An ordinary, wonderful day

Today was sunny and balmy and beautiful.

The flowers were blooming...

and the birds were out in abundance.

The Boy's...friend...came over.

The tube was inflated...

Pictures were taken. Some were happily posed for...more or less...

And some were surreptitiously taken.

The Boy and The Princess decided that it would be a good idea to take Jack for a ride on the raft.

Jack didn't like the raft. Jack REALLY didn't like the pool.

Jack was an angry, wet cat.

Poor Jack.

The Princess informed me that she wanted to be a hair model because she was really good at swinging her hair around. She told me that she could even do it with wet hair. Then she demonstrated.

The Boy was amused.

We went for a boat ride...

The kids had fun in the tube...

And they went skiing...

It was just an ordinary, wonderful day.

Later, gator!

The Boy spotted a visitor lazing around off our dock this afternoon.

It's not unusual to see these guys around - this is Florida, after all - but it's not as common to see them right off of our dock. Thank goodness!

The Boy has seen this little guy hanging around quite a bit the past few days, which concerns me a bit.

He seems much too relaxed...even if he is only about 3-4 feet long.

Just a bit of perspective as to how small this little guy is. He's not really a threat to anyone. Yet.

The Boy has named him Stan. He calls him "Stan the man."

Why? I have no idea. There is also a stingray that lives off our dock that The Boy catches regularly each summer and which he has named Bob. He knows that it is the same one because someone, at some point in time, cut off his tail. I know, I know...poor Bob.

Anyway, the point is that The Boy likes to name things and he has named the little 'gator Stan.

Even though Stan isn't much of a threat, I still don't like seeing these fellows hanging around our dock.

The Boy tossed some pebbles at him to try to scare him away. Stan wasn't scared. In fact, Stan swam towards the splashes the pebbles made.

We're afraid that some idiot person may have been feeding him. 

This is not good. When humans feed alligators, the 'gators lose their natural, instinctive fear of humans. They become more aggressive. It's dangerous for humans and the 'gators. We will probably have to make a nuisance 'gator complaint to Florida Fish and Wildlife. They will come out and trap it and relocate it - as long as the animal is less than 4 feet in length.

Stan is 3-4 feet long.

If the 'gator is bigger than that, it is killed.

Thankfully, when we saw this guy about an hour later, a 6-7 foot alligator...he swam on by and didn't linger.

Meanwhile, Stan is still hanging out by our dock.

*Sigh*

Overheard...

Last night...at 10:30 pm...after hearing the sounds of a cupboards opening, cutlery rattling, cereal being poured and a deep, heartfelt sigh, my son huffed in an aggrieved manner, "THIS is why I'm always so tired! I try to go to bed early but I always wake up STARVING!"

It's hard being a teenaged boy, you know?

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The Princess is taking French for the first time this year. The Boy is in his third year of French. We made a deal with The Boy - if he tutored his sister and helped her with French, we would give him $10 for every "A" she got on a test. Thus far this year, she has gotten all A's. 

The other day we received her score for her last test. The Princess eagerly opened the envelope and her face fell in dismay. "B+?", she said sadly and then immediately whirled around and pointed a finger at her brother, "No money for YOU!!" she announced disdainfully.

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Our realtor came out a couple of weeks ago to make a video of our house to put online. I saw it yesterday and was quite amused the hear Buddy the bird wolf-whistling enthusiastically as our realtor walked out to the dock.

I love that bird.

Wordless Wednesday: Goodnight Moon, Goodmorning Sun

Ten things on Tuesday: the junk food of blog posts

1. I haven't blogged in several days because (a) I've been feeling yucky and (b) I haven't had anything to say.

2. A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about mean girls and I was completely overwhelmed by the response. Thank you to everyone who emailed me or commented or called and especially those who reposted the link. Your kind comments did make The Princess feel a bit better. There might just be another post about this subject in the future because I am still in Mama Bear mode and brooding about those mean girls!

3. We didn't do much this weekend except lay low and hang out. Partly because I was feeling yucky and partly because it's just that time of the year...SAT tests, exams, end of the year this and end of the year that...we're exhausted. All of us. It's definitely time for summer vacation!

4. The Boy fished and hung out with his girlfriend and her family in St. Augustine. The Princess worked on her tan and read books. Mr. Wonderful did yard work and read books. I felt icky and read books. We all slept late every morning and just enjoyed the blah-ness and decompressed.

The Boy caught the biggest gar ever.

5. The Boy also has a new pet. This is Brutus. I actually like Brutus because (a) he's kinda cute and (b) he eats those nasty grasshoppers which we are infested with every year and which eat every single plant and flower in our yard. Did I say I like Brutus? Actually, I LOVE Brutus! 

Even though Brutus is currently my favorite of the kid's pets, (c'mon - he doesn't shed, is quiet, and eats the bugs from the yard. What's not to love?) he is not allowed in my house. His little habitat is out by the pool...and it will stay there!

6. Our boat is almost fixed. Regular readers may remember what happened the last time we took the boat out. Our boat mechanic is out working on it right now. Keep your fingers crossed.

7. The last launch of Endeavor is Friday. I'm hoping that it's a clear day so we will be able to see it from our dock.

8. It was windy and gusty all day yesterday and there were a ton of egrets by our dock. I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel here, because I absolutely cannot think of anything else to say.

9. I filled my car up with gas today and it cost $36! Granted, the tank was really empty, but still. Yikes. I don't know how all these people with big ol' SUV's can afford to drive them around!

10. Ah, finally. Because I still can't think of anything to say...and because I love you, I'm letting The Boy end this post with a few jokes...You can thank me later.

What did the blonde say when she opened the box of Cheerios?

Oooh! Doughnut seeds!!

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You know you're a redneck when your gene pool doesn't have a deep end.

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You know you're a redneck when you have to fix your mother's flat tire...on her house.

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You know you're a redneck when your favorite hunting dog has a bigger tombstone than your grandfather.

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Yo Ho, Yo Ho...

I just realized that I haven't mentioned that the studio where The Princess takes ballet, the studio which is downtown and a 45 minute drive each way, was having some emergency roofing work done. Apparently, it was a big mess and debris was falling everywhere. The powers that be thought it was dangerous and so class has been cancelled for the past several days.


Hooray!!


We took this new-found freedom and ran with it. The Boy had his friends over Thursday night and yesterday we all slept late and lazed around the pool most of the day.

It was HOT yesterday - in the lower 90's.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 raced...

And then The Princess decided to relax a bit...

She was lounging peacefully when...

a terrible, mean, aggravating pirate boarded her raft....

and tossed her overboard!

Princess Pouty Face was not pleased.

The mean ol' pirate then tried to do his "I'm the king of the world" impersonation...

Which didn't actually work out that well for him.

But it did make The Princess stop pouting and giggle. A lot.

The Boy gave up his pirating ways and retired to the dock for a bit of fishing.

It was too hot to cook, so we had a humongous salad and little Na'an pizzas which I found at Costco.

They were rather good!

Then Mr. Wonderful and the kids watched The Social Network and I read my book and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

It was a fabulously mellow and wonderful day.