I realized today that it has been far too long since I really said anything on here, so I figure it is about time to give some actual news beyond pictures (which admittedly have been far too few and far between as well!).
We got some new neighbours about a month ago. The man works as a handyman, so we hired him to pull the cactuses out of the garden by the driveway (for very cheap, but he set the price, so we went for it). Anyway, out went the cactuses, and the discovery was made that the garden is absolutely full of poison ivy! We need to pull it, but I haven't been that brave... yet. Into that garden, we are going to put a few paths of (large) paving stones, a bird bath, a couple of little hummingbird feeders, various herbs, and different heights and types of perennial and annual flowers. I thinking about maybe a bleeding heart, hibiscus, milkweed, and then I already have seeds for columbine, yarrow, basil, oregano (I think), dill, forget-me-nots, African daisies, bachelor's buttons, California poppies, and probably a few others that I've forgotten. Most of those are perennial, so it will be minimal maintenence.
We've also revamped the garden in front of the house (near the porch) because it was full of bulbs, and we discovered that many of those bulbs have poisonous content either both in the bulb and the leaves, or just in the bulb, but regardless, Elias eats anything in reach/sight, so we pulled all the bulbs. They're going to go into the garden that has been completely ignored since we moved in here, and we've put in perennials in the garden in front of the porch. :) So far we have bee balm, prime roses, echinacea, some dasies, and potentially some yarrow... if it decides to grow. I've also got some nasturtiums, marigolds, and alyssum planted.
Elias is developing in leaps and bounds. He crawls everywhere very quickly, and I often will see him right beside me, turn around, and realize he's missing! Then I go hunting. While most boys are loud it seems, he is very, very, very quiet much of the time! It makes me glad to be able to say that we just got an Ergo baby carrier! He's spent about 2 hours in it every day since it arrived on Saturday. It allows me to get at least a few things done, and I discovered today that I can actually operate the vacuum with him on my back in it! I've tried three different carriers with him on my back, and this is the first he hasn't flipped out in!
Anyway, development. Elias loves to play with balls of all sizes. He likes to put things in and out of containers... particularly balls. :) He also likes to pull all the toilet paper off the toilet paper roll, and anything that has to do with the bathroom is his favourite activity. As soon as the bathroom door opens, he crawls as fast as he can to get in there so he can play in (yes, I said in) the toilet. The big news of the last week is that Elias has started taking the occasional step toward us or some other inanimate object! I'm really hoping that he isn't going to start actually walking anytime too soon though! It's already a lot of work chasing two kids in opposite directions! I don't want to have to do it with them both on feet! Oh yes, and of course, he has discovered the pilot light under the hotwater heater. I found out by discovering him with his arm inside the space under the heater trying to catch the flame. Yikes!
Rebecca is growing up so fast lately. She loves to play with the neighbourhood kids. Lexi is Rebecca's favourite by far. She watches for Lexi's mom to get home every evening so she can drag me over to play outside with Lexi and Lexi's little brother, Aaron. She's thrilled with the warm weather that allows us to get out every day for hours at a time... I'm not so thrilled by the pollen we've got lately though! Brianna and Chris are her other two "older" playmates (more often Brianna than Chris), and Amaya is her only age-mate playmate on the street. However, she is also the friend Rebecca sees least.
Rebecca is also developing a fascination and love for many little creatures such as worms, beetles, spiders, lady bugs, butterflies, etc. She actually (finally) picked up a beetle last night! She has refused to touch just about any 'creepy crawly' for the last year, so this is a huge milestone. :) And, speaking of creatures, Rebecca still loves frogs, adn we still walk up and down the road looking for them in the ditches, but she also absolutely loves turtles, fish, alligators, and the latest love is dolphins. To the point that she actually begs me to put on movies that are about dolphins. :) She loves the old Flipper television shows. Anyway, instead of having eggs or anything, we gave her a little Pillow Pet dolphin for Easter, which she absolutely loves, and she's actually taken a nap with it willingly for the last week and a half! :)
We're heading to Florida with my parents in a week and a half, and Shannon and Mara will be joining us there. We'll be spending a week there, and then heading back up to home. Thankfully our neighbours across the street have agreed to look after all our creatures and the house while we are away... but I'm still trying to find someone to take the dogs if possible, because they throw a little loop into things for them.
Anyway, I think that's all the news!
Cool "did you know" fact: Alligators can close and retract their eyes so far into their skulls that they can have holes in place of their eyes. This helps protect their eyes from objects as they swim through brush in water.
Yes, they feed the alligators chicken.
We took a train ride around the park.
Then we took a walk down a boardwalk through the breeding marsh. The trees are COVERED in birds nests, and there are alligator nests on the ground by the water.
The bird was hitching a ride!
WHITE Alligator! 
We let the little ones play in the water and on the playground before getting back into the cars to go back to the rooms. :)
Here she's all ready to go! She was very excited to show Daddy "her farm".
Saying hi to the turkey (who hissed and spat at us the whole time!).
Elias rode in the snugli on Daddy's back through the whole visit.
Rebecca is getting into the joys of climbing things now, and will often climb just about anything she can find!
Petting the pony.
And the sheep.
And another sheep!
She was trying to get food for the peacock, but I didn't have any quarters for her. 
