Gasparilla Children's Parade

 

We attended our first Gasparilla Children's parade this past weekend. We are normally at Monster Jam but decided to go to a later show this year so we could check out the parade. Not sure what Gasparilla is all about? You can click here to read up on it's history.  

It was one of the coldest day's we have had so far and thankfully the sun was out but once the sun went down we froze! The kids had a blast though and didn't mind the cold one bit. The parade ended around 6 pm but the "Piratechnic" extravaganza wasn't until 7 pm so we just hung out and let the kids play. We walked over a mile to get to where we were for the parade so it wasn't exactly a quick jaunt back to the car. The fireworks were worth the wait. They were amazing! It was a perfect ending to a fun day with the kids.

Hockey Game

John and I went to a Tampa Bay Lightning game last week. The tickets were my gift to John for Christmas though it felt like a gift to myself since I was so excited to go :) This was my first hockey game! We had really good seats and even splurged on a couple mega size beers...at $13.50 a pop! :| The game came down to a shootout where the Lightning lost but we still had a great time. I can't wait to go again!

Wordless Wednesday

 

bye bye baby bed!

Circus

One of our gifts to the kids for Christmas were tickets to The Greatest Show on Earth - the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus! 

Connor wanted his picture with the lightning bolts

Addie wanted her picture with the silly cow :)

Connor had more fun with the cotton candy and popcorn and was actually pretty bored with the show. He said it was too long. Addie, on the other hand, really enjoyed herself. She said her favorite part were the elephants :) Connor did say he liked the motorcycles.

Happy New Year!

We spent our final day of 2013 at Busch Gardens with the kiddos. My pass was expiring so we wanted to get in one more day of fun. John can still take the kids until March when their passes expire but they'll have to go without me. We have decided not to renew them again this year. I'll miss going but I think a brief hiatus will make the next time we go even more fun. 

We got there early and did as much as we could before 2 pm. We didn't want to stay too long as we were going to be up late that night ringing in the new year. Addison finally braved the giant bounce house and LOVED it! We were so proud of her! She has never really been on any type of bounce house because she was too scared but she is finally over it. We also rode the 'buckets' (aka Sky Ride) for the first time which Addie claimed was her favorite that day.

Look Mom, no hands!

Look Connor, I can do it too! ;)

We got home, had lunch and then put the buckaroos down for late naps. Later that evening we went to Sybil and Raif's house. They had us and another couple over with their kids. We had the best time! Raif smoked an amazing brisket in his Big Green Egg, Will brought the fireworks and the kids partied like rock stars till midnight! I was impressed with how good they all did considering how late it was.

We had a busy, fun and memorable 2013. I'm looking forward to an even better 2014!

Happy New Year!