Life in the Sunshine state

Well, we have been here almost 3 months now! I can't believe its been that long! I have to say I really like Tampa. The "winter" weather is really nice. I love our location although I don't know if we will buy something in this specific area. We are still looking. I love the scenery and being so close to the beach. I love that my children can start swimming lessons March 1st in an outdoor pool and I love that I have a tan and its not even mid-march! ;) I'm happy with Hannah's school even though we really miss her old one... I love that it takes me 7 minutes to get there!
I miss family. I miss friends. I miss knowing my state as "home". Overall, we are very happy here and look forward to settling in further!
Here are a few...or a lot of pictures from the past few months!

We had a visit from Graham, Laurel and Audrey!!!
The boys at the zoo
Hannah and Audrey. (Hannah pouting...)

Hannah loves climbing trees! Who knew?!

A little trip to downtown Disney. Laurel had a conference in Orlando so Graham and Audrey played with us. They ended up playing a little longer than planned since Atlanta was buried in snow and ice!! Flights were delayed for a few days.
Hannah and William were very concentrated at the lego store.

Fast forward a few weeks... Time for Gasperilla! This was our first Gasperilla experience. Think Mardi gras...but Pirate themed! :) Fun parade+lots of beads=Hannah in Heaven! :)
The parade happens on Bayshore Avenue. It was a cold day in Tampa!
William loves the water!!!
a bull nosed ray swam by to say Hello!
A chilly-willy Tuck!
Maybe Gasperilla should have had its own post. I'm having a hard time narrowing down the pictures!!
Here are the pirates coming to invade Tampa!!!
William (watching the water again) waiting for the pirate ship to fire its canon
Hannah with her beads!
Hannah earning them...
The final pile of loot or booty...or whatever it is that pirates call it... maybe treasure??
We can't wait to make the Gasperilla parade an annual tradition!

I have to say that there are parks and playgrounds galore around here!!! We have tried out quite a few. Here are some pictures from one of our favorites

This is such a Jason-as-a-child smile!

Very Merry Christmas!

For the second year in a row, we visited Disney for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. This year we were in town anyways, in search for a rental house. Now that we are an hour away, I guess it will become a tradition to kick off the Holiday season! The kids have so much fun. The parade is great, its not that crowded and the fireworks are incredible, in true Disney fashion! To top it all off, its a tradition shared with Kian, Hannah's life long friend who is now only a short drive away!
William didn't want his picture taken in front of the sign...so he hid IN the sign...

3 men in a teacup! :)
William during the parade. Waved at everyone!
Mickey and Minnie!
The highlight for Hannah
The highlight for Tuck
My favorite part, Cinderella's coach
The castle in lights
The rest of our Christmas pictures are on my mom's camera... But here is one to say
Merry Belated Christmas from The Simmons!!!

Fall Favorites

One of these days.... Maybe... I hope to be better at blogging. It means so much to me to preserve these memories and share them with our loved ones but 3 small children and a consistently messy house and 2 dogs require a LOT of time!!!
I know its Spring but here are a few of my favorite memories from this Fall. First up? Halloween!! My two precious tigers and my peacock princess! Hannah loved her costume and the boys tolerated theirs pretty well. No more fluffy fleece costumes for these kids anymore. Those will simply not work in a Florida October! I had to make the most of them this year!

Here is Hannah loading up to go to school on Halloween
The biggest tiger at Hannah's school
Hannah with 2 of her best friends from school, Madison and Ellie.
She misses them terribly but will get to see them on our Spring Break visit! :)
Hannah in her "sassy" pose
Her favorite part, the feathers!!

The 3 before trick-or-treating
(Note that is not the correct peacock crown. It was accidentally left behind at our house. Hannah told me Halloween was "RUINED" so we borrowed a princess crown from Aunt Maddie. I guess Halloween was saved. The drama....)
His little tail is to die for...or is it his little tush thats so cute? ;)

Ok, enough Halloween. Some other fun times in the Simmons household? How about this?

Look familliar? Oh! Probably because Hannah did the same thing!! Click here for the original! Feels a little like deja vu, right?

Here is Hannah with another of her best friends, AK. She is also very very missed by my sweet girl. They were pilgrims in the 4k Thanksgiving Program! :)

Hannah before the big feast!
Hannah's old teacher, Ms. Morgan. This one is framed in her room. She loves Ms. Morgan and misses her immensely. She likes her new teacher but not like Ms. Morgan.
I miss Ms. Morgan too! :(