We Pet A Baby Tiger!

On Saturday we went up to Dade City Wild Things with the sole purpose of petting a baby tiger!  This was something on my bucket list that I've always wanted to do! 

They don't allow cameras into the facility and they only take small groups, so you have to make a reservation.  We did a walk-thru "safari" and got up close to some of their other rescue animals like lemurs, cougars, jaguars, bears, different types of primates, coatimundi, deer, tigers, lions, and exotic birds.  You get a lot closer to these animals than you do at the zoo.  It was very cool!  Our tour guide has a personal connection with each animal and they would come to him when he called their names. We enjoyed every minute!  They also had about 40 roosters, a few peacocks, and a dog that wandered around the property.  Ryan and I joked that this was Cannon's perfect house! 

Lastly, we got to play with a 13-week old Siberian tiger cub named Noel!  She was quite playful and it was so exciting to be able to do something you've been waiting years to do!  Her fur was soft and what was really surprising was that the black skin on the bottom of her paws was incredibly soft.  It stays that way all their life so that they can creep quietly.  Cannon loved to play with her tail.  It was such a neat experience for all of us!  We certainly have a special place in our hearts for animals. 

Trip to Atlanta and Charlotte

Ryan's first work trip of the year was scheduled for Atlanta, GA and since it's not too long of a drive from us we decided to make it into a family trip.  And since the upcoming weekend was President's Day (a three-day weekend), we planned to extend the trip to Charlotte, NC to see Rick and Kristina and the kids. 

Aside from a long flight layover and a quick trip downtown, this was my first time to really experience Atlanta.  Ryan raves about it all the time and was super excited to take us!  We had lots of fun plans, new places to explore and new restaurants to try.  But...........the trip had other plans and it turned out completely different! 

Well for starters, it iced and snowed!  The city pretty much shut down for three days!  Since everything was closed, we missed out on some great restaurants and some sites.  But the upswing was that Ryan's offices were closed so he hung out with us in the hotel. 

To top it off Cannon got croup.  I think from the difference in climate.  I couldn't believe it, but I left all his asthma meds at home!  I felt so guilty.  His pediatrician was able to fax in a prescription for his inhaler, a $50 mistake I will never make again.  We've dealt with croup, a lot, so it didn't really phase us.  Cannon was acting normal and breathing fine once he got the albuterol.  We continued to swim in the hotel's indoor pool and play as normal.  I think it was good for him to swim because it made the whole room steamy, like a humidifier.  On day three of his croup, Cannon awoke in the morning much worse than ever. He ate a little breakfast and then got back in bed.  He was like this for hours.  Didn't want to play or do anything really.  I've never seen him this lethargic and I was worried he wasn't getting enough oxygen or else he was getting pneumonia.  His cough was horrible and the inhaler didn't do anything to help his wheezing.  He was getting worse, not better, so I called his pediatrician again.  They weren't comfortable prescribing anything else without seeing him so all they could tell us to do was to take him in.  All the urgent cares were closed because of the snow, so we had to take him to the ER.  Children's at Scottish Rite was just 8 minutes from our hotel, so off we went.  The nurses and doctors there were awesome!  They got us right back, the doctor came into our room right away, and he got his medicine right away.  I think we were there for 1.5 hours, which might just be a record. And Cannon was thrilled that he didn't have to get a shot.  In fact he told the nurse that he would rather have an IV than a shot!  Luckily he didn't need either.    

Once he got his medicine and could finally breathe, he started to perk up.  Ryan took us by the temple on the way back and we ate dinner at Flip Burgers where I had the best liquid nitrogen milkshake!

The next day was Friday, Valentine's Day.  The night before we had picked up some special cupcakes and saved them for the morning.  We went with Ryan to drop off some things at an office and Cannon finally got to play in the snow.  Then we headed for Charlotte!

Double chocolate, strawberry, and red velvet!

We met "OC" the office cat, made a small snowman, and then crushed it!  The sun was warm and it felt so good to be outside.

At one point in the trip Ryan took us by his old house in Suwannee.

It was fun to see Cannon with Cole and Lyla again.  The weather was cooler, but sunny!  It was really beautiful outside and they still had lots of snow in their yard.  The weekend went by way too fast and before we knew it Monday was here and it was time for us to leave again. 

Great day at the park

Super heroes!  They were pretending to go to Florida.

You can't miss Ryan in these shoes!

After playing in the snow all afternoon, it's nice to play by the hot fire. 

A beaver house

Tuesday when we were home, I took Cannon to the beach.  I told him that he must be a very special boy because yesterday he got to play in the snow and today he got to play at the warm beach. 

I would like a do-over of Atlanta again!  Even in the winter it was a beautiful city, so I can just imagine what it looks like during a warming time of year. 

The Holidays and Such

We had an enjoyable holiday season!  We kicked off after Ryan's return home from his last work trip for a few months!  We enjoyed time as a family and time with friends. 

Cannon was super excited about my birthday this year.  Ryan surprised me by booking an appointment for me to get a 90 minute massage!  He planned it for the beginning of January when he could take a day off and stay with Cannon.  I have to say that 90 minutes went by too fast and I could have stayed for another hour!  But it was wonderful nonetheless. 

The day after my birthday Ryan and I went to the Orlando Temple together.  It was a very spiritual and insightful time for me.  Afterwards we ate a nice lunch at Seasons 52 and halfway through we remembered that there is a Chuys just up the freeway a bit!  Duh!  Cannon stayed at the Patrick's house and he was having so much fun that he didn't want to leave. 

It was fun to pick our Christmas tree and decorate the house.  Cannon loves Christmas music and much of our days were spent listening to the same songs over and over again.  He fell in love with Frank Sinatra's CD, particularly the Jingle Bells song.  Each night we read scriptures by candlelight, something that Cannon looked forward to.  And we looked at Christmas lights and drank hot cocoa and watched a few Christmas movies throughout the month.  On Christmas Eve night we set out cookies for Santa and I transcribed a note from Cannon to Santa.  He was thrilled with the thought that Santa would come into our house and eat the cookies!

Even Cannon appreciated the beauty in Kylene's gift wrapping!

Singing at the ward Christmas party

And there was even a special visitor that night!

Christmas day was wonderful!  Cannon peeked downstairs and started laughing.  He said, "Mom, there's something funny downstairs!"  He was referring to the model skeleton Santa left for him.  It was a slow relaxing morning and  we all enjoyed watching each other open our gifts.  We ate crepes, our any-holiday traditional breakfast, and the dogs enjoyed their Christmas treats.  We talked to all of our family by phone or FaceTime.  Later in the afternoon we spent Christmas dinner with our dear friends, the Kanooths, and our new friends, the Rigby's (who just moved here from Australia).  And I got to hold baby Eli who was just a month old. 

Noah, Cannon, Savannah, and Micah

For the next couple of weeks Ryan had various days off.  We thoroughly enjoyed each minute with him!  We didn't do anything special for New Years.  Cannon went to bed at his regular time and Ryan and I stayed up and played games.  Kylene and Jeff got us Austinopoly and Ryan beat me miserably!

His new favorite game, Enchanted Forest, courtesy of Grandma and Papa

He LOVES his new bike basket from Kylene and Jeff and the green bike light from Santa

Ryan got a new chess set, so he handed down his old one to Cannon

He learned to climb the palm tree in a Batman suit

He spent one hour putting together this 100 piece puzzle by himself!

We took Cannon and Brenna to Phillipe Park in Safety Harbor.  The kids didn't mind the rain, but Ryan wore that poncho

We found this little beachy area

We also celebrated our eight year wedding anniversary on January 7!  Cannon and I picked up Ryan from work and had a lunch date at Jimmy Johns.  I got Ryan and I each a special chocolate from William Dean that we ate after dinner.  We didn't have a special date that night, but Ryan was able to get the first episode of this season's Sherlock!

It was great having Ryan home for so many days.  I think at one point he was home during the day for five days in a row, which never happens!  We didn't want him to go back to work!  But we had fun creating new memories.

Building a Rocket Ship!

It all started with a cardboard tube telescope and a crescent moon and Jupiter.  Usually by 7pm we are in full bedtime routine mode.  But after brushing his teeth Cannon wanted to spend a few minutes outside this evening in the dark.  A few minutes wasn't enough for him, so I asked if he wanted to spend five more minutes outside or read his usual three books before bed.  He chose to stay outside and decided that we needed to go to the moon tonight.  He was very serious.  I sensed the importance and decided to run with it.  He spent almost two hours planning this trip, gathering the necessary provisions, and building his rocket ship.  I was just a listening ear and then later invited to be a passenger.  He started with his gear: a suit, socks, boots, helmet, mask, and gloves.  He thought of dry foods, like saltines, to pack.  Of course we needed pillows and blankets, things to do, and a map.  Initially he wanted me to drive him to the nearest rocket ship, but since there weren't any available on such short notice he decided to build one with an extra cardboard box we had lying around.  We all (Cannon, myself and Blue) got in and waited for the wind to take us.  When that didn't work he thought that we need to get air somehow.  So he got out the bike pump.  When that didn't work he realized that his rocket ship needed wings to fly.  When that didn't work he used the packaging air bags to tie onto the ship.  He was very disappointed when that didn't work either!  He then thought if only we had some balloons, that would surely work.  He said, "Mom, I used all the perfect things.  Why isn't my ship flying?"  He asked, "Why can't boxes float in the air?"  He hasn't given up on his idea yet and the rocket ship waits patiently in the living room until tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

Ryan has been traveling more than usual this year and we feel like we haven't seen much of him around here.  We were all very happy for him to have the day off and we decided to do our own Thanksgiving by ourselves.  We really just wanted time to be together as a family. 

We started our day with pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  Ryan took Cannon to Taylor Park for a few hours while I cooked and had a mini nap.  Our feast was ready by 3:30 and we were ready to eat!  I even pulled out the fine china and sparkling cider! 

Ryan talked about what Thanksgiving means and we started a gratitude journal that will hopefully be a tradition every year.  The other thing Cannon wanted to do was decorate for Christmas.  Ryan got out our Christmas box and Cannon sorted out what was a decoration and what needed to go on the tree. He is so excited for Christmas this year!  We finished the day with some homemade pumpkin pie. 

Cannon's favorite part of the meal he said, "The rolls and marshmallows!"

Veteran's Day

On the Saturday before Veteran's we had a day of service at Bay Pines VA.  Some of the families helped with the grounds keeping and gardening.  The children took some time to make cards for the veterans.  When they were done making their cards they sang in a choir for the veterans.  They sang songs such as America the Beautiful.  It was special to hear Cannon sing them proudly!

 

Cannon and his good buddy Anna

 

 

 

Afterwards we headed across St. Pete to visit my friend Rachel who just had her baby.  She went into early labor on Friday, but her husband was still out of town.  I stayed with her on Friday to keep her company until it was time to have the baby.  Our other friend Elisabeth was able to be with her during her C-section and I anxiously waited in the room for little Eli's arrival!  Since he was born just shy of 36 weeks, we were worried that he would have to go to the NICU.  But he was a perfect 6lbs 3oz!  It was special to be there right after he was born.  

 

Baby Eli's first picture!

 

He's such a sweet baby!

Halloween

Cannon's preschool had a little Halloween party for the kids and families.  He was excited to dress up for school.  Previously, he wanted to be a wolf.  So I made him a wolf costume.  But he changed his mind to be a super hero, which is just fine.  His wolf costume still gets use with his other dress-up items. 

 

The kids sang a few songs and then there were some crafts to do.  Afterwards they got to play outside and do the activities that were set up (bean bag toss, treasure hunt, etc).  He had so much fun and was happy that I was able to come.  This was his last day of school, but that's a story for another day.  

 

 

 

 

That evening we went to Brian and Keia's house for trick-or-treating.  We took baby Logan around with us, but I forgot to take a picture of him!  He was so cute dressed up like a pumpkin.  Blue went as the classic hot dog.  Cannon spent most of his time at the house across the street because each year they build a maze in their garage for the kids.  Cannon loved it, he loved the music, and he loved the bubbles.