Cat Condos R Us

This is a no traveling week for the kids and I. Not Mike tho. He has to work in San Francisco.

Wish we could go with him, but that is too far... Bummer!

Some of you may be wondering why Mike and our family gets to travel so much.

Most of his work sites are in remote places all over Florida. We live in Orlando because it is central Florida, and he can easily get to all of his sites. He only has 2 sites in Orlando! Which means that most of the time, he has to drive 100+ miles each way.

Mikes company has no problem with him staying over night. A lot of the time a part that is put in is done after hours, or when they are not using the camera, so until the next day you might not know if it is working properly. So Mike either drives back home, to possibly come back the next day (and put in ANOTHER tank of gas), or stay the night, and be right there first thing in the morning. His boss is the one that says to stay (quicker customer service), and if he wants,

is welcome to bring family. Food is paid up to 50$ a day. If we go over (we do) we pay for the overage. He is approved for up to 150$ a night in a hotel. If we go over (rarely) we pay the difference. His company never pays over a set amount whether Mike goes alone, or we go with him.

This is a small, family run company. The owners children and wife works in the office with him. He encourages this lifestyle for his employees. Mikes several coworkers take their families with them also. In fact, Aug 7- 8, we are meeting his coworker and family in Miami. Mike and him will work Aug 8, and then we will stay till Sunday, and go to the Keys. We have a Marriott Rewards Card (we almost exclusively stay at Marriott's). We are racking up the reward points and have several nights free already! (will be used at the Keys)

His boss also suggested that since he wanted Mike to work in San Francisco Thurs, that he would pay to fly Mike to Seattle to see his family, and then fly him home Monday. How cool is that?!!Plus, since he is working in San Fran, he gets to see Leonard, Michelle and Elektra. He will stay with them as well. Lucky!!

Its a great company, and we feel so blessed to be able to travel and see this beautiful state as much as we do! And that we both get to spend so much time with the kids.

With 3 kittens in the house, and 2 older cats with claws, we seriously needed a scratching post for them. We went to PetSmart and checked out their Cat Condos. Although neat looking, they were expensive. Of course the ones we liked ranged from 150 - 200$. So we decided to build our own. Went to Home Depot bought boards, posts, carpet, etc for under $100. Then got to work.It didn't take too long. not really.

Unless 12 hours is long to you.

Forget those wimpy 5 ft PetSmart Condos!

Ours is 7ft and 4 stories!It is strong enough to hold the boys, but don't tell them that! The kitties love it! I put Nascat on it, and all he did was hiss. Yes he is still mad.

The little ones love it, but won't go to the top level yet. They cry when we put them up there.

This is the coolest cat box we have ever had! Look at the stairs going up and to the inside of it! No matter how much they kick the litter around, it doesn't come out!!!

Lately we have had a flock of ducks in and around our yard.

Good way to use up old potato chips!

We FINALLY got our license plate for our Durango.

Can't tell what sport we are fans of can you? Oops, I see we have Ford of North Scottsdale still. Gotta get a checkered flag holder.Florida has more license plate choices than any other state I have ever seen. They have at least 40 choices of plates.

With Mike being gone over the weekend, I don't have much planned for the kids. Zachary is having his friend Avery sleep over, so that will be a noisy night. I just hope it doesn't rain too much, so I can send them outside!

Camping Nanny

Mike and I have some EXCITING news!!!!

We have our own Patent!!

Yep!

Its a provisional patent that we have for 1 year.

(after that you apply for a full Patent, which is why you see Patent Pending on products)

We came up with an invention that no one else has, and we just got our patent approved,

and are marketing our product now!

What is it?

It is the...

CAMPING NANNY

http://www.inventionhome.com/InvPortfolio/PortfSite.aspx?tif=&Cat=&Key=&PageNum=0&TheCount=0&TFN=736X47188TX417188X1882&AudioSwitch=1

Be sure to listen to the Audio on it!!

Here's the background to our invention.

10 years ago, Mike and I took Christina and Chase camping for the first time.

They were 6.

We went to Burro Creek, AZ. Its between Wickenburg and Kingman.

As we were setting up camp, the kids wanted to explore.

Even tho it was desert, once they got behind a few bushes,

we couldn't see them.

They weren't far from us, just not easily visible.

So we were constantly calling for them to yell back to us,

so we knew they were in earshot.

After about an hour of that, Mike said,

"We need some kind of alarm that lets us know they went too far."

So we started brainstorming.

Our first idea was a perimeter with some kind of posts and a base unit.

You set up the posts at 3 or 4 corners and that would be the perimeter the kids could go.

An alarm on the base unit would sound if they passed the perimeter.

We looked at Camping Stores for something this when we got home.

There was nothing even remotely like that on the market.

Each time we went camping after that, we said,

"I wish we had that alarm system."

Soon we started calling it the

CAMPING NANNY.

We have taken the kids camping at least 4 - 6 times a year,

and every single time we wished we had it,

we would brainstorm on how to make something like that.

Each time we came up with a different way we thought it might work.

Now that the boys want to explore we have really put some serious thought into it.

Mike finally came up with the exact way he thought it should be like.

So we took the plunge.

We hired a Patent Attorney to do the research,

to see if there was anything any where else.

Theres not!

Then we hired an Invention Company.

Mike drew up the designs and ideas we had.

He sent them to this company. They liked it, so they finalized the design and concepts.

It is now on the market! We are looking for a manufacture as we speak!

How does CAMPING NANNY work?

The parent wears the base as a clip on their belt buckle or keys or purse, etc.

The kids wear a 'watch' or bracelet.

That has a lock on it that can only be open by a parents base unit.

The parents set the limit of how far away they will let the children go.

When the child passes the limit an alarm will go off on both the parents, and the childs.

When the child comes back within the perimeter the alarm will stop.

There are other features that may be implemented as well.

Such as a clock, or even a GPS on the more expensive models.

http://www.inventionhome.com/InvPortfolio/PortfSite.aspx?tif=&Cat=&Key=&PageNum=0&TheCount=0&TFN=736X47188TX417188X1882&AudioSwitch=1

We also are setting up a website www.campingnanny.com.

But its not ready yet.

We have the domain name tho!

So keep your fingers crossed that this thing takes off!

GO CAMPING NANNY !!

Zacharys 7th Birthday

Zachary turned 7 July 21st! Happy Birthday Zachary!!!!!

The house was decorated with streamers and balloons. He loves to jump rope! Some more of his presents. A Puss in Boots fuzzy coloring board. He loves Puss in Boots. A Kung Fu Panda Coloring book from Gramma and Grumpa. Zachary kicked butt on gift cards! Toys R Us here we come!! He opened and read every single alligator joke on this card. Caleb kept singing "Happy Birthday to Zachary and Caleb" ALL. DAY. He now says he is 5. Painting the NASCAR SunCatchers I got them. At Chuck E. Cheese. With Avery. His friend Brooke also came with his. Caleb riding a rollercoaster simulator ride. He said "WHEEEE" the entire time. Zachary and Avery on the same type of ride. We only go to C.E.C. twice a year. On the boys birthdays because this is where they want to go. I can't imagine why? They aren't having any fun or anything! Then we came home and let them get out some more energy. Happy 7th Zachary! I made him a double layer Coconut Creme Cake. It was gone the next day thanks to the kids, and Christinas friends! Trick Candles. hee hee! Zachary and two of his friends. On Tuesday morning we got up early and headed down to Vero Beach. It is 87 miles south of us. Mike had to do about 2 hours of work, so he dropped the boys and I off at the mall. What a great idea putting these little tables and chairs in the food court. They got a big kick out of sitting in them. Our boys are getting expensive to take out to eat. Caleb always wants shrimp now. And Zachary ordered ribs. He ate every single one of them. We found a marine museum and historical house. This is a 1912 fire engine. It was fun walking thru the museums. They had lots of replicas of what it looked like when just the Natives lived in Florida. Before Europeans came. It felt like you were walking back in time. Even the boys were awwed. This house was built in 1908. The 91 year old son of the man who built it, runs the museum. We enjoyed looking back in time, and now are so very grateful for electricity, and spacious rooms. And bathrooms, as this house has only an out house. We went to the beach to play. We all got out of the car. Zachary and I on the passenger side, and Caleb and Mikey on the drivers side. I walked over to Mike and Caleb while Zachary walked on the sidewalk curb. We thought he was just going to continue to take the sidewalk way around to where we were standing on the sidewalk. But all of a sudden he decided to cut across the parking lot to us. He would of been OK at the angle we all were at, except that when he jumped down he saw a big puddle. He knows he is not supposed to jump in puddles, so he suddenly changed his direction. Right. Into. The. Middle. Of. The. Street. In. Front. Of. A. Big. Truck. Mike and I screamed at him, and the truck slammed on his brakes. He literally came within 2 feet of being hit. It was the single most scariest moment of our lives. Even Caleb saw and understood what almost happened and kept saying over and over "Zachary almost got run over by that truck." Zachary cried for a good 10 minutes, as did Mike and I. Then we stood watching them play in the sand as we Thanked GOD for the rest of the evening. And to pass on some of that thanks, we grabbed garbage bags and cleaned about a mile stretch of beach. (we filled the garbage bag) We spent the night at a hotel with the Indian River on one side and the Atlantic on the other. This time Mike and I remembered our swim suits so we spent the evening playing in the pool. Caleb got goggles and a snorkle. He didnt get the snorkle, but wore the goggles the entire time. He is so brave now around the water. He jumps in all different ways, and copies everything Zachary does. No doubt about it, We are all Water Signs!! On our way home we found a place called the Lobster Shanty. A cute restaurant tucked into the back of a road. We are so glad we got the GPS. Without it, we would drive by alot of these restaurants. It certainly makes traveling around Florida a lot easier. Christina stayed home again from this trip. She likes staying here, and is alot like how I am when I am home alone. She cleans the rooms shes in, and gets on the computer, and watches TV. Her and her friends went to a birthday party recently. She looks so pretty! We finally named our kittens.

This is PeekABoo. She is the tiniest of the three.

This is Zeeb. His tummy looks like a zebra pattern. This is Einstein. He is the smartest one.

I don't think Mike or the kids will let me get rid of any now. They are fun to watch. They are finally playing. Before they were so little they didn't really play. They only stay on the family room side of the house because the big mean scary cats are on the other side. So far they are lap cats. And shoulder cats. They love to sleep on our shoulders. They even snuggle with the boys.

I got to see one of the neatest things in my life! All along the beach are SeaTurtle nests. They are marked by people with sticks and orange tape so you know not to disturb them. As we were coming back, I saw a tiny movement in the sand. As I got closer I realized it was a freshly hatched baby sea turtle! It was making its way to the water! Just as I got to it, a big wave came, and washed it out to sea! They can live for a hundred years, and I got to see it get its start!

How cool is that!?

Naples

Early Tuesday morning we got up and drove to Naples Florida.

Its on the SouthWest corner of the state.

Mike had to work in Port Charlotte. Its about an hour north of Naples.

He worked very hard. For 10 minutes.Then we drove to our hotel. It was a beautiful resort.

It rained most of the day. All the way from Orlando to Naples, a steady drizzle to heavy rain. We were disappointed that we might not get to show the boys the gulf beach.

We got to the resort, went grocery shopping, and the rain started to let up! Yeah!! We had a 1 bedroom suite with full kitchen and balcony.

The full kitchen was great because we went to the store and bought food to cook instead of spending a fortune eating out. We had tilipia stuffed with crab, and lobster ravioli with shrimp scampi sauce. YUMM!

Mike buys things like chips and dip for his snack, I buy seaweed salad.

What does Caleb eat?

My seaweed salad!!! Here I'm cooking dinner. For some reason, cooking in a resort doesn't feel like cooking does at home, and doesn't bother me. I actually prefer it. (saves money!) Besides, even tho I put things in the dishwasher, I didn't have to CLEAN it!! It totally stopped raining while we were eating dinner, so we headed down to the beach. Naples is the most prettiest town we have seen in Florida yet. It has beautiful architecture, beautiful streets lined with tropical plants and lights. The beaches on the west side are different than the Atlantic beaches. These are white sandy beaches, while the Atlantic has more coarse sand, and larger rocks. We strolled about a mile south, then headed back.

On our way back I noticed Caleb was holding his pants up. His pockets were so full of seashells that his pants were literally falling off of him! Luckily, Mikey had cargo shorts on with lots of side pockets, so he took the shells for Caleb.

We also found thousands of live clams. Little baby ones. They wash up on shore, and if you watch carefully, you can see them dig themselves back into the sand.

Wednesday morning we woke and drove across the state. The road is called Alligator Alley. I know why!! I saw at least a dozen alligators.The entire length has a swampy river next to it. Most of the water is still, but every half mile or so, you'd see a ripple flowing in the water with 2 eyes sticking up in front. Sometimes you'd see an entire alligator out of the water walking along the edge. They have fenced in the entire length tho since there were so many gators hit and killed. Here you can see how it looked the entire way. From the road way to the trees is swampy water, with just next to the trees being deeper. We stayed at the same hotel that have several times already. Its the one with the little putt putt golf next to the swimming pool. We had dinner at our favorite Palm Beach waterfront restaurant.

While we were eating, we got to watch a boat that was stranded in the middle of the waterway. Those poor people! A storm was coming and every time they tried to start their engine tons of black smoke came out.

We finished our dinner just as the rain came. Since it was raining again, we decided that instead of going to the beach we would just play in the swimming pool, and play putt putt.

Mike put in his hard 45 min of work, while the boys and I played Toon Town in the truck outside on the laptop. Love that WiFi!!

Today we played again in the pool, then packed up and headed home. But first we stopped at a Seaside beach restaurant. There was a live band playing, and the boys decided to go dance on stage.

Here is the 4 of us next to the restaurant. Oops, I meant the 3 of us, and a scary skeleton pirate .

We had a nice lunch here. The boys are laughing at this picture because it looks like the shark is getting ready to eat my head. Here is Caleb at home with his collection of seashells from Naples. Another fun filled work week for Mikey!

A shout of CONGRATULATIONS to Leonard and Michelle!

They had an ultrasound today that showed they are having a BOY!!

Now I can send them my boys clothes and toys!!

The due date is Halloween!