Yikes! It’s been almost two months since my last blog entry! Needless to say, we’ve been busy! (And mama’s been tired!)
September was fun and flew by! That was good for us because my hubby came home in October, so that made that approaching date all the easier as we kept busy.
At the beginning of September, I adopted Penny from SAFE Animal Rescue. It wasn’t planned (I was on a fact-finding mission to see about the process when we’re ready), but I was in the right place at the right time and so was she. She’s been such an amazing dog and LOVES our family. Blake plays with her all of the time and, I think, has found a new best friend in her. Below is a picture of her when we adopted her and the larger picture is of her a month later after her first grooming. It was a rocky start for her since she was neglected at an animal hoarders’ home in Jacksonville. She came to me very underweight with kennel cough and a double ear infection (discovered after I got her and took her to the vet). She’s definitely a blessing for us and we love her so much already.
Next up, our trip to the Alligator Farm. Blake has never been even though we pass it frequently. We went with two other moms and their kiddos and had a wonderful time. Thanks to Kristen for the great pictures! And to Erin for joining us! Blake loved the show. We were the only ones there and got a private show at the stage. The kids were able to touch the wildlife instead of just looking from the audience. He was not afraid of the snake, turtle or frog and tried to grab them away from the handler. He also liked the baby alligator we got to hold and touch. He’s a very brave (or blissfully unaware) boy! We were there from open until about 12:30 and with all of that running around, Blake still didn’t nap. Ugh!
Note the Dangerous Animal picture… yes, that could be true on days he doesn’t nap. Especially the closer we get to bedtime.
At the end of September, I decided that it might be fun to get out of town overnight and check out Sea World. I’ve been before and so has Blake, technically. I was newly pregnant when I last visited, so it’s been over two years since I’ve been. My sister-in-law has a season pass to Sea World, so she joined us and we had so much fun! We drove down first thing Saturday and hit the park as soon as we checked into our hotel. We stayed until about 3 and then went to the hotel pool for a cool down. Sterl was such a trooper after having run way too many miles before we picked her up. She hung in there the whole day. We saw about half of the exhibits that day.
The best thing I think we did was stay at the Doubletree at Sea World. That was a short walk into the park so we saved on paying to park at Sea World. The hotel was great, and had multiple pools. We went to the family pool and Blake had a great time with the other kids around.
The next day we went to Sea World again to see the rest of the park and catch the dolphin show we missed the day before. Blake loved this show. It was very fast paced with lots going on to keep his attention. We also got to see the penguins this day. However, since Blake didn’t want to do the ride before, we got to go directly into the penguin area. In other words, he threw a crazy fit and since he wouldn’t stop crying and sit in his own seat we weren’t allowed to do the ride. I was a little nervous that the door they were leading us to just went outside (that we would miss the exhibit) and was pleasantly surprised when it went right to the penguins. We did run into the people who we were supposed to ride with and they said we didn’t miss a thing. So, if you don’t want to ride before seeing the penguins, just throw a fit and they’ll let you skip that part. 😉 We left the park around 1 and took Sterl home and drove back home. Blake had such a great time at the park and with his Aunt Sterl. He continues to ask where she is at least once a week since we’ve been back (sometime more). That kid definitely loves his aunt. 🙂
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