Welcome home Izzy

We have been without a house dog for quite some time now. I honestly did not plan on another indoor dog due to my allergies. However, the kids felt differently. They have been begging for a dog for some time now. Back in October my mom sent me a picture of dog she saw in the paper, a rescue dog at a nearby kennel. Again, I still was not entirely sure about the responsibility of another dog. This dog was thought to be a Maltipoo (part Maltese, part Poodle). These types of dogs are considered a "designer breed" as they are not recognized by the AKC but are bred purely for their non allergenic abilities and smaller size. After some discussions we decided to give her a try. We liked the idea that she was a rescue dog and hoped that without the shedding she would not be as hard on me as a normal dog. My parents were able to dog sit her one weekend prior to obligating to adopt her which also gave us an idea of her behavior. After lots of discussions we finally agreed to let mom and dad adopt her for the kids. When mom and dad arrived last week, Izzy finally got to meet her new family.

This was the only photo we saw of Izzy prior to adopting her. The only thing we could tell was that she was a tangled mess of hair!

Mom and dad took Izzy for a grooming before her trip to Florida. Is that not the sweetest face?!

We certainly got lucky because Izzy is one patient dog! Sailor totes her around like a baby and Izzy doesn't seem to mind one bit.

 

Take A Kid Fishing

Back around the first part of October I read about a program offered in Destin and sponsored by Harbor Docks called take a kid fishing. They have various boat captains volunteer their time and take the kids out fishing for the morning. We immediately called and signed Tucker up. He went the first weekend in November and could not have been more excited. Hank had to have him in Destin by 7am to sign him in. Harbor Docks provided a breakfast of krispy kreme doughnuts and juice for all the kids. By 8am, he was on his assigned boat, the Extasea, and headed out in the gulf. We had to pick him at lunch time but Harbor Docks also provided a fried fish meal for all the kids and their families. Tucker had a great time and is so proud of the fish he caught. Each participant was also given a free fishing pole and tshirt. Tucker is already looking forward to going again next year.

Reeling in his catch..

Tucker caught his first king mackerel. He was so excited and proud!

Halloween 2012

I'm pretty sure Halloween was one of the longest days of Cutter's life. He knew exactly what it was about this year and could hardly wait to get dressed up and get some candy. It could not get dark here fast enough for them. We managed to only make it down our street and the next street and yet both kids had pumpkins so full they could hardly carry them, that's a lot of candy!

My beautiful little witch.

 

Cutest fisherman.

Tucker didn't go trick or treating this year. He got to stay home and help give out candy, although I think he spent the evening hiding and scaring the bigger kids.

Sailor and the big girls (Morgan and Alyssa).

St Paul UMC Fall Festival

Cutter was quite excited to learn that his school was having a fall festival, he made sure we were aware of it and reminded us everyday that we needed to go.

A game of musical chairs. Cutter had a little trouble understanding the concept of the game. 

He was much happier fishing for candy.

Digging for treasure.

Red Ribbon Week

A couple of weeks ago was red ribbon week at Tucker's school. They had a different theme for each day and allowed the kids to dress up. I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids did.

 Nerd Day

Character Day - the little mermaid and Forrest Gump

Tacky Day

Generation Day - 7th graders dressed from the 1970's

Pickin' grapes

While in NC for my grandmothers funeral, I took full advantage of being in town during grape season. There are a lot of things we miss out on while living in Florida and those wonderful scuppernong grapes are one of them. After a few very chaotic and busy days, we took one day for relaxation and visiting.

I can't tell you how much I love these!

From a distance he looks so much like Ashby Jones, hat and all!

As we left, we were treated to a group of wild turkeys across the street.

As we were heading towards the sound bridge we were treated to this spectacular sunset. I honestly don't know the last time I had seen this much color. Perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Sunset Cruise

Teresa had purchased some tickets for a sunset cruise that she had planned on using while on her trip down here and unfortunately was not able to go. We saved the tickets hoping Hank's parents would be able to go during their trip, and yet again, we were not able to get the trip planned. Not wanting the tickets to be wasted, we finally found an evening in August that our family was able to go. I think we ended up going about four days before Hank's back surgery. I'm pretty sure the boat ride was not a pleasant experience for him at all, but the kids sure seemed to love it. We arrived about an hour before the boat left and had some time to enjoy the harbor views.

Hank had seen this boat the weekend of the poker run and was rather impressed, he has a thing for orange. I'm pretty sure this will be his first purchase when we win the lottery.

Once we left Harborwalk, we went under the Destin bridge and over to the other side of the Coast Guard base. After they anchored the boat they allowed us to walk the shoreline and pick up shells or snorkel.

There were tons of hermit crabs on the land and in the water. Cutter was amazed.

Beautiful view of Harborwalk.

I love how my kids will never all look at me at the same time.

Too funny!

After some shell hunting, we left the bay and headed out into the Gulf to look for some dolphins.

 

 

After we got back to the docks, we did a little walking around before heading home.

Another one of the boats still in town from the poker run. This gentleman was nice enough to have his boat opened so that people could walk by and check it out. Beautiful!