Great News!!!

And to top off a great visit with Carenback...................... she is now ENGAGED. Her boyfriend (now, fiancee) proposed to her while in Florida and a wedding is in the making!!! We are SUPER EXCITED for Stephanie and Dan. They are an ADORABLE couple and anyone who knows them is blessed to have them in their life. Congrats guys!!!

Carenback's Visit

As I mentioned early, one of my best college buddies came to visit Rico, Avery and I this week. We had a great time. We layed out, swam lots and lots, had a few cocktails and went jet skiing. We captured several photos of the great times we had. Below are a few of my favs.


Carenback and Avery.....he quickly fell in love with her.

Saturday night we went to the Country Club to have dinner with Rico. Steph and Avery were up to NO GOOD....as you see below. She has my son standing on a tray jack????

Awwww, "whose ready for a nap?"

Daddy and Avery taking a dip. Its very hot here already. The pool is a must.

Sunday we went to Lido Beach and went jet skiing. We had two, two seater jet skiis. We had room for Bud Light as well.

"Whew, that was a rough ride!"

And, afterwards, a quick stop at the Marina for a rum runner was a MUST!!!

Hello to all of our faithful blog followers. Several of you have been asking where some more recent "posts" are....and well, there hasn't been much going on lately to post about. Rico has been putting in some long hours at work, Avery and I have been to the park almost everyday and had most of the neighbors over for a pool party at our house. I guess I should start taking more pics. However, I will inform you that we have lots of fun things coming up in the future so you can look forward to several blog updates soon with pics as well. Tomorrow, one of my dear friends from college flies in to spend some time with us. Her name is Stephanie Carenback, but she is better known as "Carenback." Sometimes I even have to remind myself that she does have a first name. Anyhow, Carenback and I met freshman year at I.S.U and pledged TriDelta together. We were roommates from time to time, have traveled several places together, including Chicago, Mexico, Las Vegas, Florida (before I moved here) and the list goes on. Needless to say, we have many great memories together. We are looking forward to her visit and Im sure I will have lots of stories and pics to share. Keep checkin' back.

The Fountains at the Marina

Today Avery and I got to hang out with 2 of the neighbor girls while their dad worked and their mom was out of town. Avery just loves Rebecca and Brianna. Everytime they come to our house his eyes light up!!! It was another HOT day here in Sarasota so we packed up and went to the marina to play in the water fountains. We have been several times but today was DEFINATELY the best for Avery. He ran around in the water with the girls as if it was his job.



Rebecca, Brianna and Avery pose for a quick pic......but I wasn't quick enough as Avery is running off already.

"Ooooh, look at me, I'm SOAKED!!!"

"Let me try to shovel some of this water in the direction of my mom, perhaps at her face or her dry clothes."

Running out of the fountains in aim of getting more toys from mom..............

"Alright, which one of you fountains wants a piece of THIS?"

Girls pose while Avery is hard at work in the water.........................

"Come and get me.........................."

Where have YOU been?

Where have YOU been? I know, I know, better question is: Where have the Alcalas been? Well, we have been here and there and everywhere. Not really. We have been around, just not up to much lately. We made a quick trip to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa (voted #1 zoo by Parent's magazine). We also were blessed with a new FABULOUS park here in Sarasota. Rothenbach Park; it is minutes from our house, has several trails to walk, run or bike on, a great picnic area and a huge playground. Yesterday, we all went to the park and had a great time!!!


Mom and Avery taking a stroll in this big, open field

WEEEEEE........down the slide we go!!!

Vroom, vroom, driving this car.........that's not going ANYWHERE???????

After a long, sunny day at the park we all need a bath...even Josey. Avery said he would bathe the dog after his own bath

On the Safari Ride at the zoo

Daddy and Avery on the ride

Mother's Day

Sunday was Mother's Day. How perfect!!! We were all together (still) to celebrate Mother's day. We all met at Champs for a mother's day brunch. Some of us feeling a little better than others....Saturday was a bit of a late night. But, it was my 2nd mother's day and it couldn't have been better. Avery emptied out his piggy bank and took Daddy shopping at Best Buy and bought me a new Laptop Computer!!! Yeah. Now I can post on our blog from anywhere at anytime!!! Thanks Avery and Daddy!!!


Avery and I on Mother's Day.....he's still in his jammies!!!!

My mom with 2 of her 3 grandchildren......

"Uncle Rico" and Rylie at Champs

Papa with 2 of the 3.....Rylie is telling a story while Avery tries to figure out what she is talking about.

Saturday in Indy- Abbie and Brian's Wedding!!!

THE BIG DAY!!!!!! We have all been looking so forward to this day. We were able to see family and friends we haven't seen in a while and most importantly see Abbie in her gorgeous wedding gown and witness the marriage between Abbie and Brian. (Abbie is my first cousin) The ceremony was simply elegant and the reception was very classy........well, we weren't all so "classy" by the end of it. But it was a GREAT DAY!!!


Holli and I at the reception

Rico, Zach, Jeff and Holli enjoying their 1st cocktail together!!!

Rico, Ryan and my dad

Rico and my mom on the dance floor

My entire immediate family: Erica, Dad, Mom, Holli, Ryan and Rico

Oops, this picture again....can't figure out how to delete it

Rico and the gorgeous Bride

Right before the ceremony

In front of the monument, outside the church on Monument Circle...downtown Indy is beautiful

Again....our family.

Our Weekend in Indy

We just returned to Sarasota from a very relaxing, enjoyable trip to Indianapolis. We arrived Thursday in time to go to bed and get a great nights sleep before the festivities. On Friday Megan had arranged for two of our girlfriends from college to come over for brunch. It was a beautiful day so we enjoyed a fabulous brunch at Meg's house then took Avery to the park in her neighborhood.


Avery and mom playing at the park.............

Dad and Avery going down the slide..........weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Avery and Jill just before brunch. Of course he was flirting with Jill from the start. (Jill was my Big Sis in the sorority........oh, those were the days!!!!)

At brunch-Megan, Me, Jill and Katie

Avery and Dad on the plane........"are we there yet?"

Friday night we went to dinner in downtown Indianapolis at an awesome sports bar. The food was great and the company was even better. Then, we headed to Fogo de Chao to meet up with the wedding party from my cousin's wedding. But, we had cash in early. We were all exhausted and ready for bed.

Monday Rico, Avery and I packed up the good ol' Chrysler and went to Bonita Springs to visit Megan and Vance. They are some of our best friends from college who were visiting Bonita Springs for the week and invited us to come for a visit.

Megan and I go WAAAAY back. We met in high school through my cousin Emily. We attending Illinois State University together, pledged the same sorority freshman year and have remained super close ever since. So, any chance we get to see each other....we make it happen.

Anyhow, back to my story: Meg and Vance were staying in a "SWEET" condo right on the Gulf with an excellent view and awesome amenities. We were super excited to see them because it had been almost 5 months since we had seen them. But also we were excited to see them so we could celebrate the news of them expecting twins in November. Meg is pregnant with not one, but two babies (sexes are yet to be determined) and they are extrememly thrilled. It was great seeing them. In fact, we are flying to Indianapolis tonight to spend a long weekend with them and attend my cousins wedding. Good times to look forward to.



Avery and Daddy takin a dip in the pool


Along with great amenities and a phat condo, there was GORGEOUS landscaping and a beautiful courtyard that Avery LOVED running around in.....literally running....look at his hair blowing!!!

"You can't catch me......"

"Oops, going too fast, WIPEOUT!!!!!!!"

And Finally......the expecting couple. At a nice pizza joint grabbin' some pizza and a cold beer....well, except Megan and Avery. They both stuck to water.

CONGRATULATIONS Meg and Vance. You have so much to look forward to and will make great parents. See you tonight!!!! We're off to Indy.

Swim Lessons

We have enrolled Avery in swim lessons at the YMCA. We figured since we live in Florida, have a pool in our backyard and will be swimming lots this summer we want to get Avery rather aquainted with the water. Yesterday was his first class. He liked the water alot more than we thought he would.

Avery and Mom "adjusting" to the water (it was 90 degrees, not much adjusting needed)


"Hey, where you goin, Son? We're just getting started."

Avery, Mommy, Jamie and Jadyn. It helped having his BFF there with him.

"Hey Dad, why aren't you in the water with us?"

"Kick, Kick, Kick."