Homework

Makaela and I have a new favorite show to watch together: "The Voice".  We DVR it so we can watch it before bedtime and if she is not dancing around, she is yelling at the TV, "Turn around Ceelo, turn around!" She also told me that she wants to marry Adam Levine (who doesn't?) but I can't tell her daddy because it's a secret.   Since watching the show, she has been on a singing kick and has been telling me that when she is 19, she is going to go on "The Voice".  I told her that it was far away and when she found out that the show was in California, she said, "So I can also see Abby!  How cool is that?  Abby and the Voice!"  Tonight's art homework says it all.

 

Showing off her gifts

Makaela had a great time getting all her bday gifts and deliveries.  This year she asked for a lot of clothes because she is officially a "big girl" and needs big girl clothes.  Here she is showing off an adorable dress from Suzie.  Matt did not share her excitement over looking like a "big girl" though :-)

Bouncy House Heaven

Makaela was invited to a birthday party the day after her party at an indoor bouncy house facility.  It was a bit hectic trying to follow Mia among all the bigger kids, but both girls had a great time.

Makaela's Merida Birthday

Makaela's birthday party theme this year was focused on the "Brave" movie.  We made up Brave party invitations and decorated the house in the Brave colors. My parents bought Makaela a Princess Merida costume for the occasion so we also have a Halloween costume to boot.  (We all had lots of fun with that wig.)

Matt and I decided to buy a bouncy house since renting them is so expensive. Now that we will be having three bday parties a year, buying a bouncy house will pay for itself in two uses. We are so glad we did! The kids bounced the majority of the party and it is small enough that even the toddlers could negotiate it with ease (the one year olds were following the larger kids and we had some flying toddlers :-) The parents were able to watch the kids from inside the screened room and the house while the kids occupied themselves.

The neighborhood girls

 
Later, we had some freeze dance and it amused the parents more than the kids :-)

Mia had her dance card filled

And the cake that everyone wanted to touch and "feel" the grass.

 As the party wound down, the kids couldn't resist busting into some of the arts and crafts gifts. Kept them quiet and busy- best gifts ever!!

Makaela turns 5!

This week has been the week of birthday celebrations.  We went out for a family dinner on Monday for Makaela's bday since Matt was supposed to work the night of her birthday, but on Tuesday, it turned out he got out of work early to come home, so we went again.  She got sung to quite a bit (not to mention was very well fed)  It's hard to believe that five years ago Makaela was just entering the world...and now she acts as if she owns it :-)  She has grown into such a bright little lady; we are so blessed.  We just hope the next five years don't fly by like the first five did. 

At Chili's on Monday night

 

Then we came home to find Grammy and Papa Hoffman's bday gifts at the door. We had lots of video, but the files were too large to upload to Blogger.  I'm sure you can gather how excited she was.

 

On her actual birthday, we went to Yamoto's, the hibachi grill (or as Makaela refers to it, "the chopping place")

Men's night out

So our lives are not exactly what they used to be, but we are still trying to make do now that we are parents of little ones.  At least the people that we hang out with find themselves in similar situations.  Many of the guys in the neighborhood stay within the confines of our community when they want to have a guys' night.  This weekend it was Sunday night football projected onto a garage door.  I looked outside the window to see our neighbor's set up and I was pretty impressed. 

The guys had chairs lined up, speakers out and were all prepped to camp out for a few hours as the Steelers played.  

Vilano Beach

We have had a bit of rain here in northern Florida lately and with Matt's crazy work schedule, we haven't been able to get out to the beach as much as we had wanted.  So Saturday, we decided we were going to head out and explore a new beach (since Florida is full of them).  We headed over to Vilano beach and were amazed at how quaint the area is. For my NY family/friends, it's like a more tropical Breezy Point.  We parked headed to the beach where we discovered we could drive our car right onto the beach and set up camp. That sounded great considering we were carrying a boatload of beach paraphenalia and trying to wrangle Mia.  Matt went back and got the car.  As soon as we parked, we noticed the sand was pretty soft and while the tires were acting like they were stuck, I guess we just figured we would deal with it later. The surf was up and Makaela couldn't wait to get into the waves.

Getting some salty kisses

Mia getting super sandy

 No sooner than we set up shop, it starts pouring. We pack up the car, get ready to leave and the rain stops.  Unpack the car.  Start playing.  The rain starts again.  Run for cover.  Sun comes out...get the picture?  The girls had a great time though.  By the third time the clouds rolled in, we realized the rain was not going to be abated.  We were heading home after 45 minutes at the shore.

Notice all the rain clouds coming in

So we started up the car to realize we were stuck- really stuck in the sand.  We have a big Acadia, so I thought it would have enough power to get us out of the sand, but I guess the front end is too heavy and appearantly, we don't have 4 wheel drive.  Matt worked tirelessly through the pouring rain to pack down the sand and get us out, but we were going nowhere (I was having visions of 2009 Easter in Haiku Valley).  When the rain lessened another group of beach goers, tied our car to their Range Rover and pulled us out. Another case in point of Southern hospitality. 

      I don't think this has deterred our use of the beach, but next time we will probably keep the car in the parking lot or on the packed down sand next to where all the civics and camrys park :-)