The week (not) in pictures

I have been trying all week to upload some pictures but I keep getting error messages...I want to think it is my computer slowly dying and not the fact that I am not really computer literate enough to be the author of a blog, but I am not sure if that is the case. In addition, the DVD player on the computer no longer plays any movies. It would be really embarrassing if people who don't even own a TV actually wore out a DVD player on a laptop from overuse, now wouldn't it?
Anyways, I have attempted many times to report on what we have been up to, and since I can't get any photos up, you will have to settle for colored text, which I just discovered.
Sunday
The five of us made the 2 hour trek to Silver Springs. Yes, I included Banchi because they had nice little shady kennels right next to the parking lot with fresh spring water for his little travel water bowl. Not that he appreciated this, we could hear him howling as we headed toward the entrance. I think it is because he was interested in the parrots hanging out near the ticket booth, and was quite insulted that we got to check them out while he was relegated to a kennel, shady though it might have been. The highlight here was the crystal clear water and the glass bottom boats. There were also some rides, animal programs and boardwalks through alligator and bird lagoons. It was a lot of fun. Wish you could see the alligator photos...Surprised to discover that except for the Ocala National Forest, the drive through the interior of Florida was surprisingly not all that scenic. We have been spoiled by the lovely coastal drives and areas around Jacksonville which are quite lush and pretty.
Tuesday
We finally went swimming in Florida! Well sort of--it was a hot day but the pool is unheated, so it was more like jumping in, hyperventilating then racing out. The kids loved it, they have been wanting to swim since we got here. Then Maya and I went to see Bowfire. It was on a whim, and all four of us would have gone except Brett was tired from two days of lots of diving and early mornings. Jonah, as it turned out, fell asleep in Brett's lap 10 minutes after Maya and I left for the evening, so it was a lovely night out for us party girls. We saw a lot of little girls there, and Maya was delighted to sit next to one named Emily--they were so cute, introducing each other and dancing in their seats. The show was quite good, although nothing like Wintergrass and freeform jamming. Maya especially liked the classical violinist (she had long hair and changed her dress 1/2 way through the show), and also the dancers.
Wednesday
The kids and I drove to Disneyworld in Orlando. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive each way, so we left early and didn't get home until about 11 PM. It was so much fun! Weather was about 80 degrees and there were very short or no lines on many things, I think we waited in one 20 minute line. They loved it...I am so glad we went. Now I don't feel like I hate Disney anymore (I didn't have the greatest Christmas Day experience at Disneyland in L.A.) Jonah answered a trivia question correctly and won some "jewels" (Question: What hat did the Genie have on at the end of Aladdin?) and Maya got some autographs for her new autograph book. Aside from the fact that the two of them almost got in a fist fight over their differing ride preferences (Maya refused Splash Mt. and Jonah refused to move on until we went on it--in the end some neon yellow popcorn served as a good distraction and we were able to sneak away without the ride).

Let's see...the rest of the week wasn't all that eventful--it rained significantly, for the first time in a month. We even had a tornado watch for a few hours. We went to MOSH (Museum of Science & History) and also found a nice Children's Museum. Those were nice ways to pass rainy days. We still go to the library every couple of days and are reading a lot of Greek Myths, Magic Treehouse and American Girl books...Today we almost went canoeing but decided that it was just too windy, so we will try another day. It warms back up again by the middle of the week. Our flea bites are gone and Jonah's tick bite is healing nicely.

In work news--They bought another boat and I think it arrives later in the week. It looks like we will probably stay in Jacksonville until the end of March. Brett's workload is picking up since he is starting to move on to the report writing phase, so sometimes he works evenings and weekends on the computer.