And This is Why I Live Here

Yesterday Jacob and I drove to Clermont and did a little jetskiing on their chain of lakes. It was sunny with a high of 84 :) I didn't think to bring my good camera along (on account of it possibly taking a swim), so I only managed a few shots with my camera phone- which does an okay job when you compare it with the option of having nothing to show for yourself. We had an absolute blast! Despite discovering that jetskiiing, like car trips, makes me a little motion sick unless I am the driver. Who knew?


Here is Jacob driving off after leaving me on a random dock. I decided to let Jacob have 30 minutes to himself on the jetski to drive like a maniac without the threat of me tossing my cookies in his general area. And hey, how about them clouds? They were excellent for shape searching. I saw a dragon and a cow.


Yes, Brian, those are still the sunglasses from Spain you gave me. They are the best!


We did this because Jacob had never done it before and I thought it would be a fun way to spend our Thanksgiving break. Oh, and I got it for a screamin' deal on Groupon. And speaking of Groupon...



TOP TEN LEAST POPULAR GROUPON OFFERS


10. $20 for $5 worth of pizza
9. Half Off Integrity for Dummies course taught by Joe Paterno
8. 50% off a three-night stay in an Occupy Wall Street tent
7. 2 for 1 admissions to World of Wolverines Petting Zoo
6. Half off self-guided tour of the Clinton Obama "Grope 'n' Hope" Museum
5. $40 off six sessions of teeth yellowing
5. Buy one get one free on any entree at International House of Haggis
4. $10 for $30 worth of gerbil shoes
3. $25 off whole house lint removal
2. 2 for 1 gift baskets at Squids, Mollusks and More
1. Half off dog shellacking

(thanks to Dad and Dave for your input :)

And get ready! Because tomorrow I will be giving out awards for items received in this year's annual county food drive!! It really is the most wonderful time of the year :)

And Things Were Going So Well...

Well, I was really sure I was going to rock the turkey hat challenge- with no skipped days, no misses- but alas, my schedule is not cooperating :( I have been swamped with projects the past few days so I am going to have to play catch up from now until Thanksgiving. Which will be totally easy with Jacob and the kids being out of school for the entire next week, right? Well, it's my blog and I'll change the turkey hat challenge if I want to :) In the mean time, here is a small report on Legoland...

Cindy and I had a blast there last Thursday. Her whole second grade got invited to check it out for $5. Suh-weet! I think this park is absolutely perfect for kids her age and younger. And especially those with weak constitutions and those who are scared of riding anything that even looks like it might go over 1 mph. I conned Cindy into going on one roller coaster at the beginning of the day and after that I was on her shun list. She thought she was going to die and will never forgive me for almost ending her short life. Oh, the humanity!!!




However, after that near-death experience, we walked around the corner and found this ride (for very small children), where all you do is sit on a horse as it barely teeters back and forth on a track. She saw it and said, "Now THIS is more like it!"




There were only three kids in the whole class who didn't have a parent come with them, so I did actually have to chaperone for a few hours. Here is Cindy and her friend Priscilla outside one of the many rides that Cindy wouldn't go on.



The double-decker carousel was a big hit. (Although it did not have any music! What gives?) I did it twice, which was two times too many :) What can I say? I'm old and the lining in my brain is drying out. I just can't tolerate centrifugal force any more. I know my limits and I gladly accept them.




Look who we found!




I was constantly amazed by the stuff they can make out of Legos. Cindy, well, not so much...



Our Legoland used to be Cypress Gardens, which was a botanical gardens/amusement park/water ski place, so a lot of that stuff is still part of this new park. We ate our lunch under this giant shaded amphitheater, which had a great view of the Lego Pirates Water Ski Show, which is right on Lake Eloise. (Consequently, this is the exact place I did my first triathlon all those years ago :) Plus the breeze was blowing and it was absolutely a fantastic place to stop and take a break.



Southern Belles used to roam the old Cypress Gardens park, so this Lego creation was totally appropriate.




Cindy actually only rode about 5 rides in the entire park. She is a girl that knows what she likes and does not deviate from that plan of attack. The one ride we could not stay off of was Boating School. Although it DID provide me with ample opportunities to make endless Spongebob and Mrs. Puff references, and that was a source of much amusement for myself. The whole ride is just driving a little boat through this little winding canal. The boat is actually not on a track, so you really do have to push the gas pedal and steer it, otherwise you get all backwards and clog up the whole operation. Cindy was a great driver! I offered her $1 if she could navigate the entire course without hitting the side, but she missed it just by a hair. She did take her revenge by constantly steering me under the squirting pelican. I'll get you, Gadget!






And that was our day at Legoland. Can't wait for Luke to have a day there. He is gonna love it!

Why I Am So Far Behind...

I was out playing with Cindy all day yesterday, but in order to start catching up over the next few days...

I'll Wear Your Turkey Hat, Sam I am


This is Sam, who also works with my dad. Cool points for Sam for already being familiar with my blog and telling me that I "always come up with the funnest things on there!" Why, thank you, sir!

And as soon as I have any free time, more goodies will magically appear :)

Oh, Fate! You are so fun!

Definition of the phrase "It's a small world": When you go down to your Dad's office to set up Karaoke for his Thanksgiving party and he tells you that one of his co-workers would love to wear your Turkey Hat and when the co-worker comes around the corner you realize that she was one of your enumerators back when you were a Census supervisor in 2010.

This is Michelle and we really did work the Census together :) What are the odds!!?

A High School Quickie

And now, an even more awesome picture that came from a camera phone. The following picture was taken by Jacob during his 2nd period class. These two guys, WHO SIT NEXT TO EACH OTHER and aren't that good of friends, came in on the same day, WEARING THE SAME SHIRT.



I get all smiley and happy every time I see that picture. Because you know that MADE Jacob's day:) And it ain't every day you get to teach TWO Waldo's in one class...

P.S.

TOP ONE REASON THERE WILL NOT BE A TOP TEN ON THE BLOG TODAY

1. I thought it was Monday

No, seriously...

Where Wearing Turkey Hats is a Pleasure

From the beginning of this challenge, I knew that I was going to get a Publix bagger to wear the hat. I knew it! And you want to know why? Because Publix is the most awesome store for customer service in the grocery world. Pretty much there isn't anything they won't do for you. Including wearing hats that resemble cooked fowl. Plus, this guy happened to be a Bartow High Alum so 15 extra cool points for him! In your dreams, Winn-Dixie...

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

(Our neighbor, Mark)

Hey, Neighbor! Just wanted to say thanks for being so kind to us. You know, for kicking back all the balls we have kicked over your fence, for letting my daughter play at your house every single day for hours after school, for letting my kids use your trampoline and pool and for inviting us to your gymnastics party. In fact, just because we think so much of you, I am going to ask you to wear this hat. So we're pretty much even now, right?




A Luke Quickie

While in the car today waiting for Cindy to get off the bus, Luke found the finisher's medal I got at the 5K I ran on Saturday. He asked me what it was for so I told him it was from my race. Then he casually asked me, "What kind of race was it? Like on a horse.....or...what?" I couldn't stop laughing. Although my time for a 5K on a horse would KILL!

Turkey Cutlet

Tonight was haircut night here in Sweeneyville. Jacob cut Luke's hair first (which he did a fabulous job, I might add) and then I gave Jacob his once-every-two-weeks trim. I was either going to charge him $12.95 plus tip for haircut, or he had to wear the Turkey Hat. It was a lot closer of a decision that you might think...


(Luke had just woken up from an almost 4-hour nap, so he wasn't too excited about the hat either ;)

Two Things I Forgot

These pics need to be included in the Sweeneyville book, so even though this is shameless backblogging, nevertheless, it must be done.


HALLOWEEN PARADE

Halloween festivities always officially start with the Bartow Halloween Parade outside of Grandma Bingham's office on Broadway. This year Grandpa Bingham got to come too! YAY!



The parade seemed much shorter than the ones in year's past, but this parade did have one thing we had yet to see previously-



The General Lee! Now all we need is some banjo music and a case of moonshine to smuggle over the county line before Sheriff Judd gets his hands on us.


The kids got tons of candy and Luke practically had to take a nap halfway through.


Cindy and Maddie :)


HALLOWEEN NIGHT

We attended a wonderful trick-or-treating party over at a friend's house on Halloween night and my kids had the time of their lives! Friends, pizza, candy, stories, goody bags, running around, dogs and cats living together- it was mass hysteria! We actually got out and went door-to-door trick-or-treating, which went from "Whoo-hoo!!" to "Mom, can you hold absolutely all my stuff and carry me?" in zero to 5 seconds for Luke. I think he made it about 5 houses before he was ready to call it a night :) But we had to make a pit stop over at Grandma and Grandpa Bingham's to show off the costumes first.



One more picture of the Buns of Glory!!!


Two houses over from my parents, there is a house that always gets really into Halloween and this year they had set up a mini haunted house. So my dad walked down with me and the kids to check it out. In reality, on a scale of 1 to 10 for scariness, this house was about a 1. The kids, on the other hand, thought it was at least a 60 and were on the brink of death just deciding whether to look inside of it. Finally they mustered the courage to walk through and by the end they were doing laps. I will say that the guy had an absolutely awesome bubble machine that was blowing bubbles that had fog inside them! When you popped them, the smoke would come out and vaporize. It was straight out of a Harry Potter movie- so, so cool!


Okay, I am all caught up on Halloween! Stay tuned for "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" and, of course, LOTS more Turkey Hats :)

As you were...

I. AM. BEAT.

Today has been a marathon of a day, and for Jacob it is still not over yet! We attended the big Polk County Family week kickoff celebration event over in Winter Haven this morning like we do every year, but this time I was running the 5K while Jacob was setting up our sound equipment for the event. I was there with the kids til 1:30pm, but in the mean time Jacob was coaching his high school soccer team at Winter Haven High School at noon. Then he came back by the event to grab Cindy and drive to Brandon to coach her team. After cleaning up at Polk Family week I then went to Brandon with all the sound equipment to watch Cindy's game. After eating dinner as a family afterward, Jacob then had to leave to DJ a Single Adult dance, also in Brandon, where he is at this exact moment. What a day! I am too tired to even blog about any of the details. So here is the telegram version of today's events and one day I might explain it all...

5K good. Too short. Placed first! Stop.

Cindy won essay contest. Stop. Too much prize money. Stop.

McKeel team tied. Now 1-1-3. Stop.

DeAnne is an angel. Stop. You already knew that. Stop.

Cindy's team lost. Strong performance for her. Very proud. Stop.

Been outside all day. Stop. Tired. Wind burnt. Exhausted. When will this day...Stop?


And here is the Turkey Hat picture of the day, which is taking all of my remaining energy to post. You're welcome :)



This is Denise, one of the hygienists who works in the dentist office with my mom. Taking this picture was almost painful for her because she says she NEVER has her picture taken. EVER. She says anytime someone takes one of her and then sends it to her, she deletes it. She says she hardly has any pictures of her at all. That makes me sad! Does anyone else do that? I hope not! I mean, come on, Denise, look at this picture! I can't think of a single reason you wouldn't want another human being to see it! But just to humor your crazy insecurities, this blog post will self-destruct in 30 seconds.