Weekend Adventures: Legoland

So, I'm a little late in posting this. But I better late than never, right?

A few weekends ago, Dan and I went to Legoland with some friends of ours. These friends both happen to be teachers at my high school and we all work in the same building. The cool part about being friends with other teachers is that we can all benefit from the teacher perks that local attractions offer. Like the fact that Legoland offers free annual passes to Florida teachers.

But those perks don't extend to teacher spouses, so we normally have to pay for Dan to get into the park. However, Legoland had a First Responders appreciation month in May. Since Dan is an EMT, he was able to get a free one-day pass. So the four of us got into the park for the price of parking.

It was the first time any of us had been to this theme park, so we weren't sure what to expect. We all assumed going into it that it would be geared more towards children than adults, and Legoland didn't disappoint in that aspect. All of the rides are set up so that one kid and one adult can sit together. I really don't think the rides are made so that two adults can sit in the same row - there were quite a few times where we had to squeeze together to fit.

I think the boys favorite part were the mini Lego cities.

 Key West & Daytona International Speedway

Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine

State Capitol Building in Tallahassee

 And, the White House complete with the First Family and their dog Beau on the front steps!

My favorite part was the fact that they kept some of the original Cypress Gardens. Cypress Gardens was the original "theme park" where Legoland currently sits. It was full of beautiful gardens with southern belles wandering about, and had an awesome water stunt show. The park closed down years ago, but Legoland kept some of its original beauty in a small section of their park. Although the southern belles are no longer there, Legoland did create life-size versions of them to welcome you to the gardens.

Overall though, it was a fun afternoon. It was nice to get out and see a new theme park. I don't think any of us will be headed back to Legoland any time soon, unless its to check out their waterpark (which is included in the teacher pass). We all pretty much agreed that it probably would have been more fun had we taken children along and had experienced the park through their eyes.

Although, that didn't stop us from acting like children and playing with Legos whenever we got the chance!

Anyone else been to Legoland? Or maybe you know of other teacher perks out there? I know Sea World has the same annual teacher pass deal. 

Genuine Smile

This past weekend we celebrated this special little girl's first birthday. It was a small gathering of family & friends. The weather was absolutely perfect! I seriously don't think her parents could have picked a better day for a birthday party in the park.

Of all the photos I took that day, this one is by far my favorite.

I've always known that Dan was good with kids. I've seen how he interacts with our nieces and nephews numerous times. But seeing moments like this are little reminders. And the fact that he didn't even know I was snapping this photo makes it that much better. The smile on his face as he's helping her walk is pure and genuine. Photos like this make me fall in love with him all over again. :)

Weekend Adventures: Navarre

This past weekend we took a little road trip up to the Florida Panhandle to visit some friends of ours.

You might remember them from our wedding – they got engaged the day before Dan and I got married. And they got married on the beach a few months later.

Both of them serve in the military. One is active duty Air Force and the other is in the Navy Reserves. He is currently stationed near Navarre and they recently bought their first home. We've been dying to visit them and see their new place, but couldn't find the time to do it.

Two weeks ago, I got a call about a surprise birthday visit. Who could say no to that? So Friday after work, Dan and I loaded up the car and drove the 7 hours to Navarre. It was pretty late when we got into town….

Keep in mind, that’s Eastern Standard Time on the radio. Technically, it was only midnight Central Standard Time when we got there. But our bodies didn't know the difference.

The birthday boy was totally surprised! I wish I had gotten a picture of his face! But cell phones and going from dark to lighted rooms just doesn't work well.

The next morning we all woke up, made breakfast sandwiches, and hung around the house for alittle bit.

Then we headed out to Navarre Beach for their Fun Fest event. The event was pretty small – a few vendors selling art & crafts, a local dance troop performed, food trucks – the typical small town festival.

 We headed out to the water to check it out.

I can see why they call this the Emerald Coast. Beautiful, clear, green water. Too cold for our likes though. We just dipped our toes in it for a few minutes before heading back to the car.

Later that afternoon, our friends got a call from someone who was interested in buying their truck – that day! As in, he wanted to buy it in the next couple of hours. So, after taking a quick tour of the military base and making a bunch of phone calls to the bank and the buyer, we headed out to Pensacola and sold their truck. Luckily we were there this weekend, because that truck was their only vehicle. They’re planning on downsizing to a car and will hopefully find one this week (they've rented a car for the time being).

We headed out to a place called Helen Back for dinner.

Our friends said they had the best pizza around. Plus, they had outside seating that would let us catch the Fun Fest fireworks. My opinion of the place: really crowded (UFC fight night), horrible appetizers (I could make better – no joke!), terrible service (I don’t know if the girl was on something or what), decent pizza (which we only found out after we had to send the first pizzas back because they were made wrong), and really expensive considering the quality of food and service.

After dinner we went back to our friends’ place and watched a movie until we were all too tired to keep our eyes open. Sunday morning we had to say goodbye and make our way back home.

I seriously can’t wait to visit them again! Although, maybe next time they can come visit us and see where the retirees all hang out in Florida.

Life Lately

Considering it has been a month since I last checked in with this blog, I figured I'd do a little bit of a catch up post with everything that has been happening lately. And what better way to do that than by going back through my Instagram feed. 

President's Day weekend I got to watch these two:

We stayed up late and watched movies. Playing on the complex's playground was a huge hit. We took a field trip to the Webster Flea Market. Overall, it was a fun two days. I have a few more pictures from that weekend that I'm hoping to share in a later post.

In other news, I've got a new part time job:

You're looking at the new ticket taker for my high school's softball team. Basically, I sit a table and make people pay me money to see their kids/grand kids/friends throw a ball around. It's not too bad. Sure, most nights it's been pretty cold and I've frozen my butt off. But, it's bringing in extra cash. Now if only I could stop spending that extra cash on concession stand goodies.... 

Speaking of extra cash - we've officially paid off my car! We're still waiting to have the title in hand, but we no longer have to send KIA our hard-earned money. We just sat down this weekend to hash out the budget, and it was so nice to have that extra money in the account! It was short-lived though - all that extra money got snowballed over to start paying off the Hubby's car. Fingers crossed we can get his paid off by the end of October!

The quicker we get his car paid off, the quicker we can work on having one of these:

Isn't she a cutie? And doesn't Dan look like a natural? My best friend (you might remember her as my matron of honor) had her second child on the 5th. Her first child was a boy, and this time around she and her husband were blessed with a little girl.

Now, I've never really had "baby fever" like some of my friends have had. Maybe it's because I've been surrounded by babies and children since high school. But I'll tell you what - spending time with this little cutie makes me more and more excited about the thought of starting our own family.

But honestly, Dan and I are still enjoying just being the two of us. We've been married nearly a year and half now, so we're not in a rush to end this "newlywed" phase. Although we're trying not to spend a whole lot of money on unnecessary things so we can pay things off quicker, we still try to set aside some money to enjoy a date night every now and then.

Every time we go grocery shopping I see this little frozen yogurt shop in the shopping plaza in front of Wal-Mart. My students have told me about it and how much they love it. I've been trying to talk Dan into going for months now. He said he couldn't imagine liking frozen yogurt if he didn't like regular yogurt. But, after plenty of begging, he agreed to go out for dessert one night. And guess what? He loved it! This is one of those times I like to say "I told you so!"

For the most part though, we've been spending most of our time lounging around the house...

I've had some health issues lately, so I haven't been in much of a mood to get out of the apartment and do anything. Heck, if you saw the state of our apartment right now, you'd think we were the biggest slobs. I'm sure our poor roommate is growing frustrated by our lack of cleaning lately. Oh well. Can't win them all, can you?

So that's the gist of what's been happening in our lives lately. A lot of relaxing with some moments of excitement scattered throughout. Health issues aside, I can't complain. I'm counting down the days until Spring Break. What have you been up to lately?

Not Normal

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During lunch I checked my phone to see if there were any messages that had come in during the morning. The hubby had sent me a text saying that he thinks friends of ours had put an offer in on a house. Had no idea they were even looking. I mean, we both knew they were upset with their current living arrangement, but we didn't know they were going to take that big of a leap to fix it. I logged on Facebook, and sure enough, there was a status update about an offer being accepted along with a link to the property. Not bad. Builder basic. But definitely nice. Especially for first time home buyers like our friends are.

But then it hit me. I'm not sure how to describe the feeling exactly... guilt? like I'm on the wrong track? I feel like society dictates the order in which we're suppose to live our lives. First you meet a guy. Then the ring. Then the vows. Then the house. Then the kids. I mean, that's the ideal, right? Yet there are so many people that do things out of order nowadays. How many couples move in together before they get married? How many children are born out of wedlock every single day?

The hubby and I have a plan. We talk about it quite frequently. Sure, we make changes to it occasionally, but the basic plan has always remained. No house until all of the debts in our names are paid off. No house until we have a decent emergency savings fund built up. No house until we can put some sort of down payment on it. And that's going to take a while. We may or may not have our first kid before we even buy our first house.

Usually, that's okay with me. That's okay with us.

But yet... days like today, I still have this feeling like we're doing something wrong. Like we're going against what society says. Like we're going out of order.

And then I have to remind myself... we're not normal. We're not like everyone else. We're not going by what society tells us to do.

As soon as I remind myself of that fact, I remind myself of our plan. The plan we talk about most nights before going to bed. The plan we talk about over the weekends while sitting on the couch. The plan we talk about on long road trips. The plan and dreams we have for our future. And I'm reminded that our plan makes me feel safe. The idea of feeling safe and secure in our future makes a whole lot more sense than trying to fit into the mold that society deems to be "normal."

If "normal" means going into debt to the point where money stresses me out, then I don't want to be normal. I'm looking forward to the day where I control money and money is not controlling me. And if it takes being "weird" to get there, then sign me up!

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Cats Meow: Little Human Friend

It's been a while since the last Cats Meow. I've been so busy with the Thirty Things challenge and enjoying my summer vacation, that it's has totally slipped my mind to do another cat-centered post. Then again, I feel like you guys get enough of my cats on my Instagram sidebar gadget.

Anyways, this past weekend our friends came over with their son (Who happens to be turning 1 today! Happy Birthday BK!) to go swimming. Every time they come over, BK loves to chase after the cats. He has a pet doggy at home (an Austrailian Shepard), so he's accustomed to animals. But, he's also use to being a little more rough with them too.

Cruz has learned to keep his distance. He'll sit next to BK, or lay next to BK. But the minute BK decides it's time to "play," Cruz is up and running. Usually he doesn't run too far, though, which gives the kid the opportunity to chase after him. I think Cruz has learned that BK can't really manhandle him like our niece and nephews can, but, that BK knows how to grab fur like it's nobody's business.

Periwinkle on the other hand, she puts up with BK like a champ. She'll lay on the ground and let him "hug" her. She'll even let him "pet" her ears and her tail. And when she's had enough, she gets up, moves about 2 feet, and lays back down. Of course BK follows her. So they just continue this little dance of theirs until one of them gets bored.

Sorry for the last one being so blurry. All of these were taken with my cell phone which doesn't exactly take the best pictures of kids/pets moving. But I couldn't resist sharing the last one. BK is sitting down eating his cheerios, and Periwinkle is just watching him, waiting for him to drop one. She won't eat them. But she likes to sniff them out and nudge them with her nose.

It's so much fun to watch these two every time BK and his parents come over to visit. It'll be interesting to see how they interact once BK is actually walking on his own and can chase after them more.