Yesterday we took Rita to the beach. This was the first time she was able to actually play and not just sit there with a blank stare on her face. She was a riot! We played in the sand and stuck her toes in the 60 degree water. She enjoyed the sand but not the water! She also had her first taste of sand. John was worried she might get sick from it "because sand is so dirty." "You know, cigarette butts, dead fish & bird poop." I'd say she ate a dozen grains at best. She's a smart kid. It's not like she would eat a fistful of sand then go back for seconds. I had to reassure him she wouldn't die from some unknown sand poisoning disease.This afternoon we are headed to my parents house for dinner. We have to be there at 2 p.m. to help them move some furniture before dinner at 4:00. Remember the "Early Bird" Seinfeld episode? Yes, that describes life with my parents to a tee! We have to eat by four so that my stepdad can see to bar-b-que. The sun sets here about 6:30 p.m. but OK whatever you say.Since we spent yesterday at the beach in upper 70's degree weather we have some concerns about freezing our asses off on our Seattle trip next month. Looks like it might be snowing while we are there and you know how much Floridians enjoy snow!! I will be happy if Rita gets to experience it. But, I have to laugh because it gets so hot here in the summer you can't bear to be outside. How is that any different from a snowy winter?? My feet don't get wet? I don't ruin my imitation leather shoes?I'm very excited to see some old friends while we are in Seattle. I absolutely adore them and miss having them in my daily life. Not only do I get to see them, but I'll be eating some GOOD mexican food. Good mexican food is an oxymoron in Florida.

Having a toddler is such a joy!! John was getting Rita ready for her bath tonight. I heard the water running and can only assume he left Rita standing at the side of the tub naked.

John says: Mommy?

Me: Yes?

John: Can you come here?

Me: Sure

I get up and walk into the bathroom. Rita is in the tub and John is washing his hands.
Me: What's up? What do you need?

John: Well, look. (he points to the floor) I think Rita peed on the floor. I didn't see it happen but I can only assume because it was dry before.

There was a HUGE puddle of urine. I began to wipe it up and realized it was splashed up on the side of the tub & toilet.

Me: What happened in here? Why is up so high on things?

John: Well she was standing in it splashing it with her feet.

I laughed the entire time I was cleaning it up. My sister was here visiting and taught Rita how to splash in puddles.

Yesterday with mother in law in tow we went to the Florida State Fair. It happened to be a gorgeous day in the low 80's and partly cloudy so just when we got really hot the sun would hide behind a cloud for at least 15 minutes. We mostly went for the people watching. The only thing I wanted to do was shoot water in a clowns mouth with a really heavy metal squirt gun until the balloon growing above his head popped and the first person to do so would win a cheesy prize. I haven't been to a state fair since I was a child in Michigan and saw Roberta Flack perform. This fair had more rides, midway games and food than you can imagine!! There were at least 3 of everything: Fun houses, roller coasters, Pork butt on a stick tents, spinny make-you-throw-up rides, actually, there were about 10 of those. We walked the midway in search of the water/balloon game. Every game began to look the same and I was getting incredibly bummed. They had to have it didn't they? Then finally across from the Crazy Mouse rollercoaster - there it was!! John and I sat down, I picked #21 for my age and because it had a blue balloon. It was $3.00 a piece, a far cry from the .50 cents I used to pay, the prizes were somewhat better I must admit. But there was no clown head to shoot water into his mouth it was a plain ol target. The heavy metal squirt gun? Gone. This was some state of the art stealth-like water gun with two buttons!! Mother in law watched over Rita and took action photos of us playing the game. I won a sock monkey. Not just any sock monkey, but one that makes jungle noises and has a red ass. I will post pictures shortly.The people watching was stellar as expected. I tried to get shots of mullets and various people but the digital age has slowed me down. I can no longer capture pictures on an instant and trying to be sly about it can be difficult as well. I will tell you there were long mullets, short mullets and mostly overprocessed mullets. It was awesome!Another highlight of the fair was the livestock. We saw horses, cows, miniature ponies, rabbits, chickens, roosters, eggs & ducks. The cows were by far the best but Rita had no interest in anything furry at this point in her life. John kept mentioning how hungry he was for a steak. There was a "mooternity ward" where we could watch a baby calf being born. I asked John what kind of livestock I could raise at the beach so I could enter next years fair. He looked at me as though I was mad. Surely I could have a pygmy goat?! After the whole deal with E coli break out last year we avoided petting the animals. I didn't have a dire need to pet a cow anyway - once you've petted a cow is there really any reason to pet another? There was also contests for woodworking, quilting, aquariums, cheese, photography, wine making (no free samples) and exhibits of all the counties in Florida. I don't remember anything like this from my childhood. Maybe I spent all of my time outside the beer tent waiting for my father to give me more money to go ride spinny make-you-throw-up rides.