Happy Valentine's Day!

Raul got lots of valentines from his classes at school, and also made several Valentine's crafts! Today he got to pick out a special balloon at the grocery store, which he was very excited about! We got a surprise Valentine's treat from The Butterfly Fund, too, which was much appreciated! 

Snow Storm

Over the past few days we got 20-some inches of snow, and are expected to get more on Friday and next Monday! Raul liked talking about the blizzard, though when we tried to go out to look yesterday it was still a bit too windy for us! Today we went out again, as Raul had been talking all morning about wanting to make a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow was too light, but we made a snowman outline in the side of a snow bank and put a face on it! Raul was very excited that when we went out there was a front end loader filling dump trucks with all the mountains of snow to haul away. Raul has a cold, so we still only stayed out a few minutes, but he liked getting to watch all the action!

This first picture was from yesterday, during the storm

End of Vacation/Happy New Year

On our last two days in Florida we spent some time at the pool. The first day Raul just wanted to sit on the chair and watch other people be silly in the pool, but the second day he was willing to sit on the edge and be splashed/pour water all over himself! He was totally soaked, but still did not want to actually go in. We talked him into going in very briefly, and he looked nervous but happy! Our flight home was much shorter than going down, and we had a pretty easy trip.

Last night for New Year's Eve we went to my parents' house, which Raul is always excited about! We had a good time, though we did not get a lot of sleep as both kids were up a lot overnight. This morning we had brunch with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law, and played some games. Only a few days left of vacation!

Big Cat Habitat/Gulf Coast Sanctuary

Today we went to the Big Cat Habitat/Gulf Coast Sanctuary. Raul's favorite parts were the camels (his current favorite animal), feeding a bear a hotdog, and the pig race! We actually picked the winning pig on the second race, and Raul won a yellow piggy bank! The third race was a joke, and they used pot bellied pigs, only one of which even wanted to move out of the starting gates (they were so large their stomachs dragged on the ground)! They are currently running the pig races there (usually they travel) to help raise money for their new chimpanzee habitats. Raul also spent a lot of time playing with his Christmas toys, and is now sleeping after another busy day! 

Christmas/Christmas Eve

 We got to Florida Tuesday, and yesterday spent time playing out at the pool and in the house. Raul thought it was funny to send a toy boat floating around the pool, and then throw balls at it as "tornadoes". We tried to get him to nap in the afternoon since we would be up later that night, and busy for Christmas the next day, but he was not interested in napping! At dinner he got to open a Christmas movie to watch, which he was excited about. At bedtime we got to read some of his Christmas books, and then he also watched some of Sprout's "Snooze-a-thon" to help him fall asleep!

This morning he woke up excited that Santa had come, and we headed over to open stockings before breakfast. He was very happy with his presents, and played/watched a new movie while we ate breakfast. Then it as time for the rest of the presents, which he had fun opening! He was a little overwhelmed by all the festivities, but said he got just what he wanted! Now he is taking a little rest playing on the iPad before dinner.

Watching the homemade boat go around the pool

Christmas Eve

Raul peeking in his stocking

 

Holding his foster brother; both wearing stockings! 

Laughing at being pulled out of the stocking 

Early Christmas Celebrations

A couple weeks ago Raul received his presents from The Butterfly Fund's Secret Stocking Project! He was very excited to get two Lego sets, and played with them right away.  Then last weekend we did an early gift exchange with my sister and brother-in-law, as the rest of us came to FL for Christmas. We had a great time, and Raul loved his Hexbug set. He thought it was fun to put his face right up to it to watch them in the tunnel. We have a foster baby with us this year, and Raul has been being a good big brother!

Christmas Tree Decorating

Tonight we all went over to my parents' house to decorate their Christmas tree and make Christmas cookies! This past week was rough. Raul started antibiotics at the beginning of the week due to fevers and increased pain from infection, and missed two days of school because of the pain. His labs from the beginning of the week showed high inflammatory markers, which was likely related to the infection and what was causing him so much pain. Then Thursday night he spiked a fever again, and we both came down with some sort of cold/virus. Luckily things are starting to look up, and he had a great time tonight!