Alex's Day at the Zoo

Don't feel bad for Alex that we went to the Capital One Bowl game and that he was stuck home not having any fun.

Aunt Kristy, Uncle Mike, Josh, Amanda and Mikey took Alex to the Lowery Park Zoo in Tampa.  From the looks of the cell phone pictures I was getting all day, Alex was having an absolute blast with his family :)

Here are the pictures I got from Uncle Mike (and two from Amanda):

Alex and Uncle Mike walking - rumor has it that he only wanted Uncle Mike to hold his monkey tail:

Thank you guys for showing our boy such a good time!  I know he had a great time with you all and he has been talking about it non-stop since we left.  Thanks again!

Tampa Bay Downs

My grandmother is Director of Security at Tampa Bay Downs.  While we were visiting her in Tampa, we decided to go to her work to see the horses (Alex had been talking about it for a few weeks).  Alex had a very full morning.  He got to sit on a horse, drive/ride in a big green tractor, got a pair of glasses from one of the jockey's, drove a golf cart and sit in a police car and activate the sirens and lights.  All of that happened before noon...he is a lucky little boy!

Thanks Grandma for having such a cool place for us to come visit!

Here are some pictures of Alex on the horse...he really liked it:

Feeding the horse some peppermints...yes, horses like peppermint:

Grandma and Alex looking in at the horses:

Alex on top of the big horse!  He loved it:

Love this one:

He was so excited watching the other horses get fed.  They were neighing and jumping around like crazy.  Alex thought it was great :)

Capital One Bowl Pep Rally

On Thursday afternoon, we decided to go to the Capital One Bowl Pep Rally.  It was held at an Orlando outdoor mall.  They had face painting for the kids, balloon animals being made, music being played and an all around fun atmosphere.

While we were waiting for the fun to start, one of the photographers for The Decatur Daily took a great picture of Alex and Larry.  It was even published on their website!

Going into it, we knew that each team would have their band play, cheerleaders cheer and the head coaches talk for a minute.  Fortunately for us, they also had a few players for the teams show up as well and Eli Gold (the voice of Alabama football) was there to introduce Nick Saban and the rest of the team.  It was so neat and something great to be a part of!

Here are a few pictures from the Pep Rally:

Alex as Batman:

Larry:

Ok, these pictures are pretty funny....Alex is checking out his face make-up in Larry's glasses:

Our Batman:

Eli Gold - the voice of Alabama football:

Larry and Alex:

The Million Dollar Band from Alabama:

Nick Saban and his players:

Another picture of the band:

My boys:

The Alabama Cheerleaders and Big Al:

The picture that was posted in The Decatur Daily:

Unfortunately, we didn't stay for the part of the Pep Rally for Michigan State University.  Alex didn't nap all day and he was getting cranky and we knew that we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us to get to Tampa to see my family!  We had a great day and loved all of the Capital One Bowl festivities.  

We can't wait for the game....we are so excited!

Citrus Bowl Parade

Little known fact:  I am a Michigan State Spartan fan (my grandfather and my dad both went to college there), Larry is a HUGE Alabama fan (well, that isn't a little known fact).

Normally, this little known fact is not a problem for our relationship.  Michigan State is in the Big Ten and Alabama is in the SEC.  They have never played  each other...until this year!  This year, based on their records for the year, they were scheduled to play at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando on January 1, 2011.  Because we were going to be in Orlando for Disney, we decided that it would be really fun to go to the game!  We also found out about a few of the festivities surrounding the game and thought they might be fun to attend also.

The first thing we were able to go to is the Citrus Bowl Parade on December 30, 2010.  Alex had never been to a parade before, so we thought that it would be really fun for him.  There were floats that were decorated all with Citrus fruit, both of the teams bands played and the mascots were there, high school bands from across the country were there and there were also people throwing necklaces and candy (Alex's favorite part)!

Alex was making friends with the people we sat near and dancing for the crowd.  Our kid really never meets a stranger!  I think he had a great first parade and Larry and I had a really good time, too!

Here are a few pictures from the parade:

Larry and I before the parade started showing our team pride:

A few of the floats:

Big Al and the Million Dollar Band (from Alabama):

Alex was asking the little girl next to us if she was okay because she covered her ears while the bands were walking by:

Another float:

Sparty and the Michigan State University Band:

A float:

Our little dancing fool (yes, he was wearing his bandana from his Pirate Day at Disney):

Another picture of Larry and I taken by the people at MyFanPics.com: