Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween to everyone! The girls are getting ready to have a great night. We've got a spooky dinner planned: Goblin Gizzard Stew, Pork and Brains, buttered maggots, eye balls and Texas Toes! Sounds delicious, hmmm????

Alison is a pirate, Erin is a rainbow cheerleader, Katie is a devil (hmmm, art imitating life?), Cassidy is Tinkerbell and Lily is an octopus! Enjoy the pictures!

Happy Birthday to me...

You know, when I was a kid, I used to think that everyone got dressed up in costumes and walked around gathering candy for my birthday. It was all about me.

I wasn't totally wrong, was I?

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville...

So...

We went to the Keys. For those of you who don't know, the Florida Keys are a chain of islands off the southern tip of Florida...accessed by a mostly 2 laned road all 100 miles from Key Largo to Key West...it's not a fast trip...but we got there...in the rain...on Thursday afternoon.

We arrived at Knight's Key Campground. We chose Knight's Key because of it's Oceanfront campsites. Sleeping on the beach would be awesome...if there was a beach...instead of gravel...and mud. We moved inland to 2 nice treed, grassy sites. Overall, the campground was clean but had definitely seen it's better days. There was a swimming area in the ocean off a concrete "dock" with evidence of a former diving board and ladders missing rungs. The tiki bar looked like it was once a hip, happenin' joint, but was falling apart next to a spa that was empty and a small stage that probably harbored a nasty case of tetunus in it's rusty nails. There was a snack bar and game room complete with pool tables and foosball, but it was closed down. We thought maybe it was their off season...but this was VERY off! It was a disappointment from what we were expecting, but it was relatively clean...and that's more than I can say of most campgrounds I've stayed at (Disney's Fort Wilderness not included).

We went to Key West where FantasyFest was going on...that is Florida's version of Mardi Gras. We went during the day but it was still pretty racy. Two words...body paint. And lots of it. We went to the Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S. where we were only 90 miles from Cuba...I coulda swum it.

The weather was off and on beautiful or the pits. It was rainy during the night and mornings, but was generally nice during the days...if you like steam baths.

Seriously, it was a good trip. Not great, due to the lack of "stuff" at the campground, weather and such, but it was a good camping experience. The babies did great and I'd be eager to take them again!

I've posted some pictures along the side! Enjoy!

Go Sox, Boo Rocks...

Cassidy and Lily watch the World Series
You can see who Cassidy loves!
What a GAME!!!!

The 4th game of the World Series was by no means a blow out as the last several games the Red Sox have won. But, you only have to win by one! And that is what they did! It only took 3 years instead of 86 for the Red Sox to become World Series Champions again.

Lily has a pair of pajamas that were originally intended as a baby gift for my cousin when his son, William was born. Blue stripes with a baseball glove, bat and ball. Well, they never made it to William, so they were the perfect size for Lily to wear for watching some 2007 playoff action. I kid you not, everytime she wore the pj's, the Red Sox won. If she didn't wear them, they lost. So, it wasn't just a great team playing ball...they had William & Lily's pj's on their side!

As Katie's new Red Sox t-shirt says, "There's no cryin'...unless you're a Yankees fan!" So, GGAJ, you can blame those tears on a detached retina, but we know why you're really crying, you Yankee!

So...as Cassidy says, "Go Sox...boo Rocks"!

Milkshake...

A picture says a thousand words...unfortunately, we'd need a series of pictures for this story.



Ryan, Cassidy, Lily and I went to eat at Fuddrucker's while the older girls went to a birthday party. We ordered burgers and shakes and waited. The shakes arrived first, looking delicious with whipped cream and a cherry on top. I was figuring Cassidy would want to dive in, but she didn't give them a second look. The burgers arrived soon after. Cassidy ate every bit of her lunch, never giving the shake a try. I started into mine, still she never even asked for her. Finally, it was getting to me...what kind of kid was I dealing with here!!!! I asked her, "Cassidy, do you want your milk shake?" She didn't say anything, she just started to shiver. Again, I asked, "Do you want your milk shake?" Again, she started to shiver. I simplified it, "Milk shake??" She took her sippy cup (with milk in it) and started to shiver again. Then it hit me! Could it be? Is it possible that Cassidy didn't know what she was dealing with here? How could she not know? I mentioned the possibility that she didn't know what a milkshake was to Ryan. He didn't think it was possible. Then I told Cassidy, "Milk shakes are like ice cream". It was all clear to her then. She took a taste and declared, "Khaki-dee loves milk shakes".



Picture coming soon!

There's only one October!

I'm currently watching game 6 of the ALCS. At the moment Boston is leading Cleveland 10-2. I'm really hoping Boston pulls off a win in Game 7! I could use a new Boston Red Sox shirt.

We are preparing for a camping trip to the Keys next week. The girls are out of school on Thursday and Friday, so we're taking advantage of a long weekend and heading south to Marathon Key. We're looking forward to getting away for a few days! We plan on doing several Halloween activities, visiting the dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center, parasailing, snorkeling, not to mention sleeping on the beach under the stars. We are going with our good friends, the Hartwigs (Shelly, Tom and Ashley). Hopefully, there will be a bunch of new pictures to post when we get home!

Happy Birthday to Katie's bestest friend in the whole world...We love you, Sofia!

Boston's up 11-2...make that 12-2...I think I'm safe to go to bed. Go Sox!!!

Twelve Days of Misery!

Twelve Days...that's the length of time it takes for a stomach virus to wreak havoc on the Birks-Kilman household. Cassidy started it last Monday. She was sent home from school throwing up, but was fine about 4 hours later. Katie's hit in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and it hit me like a truck at about 9:30 am on Thursday. Erin and Katie had it on Saturday, Lily on Monday and Ryan thought he escaped...but alas, it was lurking, waiting for him. He's in bed at the moment. What a fun 2 weeks, let me tell ya! I'd prefer not to do it again.

It was a pretty short lived virus, so aside from the day or so that it affected each of us, we were pretty active despite it. Cassidy learned all about the color purple this week, eating purple grapes for snack and wearing a purple t-shirt on Thursday. Erin and Katie have joined the choir at school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Katie also joined the "Fit Club" on Wednesday mornings. She has fun doing exercise without knowing that she's actually exercising!!! Sneaky, huh? Ali won the part in her church's Christmas play, she was excited about that! She starts rehersals this Tuesday. Lily can roll across the room in no time flat and we've had fun this week playing games with each other. Ryan and I started getting up early in the morning this week to go for a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood before the girls wake up. It was hot and muggy on Monday, but a cold front went through yesterday afternoon and this morning reminded us of why it is that we love Florida! It was 65 degrees and dry and beautiful!!! This is truly the best time to be in Florida...we love October!!!!

Lily

Boy has she been growing. About a week ago, she reached the rolling over in all directions milestone. She's no longer feeling the need to stay in one place anymore. We'll put her down under her "guys" and we'll find her 4 feet away within moments! SO, we bought her a new bouncer! It's a great containment unit...full of fun things to do and good exercise! See how much she's enjoying it?!?!

Happy October!

I bet you thought I was going to say Happy Birthday to someone else, right? The September birthdays are over and it's time to gear up for Halloween! The girls are deciding on their costumes, which will remain a secret (at least to all of you on the internet) until the spooky (or not so spooky) night.


I am always excited to see October in. It signifies the true ending of summer in Florida to me. The weather gets beautiful, cool in the mornings, warm in the afternoon and downright chilly in the evenings! This is truly the perfect time to visit our state! There is also a lot going on at the theme parks, Halloween parties all around. This year I think we'll take in SeaWorld's Shamu Spooktacular!

We only have a few things planned so far, but they're good things! First we are actually going to be prepared for our community's semi-annual garage sale! It's the weekend of Oct 20-21, but we've already cleared out the garage once...now we have to sort through the remaining stuff that was reloaded to prepare! Lots of clothes and toys and stuff! The following weekend will be our reward for a successful sale. We are going to the Keys for 4 days to go camping with our friends Shelly, Tom and their daughter Ashley. They are very into geocaching, and we're looking forward to some girls vs. boys searches and family vs. family searches in addition to margaritas by the ocean! We've never been to the Keys, so we are particularly looking forward to that!

Keep checking in on other things we are up to this month!

-Laurel