IKEA opens in Tampa...

...and we headed over to check it out. It's our fifth IKEA location so we're now making comparisons. This IKEA has a more colorful look than we've seen before and a lot of Latino is spoken over the intercom. The store map comes in a Latino version. We don't see the blonde Scandinavians of the Minneapolis IKEA or the luxuries of resting spots offered at Chicago's IKEA. Tampa's customer seating is all about eating. Seattle's IKEA (one of the oldest in the USA) has a waterfront location and a rag-tag look. Sweden's first IKEA ever looks like an old warehouse but has a wonderful presentation of Swedish fabrics...no dining there...plenty of that across the street at IKEA headquarters.

We arrived at Tampa's IKEA in time for $1.99 breakfasts and stayed long enough to lunch on salads around 2 p.m. The store felt a bit like DisneyWorld--a talking toucan (the voice came from behind a pile of quilts where a funny guy operated the puppet and conversed with customers), Pippi Longstocking (bouncing around on chairs), and a guy doing magic card tricks--all probably hired for opening week. The parking lot was chaos with a flag-waver directing traffic every 100 feet.

We spent only $127.

Earth Day Trash Bash(just a little late)

I know Earth Day was a couple weeks ago, but I just haven't found a good picture to share until now.

On April 22, Adam participated in the Des Moines Parks and Recreation Earth Day Trash Bash along with over 200 Wells Fargo employees (along with employees from several other Des Moines businesses). See Adam circled; trust me that's me :).

Many interesting things were found; I personally rolled one tire up a hill and filled a garbage bag. Others near me found what seemed to be the remainders of a homeless camp. I guess a rusted out delivery truck was even discovered. After all the work there was a party downtown to recognize everyone's effort.



Here is a map showing where the Wells Fargo gang worked, MacRae Park.

First Weekend in May

This weekend was the Spring Classic Baseball Tournament. Between Blake and Hunter we attended 7 baseball games. The weather was perfect so we really enjoyed each one.

Photo of Hunter pitching. Blake played third. We didn't get good photos. He really burned it up.

Beside baseball, we also had a higher belt test for Karate. Hunter tested and did very well. Below is a little clip of him.

To end the weekend the boys went over to Valley for open Chess night. Blake claims he can beat anyone in 8 moves. Here are his chess buddies and his teacher Ben. They have their Tournament Awards night on Thursday. Blake is hoping to be 1st Grade Champ. We will see.

Mother's Day - the plans are gardening.

Royal Poinciana

Becky here, from Venice, FL where the jacaranda trees, like giant lilacs, are in full purple bloom. We don't have any jacarandas but we do have two Royal Poincianas in our front yard. We've never seen our early-summer blooming poincias show their colors before because we fly north by the end of May. While we're here in winter, these "flamboyants" are partially or wholly deciduous and have long brown pods that hang like razor strops. This year, our royals decided to grace us with their crowning glories. The huge scarlet blooms are the size of large bowls with diameters of about 18 inches.

Palm Paradise

Sunday on Siesta Key

With entertainment coupons in hand, we headed over to Siesta Key for breakfast, a street fair, and a farmers' market. We ended with a cool one, soup, and salad at the Siesta Key Oyster Bar. We picked up a few colorful shots along the way. So many people...so much time.

Hunter and Blake

Hunter pitches for the Flash on a perfect spring evening. They won

the game 11-7.

Blake created the following message for Nana and Grandpa Al.