Penguin Stocking

She can do this for 15 straight minutes.  Easy.

Holiday Parties

We had two holiday parties this year--Christmas night at Maureen's and the following Sunday at the Murrays'.  Unfortunately, my camera was in the diaper bag much of the first night, but I have a few cute pictures of Becca and her cousin Kaitlyn,

with (Great) Aunt Maureen, 

and with Cousin Meghan.

We were a *little* better about taking pictures at Rich's Uncle Pat's house, but not much.  Here's Becca, Grandpop, Aunt Maureen, and Cousin Kevin.

Becca's always had a special love for Cousin Rose--here are two of my favorite pictures of them.

Becca spent time in the kids' room playing Rock Band with her Uncle Brian, Cousin Ian, and cousins Katie, Alex, Mike (not shown) and Jess (not shown).

And Aunt Cathy was kind enough to pose for a picture with Becca and me (I don't think she's over the whole birthday-balloon incident).

And just before we left we managed a final shot with Aunt Jean and Uncle Angelo.

A Not-So-Little Video

The morning after Christmas Becca and I put in a little camera time.  This is the long clip.  Please note that I turned the video screen so she could see herself, which means I didn't know exactly where I was aiming the camera.  It's not the most professional way to make a video, but sometimes it seems to be the only way.  And I won't feel badly if you don't make it through the whole thing, but I couldn't bear to cut anything out.

And congratulations to the Nathan and Berkley---I hear you have a little hamster named Rebecca!  Send us a picture sometime and I'll post it.  ;)

Christmas Morning

Since this is the last Christmas we can probably spend in bed, we enjoyed it.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from that morning (the penguin sings).

The Dog Track

On our last day it was a little cool and windy for the beach, but perfect for the dog track.  Unfortunately Rebecca didn't have any luck with her bets (she'd point to the number in the program and Rich would place it for her) but she LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the doggies.  

And her daddy.  This is during the middle of racing--this is as crowded as it got out there.

It was another great trip and we can't wait to go back.

Bad Santa

Our experience with Santa went almost as predicted, with the smiling in line and the pointing at the exit the second she sat on his lap, but I never would have predicted such a crabby looking Santa.  Please note that he isn't smiling in any of the pictures, either.  We were third in line but he was 20 minutes late getting back from lunch, so we still waited.  You'd think he'd be in a better mood after lunch, but no.

"There's the exit."

"Help Me!"

"Over THERE!!!"

But she was happy enough when we were done (here she is with her "free" bear).

The Beach

We took some of these pictures on Friday (the 19th) and some the following Sunday.  

Our beach time Friday was cut short when Rich was stung by a Portuguese Man-of-War. The tentacle wrapped around both of his ankles, and really stuck to one of them. So we quickly packed and headed to the surf shop around the corner for some ointment and then home (condo) to look up treatment online. Becca fell asleep in the car, so I researched while Rich soaked in the tub--hot water.

In case it ever happens to you, DO NOT USE SAND TO SCRUB THE TENTACLE OFF YOUR SKIN. Rich did, and it just spread the nematocysts across the top of his foot. Instead, peel off with a stick or credit card, and rinse with salt water. Then hope you don't have an allergic reaction to the venom, which could include having your heart or lungs stop working. Fortunately this didn't happen.  

Here is Rich's foot after two days.  It got redder when he was active, and stayed flesh-colored when he wasn't.  He wore flip flops for most of the trip.  As of today, he appears to have made a full recovery.

Palm Beach Zoo

On Thursday we visited the Palm Beach Zoo.  It's a smaller zoo, and it was CHEAP!  $12.95 per person, plus (or minus, technically) a half price special through that weekend.  We had such a wonderful time that we didn't even miss the animals they don't have, which is surprising when I started listing them to myself (elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions).  But what they do have are some great displays and a great size for our little family to walk through, even when Rich is doing some work (by phone) on the side.

We planned it pretty well, leaving the condo at nap time and letting Rebecca sleep all the way there.  Here we are just past the entrance, where the girl and I slathered down with sunscreen and she requested a little snack before we took off.  She was in charge of the map.

Here she's telling me she sees and alligator:

The picture of the Mexican Axolotls is here for Rich--he had one in his classroom back in California (it was about eight times bigger than these are).

 

The iguanas were everywhere.

The alligator and turtle displays were among Becca's favorites.

Here she's growling at the bear:

And riding a turtle at the end of the day.

We finished up with a trip to the gift shop, where Becca selected a giraffe (even though we didn't see one, it's still her favorite animal), and then into the car, just in time for an afternoon nap on the ride home.