Carter's Tern-about

When a 20-something woman began running down Barefoot Beach I took notice. In front of her was a flock of 25-30 Royal Terns and assorted gulls and her intent was obvious - get every single bird to fly. As bird after bird took off to avoid the rampaging woman in a sun dress, Ma-Le suggested that we (including my sister Tara and family) get up and rampage toward the woman. I would have done it if I wasn't tired, comfortable, lazy and just too embarrassed to perform this display of karmic balance. I wish I had - I was annoyed - the woman not only disrupted our peaceful setting but when birds are disturbed like this they waste energy. One person doing this might not impact them much but repeated disruptions?

The woman and friends passed. The birds settled back down and relaxed and than my nephew decided to go for a stroll of his own.

Ah - some day I'll explain it all to him.....

Baby Time!

He doesn't know it, but when he was 5 months into his gestation, my new nephew got to experience the Everglades when his pregnant mom, not pregnant dad and little sister visited in April and we went to the Everglades. There's my justification for the birth announcement here on the Everglades blog!

August 21st at 1:15 am Carter William was born to Brian and Tara. Little sister is thinking...."this is not happening....can we give him back?

He's adorable.

3 Minutes

There are many things that you can safely assume will take a specific amount of time.

• Watching a baseball game - 3 hours
• Checking your personal email during work - 30 minutes
• Watching a sitcom - 21 minutes (with Tivo)
• Having your oil changed - 15 minutes
• Solving a Soduko - 9 minutes (easy version)
• Brushing your teeth - 3 minutes
• Waiting at a typical Florida traffic light - 3 minutes
• Changing a baby's diaper - 3 minutes
• Returning clothes at the GAP? 3 minutes? Come on!

Sunday was Tara, Brian and Peyton's last full day here in Fort Myers and despite the Tornado Watch and the heavy downpours, the plan was still to head to the beach for one last walk in the sand. The storm warnings over, the bad weather past, it was time to head out. But the baby had to sleep.....2 hours later, the baby rested, it was time to head out. But Tara, feeding for two, needed to devour leftover General Tso's. 20 minutes later it was time to head out. But Brian decided he too was now hungry and served up a round of PB&Js. 15 minutes later it was time to head out. As the wind was now blowing the sun down towards tomorrow, Tara decided she needed to return a few things to the GAP before they closed at 5 pm. "It'll take just 3 minutes!" The urgency was understandable. Who knows when and where you'll find another GAP in Florida. And it would only take 3 minutes.....

Has a clothing return ever taken 3 minutes? or 15 for that matter! Thankfully Peyton had received Finding Nemo for her birthday and we could at least watch that again as we waited in the car. We had only seen it 4 times up to that point. I think Tara knew she was in trouble when she stepped out of the vehicle and looked around at the labyrinth-like shopping plaza. It would take at least 3 minutes to find the store, 5 to explain why she was returning the clothes, 5 to explain that she had a crying baby in the car (in truth, a fish-induced hypnotized baby) and another 8 making phone calls apologizing for taking longer than the original 3 minutes. For the record, it takes 28 minutes.

We made it to Sanibel, the top-rated beach in the US for seashells, just before sunset and had the fun of watching a 2 year old exploring the spoils of a storm-tossed seashell strewn beach. Sea Slugs, Pen Clams, Sand Dollars, Scallops and Starfish all lined the edge of the surf. Hard to imagine what a baby must think of it all.
Regardless of the gap of time lost to the opposite of shopping, every minute spent on the beach with the baby was worth the wait. For anyone that couldn't download Peyton's birthday balloon fest last blog, I've fixed the problem so you can see it now. MaLe and I have also added a new version - an homage to childish behavior.

Let Me Eat Cake

When you're 2 years old and it's your birthday you can:
A) Cry if you want to
B) Demand donuts and cake

I was lucky enough to spend the day with Peyton and family on her first birthday in 2006 when the mostly immobile little girl pretty much made baby noises and pooped in her pants, but this year the family came to visit in Florida and birthday number 2 would involve a trip to see monkeys in the zoo and alligators in the wild.

With the baby loaded up with a face full of chocolate munchkins, we headed to the Naples Zoo (the old "Jungle Larry's"). If there's one thing 2 year olds don't like it's 95 degrees and 100% humidity. (Ecuadorians on the other hand - love it!) No sooner had we left the comfy confines of the air conditioned ticket/gift shop when the meltdown began. We did see the Planet Predator program with zookeeper Cindy - formerly a contestant on the show Survivor, but the heat got to the baby and away we went.

Would a boat cruise out to the monkey islands help the day improve? The baby loves monkeys! There are several small islands that a pontoon boat cruises around, inhabited by gibbons, siamangs, patas monkeys, spider monkeys and colobus monkeys. Look Peyton monkeys! "Peyton go home now".

Oh well. Half way through the Alligator feeding show, the baby decided enough was enough, Florida humidity getting the best of her.

A good 2 hour nap through the Big Cypress Preserve allowed her mom and dad the chance to see some big gators out in the wild. (a small one pictured here) It turns out all a baby needs is balloons and cake.

All through her birthday dinner she chanted "Caketime". Donuts, monkeys, and cake. It's a dream day for me.

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