Where the Forest Meets the Sea

Cannon's new favorite book is called Where the Forest Meets the Sea.  The book is simple and the pictures are beautiful!  There is a part in the book where the boy plays in a big tree that has vines.  Well we found that tree in downtown St. Pete.  Cannon was thrilled!





He was pretending he was a lizard in a cave

 We also found this exquisite tree in front of the Museum of Fine Arts!  It really was breathtaking! 

Love  :)

Touch A Truck

On Saturday we went to Largo Central Park for their annual Touch a Truck! It's actually pretty cool. They have all sorts of different trucks, buses, emergency vehicles, tractors, helicopter, police, tow trucks. You name it, they had it! We missed it last year so we were excited to go this year. We didn't see all of them, just the ones Cannon wanted to see. 

Ambulance

Garbage truck (you could pull the horn too)

City bus

Fire truck

School bus

We saw Peyton there too!

Cannon's favorite was the bus.  He stayed on there for a really long time pretending to drive.  We brought Blue too, but she was not happy with all the crowds and loud noises. 

 

 

Mini Staycation

A couple of weeks ago Ryan had Monday and Tuesday off from work so we decided to use his hotel points to take a mini staycation at the Hilton on Clearwater Beach.  Of course we picked the only day that would be cold and windy during a two-week run of 75-80 degree sunny weather.  But it was still fun and it gave us an opportunity to use the kite I got Ryan for Christmas. We also accidentally left Cannon's shoes at the Long's house when we dropped off Blue.



The pool was heated and Cannon can still swim!

Pizza and cheese steaks for dinner...

...and gelato for dessert.



We pretty much had the beach to ourselves!



So hard to see, but Ryan is flying his kite.

Cannon flying the kite.  He did pretty well!





Cannon was pretty excited to fly the kite by himself!

Holidays and Such

Cannon took this pic

A couple days before my birthday Cannon got sick, again.  He spread the love and I wasn't feeling so well on my birthday.  But well enough to enjoy the day.  Ryan had returned home from a work trip to Phoenix the night before and he took the day off just for me!  He had told me a long time ago that that was his plan, but I completely forgot so it felt like a great surprise!  We had a lovely morning together. Ryan had to leave for a couple of hours for a work meeting, but Cannon and I had a little nap while he was gone.  We went out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Not my typical pick for a restaurant, but I've been wanting wings lately (again, unusual for me).  It was a nice day.









That Saturday night we got a sitter for Cannon and headed out to dinner and a movie.  We saw the Hobbit first and then went to get dinner.  Right as we pulled up to the restaurant our sitter called to let us know that Cannon had been throwing up.  So we cancelled our reservation and headed home.

We all ended up being sick for pretty much the rest of December.  It was "just a cold," but the worst one any of us had ever had.  It really hit us hard. 

Church Christmas party



Cannon's Christmas stash

We still enjoyed Christmas though!  It was a nice peaceful Christmas at home.  Cannon loved everything he got and was excited to play with his new toys.  Both our families were very generous to us and we were able to get a lot of things we needed.  We had Christmas dinner with our good friends the Kanooths.  They made a delicious ham dinner and then we played Risk (guys choice).  It was actually my first time playing and I got second place! 






Nice set up ruined by the dogs!

And I'm just realizing now that I was horrible at taking pictures on Christmas! 










 Ryan worked the next two days, but had Friday through Tuesday off.  It was so nice to finally spend some time together! 

For New Years Eve we invited our friends, the Vorwallers, to come for dinner and play games.  I made salsa and dip.  Ryan made calzones.  And they made sliders and dessert.  Way too much food, but so yummy!  We were kinda lame and went to bed at 12:30.  We must be getting old!


Off

On

The next day we finally got to use the trail gator!  I had my eye on this for awhile and I got it for Christmas.  Basically it's a tow bar so I can pull Cannon's bike until we get to the trail.  Then I can unhook him and let him ride on his own until he gets too tired and then I hook him back up again.  It was a beast to put together, but it's a breeze to get his bike on and off.  We had planned to go for a family bike ride and Cannon really wanted to go to Boca Ciega Park (which he calls the Island of Sodor).  It's really far for a little guy (8.4 miles one way on Pinellas Trail), but he begged and begged.  It told him that it would take us a long time to get there and that it would be a lot of hard work and that he would probably get tired.  But he insisted that he could do it so we set out.  We had lots of stops along the way to rest and have snacks, so it took us about two hours to get there.  Cannon was on and off, but probably rode a good mile or two on his own!  He was so proud of himself when we finally reached the playground.  We played there for almost two hours and then headed home.  It took us about an hour to get home and Cannon rode another mile or two by himself.  When we were about a mile from our home he got really tired.  I still have the baby seat on my bike so I let him sit in that the rest of the way home.  I couldn't believe we made it, but we we'll be sticking to parks closer to us for sure!

Ryan had to return to work that next Wednesday and I ended up working that day plus Friday too.  Saturday we made another attempt at dinner and a movie to have an early celebration of our anniversary.  Luckily no one got sick this time!  We just had a quick and simple dinner at Panera and then saw Les Miserables.  I think we were the last ones in our family to see it, so we knew what to expect (as far as the crying and such).  We both really enjoyed it. 

My Sunbeam!

On Sunday Cannon moved up to be a Sunbeam at church!  He is out of nursery and in with the big kids now!  He was so excited and did very well.  I'm excited for his new opportunities for learning. 








 Yesterday was our real anniversary.  Seven years!  Ryan got home late from work, so dinner was a little cold but still good.  We don't really exchange gifts for our anniversaries (we like to go do things instead), but Ryan surprised me with some chocolate.  Then we reminisced about the past seven years and thought about what the next seven years might bring.  It's fun to think about things like that!

So that brings us up to date!  We are hopeful for this year.  Hoping that Cannon will have better health (10 times of vomiting, croup three times, three trips to the ER, two IV's, one hospitalization, and one nasty cold)-my kid who used to never get sick!  Hopeful that Ryan will be up for a promotion at the end of the year.  Hoping for a house with a backyard.  And hopeful for some other things too. 

Texas!

Ryan had work trips scheduled for all over Texas, so we decided to make a family trip out of it and spend Thanksgiving with our families.  It was just so nice to see both of our families again and yet two weeks was not enough time to see all of our friends and see all the sights too!  It really was like going back home and I realized how much I truly miss Austin.  However, it felt good to come back home to Florida.  It's really starting to grow on us. 

Some of the highlights included spending the week with Kristina and her kids, Cole and Lyla.  We were also able to spend time with my dad and my sister Shae.  It was the first time seeing them since we have moved!  I could tell that Cannon still had a bit of a homesick feeling for Texas and our family and I think this trip filled him up.  My dad is amazing with Cannon and it hurts my heart that we don't get to see him as often as we want to.  But we savor each moment with him!

We were also able to spend time with both of the families I used to nanny for.  Their kids are growing fast and I am so proud of all of them!  They were so nice and loving towards Cannon and I love that he can know them too.  I think I will always have a special bond with them. 

We hardly saw Ryan when we were there.  He had work up near the Oklahoma border to all the way near the Mexico border, plus everywhere in between.  He drove a total of 1670 miles in his rental car!  We were able to sneak away one night to see Skyfall and another night to eat at Torchy's Tacos.

Kylene went above and beyond to pamper me this trip!  She waxed me and did a 24 hour chemical peel on my face to remove the sun damage.  And let me say how nice my skin is now!  I also got my hair done at the store and got stocked up on all my skin care and makeup products!  I felt like a whole new woman when I left!

We spent lots of time with family and soaked in every minute!  Me, Ky, and Kristina were able to see the new Twilight one night.  I was so excited to be hanging out with the girls again!  But we just needed Bev there!  Aunt Barbara and Uncle Lynn came for Thanksgiving, along with their boys.  Their boys are super awesome because they play with the little kids which gives the parents a break.  Cannon had the best time wrestling and playing with the big boys. 

So fun to watch the kids play together!



We finally got to meet Lucy!

Ky and Jeff

Riding the train with Papa Smith and Sophia

And the carousel too 

 

Cousin love!

We went to this super awesome park in Round Rock called the Play for all Abilities Park.  It was organized into sensory pods and the whole park was completely fenced in.  There was even a swing to accommodate a wheelchair.  I think we were there for four hours and Cannon could have stayed longer!  The park wasn't complete until after we moved to Florida, so I have been waiting a long time to take Cannon!  



All sorts of things to climb

Tunnels

Swings, although they need more

A super fun tube tunnel thingy

Cannon said he was luggage going through

Rock the boat!

Things for spinning

Lots of sand and "tractors" for digging

Rock band

Cannon was so proud of himself for completing those weird blue things hanging to the left

Super cool village!  Cannon could have spend hours just in this area!  It had a store, library, school, hospital, car repair shop, fire station and lots of other buildings too.  They made it look like a real street with signs and markings.

A real car in the repair shop

We also got to spend "Christmas" with my dad.  He asked if I wanted our gifts mailed or if we wanted to open them.  I knew Cannon would enjoy opening them with my dad.  And it was a miracle that we were able to get this thing on the plane back with us!  I can believe I didn't get a picture with Shae!  She got Cannon a Tigger stuffed animal because she knows that he likes Winnie-the-Pooh right now.  He sleeps with it every night. 

I was also able to see my friend Melanie and her two boys Jordan (same age as Cannon) and Luke (two months).  Jordan and Cannon played well together since they are both into trains.  Melanie brought Cannon this adorable cowboy costume and a Texas book to remember our Texas friends.  Cannon loves the book and wears the outfit almost every day!  It makes me miss Texas even more!

 

Cannon was a champ during the trip and saved up all his tantrums for after we got home (not sure how I feel about that!).  This trip was so good for him and it really filled me up as well.  We have the best friends and family.  I am thankful for everyone's love and generosity.  Within your family is truly where you will find the most happiness.