Seminole Hard Rock Hotel

This Spring Break, we planned two "mini" trips. The first one was to Fort Lauderdale to stay at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel with our good friends, the Faers. The Hard Rock has an awesome pool to entertain the kids and a casino to entertain the adults. Our next "mini" trip is to Stuart on Saturday for Shannon Griffin's bridal shower. Mackenzie can't wait, this is the first shower she has ever been invited to attend.

Entertaining Mason

Yesterday, Dad spent a lot of time throwing the football to Mason.

While I spent most of my time here. I was lucky enough to receive one of ten scholarships from my district to enter the Mimio Master Program. Mimio Masters are practicing teachers, tech coordinators, and other educators who have completed a rigorous course of study on how to use interactive teaching and interactive technology products in the classroom. The good news, it is only a 5 week program and I already see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

Published

Mackenzie wrote the following poem "I want" for a class assignment. Her teacher liked her work and submitted it to the middle school's literary magazine. Great job, Mackenzie!

I Want.....
By: Mackenzie Morgan

To see the pollution of New York;
To smell the water of
Niagara Falls;
To taste a sandwich from
Jason's Deli;
To feel the sand in Texas;
To hear the "wows" of people at
the Holocaust Museum;
To see the damages in Normandy
from WWII;
To smell the seaweed being
cooked at Reina's house in Japan;
To taste the popcorn this
afternoon at my house;
To feel the straight A report card
in my hands;
To hear the cheers of a tennis
game I won;
To see the Eiffel Tower in Paris;
To smeel the air of the U.K.;
To taste the food from Hollywood:
To feel the Berlin Wall;
To hear a good book in my head;
I Want.....

Happy 45th Birthday, Darin!

How do you celebrate your birthday when it is on a Monday night? Begin with Happy Hour while Mason is at ATA.

Peruse your new book on Ireland that arrived in the mail that day. Thanks, Angie! How many weeks until we leave?

Head on over to Outback for your annual steak dinner, a family tradition for us.

The prefect ending, a piece ice cream cake from Cold Stone.

This n' That

As most people already know, it is snowbird season in Florida. This year, the kids and I decided to keep a record of all the state license plates that we have seen during the months of February and March. As you can see from the map above, we are only lacking a few states. Season ends around Easter so we only have two more weeks to find the missing ones.

On Friday, we received a special postcard in the mail. It was from one of Mackenzie's new middle school teachers who wanted to thank Mackenzie for her positive attitude and participation in class.

Mackenzie's reward for receiving the postcard, a trip to the nail salon for her first pedicure!

Darin snapped a quick picture of Wagner before dropping him off at All Dog's Hair Haven. This is the "before" picture, are you ready for the "after" picture......

We all think he looks great except for Mackenzie. She swore it wasn't Wagner and that they had sent us home with the wrong dog.

Lastly, I am publicly embarrassed to admit that I cannot wait for Dancing With The Stars to begin tomorrow night. Darin and I have our final "beginning" ballroom dance class this week. Our second 6 week session will begin a week later, the second session is called "non-beginning." Does that tell you something? We can't even call ourselves intermediate or advanced yet. Sadly, we have a long way to go.

Books Versus Television

We have a strict television rule in our house, no television between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. Most days, the kids try to squeeze in as much t.v. as possible before 10. That's why I was so surprised to find Mason curled up in bed reading a book at 9 in the morning.

Geocaching

Mackenzie and Mason pointing to the hidden geocache

The "goodies" inside this geocache

Signing our name to the logbook

This blog post is dedicated to my brother, Derek, who introduced us to the world of Geocaching. This hide and seek game consists of using a hand held GPS (we use our iphone) to guide you to a destination, where a hidden container (or "cache") is stored. Once found, you log your visit in an included logbook, and optionally trade one of the many contained "goodies" for one of your own. So far, we have found seven geocaches around the Naples area. They have been as close as a quarter mile from our house and up to 20 miles away. What family fun this has become, thanks Uncle Derek!

Belt Promotion

Mason broke his boards last Friday to earn his 1st Degree Black Belt. He had to wait an entire week for his belt promotion ceremony. This past Friday night, he recieved his new belt. He had to break a victory board and give a speech.