I have a lot of pictures I wanted to post today so I'll let them do most of the talking. But I will say that we're starting to get excited as the weather cools just a bit here in SW Florida and we look towards autumn. In the birthday department, Joey turns 1 year old as of 10/10/07 and Anna will be 3 years old on 10/19/07. Wow, time is really flying! Combine those celebrations with Halloween, Octoberfest, and a planned trip to Disney World, October promises to be a fun month for the family!
I recently went to the movies for the first time in 18 months to take Anna to her very first movie! We saw Mr. Bean at Regal Cinemas which was full of light-hearted, G-rated slapstick comedy that even a 3 year old could enjoy. Anna did pretty well. It held her interest for 45 minutes or so. And then that's when the candy and juiceboxes I snuck in came in very handy as we made it through the whole film.
Even though I'm still basking in my "temporary retirement" here, Dana has taken a second job at the Halloween store at our local mall. She's worked in a party store before so it comes pretty easy to her. While the extra money will help us with some forthcoming expenses, I think she's working 60 hours/week merely to have an excuse to dress like this!
10/1/07 will mark 4 years since Dana and I first met while going out with mutual friends for beer and bowling in McDonough, Georgia. Afterwards the group naturally all went out to Waffle House to sober up on that unusually chilly night. Then we dated for the first time the very next day. The rest is history. We're going to celebrate on Monday with dinner at the Waffle House and by going bowling together for only the second time! Here's a picture of us taken 10/2/03 after our first date.
Finally, this past week we decided that we all needed to get away from ordinary life for a day. So we took a 24 hour getaway trip to the Florida Keys. My Toyota is still great on gas as the odometer chuggs past 182,000 miles. And it's a perfect destination since we're only a few hours away. We had a great time and look forward to going back again (sans kids?) in the future.
Hitting the road early with a crowded but happy backseat.
Nothing better than cheap thrills at a truck stop in Miami!
Overcast and choppy driving the 125 miles from Mainland USA.
Sound asleep as we enter Key West with the sun coming out.
We're as Southern as you can get!
At the beach in Key West.
The girls strike a pose.
Launching a Superman kite to attack Cuba.
Joe takes a dip with a fingertip.
Mommy and her kids.
Celebrating a fun day (and dreading the overnight ride home) at TGI Fridays.