Gasparilla

This is the first year in 10 that I haven’t attended the famed Gasparilla parade on Tampa Bay. In years past, it would be a day that I would start drinking “pirate juice” (aka vodka with a splash of whatever I could find), by 10am, only to stumble home with many beads and very slurred speech by midnight.

For those that don’t know, the name of Tampa's traditional Gasparilla parade comes from legendary pirate Jose Gaspar, "last of the Buccaneers," who terrorized the coastal waters of West Florida during the late 18th and early 19th century. I can’t think of a better reason to celebrate with friends, can you?

But this is the first year that I did not feel compelled to get out there and mingle with the hundreds of Pirates from Ye Mystic Krewe and thousands of other folks needing an excuse to drink all day. Instead, I stayed home with the girls and we had Sara, Bella and Laney over for crafts and other fun. It was so wonderful and I’m sure tomorrow when I feel good with no hangover I will have a great Sunday too.

The girls are just starting to carry on long conversations and I keep grabbing for my video camera to capture it. Today I was listening in as they were passing something back and forth to each other and the conversation went like this, “here you go”, “thanks”, “you’re welcome”, “let me have that back”, “ok”, “thanks”, “you’re welcome”, “I want that”, “ok, here”, “thanks”. Such manners! As a first time parent, listening to my kids interact and discuss things amongst themselves is just amazing to me, so enjoyable and much better than Gasparilla ever could be. Shiver me timbers!