Gatorland!!!

Grady wanted to see some alligators while we were in Florida and what better place to see a gator than...Gatorland! It's an alligator theme park with gators everywhere you look. They also had numerous other native wildlife to observe. We saw white gators, parrots, snakes and other wading birds. Overall, it was a pretty fun place to check out.

Can you get any more touristy than a gigantic gator mouth! Clark Griswald you have nothing on the Scala's.
Riding the alligator

Now, what was he thinking? He probably would have done that with a real gator too!

Ride 'em gatorboy

Another shot of Myles in the backpack. I swear we do let him out of that thing.

Gator wrestling anyone?? Actually, this was a really interesting educational program as well as a little gator wrestling.

Grady was in charge of the map. We were following his lead...as usual.

Look at all those hungry gators! There were 130 gators in this lagoon. Good thing there was a fence up as our boys are the perfect size for a gator snack.

G loved feeding the birds.

Crazy man!

Riverbanks Zoo

On our way to Florida for Thanksgiving we made a little pit stop in Columbia to break up the trip. We stayed with one of my best friends and college roommate, Lisa. We also got a chance to meet her beautiful daughter, Lily.

Saturday was a wonderful day for a trip to the zoo so we packed up and headed to Riverbanks Zoo. It was Lily's first adventure to the zoo and she seemed to enjoy it. The boys had a blast too.

Thanks Lisa, Chris and Lily!!

The Scala boys at the zoo. I think Myles looks a lot like my Papaw in this pic. It's the crooked smile.

Just checking things out

G really wants a fish tank for Christmas so this exhibit was very exciting. No G, we can't have a huge Koi in the tank.

What's that??!!

Myles has Josh's eyebrows.

Lisa and Lily

This lion was getting rest on the rocks.

Mom and baby

Lily's first trip to the zoo!

The zoo was decorated for Christmas

G on an elephant

First Haircut!!

So, I took Grady in for a haircut last week and the ladies at the salon laughed so hard at Myles. They could not get over his hair. This is not a first. Pretty much everywhere I take the poor kid, people laugh at his "style". I decided to go for it and get his hair cut.

He was awesome! He just sat there and stared at himself in the mirror. He laughed and clapped, loving the attention. Needless to say, it took awhile to tame the mane. It also took two hairstylists to figure out what to do with it. One lady started it and had to call another one for some guidance. Apparently he has a "double crown" and several nasty cowlicks. Finally, after much deliberation on what should be done....he was finished.

He looks like a totally different kid. He is as blond as Grady!! How did I have two blondies??!! Josh thinks he looks like John Candy in the movie "Stripes". Not so sure if that is a good thing.

Here he is in the morning before the haircut. Notice the brown hair...
Here goes nothing!!


The first cut.

They were in a quandary as how to fix the back of Myles hair.

What a good baby

Grady got to hang out at the salon.

The finished product! Little blondie!

John Candy??? Okay, I see it. Check out that fat belly.

He Eats...Finally!!

Myles has been so stubborn about eating solid food. The kid is 8 months old and just now decided that he was ready. We skipped the whole baby food phase as he wouldn't touch the stuff. I can't really blame him, I bet it tastes horrible. Now, I have a ton of homemade baby food in the freezer that I don't know what to do with. Oh well, at least he is eating something. It gives me some freedom as well!! He is stubborn about taking a bottle too. Where did he get this stubborn streak......? Ha, Ha

Don't worry, I didn't let him eat a whole banana. It just looks like it. He actually liked the peel better.

Black bean nose

Happy Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year. Grady actually got the concept of Trick or Treating. We decided to stay in Black Mountain as it was threatening to rain. We headed to Church Street where the police closed the streets and kids ran from house to house.

Grady had been saying that he was going to be a bee for about a month before the big day. Josh's mom found the best costume for him. She also went with the insect theme and bought Myles a spider costume. They were so adorable. Grady was running around stinging everyone and everything for several days before Halloween.

The Spider and the Bee

The rolly polly Spider

Little Bee

Myles, the Spider, tries to scare Nico.

Trying to get a picture of the boys together was almost impossible.

Ready to hit the streets, Trick or Treat!!

Gramma helped G go from door to door.

Myles was along for the ride. The costume didn't last too long. The stroller ended up wearing it most of the time. It was cute while it lasted.

Myles and Dad

What a happy bee!! He was so excited every time he got a new piece of candy.

Next house...