Merry Christmas!!
A skinny dip on Christmas Eve, because we can! (that is a tradition I could get used to)

 And a quick trip to the beach on a beautiful Christmas Day to make a sandy snow man...












Merry Christmas, y'all.
We'll be back in 2014!
xoxo

 I almost stepped on this guy on one of my walks last week.  We're not in New England anymore..

I knit a sweater! Who knew? It's full of imperfections, but completely functional.  Score one for old dogs learning new tricks.

 Gus and the other youngins' at The Pine School put on a great show for us before the holiday break.  Look at that adventurous little pilgrim.  
And then we had a delicious "Feastival" cooked by Joel, which he renamed Feastivus.  






Insert Gus's birthday party - and then off onto....
Vacation!
We went to Long Key for our Thanksgiving break, and had a blast. Hopefully Yaya and Poppy left with more photos than we did - as our are mostly of sea creatures!
 

  Joel caught this guy on camera off of the dock at our resort.  Meanwhile, Gus is yelling "Mama! Ruby! Shark! Come see the shark!" I'm not sure the tourists in the water between us were thrilled. 

 Ruby got to PET A DOLPHIN!! Toby and Sherman put on a very impressive show for us - this obviously being the highlight:

  









And then we moved on to the Sea Lions.
This is Wilbur: 

Don't be frightened. He was singing to us.



Another impressive trick:

 Our favorite trick of Wilbur's was when we would smile for his trainer.  "Say cheese!" It was a pretty ferocious smile, and I didn't manage to get it on camera.  Luckily, Ruby and Gus do a spot on impression:

This was where we had our favorite dinner - outside on a stormy night.

SURPRISE!!
We had a great party for our sweet little five year old.  He was very surprised and so excited.  I didn't take one photo the whole time, so thank goodness Britt brought her camera.  This post will be mostly pictures from here:

 

A moment for this cake...

Straight from the brain of Gus:
Dolce de Leche and vanilla ice creams, chocolate crumbles, brownie chunks on top with a caramel drizzle that was supposed to spell his name, but I goofed so it just turned into a complete drizzle.  This kid can design my birthday cake anyday!

And no party is complete without a serenade from the birthday boy on his new ukelele!
xoxo We love you so much, buddy.  You get more fun with every year!

Ruby and Gus holding up their end of the bargain..

If we get a surfboard, they carry it!

And look what we found in the sand:

 

Baby Sea Turtles emerged under the full moon the night before and we found a bunch of shells. 

 Sure hope these guys made it into the water...

 

We are enjoying having fun neighbors/family right across the street.

 

AND we've got an exciting weekend/vacation coming up..

We are kicking it off Saturday with a surprise birthday party for our five year old - and it only gets better from there.

Stay Tuned!

 

Hold on, back up, how did we end up here again?

So, you may be confused.  Last we spoke we were looking for jobs in Maine, right? Yes, and then we expanded that search to New Hampshire as well.  You see, Joel worked at Camp Huckins with me this summer - he killed it in the kitchen and is willing to give it another summer.  This means looking for seasonal work - schools ideally, for the schedule.  Well, employers in Maine and New Hampshire couldn't even grace us with a return phone call, and do you know where else they have lots of seasonal work? Florida.  
AND Grandpa lives here. Win win. 
Joel's passion for food may not be quite satiated with school lunches, but he is testing the waters for good reason - THIS SCHEDULE RULES.  
ok, all caught up? for now anyway...

We Are Living In Florida!    wait, what?!

We've been here for a month now, and we finally seem to be settled in.  Joel is working at The Pine School (upper campus) for the year and Ruby and Gus are attending the lower campus of the same school.  

Ruby has jumped right in to Second Grade and is loving every minute of it (with the exception, perhaps, of all the HOMEWORK). 

Gus started a week later because we were waiting for a pre-k student to leave - opening up a spot in the class - what luck!  He is starting at three days a week (Tues, Wed, Thurs). He announced at dinner after his first week: "I love school more every day!" Yay, Gus.  He is proving to be more shy than we ever thought he would be as he gets used to his new peers.  










We hit the beach at least once a weekend.  Sometimes we seek out a new one we haven't been to, and sometimes we head for our old favorites (Hobe Sound Refuge and Bathtub).

 
 The water is still nice and warm, though the winds have been shifting into winter mode which will make our swims more and more rough.  
We've only had Grandpa home for a week since we've been here, but it sure is nice. He will be home again 20 November - just in time for Gus's birthday. 

There was a big to-do at The Pine School for Halloween.  An all school assembly and parade, including song and dance numbers by Ruby and Gus's classes. 

 We had a flower fairy...

And Leonardo.

Joel was able to attend with me, in fact he was ordered to by his boss - it's nice that the three of them are involved in the same school.  
That night we followed it up with some balmy trick or treating.  







All in all we are doing great down here.  It was nice to see a little New England foliage before we drove down, and it's nice making the most of this climate while we can.  Bike rides, walks, and swimming (pool and ocean)are frequent.  

 Most of all, it is absolutely amazing having Joel in a more 'normal' schedule.  He is home almost every night for dinner, and he has weekends off just like the kids.  I can't believe the difference this has made to our lives.  It sure is fun, this whole family thing.

 Until next time....
We love you guys.  Keep in touch.  xoxo