Honor Roll, Valentine's & The Italian Fest

February was an exciting month for us! Maddy finally overcame her long standing C average in Math and made A/B Honor Roll!  Hooray!  Mike & I are so proud! We hope she can keep up the hard work!

We also celebrated Valentine's Day!  The girls exchanged notes and had parties at school. Mikayla even got to die AND paint a cute t-shirt!

At home the girls got a treat from Mike & I.  Maddy, a new Monster High doll and Mikayla, some furnishings for the Tinkerbell house she got for Christmas.  Mike & I exchanged cards & cooked up a yummy dinner for two... steaks, loaded double baked potatoes & brussels sprouts.  Mmm Mmm... :)

The following week, we went to our town's annual Italian Feast & Fest!

Mote Marine Laboratory has a mobile aquarium that visits local events, the girls and our friend Shay had a great time touching the starfish, horseshoe crabs and sea urchins!

Opening Night is the best time to go to the Fest, all the rides are $1... versus the $3 - $4 per kid they normally are. What a deal!  The girls rode everything and anything they were tall enough for!

The girls played a couple games which won them each a goldfish!

This was the Italian FEAST and Fest, so of course we ate dinner... and dessert!

As soon as the sun went down the fog rolled in. It made for a cool picture as we were leaving. The Feast & Fest was a treat for us all!

Our Jedi Princess & the Jetty Picnic

Our first Birthday party of the year was a big event.  Mikayla's classmate was turning the big 5 and his sister was turning 4 so their parents really did it up at Grandpa's house, which turned out to be a mansion!

When I pulled up to the driveway, I thanked my lucky stars we didn't skip THIS party!

For Aiden's part of the party entertainment, his Dad lead the guests through a Jedi Academy completely in character. He taught the kids how to use their light saber to challenge Darth Vader!

Mikayla & her friends used their "shoulder shoulder knee knee duck moves" to defeat him.  Darth Vader and his Storm Trooper companion left the party hanging their heads in shame.

After the Jedi Masters defeated Darth Vader, the girls congregated to attend the Princess Academy for Esther.  Two of young ladies painted their nails, did their hair and make up and hosted a tea party.  This party was action packed!

After cake we made our exit. We had a great time and were so grateful to be invited to Aiden & Esther's Birthday celebration!

The following weekend we had a picnic at the Jetty, the place where the intercoastal waterway opens up to Gulf between our local barrier islands.  The Jetty is bustling place... boats, pelicans, fisherman and the occasional dolphin or manatee.  On either side of the Jetty are two beautiful beaches, picnic areas and playgrounds where we love to get together with our friends.

We love it here!  We can't wait to come back when the water is a little warmer for swimming!