Madison and Mya's Dance Recital

The girls did a beautiful job with their recital again this year. Jen and I were so proud of our Rockin' Robins and Ballerina Princesses...

CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS!!!

The Big Cat Club visit to Big Cat Rescue

Maddy's Big Cat Club visited the Big Cat Rescue over by Citrus Mall at the weekend. They used the money that they had raised by selling their jewelry to sponsor "Chloe", a snow leopard, and towards the admission for their guided tour. Congratulations to our special girls for working so hard to make a difference to these beautiful animals and having a cause that you believed in. We are so proud of you!

Here are the Big Cat Club girls: Ashley, Maddy, Keyelli, Melissa, Haley, Gabby and Aliyah!


Big Cat Rescue, a non profit educational sanctuary, is devoted to rescuing and providing a permanent home for exotic (i.e. wild, not domestic) cats who have been abused, abandoned, bred to be pets, retired from performing acts, or saved from being slaughtered for fur coats, and to educating the public about these animals and the issues facing them in captivity and in the wild.
The sanctuary is home to the most diverse population of exotic cats in the world, with 16 species and subspecies of wild cat represented among more than 100 residents. These include tigers, lions, liger, leopards, cougars, bobcats, lynx, ocelots, servals, caracals and others, many of whom are threatened, endangered, or now extinct in the wild.
http://www.bigcatrescue.org/index.htm

Maddy was so surprised at how close you are to the cats in their enclosures...

There are birds absolutely everywhere as you walk around, ducks, swans and peacocks. This one had the cutest babies!..

Our tour guide was so informative and passionate about the animals. In the background of this photo is a white serval, which apparently is incredibly rare, since they die in the wild due to lack of camouflage.

I had never seen anything like this animal before in my life! Although it is referred to as a "Bear Cat," apparently it's proper name is a Binturong and it's not a cat at all. This one has a special place in the founder's heart and "Banjo" lives in the biggest enclosure at the sanctuary.

The cats are kept together if they were raised together. In this cave, we saw a white tiger snuggled up with a lion. In the wild, they would only exist in different continents so their enclosure has been designed to simulate both India and China! Unfortunately, the white tiger inbreeding process is part a very cruel industry and the Big Cat Rescue had to think carefully before they took on this animal to avoid encouraging having "white" tigers to draw guests. The whole story is on their website...

http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/white_tigers.htm

You are able to get unbelievably close to the cats although the tour guide was very clear that if you get too close they will attack for sure - even though they've all been raised by humans prior to coming to the sanctuary.

There are peacocks everywhere and they make the loudest and most annoying noise I think I've ever heard a bird make! They are completely tame and walk close by you the whole time you walk around. They do remember to observe the three foot rule with the cats though...

Kayz and Steve's visit

We were thrilled to see Steve and Kayleigh during their first visit to Florida! We picked them up in Orlando and then all went to Busch Gardens on the Saturday. On the Sunday we went to the Rays game in St. Pete, then the beach, then Hurricane's for sunset and sang in the car all the way home! On the Monday I drove them back to Orlando and we went to Downtown Disney to Planet Hollywood for lunch. The following weekend we went to see 'Night at the Museum' and got so drenched in a rainstorm that I had to buy a complete new set of clothes! We finished up at the House of Blues and chatted until 2 in the morning. Trying to keep up with twenty-somethings was definately exhausting but really fun. We love you!

Here's Steve and Kayz in the line at Busch Gardens...

At Hurricane's...

The beach was amazing. It was really warm in the water but the sky was black in the distance...

Maddy and the axe from "The Shining" at Planet Hollywood...red rum...

Technology Free Week

We gave up all technology (PC, phone, wii, TV and ipods) and restaurants for a week inspired by Oprah's "What Can You Live Without?" challenge. Actually it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. Here's Mike and Maddy playing checkers for the twentieth time...good times...

Our Deer Family

These are the family of deer that like to eat our trees behind the lanai - we finally got a picture before they ran away!