December is finally showing some cold weather for here.

So sweet...that is mama for you.

Jamila loves instruments of all kind.

She learned how to blow a couple months ago so she makes all sorts of noises with her slide wistle.

Some weekend mornings, we go to McDonald's for a very inexpensive breakfast. Jamila enjoys running around and peeking in the corner booth we sit at.

This is a new McDonald's and we really like the decor and the feeling here. It is much warmer in design and in terms of air too.

The booth is big enough for her to walk on from mama to papa.

Just tired out but she never forgets her trusty loveys.

On Christmas Eve we went to our friend's home out near Perdido Key about a 20 minute ride from our house but very close to the Gulf of Mexico. I had to have fun with Jamila's hair and use her little dress one last time.

Taking pictures of an 18 month old is hard but try and 18 month and a 26 month and it is near possible getting the faces. Samantha and Jamila are looking at the dogs in the yard.

I am not sure how she stayed still long enough to get this shot but maybe it was a mistake.

Miss Carmel at your service.

Dominic with Jacob - aren't they cute?

Esther and Kelly talking about everything. Kelly made a wonderful dinner with apple curry pork chops, shrimp soup, spinach strawberry salad, rice and two kinds of bread/cakes-apple and banana I think. YUM, YUM!!

Samantha playing with her daddy, Matt.

Martin playing with Carmel.

Time for a nap and a cuddle or two.

November, not cold yet.....

so we had a lovely time at the annual Greek Festival hosted in the Greek Orthodox Church parking lot.

The entrance to the church but we were outside, as you can see in the next pictures.

The boys dance and...

The girls dance and Jamila really wanted to dance with them. Before the formal performances, there was Greek music and everyone could go dance freely. That was Jamila's favorite part and she put up a big fit when I took her away from the performances. Whew! That was hard work because she loves to dance.

But we got to our table and ate some food and clapped along with the music. Jamila is trying to clap to the rhthym.

And now to inspect my cheerios one by one in my Papa's hand.

Sometimes we go for a walk along this finger of the gulf that goes inland. There are many different type of birds each time we take a walk. We can truly understand the migration of birds living in this area.

Any walk or outing is a time for investigation for Jamila. She especially loves nature and animals.

There are many interesting sticks, dirt and grass here.

Now some pictures of Jamila's busIness.

The best way to wear the boas is to wear them all at once. And I know this thing Papa uses must be interesting but how does it work.

Some days it is cold enough to wrap up in a blanket while watching Elmo or Diego. GO DIEGO GO!

Please get me out of this seat. Auntie Sarah I love my sweater with the bunny buttons. Thank you!!!

Ok, mama puts things in and takes things out so it is time for me to help her and make some noise too.

Jamila's first piece of artwork with fingerpaints and a big brush. She did not like the way the paint felt on her fingers so we used a brush. And she had fun!

Papa is the best toy. He lets me play on him.

Mr. Cool!

Where is Fall anyways - it's October??

October was beautiful with clear warm days and wondering if it would ever get cold. Perdido Kids Park was built by volunteers out near Perdido Key and one of the military bases.

As you can see, it is awesome! It's all wood and there is a smaller playground for the younger children even though they love to run around on the big kid playground too.

Jamila is not too sure about many of the walkways and tunnels.

But she will check them out a little.

One of her favorite activities is the swing where she gleefully says "WEEEE!" and giggles her heart out.

And the chimes are fun too because they make lots of noise.

What a day, it's time to go home!

Thinking or meditating?

My favorite activity is to read books. And mama has made a book bin for me so I can look for the books there.

Finally, Googlie Zoo, just what I needed.

Quack, quack I said when I saw myself in the mirror. Halloween was fun! We went to the Library for a story and got the black balloon and a used book. A perfect Halloween.

Adventures in Mobile with my Grandpa......
At the end of September my Grandpa Bill came to visit and we went to Mobile for a day. We first ate at the only Indian restaurant in the area and then stopped off at Starbucks for a coffee before going to the ZOO.

I love this chair at Starbucks since it was the only thing I was allowed to play on.

Does this look like a barn to you? Well it is and the entrance to the Mobile Zoo. It took us 30 minutes to get there from Mobile and my parents and grandpa were not sure we were ever going to reach it. I was getting cranky too. Tooo much sitting, not enough running.

The barn was the entrance and had some animals in it too. Here is the calf that I found though it wanted to nibble my stoller but I did pet it and got to mooooo!! too. There were other animals too - a squaking parrot and some lizards and a giant snake.

Then we went out on the trail where there were all sorts of animals - bears, monkeys, tigers, elk and many other animals as you can see.

I got to ride around in the stroller in the hot sun and feed peanuts to the animals.

Some more animals in a non-concrete environment. The Emu's like to peck and snap their beaks but they were very curious just like me.

I got to walk around some too and run and look at the grass and dirt.

And one part felt like a jungle with bamboo and some hidden animals in a cage to surprise us.

There are the donkeys, they say EE-AW and they liked the peanuts too. I am really thirsty but I had a great time see you later!!