Siesta Key Beach

Oh so beautiful! I wish I was back there again this Saturday.

The water really was that green & Stephanie told us the waves were unusually big for the west coast of Florida.

We headed out to Siesta Key early Saturday morning. The sand there is amazing, and the sun was brutal. It was pretty hot, but the water felt great.

We spent most of our day chatting and catching up with everybody. H had to purchase some $15 plastic sunglasses because he forgot to bring his.

Stephanie and Brad had way more energy that I could manage, so they played volleyball while I played with my camera.

And then H stole my camera from me! You can see the red rip-tide warning flag on the lifeguard stand in the background.

Back to volleyball! Some days I miss playing, but then I remember the 8 years of bruises and banged up knees.

These people had the right idea- bring your keg to the beach, bury it, fill the hole with ice and then put up the shade tent over it.

Nothing like a little self-portrait in the surf after a wave clobbered me . I *love* my other camera!

Siesta Key is is one of the top 10 beaches in Florida every year, and you can see why.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: We're going to see a ballet interpretation of Tango tonight.

Tropicana Field

Our first stop on our trip to Florida was a Tropicana Field to catch a Tampa Bay Rays game on Friday night. I'm not a great photographer, but the stadium looks crooked because it IS crooked and the roof is slanted in one direction. So odd...

But before any baseball game, you must have some warm-up drinks. Here's Brad & Stephanie, who made the trip up from Sarasota to pick us up. It was so good to see them! It had been almost a year since I'd seen Stephanie when she came to visit Houston last summer.

So happy to be on vacation!

Heading into the game- palm trees galore! It was also neat they had the lineup & the food special of the night was $1 hot dogs!

The entry rotunda was nice, and supposedly a replica of Dodger Stadium.

I thought the painted baseball diamond on the ground was rather cute.

I didn't realize the stadium sat empty for 10 years after being completed in 1986 before it finally had a full time team. It felt so weird to be sitting inside at a game- guess I don't really remember many Astro's games at the Astrodome in Houston.

We had some really great seats, watched a rather boring game, but had lots of yummy food. This was probably the most variety I've ever seen at a stadium- even an Outback, 2 types of ice cream and more!

This is their mascot, but I mostly just found it creepy!

I was fully prepared for a hot, outdoor game in the afternoon Florida sun. I was really cold sitting in the blasting AC watching the game.

It appears they are going to be building a new stadium too. According to the wiki article for the field, they have dropped a boat load of money into renovations in just the last few years. This new park does look pretty swell though- right on the water. Hopefully we'll be back in 2012 to a new stadium with a net-retractable roof.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Birthday party for H's mom tonight at Cadillac Bar.

Flying into Tampa

After some minor tenant emergencies as we boarded the plane, we were happy to see the beautiful coasts of Florida.

I thought this picture was neat mostly for the edge blurring on the windows. It's really tough to take decent shots out of an airplane. The windows are usually very dirty and scratched.

The best I can tell, we flew over an area called Indian Rocks Beach- a barrier island just outside of St. Petersberg.

How many golf courses can you count?

I'll take one of those houses down there on that spiffy island, throw in that boat while you are at it. ;)

Flying over Tampa Bay.

At the upper center of that photo is St. Pete's airport, with its runway jutting out into the Bay.

We however landed happily at Tampa International Airport, just in time to head out for our Friday night baseball game.

Just cause I love Google Earth. :) You can see the barrier island, the bridges and the airport.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Last day of school for the kids! The year flew by so quickly.

Garden Week 7

Not too much to say, other than things are getting bigger. I was officially home about 2.5 days of week 7 between Detroit & Florida. I tried to do a good job of watering & I can already see that they are really taking off this week (week 8).

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Had some yummy fish tonight for dinner.

Texas Wildflowers

I've had these wildflower photos since my long walk with Zoe back in April.

Nothing particularly beautiful or stunning, but I do think it's neat that we have some native flowers to decorate our landscape.
There are actually some really pretty fields of bluebonnets and Indian paint brushes at just the right time during spring. I just didn't get any pictures of them. :(


Oh how I miss spring! It's already too hot!

Even though they are pretty, they are just glorified weeds. =)

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures from our Memorial Day weekend in Florida.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Headed to South Texas today- officially completing my corner coast-to-coast trips, California to Florida, Michigan to the Rio Grande Valley.

BONUS GOOD NEWS: A new pic of Zoe & I at the park last weekend.

Cooking 101

Not that this will be a lesson, but it will be*MY* adventures in learning to cook. #41 on our 101 Things in 1001 Days was cook a new meal each week for a few weeks.

My first step is to make a list and commit to cooking one new meal a week. My standard staples that we eat waaaay too often for dinner are spaghetti, chicken, meatloaf, and hamburgers.

In the crock pot- chili & pot roast. I've made pot roast before, but I want to try a new recipe and make sure I've got it down.

Although tuna casserole is already my favorite, I would like to add Chicken Tortilla Casserole.

More chicken with a chicken soup and chicken Parmesan.

And to add a variety of meats, a pork tenderloin and a grilled/baked Salmon.

Hopefully I will get started on one of these new dishes this week.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Back from Florida with a great sun tan and lots of fun photos.

Ruby in Action

I had SO MUCH FUN at the park with Tony's vizsla Ruby. She's so energetic and social- running around, checking out everything, playing in the water, sprinting back to us.

Nothing is cuter than a dog shaking off!

She liked Zoe to chase the tennis ball, and then she would chase Zoe. She wasn't too interseted in getting the ball herself, she just wanted to play with other dogs.

She'd run back and forth around the dog-bone shaped pond, checking out other dogs and occasionally wading in the water.

So adorable and expressive!

Near the end of the play-date when we'd worn her out a bit.

Not so good (yet) with catching the ball. Tony rescued her in February & he's made lots of progress working with her the past few months.

Zoe is jealous of her long tail.

Get ready! Get set! Go....

The tongue hanging out was awesome.

And of course, she needed a bath when we left since she actually played in the dirt & water (unlike Zoe).

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Long weekends are awesome. Hope everybody has a great Memorial Day!