Princess Tea - March 25

In March, Anna and I attended our first Princess Tea at Stoneridge. She was excited for weeks and got a new purple dress for the occassion.

The room was amazing! The teenage girls at the church faciliated everything. There were snacks, crafts, songs, a movie, nail painting, real princesses and tiara's. I think they thought of everything!

All smiles after snack and craft time!

Anna and Rebecca enjoyed meeting all the princesses!

The girls got to go up to the stage with a big princess to receive their tiaras.

My special princess!

Universal - Harry Potter World!

This March, Chad and I went down south for the first time since 2002 for a short, and action packed vacation. First stop - Universal Studios to see Harry Potter World. It was pretty cool - the attention to detail was very impressive!

Chad's first butter beer - the lines just to get butter beer were crazy!

The Hogwart's Express

Outside the dress shop

Picture of Hogsmeade...they did an amazing job!

After getting soaked on Jurassic Park, we wandered back to Hogsmead at the end of the day for another butter beer....mmmm...

The Everglades - March 19

As this was a bit of a road show, we drove from Orlando all the way down the Gulf Coast and across to the other side of Florida through the Everglades. We really wanted to take an airboat tour and decided to go with Captain Doug's.

The boats are really loud, so we had to wear ear protection.

Our tour took us through the mangroves and apparently this is not the best time of year to see gators in the mangroves. It was still an awesome ride though going through all the canals as if they were roads. As we were about to turn around and head back, a gator was spotted in the distance...

We ended up getting super close to him, actually right on top of him and at one point a guy in the boat touched his tail...our captain wasn't very impressed though. It was pretty amazing to be so close!

As we were headed back to the dock, this Brown Pelican decided to swoop in and land less than 12 inches from me. Needless to say it was cool, but I was a little uncomfortable and kept a close eye on him...

After our boat tour, we continued driving through the Everglades and stopped along a dirt road that travelled beside this river. We were amazed at how many alligators saw - they were everywhere all along the river - very cool!

Key Largo - March 19/20

We had a bery brief stay in Key Largo, which we both enjoyed very much...too bad we didn't have more time! Our hotel was right on the marina, which was great. We really enjoyed just walking around and for the first time all trip did not drive anywhere for over 24 hours! The first night we had a late supper at a restaurant on the marina...the crab salad was delicious! Here I am posing by the African Queen...I guess we should see the movie now!

The main reason for stopping in Key Largo was to snorkel. After much research, thinking, and consideration, I finally decided to give it a shot. However, I was expecting nice, calm water close to shore, not very choppy waters very far from shore...I was really nervous getting in, but did it and no sharks ate me. I was less adventerous than Chad, but still managed to see a baracuda, which was very cool. Hopefully we will develop our underwater pictures soon to show off the proof!

Chad on his way back to the boat...

Enjoying another meal at the marina (different restaurant though)

Little Ray's Zoo - February 13

Back in February we went to Little Ray's with the Fraser's. Matthew clearly remembered everything from last year and was super excited!

The nice thing about Little Ray's is that the kids get to touch all the animals. No hesitation from Matthew!

Rebecca really enjoyed the alligator and asked if she could touch his teeth :-)

Anna, on the other hand, would not get within attacking distance of the alligator and maintained a safe distance at all times. You can barely see the end of the gator's tail in the bottom of the picture...

The only thing Matthew did not touch last year was the tarantula...no problem this year though!

Happy Birthday Grammie! February 12

The Smith Family enjoyed lunch at Cora's in New Minas for Grammie's birthday - happy birthday Grammie, we love you!

Then onto Grammie's bowling alley - here's Grammie and Anna getting their shoes on

Me and my boy

Me and my girl

Hatfield Farm - February 5

In February we went to Hatfield Farm for the first time with the Fraser's. We started with a wagon ride pulled by two very large horses - the kids enjoyed seeing all the farm animals. The ride ended at an indoor play area with bouncy castles, gladiators and a mechancial bull!

Hector, Kelley and 'Becca

Matthew just getting up on the bull...

...and he's off...0.01 sec

Round 2 - a full 8 seconds...hanging on for dear life!

Matthew really wanted to play gladiators and stood on the platform forever waiting for an opponent...finally a spare helmet became available and...

Matthew versus "Big Daddy"...the grin never left his face!

Another Snuggly Moment...February 1

More Hockey - January 30

We enjoyed our little rink on the lane and Matthew got pretty good at skating. At the end of January, we enjoyed having some skating time with the Frasers - good times!

Though she put in a request for purple Dora skates, they were not to be found, so here is Anna in her Cinderalla boots on the ice. I think the request was mostly a fashion request and for now she usually prefers to be a spectator :-)

Fraser clan on ice!

Matthew takes a wild shot on Hector...does he score?

Siblings - January 19

Sometimes I'm able to catch a nice moment between Anna and Matthew on camera when they don't expect it...Matthew is navigating the PS3 and Anna just came over for a little cuddle - they are so sweet!

A Boy and His Buddy - January 19

Matthew and Riley have always had a close bond...and still do. Riley often sleeps on Matthew's floor at naptime, and occassionally makes it up onto the bed :-)

Catching Up - White Point, January 15

Wow - the time has flown by and I've been neglecting the blog! Here is me starting to catch up! Back in January the entire Smith clan spent a weekend at White Point and had lots of fun. The kids enjoyed seeing all the rabbits everywhere and Matthew especially liked feeding them right out of his hands! The games room was a big hit with arcade games, shuffle board, and pool. We enjoyed a mussel bake on the beach Saturday afternoon and a nice visit with Bonny, Harley, Sherilan, and Nanny after supper. Here are a few pictures of the weekend festivities :-) Anna being ever so careful to observe the bunnies without touching them...she gets that honestly!

Matthew was very patient...learing the bunnies to him with all the food...

A pool table for pool?? No way - it's for shooting balls really fast!

Game on - Shay and Anna versus Grammie in shuffle board.

Anna is a cheater :-)