Chalk Art 2012

After today I am able to scratch one more thing off my Naples bucket list. We attended Chalk Art on 5th Ave. We have seen it listed each year in the newspaper but just never got around to attending until today. It was amazing! There we so many people and so many talented artists.



What is Chalk Art? As the illustration below shows, it is when professionals, students and even children use only chalk to create original works of art on individual spaces up and down 5th Ave.









The weather was absolutely perfect but after walking up and down 5th Ave the kids were starting to fade. Since we were downtown Darin made a beeline to his favorite ice cream shop.







Anyone want to join us for next year's Chalk Art? It is always held in late January which is the perfect time to visit Naples.

Happy Monday

What have we been up to this past week? Not much ...



...the days have been getting longer so we have been able to enjoy some beautiful sunsets without having to leave the comfort of our neighborhood.



We are enjoying a short hiatus from Saturday sports. We are able to partake in a home cooked breakfast rather than eating on the run.



We are experiencing records high temps so we need subtle reminders that it is still winter.



And, as always, the kids are growing like weeds.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Let's go Cats!

We ended the birthday week with a big roar.



We headed over to the east coast for the kid's first NHL game.



The Florida Panthers were playing the Boston Bruins (last year's Stanley Cup winners).



Since Mackenzie opted not to have a party this year she was allowed to bring a friend along.



Mason wanted to be a crazy hockey fan so he painted his face.



During the three hour game we witnessed just about everything professional hockey has to offer. We saw broken sticks, penalties, fans injured by flying pucks, overtime and a sudden death shootout.



And everyone's favorite, a good fight.



Kudos to Darin for purchasing the best seats, the evening was "purr"fect!

Here's the scoop ...

Mackenzie turned 14.





Ice cream was the special treat for a girl who is really sweet.



Happy Birthday, Mackenzie!

the celebration begins

The 14th birthday celebration began last night with a birthday dinner at Mackenzie's favorite restaurant.



Mackenzie invited her friend, Delaney, to come along.



Delaney had never been to Daruma and she really enjoyed the hibachi style meal.







The celebration continues tonight with a special dessert. Mackenzie had school today and needs to study for mid-terms tonight so we will have to cut tonight's celebration short.

the life cycle of a coconut

As the kids and I were returning from a bike ride this evening something happened to catch my eye on our two new palm trees. They are bearing their first fruit! Who says you can't grow something in the dead of winter, ha.



Does anyone know how long it will take for the coconuts to mature? I searched the internet for at least 30 minutes and came up with answers anywhere from 3 months to 10 months.



I think it will be fun to track their progress. Does anyone have a coconut recipe that they would like to share with us?

Winter has arrived!

We received our first blast from the arctic. The temperature dropped into the 30's and we were finally able to use one of our two Christmas gifts.



That's right, I said one of two. Somehow, Darin and I ended up buying each other duplicate Christmas gifts this year. Of course, the pit that I purchased won as we kept the one on the right.



While Mackenzie was in Dallas we packed away all of the holiday decorations. I wasn't quite ready to part with the tree so Mason and I turned it into a birthday surprise for Mack.







You heard it, someone special turns 14 on Monday. More details to follow.