my favorite image from this Thanksgiving :

Arlo was old enough to eat his first real Thanksgiving dinner

he liked it

I don't think he could get anymore in his mouth if he tried!

we actually had Thanksgiving "Dinner" last Sunday

my brother was here from Michigan

and we got the family together at our house

I didn't get a picture of the turkey

but I did get this picture of Mom's special strawberry jello thing

we love it and it would not be thanksgiving without it

Beth made 2 beautiful pies from scratch, and I missed getting

their picture before they disappeared

Thanksgiving in Florida, eating out on the lanai

in view of the palm trees

great photo of my dad and Em

a nice one of my mom

after dinner was the family croquet game

some discussing of the rules was needed

yep, he is going to "send" her....

today, the real Thanksgiving

we went to the play structure at the beach

and had turkey sandwiches

it is a really nice place

even though the beach was crowded

there was no one but us back here at the play park

you can't see it from the beach parking lot and I

don't think many people know it is there

crazy swinger

brave boy

Beth found this awesome double stroller on Craigslist

Lulu Bell is one sweet baby

(oh, her head isn't really pointed - it's the hat...)

we had a great day, hope all of you did too!

you'll feel better

that's the motto of the Warm Mineral Springs in North Port, Florida

thought to be the Fountain of Youth found by Ponce de Leon in 1521

(1521 - wow, no screens or air conditioners....

tough time to be in Florida)

this is an aerial view several years ago

the springs is essentially a cenote, a deep limestone collapsed cave

"During the ice age, Warm Mineral Springs was an underground cave with a lake at the bottom. As glaciers receded and the ice caps melted, the water level rose. Eventually the ground over the cave collapsed, exposing the lake. Over the years, divers exploring this sinkhole have discovered 11,000-year-old remains of prehistoric hunters, saber tooth tigers, a giant sloth, and camels, proving that the cave was once above water. Today the spring is an hourglass shaped geological feature that is 230 feet deep. More than nine million gallons of warm water flow into the springs each day from a 3000-foot deep aquifer, keeping the water a constant 87 degrees year round."

Read more: http://attractions.uptake.com/blog/warm-mineral-springs-north-port-florida-2447.html#ixzz1eDWBk95k

the springs boast

and

it is also the largest warm mineral spring in the world

wow and only 12 miles from our house

we have lived here 2 years

we heard about it, but it cost $20. bucks each and we thought well....how good can it be

so on Groupon I found a deal, 2 for lunch and swim for $35.

that made it worth trying

at first when we got there it seemed kind of cheesy

lots of old people speaking some eastern European language

then we got in

it was cold at first but then we got use to it pretty quick

clean, clear water with a nice sandy bottom

there was a slight current that went around clockwise

we floated around for an hour then had lunch

it was a great natural food restaurant

everything was organic and fresh

it was lovely sitting on the deck, eating and watching the springs

 oh by the way, the fountain of youth did de Leon no good though

he was attacked by natives and died of his wounds a few months later

William did find a large petrified bone in the shallows, maybe it was his..........

 after lunch some lawn chair lounging

and we went back in for a couple more hours of leisurely floating

 I can't wait to go back

and you know what - I do feel better 



not your average day at the beach

the girls take the shuttle over to Siesta Key

to the Sarasota Sand Castling Contest

(about 30 miles north of us)

looks like there were some amazing sculptures

definitely some cute kids

Emily said they use some kind of glue and water spray

amazing!

the detail

and they are huge

looks like a lot of work

glue spray or not

the beach there is really beautiful

it has a very gentle slope

and Em could wade out a long way she said

the temperature of the water now is about 74 degrees

they weren't sure what was up with this one....

but you can see at the top how he is building it

Arlo stayed home and wore grandma and grandpa out

eat, walk, play with train, stroller, eat, ride in wagon, read, nap

ride bike, throw the ball, eat, read

feed the fish, water the plants and look for lizards

glad everyone had a good day



- which goes to prove and is a great relief to me and my friends that we are not in that 5% ( when have I been in the top 5% of anything?) so therefore we do not have a "drinking problem" and we can now forget about this and we can enjoy ourselves again.....

salud!

Vrry interesting article in the Guardian

written by the Grrlscientist

"Researchers captured 1000 vervet monkeys from St. Kitts island, kept them in a social group and conducted research on their drinking habits. They found that the monkeys' drinking behaviours were remarkably similar to humans:

• Social drinkers: the majority of the monkeys. They prefer alcohol diluted in fruit juice, will only drink in the company of other monkeys, and not before lunch.
• Regular drinkers: fifteen percent of the monkeys prefer their alcohol "neat" or diluted in water, not sweetened or diluted with fruit juice. Interestingly, steady drinkers do very well in social groups, and are good leaders. They run troops well, they keep order well, and they're very dominant. This type of alcoholic monkey is a very functional animal.
• Binge drinkers: five percent of the monkeys drink their alcohol fast, get in fights, and drink themselves into a coma. Just as in humans, there are more young males in this group. If this group has unrestricted access to alcohol, they will drink themselves to death within 2-3 months. Binge drinkers differ from regular (or "steady") drinkers by their drinking patterns rather than by the amounts of alcohol they consume.
• Teetotaler: fifteen percent of the monkeys prefer little or no alcohol.

For many years, alcoholism in humans was thought to be purely a learned behaviour -- the result of environmental factors. But more recent studies indicate that in humans, the tendency towards alcohol addiction has a genetic component: it tends to run in families. Research has found three regions on the human genome that may be linked to alcoholism. Unfortunately, since these areas contain up to 300 genes, it may be some years before specific "alcohol genes" are identified.

I think it is interesting that, despite living in a tropical paradise, without any economic problems or deprivation, this video clearly documents that some monkeys still become alcoholics. Additionally, this video shows how vervet monkeys' alcohol use mirrors that of humans, suggesting that they too, have a genetic component. Further, human and vervet monkey DNA shares an 84.2% similarity. So even though it is difficult to study humans' genetics and patterns of alcohol consumption, researchers can study vervet monkeys. So research is ongoing in these monkeys to better understand their patterns of alcohol use and abuse -- valuable since scientists can carefully control the monkeys' environment and the monkeys can be selectively bred so researchers can better understand the effects of particular genes on behaviour."

GrrlScientist · 26/04/2011 · guardian.co.uk

we had a busy Halloween

first a parade at Emily's grade school

Meadow Park

that's Emily in the white dress

the school said they had to dress as a character from an age appropriate book

she is Cinderella

she is wearing my wedding dress all safety pinned up and tied in the back to fit

and some clear plastic high heels we got at the thrift store

"they actually fit me grandma..."

I am so honored that she wanted to wear my old dress

the 3 amigas

Em's in a great class

that's her teacher, she is wonderful with the kids

very professional

Emily is going to learn a lot this year

some kids went all out on their costumes

this one was good

Emily has made several friends, it is nice to see

after school we met Beth at their friends

the mom's made cookies, really cool, ghost cookies

dairy free so Arlo could have some

(he loved them)

the little kids stayed home eating cookies

Emily and Simon wanted to go downtown and Trick or Treat

ah come on

 the main street downtown was blocked off

I was surprised how many people there were

Emily had changed costumes and was now a mod dancer

Simon put on a hat and was a mountain climber

Willi was a bird in a mask he made himself

cute kids

(are you bored yet, almost done)

this was my favorite, it was very magical

what would Halloween be without a witch

even our drum circle on Saturday night dressed up as hippies

(what a stretch)

except for us, we forgot.....thanks for the headband

I love Halloween, next to the equinox's and solstices it is my favorite holiday

not religious in fact pagan

a chance to express your fantasy, a chance to be shocked

I wore a white paper mache mask very finely made in Mexico

it has 2 fish painted across the eyes, it is very strange

it was fun to see people's reaction when they saw me turn around

I am also not adverse to candy......

this about says it all for me