it was so cute standing at the gate trying to poke his tiny head through at us.

Rory thought the zebra shaped feeder was gross.yeah. a bit.

Ri made a friend while Rory played at the playground

or maybe an enemy? odd stork was trying to attack him through the glass!

He didn't attack me.. only sat still while I snapped some pictures.. isn't it, um pretty...

We made our way back to the auditorium for the reptile show..

last time we went was in summer and crowded.Rory remembered it though, it was the only thing she seemed to remember about the place .. she got to pet a snake, and she was going to do it again..

we made no promises..but she was adamant, she was going to pet a snake.

It was cold and empty this time, so empty no one else came to the 5pm show.. we ended up with a private show! It was awesome!

Rory got to ask questions, and meet and pet a pancake tortoise, AND a ball python, and this awesome skink
she was a little shy and nervous, but it was the coolest thing to her!

This is a replica of GOMEK- the giant Alligator that once lived at the Alligator Farm.

We made our way back to the swamp, and bird rookery..

Ri's friend Phil said the birds coming in for the night was the most amazing sight- we had to see.
Rory was being very tired cold and grumpy


Phil met us out there and brought us biscuits to give the gators.. it was amazing and sort of frightening

if only you could hear the HISSING as they crawled over each other to beg like dogs for the treats

We stayed with the photographers - who probably took far more amazing pictures of the birds coming in at sunset than we could-




They let us stay a little later as they closed the park, and watch the birds fly in for the night.
it was amazing. They said the birds like it because the alligators keep other critters like raccoons out of the trees.


There was seriously a lot of birds and more and more kept coming!
It was gorgeous! We had a great time. Rory was exhausted.

We went to a taco shop downtown, like horrible traitors -gasp- before heading home. The food was good, but not as good as Nalu's :) .


When we came home Rory crashed HARD, we sat talking about how awesome the last few days had been for her, with her party, having the minisleepover, and the Alligator Farm.. then Rory woke up with a fever .

It just isn't fair. She puked and felt better, but poor thing!!
We spent the next day being very lazy,watching her, hoping she would feel better.


She did get an awesome package from my friend Tata , that lifted her spirits-
Sugar cube tongs! Tata found out Rory didn't have any at her fancy tea party and got them for her..

bonus , they came in a bubblewrapped package , which Rory contently played with all day LOL.

We got our tax return Friday... but it disappeared into the oblivion before I was even aware we had it. Ri paid off ALL of our debt(save for the house and the car) . Everything. No more credit cards no more CRAP.but. that was it, not even enough left over for a wii. Sigh.

Rory did get some birthday money in the mail from Momo the same day- we took her to the store to get just what she wanted with it:

She was THRILLED!
She even tried to carry the huge box out of the store herself. I remember that feeling from my childhood, of my own special trip to the store to pick out what I REALLY wanted.
It was such a nice quiet drizzly day, and Rory just played all day with that new playset.. building a huge village around herself.
Ri went over to hang out with Kalani and Rita a bit while we played, ate the cabbage soup we had made in the crock pot- and drank some the awesome Heritage Dr.pepper


Saturday we had dinner at Ri's mom's house. Her sister , and nieces where coming over.
dinner was really yummy and we got to let the kids play :)

Amelie is soo cute !

They had soo much fun!

Sari was a bit late ,but she brought Lily over too
aww!

They will never find you in there !


Rory loves Megan and Amelie. She was laying on Megan to get Amelie to come up and play too- but it didn't seem to work. lol.Then I think she was just comfy

Sari showed off her new car- and the damage she did to the other.

There was much much much conversations.
Great convos.
Ri's aunt Angie tried to get pics of all the girls together:
lol
Aww!

She did have a little bit of luck.




lol
Yeah. we all know I am no good at the group shots either.
I have become reliant on photoshop.


When did my child become a supermodel?
Huh?
Answer me that?






..speaking of when dids-
When Did my husband get a beard?
it just popped up so suddenly.
it doesn't look bad.
Maybe he'll grow it out and I will dread it for him HAHAHAHA.
NO.

We were tired.
The conversations were many ,and long, and my level of stimulation was at its peak.
Time to head out
sooooo cute!!

We stopped at wallyworld for the quickest trip to get a present for Nova.



Sunday- Nova's 2nd birthday party at Val's house.
Rory just wanted to jump on the trampoline in the freakishly cold afternoon.

... but someone somehow managed to get all the kids in for presents and cake

ohmygosh... she is the cutest thing ever, isn't she?
She loved her phone and her backpack- Jen even recorded a happy birthday message onto the phone.cute!

Damien wanted to play with everything too.


Princess Nova!

At least someone played with the puppets we bought
Damien said he wouldn''t put his hand there...
that is where the poo is,
Seems reasonable.


Rory was being a little fussy. Everything from the dogs barking at her to Nova whining was making Rora tear up- I was half worried she was getting sick.

Cake time should cheer everyone up:

I don't think Nova quiet understood the candle thing
She was like - Why didn't you just let me eat the cake?

Oh goodness, the little circle pigtail curls are too freaking cute.

Cake&icecream.. that's better


Seemed to help Rory's mood too.

It wasn't long before they were back in the cold on the trampoline.. all the kids

lol.


Rory did NOT want to leave and threw a HUGE epic tantrum.
And another when we finally made it in the door.
We sent her to bed, she crashed. She woke up on the wrong side of bed or something.
It was superbowl sunday, and we sat around with absolutely nothing to do while she napped..
Sorry.I am not a football person.

Instead, when Rory woke up we watched some movies and tried to be warm.

Now.. it is almost 6am. I don't know what today holds.. but after this past week , I hope it is dark,warm, calm and quiet.
Maybe , I will spend the day in the tub.


PEACE AND TOFU CHICKEN GREASE,
BABYHELLFIRE