Thanksgiving in Florida

What a busy start to our vacation season! Karl, Hailey and I arrived in Florida on Thanksgiving day ... after a two plane flight with a lay over in Atlanta (first class all the way :)) We arrived in sunny Florida. Thanksgiving day was spent with Nonni, Papa, Aunt Fern and Uncle Peter in St Pete ... Uncle Peter gave Hails some piano lessons, she was in awe at his skills (he's a professional musician :)) and we ventured down to the beach with Aunt Fern after dinner ... it was a little chilly!

Friday morning brought Black Friday and my birthday :) After a little bit of early morning shopping we headed off to the happiest place on earth to see the Mouse! It was a ZOO ... even busier than when we went at 4th of July!!! Hailey, however, was completely content riding the carousel over and over again ... later that evening we met with Nonni and Papa at Epcot for dinner!

Saturday morning I took Hailey to an Urgent Care ... Friday I had noticed a few little red bumps on her, perhaps she had an allergy to the Penicillin she was on for strep? Perhaps it was nothing? Well Saturday morning I was sure it wasn't nothing as she was COVERED from head to toe. Urgent Care (aka Doc in a box) was about a useful at diagnosing as I was ... Hand Foot and Mouth? Atypical Chicken Pox? Allergy to meds? Whatever it was it would go away in time and all I could do was offer Benedryl, Calamine and Tylenol for fever ... Thanks buddy!

Needless to say she remained in good spirits ... little Dot!

Come Sunday morning her low grade fever was gone and she was tired of being on house arrest. Her spots had begun to fade so we ventured down the road a few blocks and enjoyed Sunday brunch at the Grotto ...



Sunday evening Karl headed back to Nashville to return to work while Hailey and I stayed to enjoy another week of Florida sunshine. Monday we laid low, hanging out at home and taking the doggies to the park, Hailey loves to walk the Yorkies, however she did take a few nose dives when first learning how to control them ... This particular action shot ended in a scraped knee, elbow and forehead ...





Tuesday we headed up to Gainesville to spend two nights with the Allan clan; Hailey loved seeing her Great Auntie Linda, Great Uncle Jamie and cousins Lewis and Anthony!




We also visited John at Shiloh Sport Horses where I used to ride ... so nice to see them all again! Hailey kept calling the horses "cow" because of their markings, too cute! She ran up and down the barn singing "E, I, E, I, O"



We returned to Tampa Thursday morning and relaxed Thursday and Friday. Come Saturday we were all getting a little tired of the apartment so Nonni, Hailey and I ventured to the Lowry Park Zoo, voted #1 zoo by Parents Magazine! It was AWESOME, by far the most interactive zoo I have ever been to! Thanks to two days of rain (which stopped literally as we pulled into the zoo) the place was empty and the animals were all running around full of energy! We even got in for free thanks to my membership to Nashville zoo ... yippee for zoo partnerships :)







Hailey even brought home a critter ... the "Gigers" are her favorite!

This evening we will go see the Santa parade in downtown Ybor and then Sunday morning we head back to the cold! I must admit we are a little home sick and can't wait to see Dada, Jersey, Molly and Sophie and continue on our holiday adventures ... next up Gatlinburg, TN!

Family Session

Thanks to Paige Kimball Photography for our AWESOME family pictures, poor Paige had to cancel on us twice due to illness and both days were beautiful ... when we finally got together it was drizzling and cold; but I think that the change in outfit (Hailey was originally set to wear her red christmas tutu) and lack of glare made for even better pictures :) I couldn't be happier ....

There are so many more but alas blogger is being a pain in my rear and loading is taking forever, so for now .... that's all folks! You'll have to check us out later!

1 ....

Hmmm counting obviously doesn't intimidate ... perhaps the new time out will work?!

One Little Monkey ...

Just waiting for her to fall off and bump her head one day

Little Update ...

So sorry for the hiatus -- life is as usual busy! Here are some updated random shots ...

Hailey and "Baba" Grey ... she's a good little mama!


Helping daddy with some fall cleaning ...


Hanging out on the computer ....



and sadly, even though Karl refuses to accept it and keeps putting it on her ... she seems to have outgrown her Wake hoodie :(

And finally she has graduated to a booster! I still remember thinking she would never be big enough for her high chair and now she's outgrown it, well actually she still fits, but she can flip the tray loose and throws her food all over the place, so now it is retired to the attic

Sydney's Post

Almost a year to the day of Cali's Post, and here I am again scripting a blog through tears; I can only pray this doesn't become a tradition!

Sydney Sondermann D'Ettore was one loved little pup -- sure she was sassy, spunky and spoiled rotten, but she was a good, no great dog! She loved to run, she got that from her mama and Boompa ... she loved to cuddle and fall asleep on the couch, a trait definitely inherited from her Grandma, and she loved to play fetch! She loved birthday parties (especially her own ... her and I got to share one together just a few weeks ago!), she loved her doggie and human cousins, her little brother Vern, and to play fetch! She loved being fashionable, playing rough, barking at strangers, and playing fetch. I personally think Christmas was her favorite time of year as she loved presents, and have I mentioned she loved fetch?! Some may have called her a little "obsessed" but I like to think of it as passionate! She was a whole lot of personality in one little dog and she will be greatly missed by all those who loved her. Now she joins Caliboots and so many other Sondermann & Pagano pups up in doggie heaven; and even though I'm sure she's super content there I know she looks down and misses us too.

Lots of loves and kisses to Auntie Heidi, Uncle Mike, baby bump Jackson and cousin Vernie; we know all too well how deeply saddened you are and can only promise it does get better in time.

I Love ...

I love the way she works things out ... and just how much she's learned



I love the way I can make her eat just about anything if I add Ranch or Ketchup ...



I love that she's so complicated, yet so simple ...



and I love that after 18 months she finally has a no fuss bedtime routine!!!



I just love every little thing about my little bug :)

GO TITANS

Who would have guessed that the one game we went to this season the Titans would actually win!? We went with our good friends Jada and Garrett and had a great time!!! We got to tailgate, toss the pig skin around (I would be a great wide receiver, terrible QB!), and had awesome seats to the Titans first win of the season, no doubt due to the return of QB Vince Young! Perhaps their season will turn around now?!

Hailey bug meanwhile got to spend a day with my girlfriend Lauren and her husband and little boy Landon -- she had a blast, and was wide awake at 830pm when we got back to pick her up, chasing Landon around the living room!!! No pictures, but they were super cute!