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And Then She Was Two

Isabella's Birthday Week was a great fun time. On Monday the 9th, her actual birthday, she said she wanted to go to LaSpada's Phily steak sandwich shop in Dunedin. So the Boys lunch club varied from Italian and went for a sandwich. Dom couldn't join us today so it was just Matt, Joey and Grace, Cousin Shannon, and Isabella and myself. Well when we got there it was no longer called LaSpada's it was Delucas or something like that. I'm thinking we have driven 40min for a sandwich and now it's not going to be what we expected but it was all the same, just a different name. Next a quick stop at the pet shop next to the sandwich shop to look at the baby skunks... no new pets for me ;) We parted ways with Matt and Joey and Grace, and went to the Countryside Mall the one with the ice skating rink in the middle of it. Really just killing time. Shannon had to take a test at the Clearwater SPC campus at 4 that afternoon so i didn't want to drive all the way home just to drive back again. I got Isabella 5 sets of pajamas from the Disney store and an new stuffed Tigger and Mickey and a new dress to wear to her party. Her big present is still in the works... I am shopping for the playfort/swingset combo something like this, but not that, at the right price.

Tuesday the 10th The big Party
Goofed off most of the morning / early afternoon playing around the house. a trip to Target and to SPC for the second part of Shannon's test then a stop by Sam's Club to pick up cakes for the party. Mom has decided to have the gathering at the Club by the pool. It worked out perfectly everyone got to eat what they wanted and no one had to clean up afterwards. Everyone swam in the pool early. Isabella and I got there early so she tired early. There was a great turnout for the group party... it is Kellen and Grandma Rifenburg's Birthday today so there were nearly 25 of us there. Isabella changed into her party dress. Everyone got hats. We had lots of cake. There were wishes made. Isabella knows how to eat some cake, and how to clean up too. And then there were presents. she got a grass skirt to go with a new bathing suit. There were new bath squirt toys. She really loved the binoculars. I think they were her favorite of the day. Anyway back to SPC to get Shannon and home to bed after a big day.

Wednesday the 11th
Today began with a trip to see mom and grandma. I had to get Shannon to the Tampa airport around 3 so we just went to hang out at mom's house for the early afternoon. Shannon got to the airport on time only to find out that his flight was delayed 2 hours. This worked out well for him as almost all of the other passengers had to change flights to accommodate a connection in Memphis so he got to fly on a nearly empty plane and got to sit in first class. Isabella slept the whole trip to and from TIA so she was ready to roll when we got home. With nothing planned for dinner I called up Rebecca and she and Mia came over for brats and potato salad. They got Isabella a great floppy dog puppet and the classic Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck. We had a nice evening watching the Planet Earth DVDs after playing in the back yard for a little while. Birthday is over... time to start saving for Christmas :)
Be Good

How I spent the 4th of July

Well the day was really not much to speak of during the day... just some lying about the house trying to decide what we wanted to do for the evening. I put in a call to Rebecca around 4 to see where she and Mia were going to watch fireworks, and as it turned out they had planned to got to the Bon-Aire. That is where I really wanted to go too, so that worked out well. Isabella and I headed out to the beach. Knowing what I do about the traffic patterns later on the 4th. I decided to park at Crabby Bill's and walk the rest of the way down to the show. I thought I would stop and get a milkshake at the Chick-fil-a on the way but they were closed. So we stopped at the DQ two doors down and got one. Slowly killing time, we went on ahead to the Bon-Aire and headed out to stake out some good beach to see the show. Isabella played in the sand and surf, i tried to keep her as dry as possible. We had a nice hour or so at the shoreline. Well we finally met up with Rebecca and moved to where she and Mia had set up camp to watch the rest of the show. We were about as close as you could be to the fireworks launch site (see that caution tape in the background). The noise was tremendous but it didn't seem to bother Isabella at all but I did cover her ears as often as she would let me. Then this happened. The explosions broke 27 windows in the hotel and sent two to the hospital with cuts from shattered glass. Our little party broke up quickly after that. I think Isabella was more upset with me throwing her down in the sand and laying myself on top oh her than bothered by the explosions. She didn't know that that wasn't supposed to happen. After a long sandy and sweaty walk back to Crabby's we made it home safely. Only to find out that the Treasure Island display blew up too. ... Up next Birthday Party
Be Good

06/13

Well today Joey and Grace and Isabella and I went to Busch Gardens it was a nice afternoon we got there around 11:45. The forecast was for overcast conditions most of the day, but as soon as we got there the sun came out and it got hot quick. The first stop was the aviary to feed the lorikeets. Isabella really liked this a lot. Then we went to lunch after a bout of sunscreen in the eye. She slept through it. but woke up in time for the lions. The clouds came back and threatened a summertime lightning storm so we ran through the Myombe Reserve on our way out. While walking back the the car lightning struck so close it seemed it was in the parking lot with us, the rest of the walk was a sprint. You have never seen two men load up children and strollers so quickly.



Later that evening we celebrated cousin Mary's birthday with a pool party and cake.

06/12

Today was relatively uneventful save a trip to the beach to see Amy at the Bon-Aire Resort Isabella had a great day swimming but since we got there late she tired early and made the mistake of rubbing ketchup in her eye. Lots of tears and snot came next along with offers of help from kind people at the resort. I knew nothing would help but home and sleep so we left.


It has been one week since we made the switch to a toddler bed and she is doing great ... I mention this because today was the first day she just got up and came walking out into the living room without making a sound first. It was very strange for her to just show up like that... wonderful but strange.


This evening we went to my moms house and had another swim there Isabella is doing very well swimming and really loves the water. Any way we had some dinner there and came home and again she went right to bed and stayed there. She is such an amazingly good girl.


I thought i would try to figure out this blogging thing a little more tonight... but i am done now. Next will be how to publish pictures of her.


TTFN