Callie SGA ceremony

Week of June 23rd

Those of you that know me well, know that I am TERRIFIED of tornadoes. I have been, pretty much all my life. I have been near tornadoes (not major ones) several times in my life, mostly when I lived in Florida, but also in other cities. This week alone, there have been TWO, count them TWO tornado warnings where we are staying!! Ok, so both were innocent waterspouts with the potential to come on land making them tornadoes, but still. I actually have a picture of a waterspout and one of a funnel cloud that formed in a storm near us this week. On Tuesday, there was a waterspout near the Gandy bridge that came on land and did minimal damage. Then on Wednesday night we actually witnessed the formation of a waterspout right over us that eventually sucked back up into the clouds and got a picture of two more from the same storm. One that actually became a waterspout that touched land. Ok, so not your midwestern nightmare, but for someone who is terrified of tornadoes, I thought I was in Kansas… And to top it off the tornado warning that night was for EXACTLY our spot! Thank goodness for hurricane shutters….

Other than that, life has been good. Gus went fishing with Scott Nolan last night and they caught lots of keepers (can you say fish tacos for dinner tonight?!). The kids and I went to John’s Pass with the Abood-Calabreses yesterday and Callie and Alya got hair wraps. The boys were so good for the HOUR and a HALF that we waited for the hair wraps! Then things went a little downhill for the Hertz clan (hence the picture of the behavior chart). But we recovered today and had a good 4 hours at the pool.

The day before that we FINALLY went to the beach. The kids all had a blast and the weather and waves were perfect. Hardly any waves but enough for the kids to experiment with their boogey boards. Gabe was terrified of the water at first, but by the end he was swimming completely in the water. I didn’t pressure him at all, he just saw all the kids having fun and decided it was time to join. What a brave boy!!

Callie is currently down at the pool with her Daddy and Alexis’s family (at 9pm). They invited her down to swim with Alexis and she danced around the condo until it was time to go down. Her brothers are all asleep and have no idea…

That’s all for now! We are looking forward to the 4th of July!!!

Waterspouts and stuff

I never know what order these pictures will post in, so enjoy even of they are out of order!

Callie and Alexis in the pool today!

Gabe at the beach before he got brave enough to go in the water

Gustav testing out his boogey board

Looks like he got a wave!

Getting braver....

Hair wraps!

Oh! I may have posted this before... catching starfish while walking on the flats at low tide.

St. Pete Beach!

Gabe is practicing how to float on his back in case he gets tired while swimming. We had to bribe him to do this... He tried to promise he would never get tired while swimming.

Damien being occupied while waiting for Callie and Alya to get hair wraps with his beer holder pretend prescription bottle for beer. Thank goodness he can't read...

More practicing... it must have been a good bribe!!

Alya and Callie catching some waves

Don't worry, we do actually have some electronics while we are here...

Here is the picture of the waterspout that actually touched down near downtown St. Pete

Oh what a cutie!!!

Here is a picture of one of the 4 funnel clouds from that storm, This one never touched down.

Oh yeah, there is still some discipline while we are here. Thanks to Aunt Shellie for her teaching expertise. I do practically have a classroom here folks!

Alya getting her hair wrap... they got matching ones of course!

Gabe getting braver...

In St. Pete

I think going to St. John Vianney Church on St. Pete Beach last Sunday really made this summer seem real. I can't believe we are spending our third summer in St. Pete. This has been the easiest transition of all mostly because I think we are so familiar with our surroundings it has really become a second home for us. Thank you so much to Nonno and Nonna for making this possible!

We arrived on June 9th and moved into Aunt Shellie's condo. Gus worked from her condo until the 11th and then Nonna and Nonno arrived at their condo for our traditional week down here with us. We had a blast as usual but unfortunately didn't get to do any deep sea fishing or dolphin watching because everything was booked for Father's Day. We got our fair share of swimming, shopping, fishing and EATING though!! And mostly getting to spend time with them.

On Wednesday June 19th we moved into Nonno and Nonna's condo and have been enjoying every minute. Swimming and fishing mostly. Joe and Joey came down on Thursday to go night fishing with Gus and Gustav and they caught another fish dinner (well 2 actually). Then summer really began when Aunt Shellie, Alya and Niko made it here on Sunday. When they arrived and we had them over for dinner, it seemed like last summer was just yesterday.... We also spent a totally fun day having lunch at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa with Don and Meg (SO sad I forgot to take pictures!!)

And to top it all off, Callie's friend from last summer, Alexis showed up today, complete with a BFF necklace for Callie. They began where they left off last summer. She will be here for  2 weeks with here family.

Things we look forward to:

The BEACH!! I can't believe we haven't been there yet, but that tells you how much fun we've already had.
More dinners, swimming, fishing, etc. with Aunt Shellie, Alya and Niko who haven become out 5th and 6th children.
Dinner at Sea Critters! WHAT! We haven't been there yet!
Dessert at Paradise Sweets on Pass A Grille Beach
Fishing!! Did I say Fishing??!!
I am too tired to think of more...

That's all for now. More later!

Pictures first post to follow

Weeks 1 and 2 in St. Pete. These pictures posted randomly and out of order :)

Gustav caught this lizard but Callie wanted to hold it.

FIRST fish dinner of the summer!!! Yum! Seatrout, Seabass and snapper! Oh, and WHO is that eating fish.....????? Nonna???

On our way from St. Simons to St. Pete we stopped in Jacksonville to visit Ginny and Dick. their house is awesome and the cousins got along great even for only an hour!

Cuties!! Damien and Paul.

Speaking of Damien... he is a FISH!!! Loves to jump in the water and try to drown himself...

Nonno and Callie. I thought this was a great picture.

Yes, we ate this guy... Oh, the fish not the guy sorry.

Picturesque view from Aunt Shellie's condo pool.

Gabe says lizards are too quick, but he can catch some snails!

Ouch! hehe!

Nonna outfitted this kids with this season's most fashionable noodles.

Oh! Isn't he handsome!!!!

Loves drinking his baba by the pool :)

Ok, so this was actually the first lizard of the season caught by Gustav (of course). Either the lizards got slow this year or he got a lot faster!

On the road to Florida!

We have begun the journey to Florida for our 3rd summer. We left this morning and drove to St. Simon's island, GA. It took 8.5 hours and we only made 1 stop! We ate at our favorite restaurant the Coastal Kitchen. Then went to Fuse for dessert (self serve frozen yogurt place). Now is the fun part where we try to get 6 people to sleep in one hotel room (one being a 19 month old!)  What fun family memories!

First 2 pics outside Coastal Kitchen. Next -how do you get 3 kids in a queen size bed - well sideways of course! Last - mom and dad's after dinner treat (beer jugs)