The party

Victoria’s first birthday bash was a big success. Her fellow toddlers seemed to have a good time along with the moms. The gifts and cake were all great and the party was rowdy but fun for all.

There was even a visit from Victoria’s aunt Katie via Skype. Her generation will find this technology unremarkable. I can only wonder what new gadgets will be around for her tenth birthday.

I am glad to report that the pink car was a big hit.

I was also pleasantly surprised that none of the kids had a meltdown during the event. What more could you ask for:)

Preparations for the big day

This weekend was Victoria’s first birthday. This milestone was going to be celebrated with a small gathering of friends and family. But first there is the preparation. Now, our kids left the nest some time ago and I had forgotten some of the rituals that went with this kind of party. We had to decorate, make the birthday cake and the dreaded assemble the toys routine. I had promised myself that I would never buy something again that said: some assembly required. Clearly, I failed to take into account the parents plans.

Making the carrot cake involved me only as far as prepping the carrots. No Problem. Since mom had the forethought to get a bottle of helium, getting the balloons filled was also no problem. Then came the -easy to assemble- Little Tike Cozy Coup which was another matter. The instructions that came with it were nearly useless, but we were able to go to their web site and watch a step by step video .It was pretty good, as long as you turned the volume down on the music. Two hours later, it was done.

Now the preparations are complete, next phase-the celebration!

Shopping and a Lunar Halo

Yesterday we had absolutely nothing planned, so we ended up going to Destin, which is the area tourist trap. If you love shopping for all kinds of stuff or restaurants, you will love Destin, FL. We had a quick lunch at Panera Bread and then walked two of the shopping areas for those elusive bargains. Anneke did find a few items, but luckily I did not have to hire any bearers to bring the loot to the car.

When returning to the motorhome after dinner with the kids, Anneke noticed a strange ring around the moon. She wondered if an invasion from space was underway. This is a relatively rare event when the cloud conditions are just right. The ring is apparently caused by the light reflecting of the ice crystals in the high cirrus clouds. After a number of attempts, I did manage to get a couple of pictures that, while not really doing justice to the beauty of it, do give some idea of what it looked like. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I have seen one that had he complete circle around the moon. It was something to see!

Exercise and an invasion

Today, we decided it was time to exercise the motorhome. We have been sitting for 10 weeks with only cycling of the slides, jacks and running of the engine in place. It was definitely time to get all the moving parts into play. Normally, we spend a maximum of two weeks in one place, so there is no need for this kind of program. We headed out to the Gulf Islands National Seashore to enjoy the Gulf views and surf on this windy day. Halley is not allowed on the beach, so she had to be watched closely while she was outside. The last time we were here with Halley, a park ranger stopped us in the parking lot to just remind us that she could not put her paws in the sand.

We were able to enjoy the surf, run the generator and not get a fine for sandy paws. It was a nice few hours underway and lunch with a view.

When we returned I almost immediately had a conversation with one of the ladies in the park who was hobbling around with red and swollen feet. She had a nasty encounter with some red ants and was on the losing end of the meeting. Since I had a similar problem a few years ago in Brooksville, Fl, I immediately checked our campsite. Sure enough there were two fresh ant hills that had not been there yesterday. They certainly looked like the same as in Brooksville.

At the risk of offending those who think all creatures should co-exist, I immediately got out by Home Defense Max strength ant spray and sent at least several hundred ants on their way to their final reward. I have plenty of the stuff left in case I missed any.

All in all an enjoyable day.

It finally happened!

The last week has seen a big change in Victoria’s mobility and curiosity about her surroundings. She is walking more steps every day and moves around the house without restriction. She has been watching the cat come and go thru the pet door to the garage for some time. She would sit in front of it and seemed to be thinking about a transit.

Today was the day that she made the big move to try the door. It was quite funny and we could not help but think about the Winnie the Pooh video where Pooh gets stuck in the rabbit hole.

There is more child proofing in the works as she expands her horizons of adventure. It must be great to have so many new things to explore with wonder and innocence.