Pool time and Tea for two!

We have had a great few days since Lance left for Canada.  The Shouse's came over yesterday for a pool day, and LJ LOVED having them as much as I did.  Little Daisy is 21 months and Emmy is 13 - such sweet girls.  I love their momma, and we had a great day together at the pool with a picnic lunch.  I hope you enjoy the pictures!  LJ and I are headed to Texas tomorrow, so we'll post pictures from our trip there soon.  LJ gets to see Nana and Pops while Lance and I have a day at Six Flags - everybody wins!!!  Hope you are great!

I added this one as an afterthought - I almost forgot.  The "catcher's mask" he's wearing came with the Navarro bobblhead.  He thinks he can wear it, too.  Gulliver's Travels, Lilliput...anyone remember?

Wearing Emmy out!

buddies

2 pretty girls...what's a guy to do?

Daisy :)

Momma with her two girls - one under water, one thinking about it! 

Tea time for two...every night :)  We love it!

Fight song :)

It's hit or miss, but it's more than I knew when I went off to college :)  Some call it brain-washing, I say it's just good ol' team spirit  - Roll Tide!  

P.S.  You will have to scroll down and pause the music on my blog so you can hear him!

Quantum Leap Farms

Today, we had the opportunity to go Quantum Leap Farms in Odessa, FL for a Military Family appreciation day.  Quantum leap specializes in using horses for therapy - helping those who have returned from war, children and adults with disabilities, etc.  It is out in the middle of the Florida country and we are so blessed to have spent the day there with the animals and some of our nation's finest!

They had a moon bounce with a water slide - LJ LOVED it and played for about an hour with some other kids.

His momma still can't hoola-hoop, but he got it on his first try!

On the horse!  All by himself!

I thought he'd back out, but he was excited the whole time - it was so hard for him to "wait his turn".  During the ride, he was yelling, "Yee-haw!  Ride 'em cowboy!"

Painting a horse his favorite color...pink :)

Whatever the question, whatever the problem...

Cookie cake is the answer! Remember that, people :)

Then maybe take a nap with Rookie :)  

Gulf Shores!!

What a week!  We had the BEST time at Me-Maw's house - filling every moment.  We swam, ate great food, played outside, swam some more, ate some more great food...you get the picture.  We LOVED it and LJ is already asking "Where did Me-Maw's house go?"  Me-Maw, only you could know how funny that really is...it's Thursday, right?  :)  LOL  Enjoy the pictures!

Watering the pretty flowers

Little helping hands

Loving his "surf board"

At the top of the Wharf ferris wheel!!  

Stealing the show...dancing to the band at the Wharf marina :)

Father's Day through the eye of a precious stone.

Today, my mother gave me a gift that she and my father planned to give me down the road.  I never expected that I'd receive it at such a young age, but as I look at this special ring my father gave my mother, I have so many feelings...complex ones.  This ring belongs on my Mother's hand, not mine, but by God's choice or allowance it is now resting on my ring finger.  The stone, as shiny as a star, almost startles me as I look into it, feeling I could almost see my father if I look far enough.  It is resting next to my wedding band at the moment, reminding me of my parents and their marriage.   It reminds me of the struggles they faced, the laughter they shared and the lives they fully gave.  The first man that I loved gave this to his wife, and now I it resides next to the ring my husband gave me.  

It reminds me to never take my marriage for granted.  Every day is sacred.  It teaches me that lives are temporary, rings are passed down, but love is forever.  The stone is a symbol of all that, and much more.  I joked to my mom that it would happily sit in a safe until I felt I could "be trusted" to wear it.  When I put it on, though, it came to life to me in these ways.  My father, who rarely splurged on anything but cars, (seriously :)  ), put a lot of thought into this ring.  He picked out the stone himself and it deserves to be enjoyed.  My mother took off this ring because she is ready to let it go.  I am putting it on to honor just that - our future, and their/our past.  A wonderful man who was brilliant, ambitious, HARD working, charming, charismatic and as soft as a teddy bear at the end.  He is  missed moment by moment and day by day, and remembered fondly forever.  

My favorite picture of them

Yes, that's his blackberry!  He never put it down, so it's in a frame as an embodiment of his love and work!

Look at that young man!!

Precious family.

We planted the white ones this morning - my mom has done a beautiful job!

 

4 cups of tea later...

Well, I told LJ he could watch one more inning of the game with me while we had our nightly pot of tea, (finally!  someone will share a pot of tea with me!  :) ), and the inning went for like 35 minutes!  We relaxed on the couch, sipping our tea, saying "cheers", (me spilling mine while telling LJ to be careful not to spill his)  Giggling, watching some baseball...it was great.  I got lots of "mom...you're funny" ' s  and "mom...we're buddies" 's.  Fun, fun night!  Those are my favorite times.  Just quiet ones at night before bed where we just sit together.

We had a great day today.  We ate breakfast at the pool and then swam all morning.  We came up for peanut butter sandwiches and then it was nap time.  He asked to nap on the couch, so I laid down with him.  It was a GREAT little nap, and about an hour later, we were up and ready for the gym.  I went for a quick run while he played in his "class", then we went to Tijuana Flats, ( a fast-food mexican place), for dinner.  I had a salad, and he had chicken tenders with chips and queso.  He could exist on chips and queso.  We sat at a high table on bar stools and he was silent while he ate, (a rarity, I assure you).  Queso was all over him, from head to toe, but he LOVED it!  After that, we went to a place that he calls "the farm", (it's a barn-looking building that sells ice cream).  We had a cone and used the extra quarter in a gumball machine to get little toy.  

When we got home, we both showered and got in our pajamas before taking Rookie out.  When we got in, he said, "hey, mom...where's my tea?".  So, I got a pot of his lavender white tea going, (I think it's so funny that he likes it), then we enjoyed an episode of Backyardigans before two innings of a game.  As I put up some of his clothes and put him to bed, he asked me to tell him a story about the Oriole Bird, (His best friend, he says).  I told him about the Oriole Bird being born from an egg then meeting a little baseball player.  I asked, "what is the little boy's name?"  He says, "LJ!"  So cute.  After a goodnight kiss, I'm typing this, putting up the computer and finishing my last-minute stuff before heading to Gulf Shores tomorrow.  

Sorry there aren't any pictures, but the camera's already packed!  I do hope this descriptive post made some cute mental ones for you, though ...goodnight!  We miss you, Lance!  See you on Father's Day!!

Cowboys

Well, all the suits Lance has bought through his big league years have become pointless here in Tampa.  :)  They don't travel in suits, they dress up like it's Halloween!  They've had a "Miami Vice All White" trip and now are on their "urban cowboy" trip.  The coach thinks it builds the team bond?  Whatever it does, they look silly!  Here's a group shot of the whole team and a shot of Lance and his friend, Gabe Gross, (Auburn, but we forgive him), before they left.  Enjoy!

My boy.

He's playful.  Full of energy.  Stubborn as a mule, (where did he get that??).  Sweet-spirited.  Intense.  Full-throttle.  Kind.  Resilient.  

And, he's mine!  What a kid!  

Ready for the game - his little finger pointed down is because I just said, "one more picture".

He and I have started having tea time at night.

2 cups for him - Lavender white tea with a touch of egyptian chamomile - sweetened with stevia!  :)  Ahh...you know his momma loves that!

Three posts!

Wow!  I'm back in town and after an awesome weekend in New York and a wonderful visit with Me-Maw, and it's time to catch up!  Enjoy this hodge podge of pictures then scroll down to two more posts - I had a lot of catching up to do.  :)  I hope you are doing great!!

This is LJ with his Me-Maw before she left today.  Thank you, Me-Maw for the much-needed time with Lance!!  :)

LJ in full uniform, talking to Lance in the bullpen :)  He does this every game.

We went to the field the other day for Lance to throw on his own.  We actually got to touch the Rays with no one else but their "keeper" there.  It was awesome!  They have 22 of them in a tank out in center field.

LJ on the bullpen phone saying, "Get Cormier up"  :)

LJ living his dream - hitting off his dad :)

Carriage ride!

The night  before I went to NY, LJ, Me-Maw and I spotted a horse and carriage.  We couldn't find a way to ride that night, but vowed we would come back and try again when I got back.  We struck gold!  We found the sweetest horse and the kindest man to take us on a 30-minute tour around St. Pete and drop us off at our apartment.  It was awesome!  LJ was tired of his stroller, so he got to ride a horse and carriage home instead!

This is Duke's "Bling", as his owner Leland, calls it.  He gets a complex if you call it "nail polish"  :)

The perfect picture spot, right in front of the bay!  Look at that Cinderella Carriage!  Kacy and Tomy would have LOVED it!

When LJ got restless in the back, he got to DRIVE!

What a fun time!

Aw, Duke.  We were sad to see you go, but we hope we can see you again soon!

New York, New York!

What a treat!  This past weekend, I got to go meet Lance in NY while Me-Maw kept LJ here in St. Pete.  It was so much fun!  We were in need of some time together, and it was just what the doctor ordered.  I had my camera the whole time, but hardly used it.  We were having so much fun, (and I was carrying around a cute little purse for once, not the big camera bag!)  It was such a gift!

When I arrived at the hotel, Lance was already at the field, but the room was beautiful!  He did all this himself - bought lots of flowers at a local market and had them ALL OVER the room!  It took my breath away when I walked in. :)

OK, so this drink just my change your life.  It's whole cream, dark chocolate pieces in a cup with a tealight to melt the chocolate.  You make it yourself!  We went to Max Brenner in NYC on Broadway.  It is like nothing I have ever seen - so much chocolate that I expected in oompa-loompa to jump out any minute.  This is a "must go" for any chocolate lover visiting New York.  

This was Lance's dessert.  No, that's not cheese on his pizza - it's chocolate melted with toasted marshmallows on top!!  By the way, how cute is he?

What a weekend!  I'm hoping for a repeat some time soon :)  It was better than I could have expected!

Back to normal!

Wow!  Enough posts about me already, let's get back to the boy!  :)  These are actually some from a few days ago before Lance got back in town.  We took him to the field the other day, so I'll have to upload those today and try to add them as well.  I got all caught up in the triathlon and forgot about these little gems!  I hope you are doing great - we miss and love you!

P.S.  If I'm absent from the blog until Monday it's because I'm going to spend a weekend in NY with Lance...alone!  That's right!  My first road trip, courtesy of Me-Maw!  I will leave EARLY Saturday morning and come back Monday morning - 2 FULL days.  I am going to sleep, Lance and I are going to see Wicked on Broadway and eat wonderful adult meals!  LJ has taught me to appreciate so much, and one of them is time with Lance.  Sooooo excited!!

This is why I take pictures!  LJ sat for 20 minutes looking through all of the photo books I have printed out of our families.  He knows them by heart and studies them so close.  I love it!

We biked to North Shore park the other day and went to their kid pool.  I actually do my lap swims here and thought LJ might like to try it.  He had a good time, but I think he likes our pool more.  The lifeguards are on "super-guard", and rightly so.  If he even takes a step to jog, though, he's called out and sometimes whistled at.  I can't keep him from jogging for a minute, much less the entire morning or afternoon.  So, we'll do this a few more times for variety, but will stick to our pool more often where he will hear me say "no run" a few times, but probably one day skin a knee and teach himself.  

His favorite attraction at North Shore Park - the big balls on the lawn of the pool parking lot.  He wished so badly that they would roll, but they are firmly stuck in place.

After that, we biked to a little sandwich shop next to a cupcake place.  ( We actually ate at the sandwich shop so we could have a cupcake after), but both were so good! MMMMM!

Results were posted

• I got 6th place in my division of 25 people -      
  
• FL 1:46:09 (Full time)  
  
• 4th place on 1/2 mile swim with time of: 15:34  
  
• Transition from swim to bike: 2:01  
  
• 10th place on 16 mile bike with time of: 54:35  
  
• Transition from bike to run: 1:22  
  
• 9th place on 5K run with time of: 32:39 
  

HORRIBLE on the run!  Keep in mind, 

I kept a slow pace and was running on sand!
I definitely have to improve on my bike and run -
I'll keep you posted on the next one!