Good Day

Someone has had a good day. A very good day.

She got up early this morning and wasn't late picking up her friend for school.

When two of her friends got into an argument, for once, she didn't get involved but asked them to stop.

She finished all her homework in school!

And when I picked her up from school, she overheard another mother tell me what a "pleasant, happy girl" my daughter is.

She was skipping the whole way home.

From our neighbor downstairs she got a jar of homemade jam, which she was allowed to eat for dinner with her favorite bread and butter.

She is immensely pleased with herself and her day. And since those days don't happen very

often, so am I!

September Morning with the Fairy Godmother

Daughter's godmother knows everything there is to know about nature. Her knowledge is enormous. Those prints in the mud, to which wild animal do they belong to? (Rabbits.) To what tree does this leaf belong to? (Beech tree.) That smell? (Wild boars.)

She knows plants, herbs and what poop left in the forest belongs to which animal. A walk with her is very interesting, fascinating and fun.

I am always eager to go on a walk with her for two reasons. Mostly, it is a great chance for us to talk, secondly, I hope her knowledge rubbs off on the kids and they will shine in biology class.

So, very early this morning the kids and I picked her up for a fall walk and what a beautiful walk it was...

picnic...

walnut picking...

Green Belt

Son passed his green belt "exam" two months ago but received his certification and actual green belt after this weeks karate class.

Of course this called for a "green belt party", which, according to him, means pizza with onions, ice-cream and staying up late.

Fall is here!

Yes, fall is definitely here! We have brought out our sweaters and jackets, hats and scalves and are on the lookout for chestnuts whenever we leave the house.

Back

Our vacation has ended and we are back to our daily life without the beach, dolphins and Starbucks' Frappuccino. But we are looking to go back as soon as possible...

Nature Walk the Floridian Way

I love the Foridian Nature Walks. You walk on a seemingly endless boardwalk through an area you would normally never get to see and are on the lookout for alligators, racoons and other wild animals.

But while the kids and I get very excited about every little lizzard, (and extremely noisy, so even a deaf alligator would hear us coming)

husband is not very impressed.

And not only that, he makes lots of jokes about me and my liking for those man made nature walks.

But I guess, if you lived here during your teenage years and spend your off time exploring the area knee deep in the swamps, far away from any boardwalk, you would find it kind of lame, too.

Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa

Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa. A place husband has wanted to stay at forever, just because the KISS outfits are on display there.
He played the slot machines with a personal limit of $5. After putting $4.50 into a machine, said machine lightened up and he had won $250. That is when he stopped and went back to look some more at the KISS costumes.

Dolphins

Whenever we visit Florida we see dolphins, lots of them. However, we have never seen them as close as in Naples, Florida a few days ago. Husband and I were walking along the pier, all the way to the end where fishermen were waiting for bites. In the distance we could see a mother dolphin with her young one when suddenly a fisherman started reeling in a fish as fast as he could. Just when we could see the fish dangling on the hook, a huge dolphin jumped out of the water, high in the air, trying to snatch the fish. "Do the dophins always try to steal your catch?" I asked the fisherman, who was clearly out of breath. "Every single time," he answered. "And most of the time they succeed."

Florida

According to son and daughter there isn't a better place than their grandparents' swimming pool. Their daily activities? Back flips, diving for rings, floating around. Eating large amounts of ice cream and then jumping back into the water.