On February 4th.  I like you, Florida.

I was so excited to be invited to attend an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on opening night!  The theme this year is “Dragons” and we will be attending the show on Saturday when my hubbie is the guest ringmaster. But we could not pass up the opportunity to see some elephants very up close and personal.

Why, hello there!  They were very cute.  Daniel and Annabel were thrilled to be so close to the beautiful creatures.  Some of them are over 40 years old and there was also a 3-year-old baby elephant.  We also saw the horses and Annabel’s favorite, an adorable pony.

We walked through the backstage area where we saw some cool props and motorcycles.  We finished up center stage where the pre-show celebration had just begun!

I was so bummed that Annabel didn’t want to try on one of the sparkly ringmaster coats (there was even a pink one!).

But they both left with the best Circus accessory of all…

I couldn’t resist.

Special thanks to Feld Entertainment and their PR agency for the fun experience.  They also provided my sister site, PopKidsReport.com, with tickets for give-a-way.  We can’t wait to see all the “Dragon” action this Saturday afternoon!  (And I will be keeping my distance from those harmless little clowns.)

*Please note that the Feld Entertainment PR Agency provided me with complimentary tickets to a show as well as an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour.  All thoughts and opinions are always 100% my own and I was in no way compensated monetarily for the PopKidsReport contest or this overview.

In 2011…

I hit a major milestone.

So did my son.

And my daughter.

And my marriage.

And our country.

We lost a loved one.

And had the (not so) tough conversation.

We lost a pioneer.

We were back in the ER.

We had a fire in our backyard.

I watched a real life fairytale.

We went to Disney.

We went to the grand opening of LEGOLAND.

I went to my first Jags game.

Daniel started playing two new sports.

Annabel started dance class and got her first bike.

I had my heart broken by a woman.

Then, I fell in love with another one.

I met a Real Housewife.

I met Greg Brady.

I met Taylor Swift.

I spent the night with some New Kids.

Daniel went to his first movie.

I added another movie to my all-time-favorites list.

And another.

We decided not to travel and spent Thanksgiving at home.

We spent Christmas at home too.  And went on some fun holiday adventures.  Daniel even ice skated for the very first time.

And we rang in the new year with some great friends.

It was a year of major milestones and family moments.  I’m excited (nervous? curious?) what 2012 will bring.

It’s when the holidays come around that I realize I’ve been living in Jacksonville for almost five years now. We moved to Florida in February 2007 for Hubbie’s radio gig.  It was an adjustment.  We came down from Maryland where we lived in a suburb about 30 miles outside of Washington, DC.   It was a place where we had all the seasons and most of my favorite childhood memories involved holiday traditions.  We definitely wanted to create those same memories for our children here in Florida. In Maryland, I remember going to Butler’s Orchard every Halloween season to pick out pumpkins and go on a hay ride.  So I wanted a pumpkin patch tradition for my family in Florida.

Daniel was one year old in 2007 when we found a fun pumpkin patch down the street from where we lived.

Then, Annabel was born in 2008 and we went back again.

And then we went again in 2009…

and again in 2010.

And here we are again in 2011.  The pumpkin patch tradition continues.  (We’ll see how much longer the kiddies can fit on that little blue tractor.  Hee.)

Hubbie was the guest ringmaster for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus that came to Jacksonville last weekend and here is the awesome shot I got of his performance:

URGH.

I really need a new camera phone.  Or rather a brand new phone.  I went bonkers when I heard that my provider, Verizon Wireless, was finally offering us the Apple iPhone!  So I’m crossing my fingers super hard that I might actually get one for my birthday next month.

I definitely need it.

Here’s a photo of Daniel.  This was his second time seeing the show.  He was most interested in his lemonade and popcorn but he said he liked the bicycles on the high wire too.

And here’s Annabel with her stuffed elephant toy.  (This photo turned out pretty good.)

She brought the elephant from home.  We managed to pass all the crazy toy and light spinning booths without buying anything.  Yahoo!  This was Annabel’s very first time at the circus.  She loved it.  Her favorite part was seeing the elephants, of course.

I don’t like clowns.  This guy came a little too close for comfort  but I managed to stop hiding behind my kids long enough to snap a photo for the kiddies. 

They like clowns.  Well, at least right now they do.

Wait until they read It.

I just told my husband that the past couple of weeks have been the perfect crossroads of  home, family, and LIFE stress.  We moved.  My son got a stomach virus for the very first time.  (I’m not really great with “sick.”)  Then I got sick.  My crazy dog is losing his mind in this new house and won’t sleep.  There are stairs.  There are boxes.  There are Christmas cards to send out.  More presents to buy.  Christmas cookies to bake.  Teacher gifts.  And on and on and on.

I really am living hour to hour.  This is so unlike me.  I am a planner.  I’m super organized all the time. But I just can’t catch up.  I take it one box at a time.  I take it one school obligation at a time.  I’ve been to the store almost every single day to buy something I forgot when I went yesterday.  I haven’t even had time to make a proper list!

When I was sick I abandoned coffee and wine for the entire week and I swear that sent me a little out of whack too.

I also just colored my hair back to its original dark blond.  (Isn’t there a rule NOT to mess with your hair when you are in the middle of life change and are all stressed out?  Yes?  Well, I really just wanted the 2 hours of alone time at the salon.)

One thing I have realized is that living hour to hour is basically LIVING IN THE MOMENT which is actually a good thing for me.  It’s something that I needed to work on and I’m working on it without even thinking about it.

Last weekend our new neighborhood had a holiday party in the clubhouse followed by trolley rides to look at all the lights.  It was Saturday evening and there was SO much to do around the house but we just had to forget it all and go.  I mean, it’s Christmas time!  The kids were so excited.  We had hot chocolate and cookies.  They sat with Santa.  They made a craft.  We rode the trolley and looked at all the awesome decorations.  We sang Christmas carols in unison.  We met our new neighbors.  The kids met new friends.

We lived in the moment.

It was awesome.

We went to the Jacksonville Fair last week and it was the perfect adventure to display my kiddies’ unique personalities.  Daniel is the daredevil who wanted to go on every single ride, including the super big Ferris wheel.   He was in awe the entire time.  He loves to figure out how things work.   My husband loved the view of the football stadium. (Go Jags!)

Annabel screamed with glee when she saw all the crazy fair food.   She hung onto that popcorn bag the entire time.  And her favorite part of the fair was dancing to all the hip hop music that was blasting from the speakers of that Himalaya ride. (Okay, I liked it too.)

On a side note, and somewhat related to all the fair food consumption, I am now on a diet.  I HATE to say diet, so I will change that to: I am now choosing better foods to eat and I will also exercise more.   My last hurrah was that yummy funnel cake at the fair.  Hopefully now that I’ve put this down in writing, I will actually stick to it.  My goal is to be down a pants size by my February birthday.  And, yes, I know the holidays are coming.  This is gonna be hard. (Oh how I heart you, pumpkin pie.)

Today was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch! 

I dressed the kiddies up in their festive long sleeve fall shirts and it was so HOT that I actually felt a little bad.

But we were only there for about 30 minutes before I quickly ushered them back into the car for some water and air conditioning.

Ah…Florida in the fall.

But, seriously now, the pumpkin patch is one of my all time favorite family activities because we have been going to the same place for four years. 

Daniel and Annabel had a blast running around the orange rows and picking out pumpkins.  They understand that their pumpkins will soon be turned into Halloween night Jack-0-lanterns.  They love picking out the super small pumpkins and gourds that decorate our table at home.  They love the play tractor.

It’s the first step to get us officially ready for Halloween and the holiday season.

Even if it was 85 degrees outside.

PS – Annabel’s super cute Halloween hair bow and pumpkin socks came from the Target $1 bin.  I heart Tarjay!

It’s FINALLY cooling down here in Florida and it’s the perfect weather for some late afternoon bike riding.  Now that the bikes are back in action, we have realized that both kiddies have almost outgrown them.  Yikes!   But they still love riding to the small pond near our house.   We look at the ducks, pick up some sticks or stones, and ride back. 

I can definitely use the walking exercise too.  I hope I am now re-inspired to pick up my nightly walks around the neighborhood.  I just need some updated iPod tunes and a flashlight.  And some serious motivation.

Oh, Hubbie and I are heading out for dinner and drinks now.  There you go.  Some serious motivation.

Happy Friday.

For our Friday night date night, the hubbie and I went to the zoo for their annual “Brew at the Zoo” charity event.  The highlight was (surprisingly) not all the free beer and food samples.  The highlight for me was some alone time with these tall guys and gals.

I love giraffes.  I love them because they are tall like me.  I think their skin color is breathtaking.  I was able to feed a giraffe but darn my camera phone.  The photo came out really blurry.  I need a new phone, but that’s a story for another day and a wish for Christmas.  But I did get this cool shot.  Check out her huge tongue!

On Saturday night we all went out for a family dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  I was craving some avocado egg rolls.  And a glass of pinot.   The kids love the bread basket and they split the pasta dish from the kids menu.  (That was a tip from our waiter and he was right. It was an enormous portion.)  We walked over to the ice cream parlor for dessert. We ate our drippy cones outside on a bench while the sun was setting. 

Annabel was done first and opted to do a little light reading while she waited.

You gotta love Florida.   We’ll still be hanging outside in our T-shirts and shorts (and Hello Kitty skirt sets) for at least another month.  Happy October.