Christmas Lights

Well, I finally got around to doing Christmas decorations about a week before Christmas. Better late than never, right? It was an improvement over last year because I didn't decorate outside at all due to having an 8 month old taking up all of my attention.

This year we changed it up somewhat. Outside was decorated more than before as we keep accumulating more and more decorations. Inside however, we had to cut back so Ethan the investigator didn't touch all of the decorations and pull everything off of the tree or wall. We'll have a better display inside next year with our big tree which was kept in storage this year so Ethan wouldn't tear it up. We just had some cheap trees up this year with plastic and plush ornaments.

So here is the outside display for this year:

Here is the view of the lights from the street

I hung hooks for lights a few years ago that I re-used

This is the first year of the light show on the house and I took the "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" movie inflatable snow globe out of the attic. It has been pretty humid at night so a lot of condensation built up on the plastic making the snow globe effect foggy. Sorry Rudolph and Santa are blurry. Next year, I'll let the inflatable run during the day before pictures to prevent condensation from building up.

 Ethan really liked the inflatable.

 Maybe we'll get some Snoopy inflatables next year and see if he likes those too.

Toys for Tots 2018

As I have done the past several years, I participated in the local Toys for Tots toy drive which collects unwrapped toy donations on behalf of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve who distributes the toys to local children.

We were very successful this year and collected double the amount of toys we collected from last year!

Halloween and Early Voting

I took off work this year for Halloween because it was going to be the first time that I could take Ethan out for trick-or-treating. We had already taken him to Boo at the Zoo as practice. This year we found a local high school that was doing "trunk-or-treat". Instead of going door to door for candy, we could stay in the lit high school parking lot and go car to car. There were also police and firemen there not only to keep everyone safe, but to give out candy as well. The high school kids decorated their cars and dressed up in costume to give out candy. They also had a DJ for music. We donated some food to the local food bank which was the trade off they requested for hosting the event.

First things first, since I had the day off, we decided to vote early so we would not have to stress about making it to the polls on time or wait in long lines election day. There was still a (short) line and Ethan made sure that he was fussy the entire time. I guess voting is a pretty boring chore for a toddler.

Many of the students dressed up and enjoyed giving out the candy.

We got to visit a lot of cars to get candy since everything was in the same parking lot. 

 As usual, he has a short attention span and trick-or-treating only lasted about 45 minutes before he ventured off to play in the grass. 

Boo at the Zoo

This year was the first year Ethan got to dress up for Halloween and go out for trick-or-treating.

Since Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, most of the fun stuff for little kids was held the Saturday before Halloween. In a way, he got two Halloweens this year. The first was on Saturday evening and was held at the zoo. Stations were set up all around the zoo where kids could get candy.

Ethan was a natural and knew, instinctively it seems, to take the candy from the bowl and put it in his bucket.

No training necessary :)

Checking out the fox exhibit. The foxes were the same size as sparky.

He even got a free tote bag. 

Picture time. He wasn't interested in posing. 

He enjoys putting fingerprints on sunglasses. 

It was a chore to keep him out of the fountains. You can see some of the tents set up to give out candy. There was also a DJ playing music for the kids to dance to.

Rocktoberfest

The local fall/Halloween festival was called "Rocktoberfest". I posted last year's fall festival photos and talked about it being cold the first night and rained out the second day. This year Hurricane Michael affected the weather so it was pretty warm and humid on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to go both days. We went at night on Saturday and during the day on Sunday.

There was a petting zoo but we just looked. 

 The "Rock" in "Rocktoberfest" on Saturday night was the Kiss tribute band. Ethan was dancing to the music. He seems to like everything. 

 Here we are watching the concert.

 I'm giving Ethan a better view.

Day two, we're walking to the park.

Ethan picked his own pumpkin for Halloween this year. Of course he chose one he could pick up and throw. 

We decorated the pumpkin with stickers.

It was hot so he ran around in bare feet during the concert.

Lots of bounce houses to play in but Ethan needs to learn how to jump before he'll enjoy them.

Ethan had a great time and really wore us out. He slept well after this weekend. 

A Day for Kids

So we were back to the Fairgrounds again this month. This time the event was A Day for Kids.

This was cheaper than the Jurassic Quest experience and purely kid-centric. Basically I heard that there was going to be a toddler play zone and that was enough for me to mark the date on the calendar.

Another weekend, another chance for Ethan to wear our favorite "No Prob-Llama" t-shirt.

We even got a haircut together the day before.

Yes, more pictures of the play zone. He absolutely loved the mini-car track.

This is how he waits his turn. 

Another place where he screamed because he couldn't get in right away. He really enjoyed the petting zoo. Here he is with the lambs. Those were his favorite. 

Ethan meets his first llama while wearing his "No Prob-Llama" t-shirt. 

Well, that was it. After the llamas, he threw a fit and we had to feed him. Then it was back to the kid zone. He had a nap in the car on the way to a late lunch and that was our day. 

Jurassic Quest

Now that Ethan is getting older, we can actually go out to events. Not for long but either before or after his nap but at least we get a little family time to do things. Fortunately we live within 10 minutes of the South Florida Fairgrounds so there are always different activities and attractions to see.

This month we went to the Jurassic Quest. It is a touring exhibit of dinosaur animatronics that are very detailed. The exhibits were life size representing the scale of real dinosaurs along with some movement and sounds of the dinosaurs in a mock environment. It was good that the show was open until 8:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. We ended up going late on Sunday and were still able to see the exhibits.

Some of the exhibits were very large! They moved too!

Another large exhibit. I'm also holding Ethan's dinosaur balloon. 

I guess this is how big some dinosaurs were.

Of all the attractions, Ethan's favorite was the paleontology activity. It was a giant sandbox where kids used brushes to sweep away sand to discover the fossils underneath. He really liked playing with the sand and the lady running the exhibit was happy to have him there playing since he liked it so much. 

Big egg, little egg.

This was the only ride he was able to get on. It was fun for him.

Here is the dinosaur balloon the next day. It had just enough helium to stay off the ground and little paper legs to make it look like it was walking. That was one good thing about going the last two hours of the show, they were giving out free balloons to kids who stayed until the end. 

New Work Pants

I probably have 8-10 work pants I've accumulated over the years that are not for rough duty or business wear. Over the past year, I've really just started wearing a few of them and several do not fit right. I have a 33 inch waist but pants usually come in a 32 or 34 inch size so, you know, too snug or too loose. I've lost a little in the waist since Ethan was born because I'm not snacking at night and don't have much time for baking either. Anyway, I wanted pants that fit in a particular style.

My favorite brand of pants for work is 5.11 Tactical (bookmark this for my birthday!). As far as it goes, this brand is top of the line for what they make. I ordered two pair, the 5.11 Fast-Tac Cargo Pants and the 5.11 Fast-Tac Urban Pants.

What I like about them:
- Lightweight
- Water resistant (the water just beads up and you can wipe it off)
- Lower profile than heavy duty cargo pants (looks more like office pants than rough duty)
- Deep pockets
- Inside elastic waist so the size 32 stretches to size 33!!

What I dislike:
- The cut is not as slim as the 5.11 pants I already have. This is a benefit tactically for most people, but I was fine in the slimmer cut.

***Ooops: I originally ordered 32x34 and those were way too long. I returned them and ordered 32x32.

I'll be wearing these often and they will be in my regular rotation because they look and fit better than much of what is already in my closet. They also match the polo shirts that I order through work which means that no one from work will complain about me not being in dress code. The length and fit will also easily conceal a sub-compact and compact pistol in an ankle holster and of course they are durable enough to regularly wear a Blackhawk Serpa paddle holster on the hip.

5.11 Fast-Tac Urban Pants
(Selfie taken at a good work gym)

5.11 Fast-Tac Cargo Pants. Selfie taken in a closet....I mean a "gym" at work
Sorry for the trim on the wall blocking the view of the knees. The cargo pockets are low profile and don't bulge out.

Lion Country Safari

We all like the zoo, right? Now that Ethan is older we want to start taking him out to places like museums, parks, and the zoo.

The best zoo in south Florida is only about 15 minutes away from us and its Lion Country Safari. We've been a few times already and have taken some out of town family members in the past. There are two parts, a drive-through "safari" and a normal walk-through area with exhibits.

The drive through area has roads through the habitats of the animals so you can see them up close and even have to stop to let them cross the road. The habitats that are kept away from the roads are for the lions, monkeys, and white rhinoceros. The walk through area has more exhibits but much of it is geared towards children. There is even a splash zone and water slides.

Since we live so close, we decided to get a year long pass. After three trips, it pays for itself. More than just the cost, we want to go frequently because Ethan can't spend a day in the sun so we want to go frequently but for a short duration that way he can still get his naps and food at home. Also it rains a lot so we don't want to feel like we didn't get our money's worth if the trip got rained out. Now we can just come back on a nicer day. Also, some of the people we've met say they go just to take the kids to the splash zone for the afternoon and let them run around.

Ethan really liked the giraffe exhibit and got really excited seeing the giraffes. He got to feed them too.

My arms got tired holding him so long so he could see everything. He really liked it though.

Here we are watching the spider-monkeys run around.

These photos are from our second trip with him. We came specifically for the splash zone after his nap. It was his first time around a fountain like this so he was shy at first. 

Here he is exploring the water park. He likes running water so it only took him a few minutes to jump in. I stayed close by and got wet. Not completely wet, but I did get wet. 

After about 15 minutes, I had to make sure he wasn't getting too carried away because he was enjoying it so much. Just 15 minutes earlier, he was scared to go in. 

He had a great time and got nice and wet.