Alligator Swamp

For those of you familiar with the show Swamp People, we had the opportunity to visit the Kliebert Family Alligator Farm.  It was a unique experience to say the least.  We went on a tractor-pulled hayride, pet several different types of lizards, saw thousands of turtles, and of course alligators.  The kids were even able to sit on the back of a 10 foot alligator!

 Oh and SNAPPY the turtle made a surprise visit!

 They had their faces painted - Taija got a turtle...Luke didn't sit still long enough for them to finish his alligator!

 Random donkey!

Baton Rouge Zoo

We are LOVING Justin's rotation here in Louisiana!  He doesn't have to work any weekends and so we have many adventures planned!  First up was the Baton Rouge Zoo!  Funny story - we were at the window ready to pay and I remembered that with my membership to the Miami Zoo we get discounts to some of the other major zoos, so I showed them my card and asked, and next thing you know we got in for FREE!  Yeah!

My cute kids

This post is just for fun...random pics of my cute kids!

 Luke's new tool set he got from Auntie Kate and Uncle Scott for his birthday

Silly Pa put Mika in a bag

HALLOWEEN

We are now in Louisiana!!!  We will be spending the next two months here with Justin's grandmother - MaMa.

Okay...here is a bit of catching up.  During the month of October I tried really hard to be a good mom and put together craft time for Luke and Taija.  I think we did a total of 7 crafts!  It seems that a craft with a two year old is a bit more challenging than I anticipated!

Spider hats! 

Halloween night was so much fun!  Taija began asking each night for about a week prior if it were Trick-or-Treating time.  And at last it was!  Side -note: Taija was supposed to be Snow White for Halloween, but right before we moved out to Louisiana she informed me that her costume was too itchy and that she wanted to be a witch.  Since I had to make a trip to the costume store anyway for Mika's cat costume I decided Taija could be a witch.  She was so EXCITED!
I made her choose a hat or a broom (since buying both would have been more than I wanted to spend) and she chose the broom, but since Grammy was here several days before Halloween she spoiled Taija and she got a cute hat that matched.  But of course while we were trick-or-treating she ditched both!
Luke was an extremely cute Police Officer!  So many people told me how cute he was - and I TOTALLY agree!

 Sorting through their loot

Luke is 2!

I can't believe it, my little boy turned 2 on the 28th of October!  Life has been such an adventure with this little guy.  He keeps me on my toes that is for sure!  Boys definitely bring with them and added sense of chaos and craziness.  But oh how I love his hugs, cuddles, kisses, and charm!  Luke is such a charmer!  He makes me laugh so hard when Grammy comes as he totally plays it up!  I can't imagine my day without this little guy!  Love you buddy!

We celebrated Luke's birthday the morning we left for Louisiana - it wasn't much, but we sang and ate ice cream cake from Coldstone.

Luke is all BOY!  He loves to run and play!  He idolizes his older sister and it is so much fun to watch them play together.  Everyday he is learning new words and I love to see how fascinated he is by anything new.  Luke LOVES to tell stories with as many actions as possible - we rarely understand all of the words he uses, but he can be very animated!  Happy Birthday little guy!

The Pier

A few nights before we were to leave Justin decided we needed a family night adventure...so we took the kids to the Pompano Beach Pier.  It was getting late, but the kids had a BLAST!  They thought the pier was such a neat place to be - and I loved hearing the waves crash!