Salvador Dali

We headed out of town on Memorial Day for a quick excursion to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. The museum is home to 7 of the 18 masterwork paintings by Dalí, the most of any museum in the world.

The building is amazing just on its own.  It is a simple rectangle with 18-inch thick hurricane-proof walls out of which erupts a large free-form geodesic glass bubble. The view from the bubble was stunning. 





For lunch we decided to try something a little different, the Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge located at a private airport off the Tampa Bay.





Mason enjoyed getting a up-close view of a helicopter taking off.

Pride and Honor

Mackenzie had the honor of performing at a Memorial Day service at her percussion instructor's church.



We had the option to just drop Mackenzie off but decided to stay and enjoy the service.  I'm so glad we did, it was actually very interesting. Numerous patriotic hymns were sung and a memorial wreath was presented for local police, firefighters and EMT's who had lost their lives in the line of duty. The names of Naples soldiers from World War I up to the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars were also read.   



Mackenzie performed percussion with a brass band from the church.  They played the U.S. Armed Forces Medley. This was an exciting song because members of the congregation stood and were recognized as their service branch hymn was played.



This event was a milestone for Mackenzie. This was the first time that she had been asked to play percussion outside of a school event. She and her fellow freshman classmate, Zack, were personally chosen by their instructor to perform.

Another Letter (even better)

Just as Mackenzie was recovering from the honor of the academic awards, she was handed another surprise. The GCHS band hosted their annual band banquet last Friday night.  The banquet is a fun ceremony where the school celebrates the success of the band and gives out a number of individual awards to students.  My elementary school was hosting its annual carnival that same night so I toyed with the idea of skipping the banquet all together.  However, I made a quick last minute decision to sneak out of carnival and headed over to the high school. I arrived ten minutes after the start and saw Mackenzie along with all the other freshman leaving the stage after receiving their Varsity Letters for band. I settled in my seat thinking that I had missed Mackenzie's excitement for the evening.  Boy, was I wrong!  One of the first awards given was for the "most improved" freshman girl for the entire band.   You can't imagine my surprise when Mackenzie's name was called. With over 100 freshmen in the band, this is such a big honor for Mackenzie. We are so proud of Mackenzie; she entered into marching band with no prior experience and has excelled!     



Sadly, Mason has ended up with a walking cast for the next four weeks. This has ended his current basketball season and put a damper on some of his upcoming 5th grade graduation activities. Hopefully he will be given a removable cast which shouldn't interfere with any of his summer plans.

No bones about it ...

... having a kid in high school often comes with a few surprises. We entered the Underclassman Academic Awards ceremony tonight with no great expectations. We knew Mackenzie was going to be honored with some type of an award but we were unsure as to which one. You can't imagine our surprise when Mackenzie received an academic varsity letter for scholarship. Congratulations, Mackenzie! She has worked so hard for this honor.



Speaking of bones, Mason might have fractured his first one.  He fell while shooting hoops in the driveway. After an X-ray today we were given a referral to see an Orthopedic Specialist for a probable fracture to the base of the 5th metatarsal in his foot. So far he has been a real trooper!  

Back to Nature

After spending last weekend at Busch Gardens it was nice to get "back to nature" yesterday. Mason and I spent the afternoon at our State Park's annual Nature Festival.



Mason won the "Guess the Shells" contest.  He estimated that the jar contained 690 sharks teeth.  The actual number was 771.  His reward ... a shark's tooth to take home.



For the second time in his life he got to hold an alligator.  At first he was a little skittish because this alligator didn't have tape around its mouth but since it was much smaller than the previous gator Mason decided to give it a try.





We left Mason's palm frond art sitting out to dry and ended up forgetting about it. A quick u-turn in the car saved the day. We now have a new piece of artwork in the house. If you have never heard of palm frond art I highly recommend googling it, people have gotten so creative using fronds as their canvas.



FYI, Earth Day is the month. It is Monday, April 22nd to be exact. 

Sweet Eggscape

Even though Spring Break was just a mere two weeks ago we were all blessed with another 3 day weekend for Easter. With extra time on our hands we decided to make a quick bunny hop over to Tampa. First on our agenda was a self-guided tour of the University of South Florida for Mackenzie. Then, we did what we NaplesMorgans do best, we hit an amusement park (Busch Gardens) with a vengeance.

As a family we have now spent the night in hotels for all three of the major holidays ~ Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. I hope that it has taught my children to be flexible and not to be steeped in tradition.  Personally, I have enjoyed how each hotel has added its own touch to the holiday.  This past weekend for Easter we were treated to colored eggs on the breakfast buffet. Just in case anyone is wondering, yes, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are still able to find you even in a hotel room.

Flying like an Eagle

*This post is dedicated to every FGCU Eagle student-teacher intern who has stepped foot in my computer lab over the past 10 years.

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) made the nation stand up and take notice on Friday Night.  On Sunday, FGCU made history by becoming the first 15th ranked basketball team to make the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.

FGCU opened its doors in 1997 and we have seen it grow leaps and bounds in the past 10 years. We have been teasing Mackenzie this year that FGCU would always be her back-up plan for college since it is only 18 miles from our front door.  Of course, she has higher expectations such as UF and Florida State.

Even though I have never taken a course from FGCU, I still feel somewhat connected to the university. I have been on its campus for educational exams and seminars. Many Eagles have completed their teaching internships at my elementary school before graduating. Three years ago, we actually attended a FGCU basketball game because Mason had earned free tickets for a reading a certain number of books.

Do I think that FGCU will will the NCAA tournament? No. Do I think that FGCU will beat UF tomorrow night?  Probably not. Am I along with everyone else in Naples proud to be flying like an Eagle this week?  Absolutely!