Did I tell you I'm going to South Beach?

I totally am. 

In June.  For five days.  Without kids.  Or my husband.

I'm going for a Bachelorette Pary  for my girl Sharon who's getting married in September.

On a side note, I get to wear an awesome dress  in the wedding - I look a bit like Jessica Rabbit in it!!

Although with a much bigger waistline. 

And smaller boobs. 

And shorter hair. 

OK - the dress is strapless and red.  The similarities pretty much stop there.

Anywho - we're staying here:

Loews Hotel, Miami Beach

This is my first trip for more than a night or two without the kiddos and the hubs, and I'm not kidding when I say I'm a wee bit nervous about it. 

I've never been to Miami before and have no idea what I'm in for or where to go. Given how expensive it is down there, I'm hoping we spend 99% of our time on the beach.

I'm pretty sure I won't be eating or drinking much - ha!

Actually, since it's only a month away and we probably will be spending a fair amount of time at the beach, I probably won't be eating or drinking much for the next thirty days in preparation!

When I told the girls about the trip, Olivia wanted to know if I thought I'd run into any of the Real Housewives of Miami.
(Um, Wha...?????) 

Brian told the girls that mommy and Aunt Sharon are going down where all the rich people are and might not come back.

I told the girls not to worry - I'd fly them down to meet their new rich daddy!

Seriously- we were totally kidding and luckily the girls are used to our sense of humor.

Although I think they were a little too excited about the "rich" part of that statement....

So what does one do in Miami besides eat, drink, lay in the sun and pick out new rich daddies????

Patches

It has been a full week people - SpongeBob parties (more on that later), walking tours of my home town (lots of history there!)  upholstering my new bench (pictures to come - it's not quite ready yet) and front door painting (almost done!)

In between all that we managed to wash and shave our oldest dog Chauncey. Baxter goes to the groomers, because he's harder to do with all that long hair but, quite frankly, I wouldn't trust Chauncey with the groomer. 

He's a bit, um, unmanagable shall we say....

 Now - I should warn you that the pictures you are about to see are disturbingly funny in an "Oh, that poor, poor dog" kinda way. 

You see, Chauncey - much to our dismay - is getting older.  He has this coat of sleek black hair, but - as we discovered - it's only black on top.  So as we shaved him...well....see for yourself....

Poor dog looks like he's got a disease....

As the girls said "You ruined him!!"

 

And yes - he was shaved evenly.  Unfortunately, his hair color was not as evenly disbursed.

Poor Chauncey has been walking around with head hung, and everytime I got my camera out he ran and hid.  I think we ruined his self esteem.

That may have been from me bursting into laughter everytime he walked by me, but I'm not sure...

My car has a boo-boo....

That's what happens when someone runs into the back of you.  On Cinco de Mayo, no less. 

First, the driver (who wasn't the owner of the car which was registered in another state) gave me the wrong insurance.  Then the owner gave me the right insurance.  Then they decided to dispute it. Wop Wop Wop...

I "celebrated" hard that night.

I LOVE my car.  Truly.  LOVE. 

And I am totally bummed that I have to drive around with it like this until we get this resolved.  

On the bright side, other drivers see my car and avoid me, so there's that.

Eight years ago today

This little piece of sunshine came into our lives…..

Look close and you can see the tears - she had just fallen over and bumped her head

She made our family complete.

Totally different from her sister – Sydney Alexandra Henry was nearly bald with just a bit of soft downy blond hair. 

She’s sensitive to a fault – a cuddlebug to top all cuddlebugs, with a daring adventurous side.  She loves to play dress up, she loves to play cars, she loves her baby dolls and stuffed animals, and she loves to jump off high things and go fast.  

And the kid can fall asleep anywhere...

Seriously - I have about 50 pictures of her in various places sound asleep. 

As tentative as her sister was and is, Sydney is the complete opposite.  She has little fear – which made the toddler years interesting to say the least. 

And she’s the cutest little bugger you ever saw.  

Forgive me for the cuteness overload you are about to see…..

Our former nanny Mariya and Sydney at mom's pool

Love Bug, you make me laugh everyday.  Your dad and I love you soooo much. 

Don't ever change.

You're perfect the way you are.

Happy birthday beautiful....