Fire and fireflies

Over the last couple days we have been exploring the property and helping to clean the place up. Picking up pine cones and fallen branches so last night we started disposing of it all in a campfire. We all had fun adding things to and enjoying the warmth of the fire. Chance did a good job listening and helping with the things he could.
As we were about to go inside we noticed there were fireflies all over the place so we got ourselves a jar and headed out to catch a firefly. It was a funny sight watching us all try to catch one little bug (I remember it being so much easier) but in the end we caught one. Chance thought that was tons of fun and he enjoyed watching the firefly in the jar. He puffed out his cheeks and made faces remembering the firefly scene from Curious George the movie. We kept him overnight but set him free this morning so he can go on to light up the night again.

Nav-A-Gator

There is a restaurant in Lake Suzy, FL about 45 minutes to an hour north of Fort Myers that we have gone to a few times when we are here visiting. We usually meet Chuck (a friend of my Mom's) since he lives up this way and also a great place for Chance when the weather is good. Nav-A-Gator is right on the water, with a stage and a ping pong table and plenty of room to run around. Chance always wants to play ping pong and this time there was a little girl eating with he family who was about Chance's age. They had a good time playing tag, and hide and seek and of course ping pong.

After we finished dinner we went downtown punta gorda where every Thursday they have folk music jams on the river. It's a nice place to just walk around listening to the different styles of music that are being played in each little jam circle. I like exposing Chance to so many different types of music especially in a live setting. I used to travel to folk music festivals all around the state playing music and just being a part of that atmosphere so I really enjoy sharing that with Chance and one day I hope to take him to some of those same music festivals. This is perfect for now. This is the first time Chance was really interested in a particular instrument. In every circle he picked out the violin, asking me to move so we could get a good view of the violin each time and at the end I asked if he had a favorite instrument and he immediately said "yes, the violin." Interesting...

Preschool Storytime

I have always felt that libraries are one of our underused resources, most people don't even know where their local library is located let alone actually check out books. People think libraries are for doing research papers in school and that is all, that is so not true. In my travels I enjoy visiting local libraries a lot of places will give you temporary library cards that let you check out items for short periods of time and you have all the library's resources at your disposal, like computers and storytimes. Also, they are a wonderful way to learn about the local history and culture. And in all the libraries I have dealt with I can't sing the praises of the Lee County Library System enough. The stock is amazing, the staff is friendly and the programs are wonderful. I have a list of things the NOLA library doesn't have that I wait to pick up when I am here to read or copy for use at home.
Last Thursday we went to preschool storytime at the library here, It is a 30 minute storytime for 3 - 5 year olds that the children attend on their own. The lady at the desk gave each child a "ticket" as they came in then we all waited for Miss Heather to open the door (which was a small child size door), she took their tickets and let them in the story room. Chance never looked back. He went right in and I stayed outside with the rest of the parents. I could see him through a little window (see picture above) and every time I peeked in he was listening and having a good time. This program is just great, it is free, he gets some time "on his own" to learn and interact with other little people and I get 30 minutes to read or look around the library on my own. Two thumbs up! We will be doing this again this week for sure.

Darth Vader

Aunt Kristy brought home this fun Darth Vader mask the other day. It's changes your voice to sound like Vader. Chance thought it was fun to wear it around talking to everyone even though he doesn't really know who Darth Vader is.

Monkey playhouse

Last week we went to a place in Cape Coral we had never been before, Monkey Playhouse. I had heard about it on our last visit to Florida but just hadn't made it out there. This time however Scott is working in Cape Coral giving us plenty of reason to get out that far (about 30 minutes from Ft. Myers). Turns out Monkey Playhouse is right across the street from the station where Scott is working. So last Tuesday we stopped by to check it out. It is a big indoor play area with a bounce house and a ball pit and something they call a rice pit which is where Chance is playing in the first picture. There is rice piled up all around and lots of bulldozers, shovels, dump trucks and such to play with, Chance was a big fan. There were also lots of ride-0ns and tricycle type toys and other pretend things like a big kitchen and play house. Overall it was fun and I think we are going to go back again this week.


Chance just hanging out in the bounce house, tired after all that bouncing.

Relaxing...Sort Of

The other day Chance said he was tired so when he went into the living room to sit down, I didn't think much of it but after a minute when I really looked to see what he was doing in there I realized his "relaxing" rest didn't actually look all that relaxing. He was just being silly, he's good at that.

Fishing on Sanibel

So we have been in Florida for two weeks, I am again sorry I haven't been blogging regularly. I rarely get on an actual computer anymore since I can do so much from my phone, I can blog from the phone too but I can't add pictures to the blog anymore because I have used up all my free space though this might not be a problem much longer as I think there is an iPad in my future...

Danny, Chance and Grammy
Anyway the first weekend we were here Chance was treated to a weekend with Grammy as Scott and I went to Key West for a friend's wedding. We were there from Thursday to Sunday and it was an absolute blast! If there is such a thing as too much fun we came clsoe to having it. When we returned to Fort Myers our cousin Danny was in town and so the next day we all went fishing on Sanibel. Chance had a good time, he remembered what Grandpa Von taught him about holding the rod and reeling it in just a little at a time. Though we didn't catch anything this time Chance did get a few little bites.

Chance and Danny looking for treasures
Besides fishing Chance and I also scoured the beach of shells and other fun things to take back home with us. Chanace filled two Mardi Gras cups with shells and we found a starfish and a shark's tooth. I don't love the beach especially not in the hot sunny daytime so even though Chance would have stayed a lot longer we made our exit a little early returning to the house the clean up and rest.

Our treasures, a starfish and a shark's tooth.