Celebration. . . Love. . . Family. . . .

Celebrated the hubbs birthday this weekend, he got the full pampered treatment.  We had homemade meatball subs, black bean quinoa salad, and beer cheese dip with corn chips, and key lime pie for dessert.  Everything homemade except the key lime pie, it was frozen.  He also got to watch football all day uninterrupted and Miami won, he is a big kid at heart.  It was a great day for all and the food was a BIG hit.
I got to talk with Sprat for a little bit, he was filling me in on that was going on at school.  They have a therapy dog named Cooper that comes to the school periodically that the kids can go by and visit and play with.  Sprat said he had visited with Cooper once before when he was on campus. Sprat is enjoying his time at school and has made some new friends.
Big T is spreading his wings and trying to decide what he wants to do in school, Big T had stellar grades this session and I am looking forward to what he will decide. There are a lot of what if's floating around our house right now and they are in complete opposite directions of each other. I hope his school will give him some opportunities to try out some of these new interests. 
I love watching my kids grow and change, both of their interests have changed over the years. Big T's have changed just in the last few months. Life just keeps getting interesting around our house.
Stay tuned, never a dull moment. .. .

Drivers, Cars, Kids, School. . . Updates. . . .

Big T finally got his driver's license.   Between my schedule and his classes we had a hard time getting everything together.  He had his license for several days before he even wanted to drive anywhere.  He did talk to the school about his parking pass so, he will be able to drive to school and then ride the bus to his school and that will save us on gas.
I was chomping at the bit to get my license when I was sixteen but, neither of my boys have been very excited about it.  Big T did get his license before Sprat though, Sprat was seventeen before he got his license.  My kids are not the only ones that have not gotten their license as soon as they turned sixteen.  I have heard many of my friends  talk about their kids not getting their license right at sixteen either.
You all know Sprat took my little raspberry to Boston so, Big T will be getting Sprat's little blackberry to drive.  I took it and washed it and tried to clean it up a little before we headed out to the DMV.  I was a little embarrassed at how dirty the car was, it really needs a deep clean.  I may take it somewhere and have it detailed later.
Now that we have another driver, it seems we are getting closer to an empty nest.  The boys do not depend on us to take them here and there and they are becoming more and more independent, like young adults.  I am excited to think about an empty nest, the hubbs and I spending quality time together and traveling.  Planning the college tour to Florida and all of our little side trips we took sort of got me excited at the fact that we would be able to do this just the two of us if a few years. 
I really enjoyed our trip to St Lucia, WI that was also a little glimpse at what empty nesting might look like for us. I have always wanted to go to Italy and I would love to go back to Germany and Switzerland.  The hubbs is not that keen on traveling but I think I could talk him in to those trips.
Stay tuned as our College  tours are just beginning and Lax season is getting started.

College Visit and a Little History Tour. . .

It is good to be home!  We made a whirlwind trip to Florida to visit University of Tampa for Big T.  He loved it and it was a very pretty campus with lots to offer.  The admission office is on Tampa's haunted destinations.  I overheard a student talking with the family of a prospective student and telling about the fact that the building is haunted.  That might be a draw back to some but certainly not to Big T, he loves ghost stories especially places that he can visit.   We ate in the school food court and that was really good. 

This is the admissions office that was a hotel back in the day and the train depot was right outside.

This is the haunted admissions office.

Big T and the hubbs outside the admissions office 

The backside of the admissions office and the quad.

The front porch of the admissions office 

The best Key Lime Pie Ever!!!  located in Ft Pierce Fla. 

Navy Seal Museum of Ft Pierce Fla 

Amazing place with lots of history 

The Yorktown 

Beautiful scenery we got to enjoy. 

We had such a great time and saw some beautiful scenery.  We did visit two other colleges that did not make the cut.  We drove around and spent some time in and around Tampa and it is a beautiful area.  We used to vacation in Ft Lauderdale  when I was little, I had never been to a NC or SC beach until I was a senior in high school.  This trip brought back some great memories, we did not get to go as far as Ft Lauderdale this trip but it was wonderful to be back in Florida.  I am excited that Big T is thinking about going to UT.  

We toured the Navy Seal museum in Ft Pierce and it was very interesting.  Lots of history and the hubbs and Big T loved it.  We had the best seafood there also and did a little visit to the beach there.