Bike Day at the Park!!!

Beautiful weather + kids full of energy + multiple parks at our fingertips= A great day at the park. Avery and I packed up the power wheels and headed to one of the local parks and met Jadyn and Jamie....and of course her power wheels as well. Basically, the kids had a date at the park to ride their bikes and Jamie and I had to accompany them since they don't have a license yet. See below for a play by play during their date. It's kinda like the show "The Bachelor" but there is no video footage, just photos.

Jadyn and Avery switch bikes to show one another "I can share with you, no problem."

Avery getting ready to take Jadyn on a bike ride. "Hold on, babe, this may get rough."

Jadyn says "Boys don't ALWAYS have to drive, I can drive too."

"Whoa," says Avery, "You're a CRAZY driver. I like your wild side."

Cruisin along........

Driving off into the sunset. They were tired. Time for dinner.

Avery walks Jadyn to her mommy's car. "Thanks Jadyn for a great day. Perhaps Ill see you again soon."

Down the slide.............wooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

***NOTE: Sorry for the small pics....couldn't figure out how to make them bigger***

The FREEZING Midwest Welcomes Us!!!

The last few days have been spent at Mimi and Papa's in their neck of the woods. We just left sun and sand to come to cold and snow. However, I must be honest, I hoped and prayed for snow while we were here....and WE GOT IT!!! We had a great time at Mimi and Papa's house....we always do. "There's no place like home" is the best way to describe our visit. Its always so cozy, plenty to do, plenty of space for AAA to run around and of course Avery gets more attention than he knows what to do with. If you don't believe me, see below.



Avery has Mimi jumping on the trampoline with him "Jumpy, Jumpy, Jumpy Boy"



And I quote "plenty to do".....Mimi and Papa have more toys than Avery has time to play with. Here he has Papa helping him ride horsey

After a day full of playing, Avery was pooped. We literally found him hiding under their sofa table trying to fall asleep......"night, night, momma"

One of the days we loaded up and went to the mall to do some shopping and so mommy could spend tons of quarters on the rides for Avery. Coat and stocking cap on.....its COLD here.

And.........THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR..........Avery in the snow!!!

While at the mall we bought Avery snow pants, boots and mittens so we could get him out in the snow to see what it was all about. He LOVED it...until he fell face first. YIKES!!! That was cold.

Now we're headed to Indianapolis to visit Megan and to FINALLY meet her twin girls. Stay tuned for more updates on our journey to the Midwest.

A day of shopping and fun

One of the days the guys went golfing while the girls went for lunch and shopping at St. Armand's Circle. Richie and Jill Fulkerson (friends of my parents and my former high school teacher) came to Sarasota for the day.

Avery and I playing at the park at the marina. Beautiful weather!!!
Mom, Avery and I at the marina on a nice walk....had to walk off all that lunch we ate.

Mom, Jill and Avery enjoy the view

Some ice cream after lunch is a MUST.....Avery snoozes after a long day of shopping

Lunch at Cha Cha Coconuts...one of our favorites on St. Armands.

The Excitement of the gifts

Avery and Jadyn enjoy Jadyn's new playdoh on Avery's new table.
Jadyn and Avery open their gifts from each other.

Time to eat breakfast casserole....on the new table that is just PERFECT for the two of them. Sorry, couldn't do candlelight....it might melt the plastic table.

Long story.....but here I am with my new chain saw I got for Christmas. I'm attempting to cut the flatscreen T.V in half....only in attempt to make it flatter than it already is (wink)

Mommy gets a new chainsaw (yes, a real one) and Avery gets an entire new workbench from Mimi and Papa.

Oh what fun it is.....

Outside trying out Avery's new power wheels. Watch out, he doesn't even have a license yet
"Gotta wash those hands before Christmas breakfast."

Rebecca and Brianna come over to watch Avery open presents.....and help of course.

Now Avery assists Mimi in opening her gifts. Papa opens a new Elmo toy for the bathtub....wonder if he'll share his toy with Avery?

"Catch, Papa." Papa always help with trash detail,but this year he had an assistant, Avery.

Christmas Morning

"Santa found us, Santa found us." Avery sure was a good boy this year. "Come on mom, get me outta here, I wanna see what Santa brought me." In actuallity, Avery was the last one to wake up Christmas morning. Can you tell we were all super excited to see Avery's reaction Christmas morning.
Daddy shows Avery where to find all the goodies

"Wow, look what I found." He shoots, he scores............... Lebron, watch out

Papa and Josey chill on the couch and just take in all the excitement.

Opening the stockings Santa filled

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is just as exciting for us as Christmas Day. We all look extremely forward to our traditional Christmas Eve meal of finger foods followed by a beautiful Church service at St. Patricks. We always get there early to enjoy the lights and the gorgeous music. After church we always drive through local neighborhoods to sightsee the displays of Christmas lights. However, this year we had another tradition begin since Avery is now a toddler and starting to understand who Santa is. Therefore, after viewing all the lights, we had to get home and get Avery to bed since Mr. and Mrs. Claus had several toys to put together before the little guy woke Christmas morning.


Mimi has the perfect touch. Avery is sound asleep and waiting for Santa to come
Done with dinner and ready for Christmas Eve Mass....Mimi and Papa pose by the fire.....the fire we almost needed for warmth, but not yet!!!

The Alcalas are ready for Church.

Christmas Season 2009

It has been a month since I have posted anything on our blog. Where has the time gone? We have been happily busy preparing for the holidays and of course our visit from Mimi and Papa. My parents have been coming to Florida for the holidays since I moved to Florida in 2002. We have established several traditions and routines that make each year so enjoyable. Now that dad has retired they were able to come for 2 full weeks. Unfortunately, this was the COLDEST winter we have had in 10 years, but of course, we made the most of it.


Avery and Josey peak out the front doors for a visit from our neighbors

What better way to spend your time then with your grandson making repairs around the house

Needless to say, Avery and Papa have quite a bond.....they have too much fun together

Avery and Mimi snuggle up on the couch to keep warm. He loves to snuggle with Mimi

"Avery, you ready for a bubble bath?" says Mimi....."Why yes I am, Ill get right in." (clothes and all)