Mother's Day and the Day After

Ryan was in Chicago all last week and didn't get in until late Friday night.  Then on Saturday we had a yard sale/bake sale for the young women at church to raise money for their camp this summer.  So I was gone practically all day on Saturday and didn't get much of a chance to see Ryan.  We did end up watching a movie Saturday night, but I fell asleep 20 minutes into it.  Needless to say, I was anxious to spend some time as a family!

Me, Melanie, Rachel, and Maribel

Mother's Day was busy, but great!  Cannon gave me the gift of sleeping in until 6:45 (the previous morning he woke up at 5:30).  Ryan gave me a new pearl necklace because he knows that pearls are my favorite.  We got ready and headed to church early because we were participating in our friend's baptism!  Ryan was able to baptize and confirm my friend Maribel and her daughter Melanie.  We were so happy for them and it was a wonderful experience.  It was neat that Cannon got to watch Ryan do the baptisms and he was really paying attention and had lots of things to say about it.

After church Cannon wanted to go see the tigers.  I don't think I've mentioned this before, but there is a place close to our church that is a sanctuary for wild animals.  It's the most random thing!  It's in a residential neighborhood and at the end of the street there is this house with lots of cages for the animals.  Currently they have about four tigers, some bears, panthers, lemurs (including a baby one), and a baboon.  At least that's what we can see.  They let anyone come to view them from their fence, so it's been our tradition to go after church.  I'll try and remember to take a picture the next time we go.

For dinner Ryan made us coconut orange chicken, oriental rice, and pumpkin cobbler for dessert!  Ryan is a very good cook (well, he can follow a recipe pretty well), but I always forget that he can!  I loved the dinner, Ryan critiqued his cooking, and Cannon ate but one bite (but he loved the pumpkin cobbler).  After dinner we Skyped Ryan's family and then put Cannon to bed.  Ryan and I hit the sack at about 9:30 and it felt nice to go to bed early!

Ryan took the day off on Monday.  We were so thrilled to spend the day with him.  Cannon slept in again until almost 7 and it was heaven!  I finally felt refreshed.  I let Ryan sleep in until 8:30 and then I sent Cannon up to wake him up.

Our first stop of the day was the Clearwater Aquarium.  This was Ryan's first time going.  Cannon liked the dolphins, sea turtles, and sea otter, but when I started to pet the sting ray he freaked out!  We couldn't even go look at the fish he was so hysterical.  We ended up just leaving.  Since we have an annual membership, it was no big deal to leave except that Ryan only got to spend a grand total of 30 minutes there.  Oh well, at least Ryan and I can go back another time.

Our next stop was downtown St. Petersburg to the Pier.  We brought Cannon's bike so he could ride through the park and down to the Pier.  He has discovered hills and that's all he wanted to do!  I went to get a video of him going down the hill, but he was too fast for me!  He is getting pretty good on his bike now, not balancing yet, but can get in sync.  He really wants to balance and he tries to go fast, but that's when he starts to get a little out of control.

The Pier Aquarium

It was such a beautiful day, especially with the little breeze.  We ate lunch at the Pier and then went upstairs to the aquarium.  We get in free to this one with our other pass.  This aquarium is a lot smaller, but it was just right for Cannon.  It's basically one room with lots of fish tanks.  The lights are dim and it is very quiet and tranquil.  And there are no sharks or sting rays.







They opened up the touching pond and let us hold things like starfish, sea urchins, and some other sea creatures.  Ryan and Cannon only liked to look, but I loved holding each one!  Up to this point, Cannon's favorite part of the day was getting to buy a little toy shark.  I thought he picked out the one that said 97 cents and then I was going to let him use his dollar he got for his birthday.  But when it rang up it was $7!  He had his heart set on it so we let him get it. 

Not sure what this thing is that I was holding!

As we were walking back from the Pier, we saw this little beach area called Spa Beach.  It has white sand leading up to the water, but it's not the kind of beach you swim at.  You really just go to relax or dip your feet in, which is what our intentions were.  However, Cannon decided that he needed to swim completely so I took off his clothes before he got them all soaked!  He swam and swam with his little toy shark.  It really was the perfect swim area for him.  The water was just the right temperature and it stayed shallow for a long time.  And there were no waves.  He could walk around, sit, and crawl in the water.  We let him swim for awhile and then Ryan went to get the car so we didn't have to walk all the way back.  I thought Cannon would fall asleep on the ride home, but he didn't.  Which confirms to me that he really is growing out of his nap.

Spa Beach

I made crepes and strawberries for dinner tonight while Ryan and Cannon wrestled on the floor.  Then we had an FHE lesson on baptism and our "special treat" for the night was the leftover pumpkin cobbler.  Then bath and bed for Cannon.

We pretty much had a perfect day!  It's been a long time since we got to have a full day just as a family with nothing else to do.