Happy Halloween!

Violet is getting ready to go out for her first Halloween.

I was out one day and saw this costume. I thought it was so cute and creative. Melissa says most babies are a ladybug for their first costume. Oh well, it was either this or a bumble bee.

Dunked at Swimming Lessons

I captured a video of Violet getting dunked at her swimming lesson.

She goes off the frame for a bit because I didn't know whether to concentrate on the camera or figuring a way to save her in case Melissa chickened out half way through. I really don't think Violet knew exactly what was happening to her. As long as she has her duck you can do just about anything.

VIP Host - Michael and Grandpa

I took Dad to Harrah's last Friday so he could see Michael working as a VIP Host.

Dad's not happy with the picture. He thinks he looks old. I keep trying to tell him he looks good for a man his age! I also think he's just saying that so I'll take him back for coupon Friday.

Thursday Night Dinner at Outback Steakhouse

It's been several weeks since I've posted a picture of Thursday night dinners and almost as long since we've actually gone out to dinner. Tonight Michael, Dad and I went to Outback Steakhouse. I had so much seafood in Florida that I've been craving steak. Dad and I had the prime rib and Michael had the chicken. Michael's dinner came with cheesecake covered in chocolate sauce so I stole a bite for my dessert.

Most of my Thursday night pictures are of Dad and Michael, or Dad and Melissa, or anyone else but myself. So tonight I decided to post a picture of Dad and me.

Our Little Tadpole

I had the opportunity yesterday to go with Melissa to Violet's swim lessons. I was surprised at the teachers. Melissa thinks they are on the swim team from the high school which makes them about 16 years old. What they know about teaching babies to swim is beyond me. Violet was one of the younger students with the oldest being around 2 years old. Parents and babies are confined to a very small area of the pool.

Violet didn't have a very long afternoon nap so she wasn't as excited about swim lessons today as she has been. She seemed more interested in eating the duck instead of swimming. I must have taken 50 pictures just to get one where Violet was close to looking at me. Violet loves the water but it seems more of a workout for Melissa instead of swim lessons for Violet. Skills include getting wet, kicking, front float, back float and leg action. Instructors encourage parents to submerge their babies at least once. After much coaxing Melissa finally immersed Violet in the pool. Just before her head goes in the water you blow in her face then push her back, down and up. That way water flows over the back of her head and not up her nose. By the time it's over the only tears are the ones coming from the mothers.

Violet is 7 Months Old

I almost forgot to post Violet's 7 month picture.

These stickers are so cute and also very helpful. I hope Violet understands when she graduates from high school why she has a sticker on her dress saying she's 18 years old.

Violet and the Pumpkin Patch

While I was away in Florida, Violet, Melissa and Jamie visited Carolyn's Pumpkin Patch in Liberty.

Violet's first Halloween experience included pumpkins...

posing in a giant chair...

and a petting zoo where she saw her first goat.

Melissa and Jamie are so creative with their selection of toys and activities for Violet. It's probably why she's so smart. If it were up to me all she'd have would be an empty water bottle.

But what amazing memories for all of us.

My Florida Vacation Continues

In my desperate attempt to finish updating my blog yesterday I accidentally hit the wrong button and erased everything I entered for that post. I've learned the valuable lesson to save as I go along especially when the post is rather lengthy. So to continue...

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15

I didn't have a lot of organized activities planned for this trip. Not doing anything and not expected to be somewhere was at the top of my list. Walking along the beach is one thing I do enjoy.

I keep seeing these birds on the beach called sandpipers. They are so fun to watch. The waves come in and they run away from the surf. As the water recedes they run out to suck the tiny insects off the sand. They eat most any type of invertebrate so I don't know what they'd do if something larger like a crab washed ashore - possibly drown since they're rather small birds. Although that's probably why you always see them in large groups- to help each other pull the captured prey to shore.

Tuesday evening I went to the movies and saw "Gravity". Makes me think twice about boarding that airplane on Saturday and I definitely won't ever be doing any space travel. 

Now for the exciting happenings at home. Monday night Lola decided to take on a skunk. Of course the skunk won but Lola gave it her best effort.

She's recuperating and recovering but Melissa says they have all the windows open and all the fans blowing to try and air the house out before I get home.

Violet had her first swim lesson today.

All smiles before the lesson.

And even bigger smiles when it was over.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16

When Melissa found out about my Coach purchases she wanted to see a picture of my new billfold.

Of course she wanted one so I had to travel back to the outlet to pick one up for her. A little more shopping for me and then a quiet evening.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17

This is my 4th time coming to Vero Beach and eating at The Riverside is one place I always like to go. Last night everyone was standing out on the deck watching the sunset.

By the time I got outside the sun was almost completely set. The Riverside sits on the east side of the intercostal waterway facing the river. The ocean is about 5 blocks to the east. 

Loving Florida

Hopefully I'll be able to get caught up today on my trip to Florida. I don't consider myself a very computer savvy person. I didn't realize how much I depend on my wi-fi and my eyes just aren't good enough to do this on my phone.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12

Saturday was one of those "I need a break" days. Even though I begged the management company to give me a late check out time, the best they would do was 11:00 a.m. So I vacated the room as instructed but spent the next few hours taking advantage of their pool, walking the beach and hanging out at the bar before heading to stay with my friend Sam.

Meanwhile back home Violet is spending a relaxing day shopping.

Notice how she puts one foot on the tray as she enjoys her "mum-mum" - the modern day equivalent to the zwieback or melba toast we gave our babies back in the 80's.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13

Sunday Sam took me on an airboat ride.

An airboat is a flat-bottomed boat propelled in a forward direction by an aircraft-type fan mounted to the back of the boat. This is about the only type of transportation able to flow through the marshes of the St. John's river. The airboat is also equipped with AV communication headsets. The headsets allow you to talk to other passengers and hear the guide describe the wildlife and landscape. The St. John's river is unique in that it is a north flowing river. I really didn't know that was significant until this tour.

Even though you see clear waterways, the guide purposefully skims through the lillies, reeds and plants that flourish in the brackish water.

At times you can see bubbles in the water. I thought it might be alligators or other wildlife dodging the airboat. But the bubbles are the result of a build up of methane gas. The smell isn't too bad but this is in fact a swamp.

The guide guaranteed we'd see alligators and he wasn't kidding. Besides this 5 foot gator resting in the shade, we also saw an 8 foot mama alligator below the surface of the water protecting her babies.  In the summer the female alligator builds a nest of vegetation which provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. The sex of the baby alligator is determined by the temperature in the nest. Temperatures of 86 degrees or lower produce females. Temperatures of 93 degrees or higher produce all male alligators. The mother's only job for the first year of the baby alligators' life is to protect them from predators - primarily other alligators. As we rode by and saw the mama alligator, the guide kept stressing how aggressive she could be. As if one of us was going to jump off the boat for a closer look or better photo opportunity. The tour lasted about an hour and was very enjoyable.

 

After the airboat ride we headed back to the beach for an Oceanside lunch. The afternoon was spent out on the golf course. Now golf is not my sport. No matter how hard I try, I cannot hit a golf ball straight or even hit it at all. I guess if it was easy, we'd all be professional golfers. I just don't gave the patience.

 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 14

 

I like to start my days at Casey's. Today I had the BLT for breakfast.

Not only is it huge, but extremely tasty. And let's don't forget the free wi-fi.

Monday was shopping day. Vero Beach has a huge mall AND an outlet mall. Melissa would be in heaven. I only bought one shirt from Calvin Klein but couldn't pass up the bargains at Coach - one new purse and a billfold. After shopping I went back to the beach and took the opportunity to check in with Dad from a gazebo at the Driftwood.

Dad told me he took advantage of coupon Friday and even walked away a winner. He liked it so much that he and Karen returned the next day to spend coupon Saturday/Sunday tickets. He can't wait until next coupon Friday - I won't be home until Saturday. Don't get too used to it, Dad. Coupon Fridays are still my days.

Escape to Florida

WEDNESDAY - OCTOBER 9

It's been a few months since I ventured away from home. But since Melissa, Jamie, Violet, Khloe and Lola moved in, I can't quite remember what alone time is. So I decided to go back to Vero Beach, Florida. 

I checked into the Driftwood Resort complete with beach access, pool, restaurant and bar and live entertainment at night. 

My condo was a one bedroom with bath, living room and kitchen. In my excitement to be away from home I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the condo before I checked out. Most of the units are time shares with a few units owned by the Driftwood. There's a sale going on right now to purchase time shares but there's so many different fun places to stay here on the beach that I'm going to pass on the time share route.

Besides access to the beach they also have a restaurant and bar called Waldo's. Much better for me since I'm not a big fan of sitting in the sand. There's not many people here right because I picked a time that's called "between season". Most of the Midwest snowbirds will be here in a couple of weeks.

THURSDAY - OCTOBER 10

After an early morning walk on the beach I headed to a little outdoor cafe called Casey's for breakfast. Then back to the pool. After a couple of hours of baking in the sun/shade (I'm no longer a beach bunny) Sam picked me up and we headed out to explore some sights in Vero Beach. Sam's brother owns a consignment store so we checked that out. Not even close to the antique stores I'm used to along I-70 in Missouri. Then we drove through several different neighborhoods looking at houses. I'm not quite sure owning real estate in Florida is something I want to do. Everything looks so water damaged (again I didn't take pictures, rats!) Florida residents also need to learn what works for colors for houses. I'm not a big fan of pink, blue and yellow.

We then went to the local pool hall. The last time I was here I won the pool matches which didn't set well with Sam. He wanted revenge. This time he won. So before I leave I'm sure there will be a tie breaker.

We then went back to Waldo's to enjoy dolphin fingers and listen to the outdoor entertainment. The band was good until intermission. Then this lady sang. I had to look twice - I thought it might be a cat howling. One of the good things about Vero Beach is the night life is pretty much over around 10:00 pm. Still a little late for me but I'm on vacation!

FRIDAY - OCTOBER 11

Back to Casey's for breakfast.

I like coming here because it's so quiet and has great breakfast sandwiches. Most of the other outdoor cafes serve only coffee and pastries. Plus Casey's has free wi-fi. The day was mostly the same as Thursday. But tonight we met Sam's brother and his wife for dinner at Bobby's - local favorite. Bobby even came by our table after dinner and invited us into the bar for after dinner drinks. I'd like to think it's because Sam and his brother dine there often but I'm sure it's more wanting to keep customers from going anywhere else. After the free drink we headed next door to Cobalt's where the locals hang for a night of dancing. I always feel like the youngest one in the club. It's great! This time the DJ played a little longer (10:30 pm) because everyone was having such a great time.

Back home Violet is continuing to learn new things. She's now into brushing her own teeth instead of Melissa doing it for her.

With eight teeth this is a pretty hard job but she loves it.

When Grandma Gives You Lemons...

There's never a dull moment going out to dinner with Violet. Even though she's only 6-1/2 months old, she sits in a high chair and grabs for everything on the table. No matter how many of her toys you give her, she always wants something she can't have - napkins, forks, straws, menus. She'll usually sit through dinner and only gets fussy towards the end of the meal. Melissa, Violet and I went to dinner at Famous Dave's. While waiting for Jamie's take out order, I gave Violet the lemon from my water.

It took her awhile to hold it because it was very cold. But you could immediately tell when the sourness of the lemon hit her tongue. The good thing about lemon is it isn't sticky like the pureed carrots Violet had for her dinner. No wonder she wanted the lemon.

Touchdown Kansas City!

Kansas City won another game today and I'm sure it's because Violet wears her lucky Kansas City Chiefs shirt.

Karen bought Violet 2 shirts even before she was born. This is the long sleeved version. Karen, where's our winter Chief's jersey?

Instead of "Momma" or "Daddy" being her first words, it will be "Touchdown Kansas City"!

Violet's Columbia Jacket

Michele is a big fan of Columbia sportswear so, of course, she had to buy a jacket for Violet.

With the temperatures dropping to more Fall like weather, Violet was able to wear her jacket today. She's so cute in this jacket but Melissa isn't sure whether or not she'll be able to wear it for very long. She grows so fast. She's hoping Michele gets her another jacket in a larger size.

Violet Joins the Gym

This past weekend was Downtown Days in Lee's Summit. Melissa visited the Gymboree booth and entered her name into a drawing for free classes. The girl who never wins anything won the drawing.

Violet had her first class today. The theme was "rocking". Melissa said she was very interested in what was going on and fussed when the teacher went to a different activity.

Violet doesn't crawl yet but she's very good at scooting backward. The instructor gave Violet some homework exercises to do to get her moving in a forward motion. Free classes last for 4 weeks. If things continue to go well, Violet may get a permanent membership.

Also at Downtown Days the fire department had a photo booth and Violet couldn't pass up the opportunity to dress like Daddy.