This is the closet door in my foyer. I have all my cards on display so I can enjoy them all season long. Leave a comment and tell me what you do with your cards!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Christmas Cards
I love getting Christmas cards in the mail! It seems like it's a dying tradition, sadly. I get fewer and fewer each year. But the ones I do get make me happy, so thank you if you sent me one. Here is what I do with them:
The 12 days of Christmas
"On the first day of Christmas, my mama gave to me....
a new ornament to hang on our tree."
By the end we had quite an interesting song. It's hard to sing things like "8 oz of chocolate almond milk!" On the 6th day, their papers said 6 chicken nuggets. We had a lot of errands to run in Nebraska that day, so I figured I'd take them to Chik Fil A for lunch. They were happy for nuggets, but even happier to find out where we were getting them from. It's a fun little tradition that they love. Here are some photos of one of our days.
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| Ready to peek inside! |
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| Oh, what could it be today?! |
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| Hysteria breaks out as they realize it's candy! |
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| What their papers looked like |
M&Ms are a huge deal in my house. They almost never get any. These are high fructose corn syrup and dye free chocolate drops from Sunspire, so they aren't technically M & Ms. But they look close enough to the real thing to make my kids happy. (The jelly beans were also gluten, dye, and HFCS free.) If you are wondering how Planes: Fire and Rescue fits in there, I'll explain. It was day 5 and I told them I took $5 for each child I had and bought them a new movie. I don't usually spend anywhere near $20 on one of their days, but we had a 6 hr road trip to make and I wanted them to have a new movie to watch in the van to keep them quiet.
If you want to know where I got my natural candy from, here's the link:
The Natural Candy Store
Friday, December 19, 2014
Merry Christmas from the USPS
As a member of the Zumba Instructor Network, I receive a dvd/cd combo every other month with new songs and choreography that I can use in my classes. Today I received the latest edition. Apparently the post office thought it needed some extra spicing up, so they added their own little touch to it:
I can't believe they put a hole all the way through my dvd! I sure hope the Zumba office will replace this, because I know the post office sure won't reimburse me for it.
I can't believe they put a hole all the way through my dvd! I sure hope the Zumba office will replace this, because I know the post office sure won't reimburse me for it.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Finally did it...
After ten years, I have finally been talked into learning to make my MIL's gumbo recipe. I held out as long as I could. I can't stand okra! 
But once I scooped the okra and sausage out (picky Nikki lives on!!!), it wasn't so bad. I may or may not have gone back for seconds. Cajun boy and Cajun boy jr (Nathanael) were quite pleased. The other four of us had okra piles on our bread plates.
A few more FL pics
I forgot that my father gave me a cd with his photos from our trip. I put those on my laptop today and wanted to share a few more miscellaneous pics from our trip.
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| My boys and my dad watching Wheel of Fortune |
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| Hannah and my Aunt Marge |
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| I can't believe they got me to jump in at 76 degrees! |
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| Playing Wii |
Monday, December 15, 2014
Christmas Shopping
This is how you shop for your kids when you live out in the country.
There is one more box coming and then we are done with them. And out of what they are getting, only one thing came from the store. Where's my easy button?
#iloveAmazonPrime
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Recital Time!
Today was our first piano recital since we moved. Nathanael was very sad to leave his previous teacher, but God brought us a new one within two weeks of our arrival here. The lessons here are cheaper, so I signed Micah up too. Micah had not had formal instruction prior to moving here. They both have been doing very well and we are proud!
Here is Nathanael playing The Little Drummer Boy:
Here is Micah in his musical debut playing Jingle Bells:
Here is Nathanael playing The Little Drummer Boy:
Here is Micah in his musical debut playing Jingle Bells:
Back home
After we left Pensacola, we headed back to MS. We were able to pay a little visit to another one of John's cousins and spend some time with her family. She has three kids and as I mentioned previously, I love being able to get my kids together with John's cousins' kids. (And I like his cousin too. ) Then, I got to spend a little time with John's brother and his wife, who were expecting their first child at the time. I had wanted to see my SIL's baby bump, so I was happy to have dinner with them. Ruth arrived and we left the next morning to head home. I'm not like most people who dread their in laws. God has blessed me with some really great in laws and I enjoy spending time with them. We love spending time with Ruth, and the kids were very excited to see her. I was glad to be able to catch up with her. We drove to Little Rock the first night and finally got back home to a very excited daddy on 10/25. Ruth flew back to Colorado the next morning. It was certainly good to see John and be back home, but it was hard to adjust to being back here. They don't have all the things I want here. And the area where we live has almost no diversity (can't say no diversity, because there is Hannah and there is me......) and it's hard for me. I feel like we stick out everywhere we go. No one is unkind to us. We have been very well received and have found mid-Western people to be very nice and easy to get along with. But it's just hard to be the only one of anything in any area of life. At least for me it is. There is more diversity in the Omaha area, but that's 30 minutes away. I also haven't really clicked with anyone in my Classical Conversations (homeschool) group here, which makes me miss my old group even more. So coming back was hard. Leaving my parents was hard too. I have never been this far away from them for so long. I'm used to seeing them all the time. I have never had to go visit them like that before, because they have always been within an hour of us as long as we have been married. So I was sulky for awhile after we came back and it was hard to get back into the swing of homeschool and every day life, but with God's help we did. Thankfully, we do have a few friends here, so that helps.(Skype helps too.)
The week after I got back, I was offered a job teaching Zumba at the local YMCA. I was quite happy to accept. God asked me to lay down teaching in April of '13. At the time, I didn't know we were about to renovate our house and move. But God knew what was in store and he was preparing me. I missed Zumba like crazy and I know my ladies miss me. But thankfully, now that were are here and settling in, God has given it back to me. He's so good to me. I teach once a week for now, but will have two classes a week next month. My employment there gives us a very nice discount on our family membership, so that helps our budget too.
Yeah, I'm almost caught up on my blogging now!
The week after I got back, I was offered a job teaching Zumba at the local YMCA. I was quite happy to accept. God asked me to lay down teaching in April of '13. At the time, I didn't know we were about to renovate our house and move. But God knew what was in store and he was preparing me. I missed Zumba like crazy and I know my ladies miss me. But thankfully, now that were are here and settling in, God has given it back to me. He's so good to me. I teach once a week for now, but will have two classes a week next month. My employment there gives us a very nice discount on our family membership, so that helps our budget too.
Yeah, I'm almost caught up on my blogging now!
Saturday, December 13, 2014
A few more special visits
I mentioned in the last post that we had two other special visits. That last post was getting pretty long, so I decided to share about those separately here. Of course, I'm a very wordy girl, so this post will be too long too. Sorry, it's how God made me. :)
A New Friend
So when we moved here, we took a really huge paycut. We knew this was part of God's will for us and we were ok with it, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't something that I was concerned about. The thing that weighed most heavily on my heart was the grocery budget. We had been spending A LOT on groceries. We ate a mostly Paleo type diet that involves organic produce and is also dairy and gluten free. This way of eating is not cheap, but it did wonders for my family. With the smaller income, I knew I needed to find a way to reduce the grocery budget, but I wasn't sure how to do that. I expected food to be cheaper out here, but that has not turned out to be the case. And we are in a very small minority here as far as our eating choices go, so the kinds of things I like to buy are often even more expensive because hardly anyone buys them here. *Sigh* I knew that ideally, I needed to cut our grocery spending in half, but I wasn't sure how to do that and still feed my family in the way we needed to eat. I tried to do it and it just wasn't working. I was really frustrated and I cried out to the Lord through tears for help many times. If you recall, our house sold for more than we expected it too, so we have that money saved up. But it was to supplement our income when we needed it. I wanted to leave it there for emergencies, medical bills (if any arose), and vacations. I certainly did not want to literally eat it up every month, but it is what was happening. I have been a part of a forum for Christian moms of many for ten years now. It's been a really great place and I have gotten practical advice for raising many young ones at time and I have also gotten great advice for my spiritual life. I decided to take my plight to the mamas there as I knew there were several allergy mamas who had more children than I did and fed them on similar budgets or even less. One lady in particular really reached out to me. She spent hours writing me detailed messages telling me exactly how she makes it work (they are dairy and gluten free too). She taught me so much and she really encouraged me. She even sent me a special flour she uses to make bread with so that I could try it out and see if my kids reacted to it. I started immediately following her advice and I am happy to say that I have cut the grocery bill in half. I have had to let some things go, but I am not compromising on nutrition, dairy, gluten, or preservatives. I have to do a lot more in the kitchen now, but it is worth it. I don't know what I would have done without this lady. She was literally sent to me by God in answer to prayer and I am forever thankful for her. So it was a great honor to be able to meet her on my visit to FL. She lives about an hour from my parents. We met up at a park one day and she brought several of her children as well as lunch for us all. The kids got along fabulously and had a really great time together. I enjoyed getting to know her more. I hope we can see them every time we go down there and that John will be able to meet her in the future.
An Old Friend
When we left my parents, my dad blessed me by driving to Pensacola with me (he then flew home). I was planning to drive from there back to my in laws' house in MS. John's sister, Ruth, was flying in to meet up with me and she was going to help me drive from MS all the way back to Iowa. It was so nice knowing that I would only be driving three hours by myself on the way back.
A few days before I left my parents' house, I got an email from an old friend. She heard about my trip on my blog and was wondering if we could meet up. It turns out she lives in Pensacola and we were going to be driving right through there. I had an extra night in between leaving my parents' house and arriving at my mother in law's house, so I decided to spend it in Pensacola and meet up with her. This friend and I used to travel together on a missionary singing team. She was the sign language interpreter for our team. But our connection started before I ever joined the team. You see, the team had come to my church one night for a concert and I had attended. At that time, I was in a state of rebellion towards God and not really living at all the way he wanted me to. He wanted me to give him total control of my life and I hadn't wanted to do that. I had only wanted to give up the parts that were easy to give. A relationship with God just doesn't work that way, and as a result I was an unhappy girl. I seemed fine on the outside, but there was an emptiness in my soul. Since I wasn't getting that emptiness filled at church, I decided to start looking to the world to fill it. I got involved in some things I shouldn't have. I would have fun while doing those things, but the fun didn't last. All the while, I was still going to church and playing the part of a good little Christian girl. I would be in the club Saturday night drinking and messing around with guys and then on the stage at church the next morning helping to lead worship. I was such a hypocrite! I asked the Lord why I wasn't happy and he told me that it was because I was running from him. (There is no lasting joy without Him.) So back to the concert....During the concert, the Lord began speaking to my heart. After a few songs, a woman came forward to share her testimony. This person told my life story; we were a lot alike. But then she told how she found what she was looking for in Jesus and that she had given herself completely to Him. I started feeling convicted. When prayer time came, I knew that I needed to make things right with the Lord, but I couldn’t raise my hand. I thought that if I raised my hand, all these people would find out that I was not the person that they thought I was, so I wasn’t going to do it. Then the team members came out and they were walking around looking for people to pray with. A woman started walking towards me, and when she was right in front of me I grabbed her hand. I told the Lord that I didn’t want to run from Him anymore and I gave Him complete control of my life. I am so glad I did! After that, the Holy Spirit just filled me with so much joy, true joy, and I felt the heaviness that I had been living under lifted off of me. I wound up joining that singing group and traveling with them for almost two years. The group is called the Celebrant Singers and there are several teams that travel and minister in different parts of the country and the world. I wound up being placed on the same team with the lady who had prayed with me that night and we became friends. If you haven't guess it yet, this is the same friend who was now living in Pensacola. So she is forever connected to me in a very special way.
We were able to meet her and her family at a park. She brought dinner and we ate and then the kids played. I know her husband too, so it was good to see him as well. He joined our team the summer after I did and I got to watch their love story unfold and I was there when they got married. I had not seen her since they married (more than ten years ago) and had not met her kids yet, nor had she met mine. It was fun to introduce them to each other. (She also homeschools.) Her husband is in the Navy and they were able to get me a suite at the Navy Lodge on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. When the park closed, her hubby had to go home and study for a class he's taking, but she and I headed back to my hotel room and visited some more while the kids played. We had a good time visiting and sharing and the kids got along great. I know it was a God thing that we were brought back together so out of the blue and I was so glad that we were able to spend some time together. Lots of memories! Unfortunately, we did not think to take any photos, so I don't have one to share.
A New Friend
So when we moved here, we took a really huge paycut. We knew this was part of God's will for us and we were ok with it, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't something that I was concerned about. The thing that weighed most heavily on my heart was the grocery budget. We had been spending A LOT on groceries. We ate a mostly Paleo type diet that involves organic produce and is also dairy and gluten free. This way of eating is not cheap, but it did wonders for my family. With the smaller income, I knew I needed to find a way to reduce the grocery budget, but I wasn't sure how to do that. I expected food to be cheaper out here, but that has not turned out to be the case. And we are in a very small minority here as far as our eating choices go, so the kinds of things I like to buy are often even more expensive because hardly anyone buys them here. *Sigh* I knew that ideally, I needed to cut our grocery spending in half, but I wasn't sure how to do that and still feed my family in the way we needed to eat. I tried to do it and it just wasn't working. I was really frustrated and I cried out to the Lord through tears for help many times. If you recall, our house sold for more than we expected it too, so we have that money saved up. But it was to supplement our income when we needed it. I wanted to leave it there for emergencies, medical bills (if any arose), and vacations. I certainly did not want to literally eat it up every month, but it is what was happening. I have been a part of a forum for Christian moms of many for ten years now. It's been a really great place and I have gotten practical advice for raising many young ones at time and I have also gotten great advice for my spiritual life. I decided to take my plight to the mamas there as I knew there were several allergy mamas who had more children than I did and fed them on similar budgets or even less. One lady in particular really reached out to me. She spent hours writing me detailed messages telling me exactly how she makes it work (they are dairy and gluten free too). She taught me so much and she really encouraged me. She even sent me a special flour she uses to make bread with so that I could try it out and see if my kids reacted to it. I started immediately following her advice and I am happy to say that I have cut the grocery bill in half. I have had to let some things go, but I am not compromising on nutrition, dairy, gluten, or preservatives. I have to do a lot more in the kitchen now, but it is worth it. I don't know what I would have done without this lady. She was literally sent to me by God in answer to prayer and I am forever thankful for her. So it was a great honor to be able to meet her on my visit to FL. She lives about an hour from my parents. We met up at a park one day and she brought several of her children as well as lunch for us all. The kids got along fabulously and had a really great time together. I enjoyed getting to know her more. I hope we can see them every time we go down there and that John will be able to meet her in the future.
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| The only girls in the group! |
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| My friend and Hannah prepare the salad |
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| They played hard! Look at all those sweaty boys. :) |
An Old Friend
When we left my parents, my dad blessed me by driving to Pensacola with me (he then flew home). I was planning to drive from there back to my in laws' house in MS. John's sister, Ruth, was flying in to meet up with me and she was going to help me drive from MS all the way back to Iowa. It was so nice knowing that I would only be driving three hours by myself on the way back.
A few days before I left my parents' house, I got an email from an old friend. She heard about my trip on my blog and was wondering if we could meet up. It turns out she lives in Pensacola and we were going to be driving right through there. I had an extra night in between leaving my parents' house and arriving at my mother in law's house, so I decided to spend it in Pensacola and meet up with her. This friend and I used to travel together on a missionary singing team. She was the sign language interpreter for our team. But our connection started before I ever joined the team. You see, the team had come to my church one night for a concert and I had attended. At that time, I was in a state of rebellion towards God and not really living at all the way he wanted me to. He wanted me to give him total control of my life and I hadn't wanted to do that. I had only wanted to give up the parts that were easy to give. A relationship with God just doesn't work that way, and as a result I was an unhappy girl. I seemed fine on the outside, but there was an emptiness in my soul. Since I wasn't getting that emptiness filled at church, I decided to start looking to the world to fill it. I got involved in some things I shouldn't have. I would have fun while doing those things, but the fun didn't last. All the while, I was still going to church and playing the part of a good little Christian girl. I would be in the club Saturday night drinking and messing around with guys and then on the stage at church the next morning helping to lead worship. I was such a hypocrite! I asked the Lord why I wasn't happy and he told me that it was because I was running from him. (There is no lasting joy without Him.) So back to the concert....During the concert, the Lord began speaking to my heart. After a few songs, a woman came forward to share her testimony. This person told my life story; we were a lot alike. But then she told how she found what she was looking for in Jesus and that she had given herself completely to Him. I started feeling convicted. When prayer time came, I knew that I needed to make things right with the Lord, but I couldn’t raise my hand. I thought that if I raised my hand, all these people would find out that I was not the person that they thought I was, so I wasn’t going to do it. Then the team members came out and they were walking around looking for people to pray with. A woman started walking towards me, and when she was right in front of me I grabbed her hand. I told the Lord that I didn’t want to run from Him anymore and I gave Him complete control of my life. I am so glad I did! After that, the Holy Spirit just filled me with so much joy, true joy, and I felt the heaviness that I had been living under lifted off of me. I wound up joining that singing group and traveling with them for almost two years. The group is called the Celebrant Singers and there are several teams that travel and minister in different parts of the country and the world. I wound up being placed on the same team with the lady who had prayed with me that night and we became friends. If you haven't guess it yet, this is the same friend who was now living in Pensacola. So she is forever connected to me in a very special way.
We were able to meet her and her family at a park. She brought dinner and we ate and then the kids played. I know her husband too, so it was good to see him as well. He joined our team the summer after I did and I got to watch their love story unfold and I was there when they got married. I had not seen her since they married (more than ten years ago) and had not met her kids yet, nor had she met mine. It was fun to introduce them to each other. (She also homeschools.) Her husband is in the Navy and they were able to get me a suite at the Navy Lodge on the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. When the park closed, her hubby had to go home and study for a class he's taking, but she and I headed back to my hotel room and visited some more while the kids played. We had a good time visiting and sharing and the kids got along great. I know it was a God thing that we were brought back together so out of the blue and I was so glad that we were able to spend some time together. Lots of memories! Unfortunately, we did not think to take any photos, so I don't have one to share.
Florida!!
After spending two nights with Grandma and Grandpa, we headed out to Tampa to finally see my parents! It was a long, rough day of driving and we did not get in until 10 minute before midnight, but we made it! I thank everyone for their prayers. I felt them that day too. It's so cool to just be able to know in your spirit that people are praying for you.
After a good night's sleep, we headed out to the grocery store to stock up on food. My parents (Tee Tee and Pee Pop to my kids) took us to special grocery store that has a lot of organic, gluten free, and weird hippie foods like we like to eat. :) The highlight of that trip for the kids was the shopping cart escalator. The grocery store has a parking garage attached to it and if you park upstairs, you can use the escalators to enter and exit the store. There is a special escalator just for shopping carts. We had never seen one before, so they thought that was pretty cool.
Here are some other highlights from our trip:
We went to visit a big sundial in St. Petersburg at a new shopping center. They had never seen one so this was also a good opportunity to teach them a little about how people used to tell time and talk about the sun's shadow. There was a cupcake shop around the corner that had gluten free cupcakes, so Tee Tee (my mom) treated us to cupcakes afterwards. For kids who can't normally do stuff like that, a trip to a cupcake shop is a very big deal.
We enjoyed swimming in mom and dad's pool a couple times. The kids had really been looking forward to doing this. It was a little chillier in the water than we would have preferred, but it was not too cold to swim. We also got to swim in Uncle Sean and Aunt Jill's pool. The kids had so much fun with my brother in the pool. They were calling him Mr. Riptide and trying to shoot him with water guns while trying to keep from getting caught by him.
The beach!!! We got to visit a couple of beaches while we were in FL. We love the beach and miss it terribly, so this is something we had all been very excited to do. The water was clearer than what the kids have been used to in the Outer Banks of NC, so they were enjoying putting their faces in the water and seeing the fish. There had been 7 sting ray attacks at one of the beaches on the day we came, but thankfully we did not run into any rays.
Another highlight was a visit over to the aquarium in Clearwater to meet Winter and Hope the dolphins from A Dolphin's Tale and A Dolphin's Tale 2. We had seen the first movie and they remembered the story. It was cool to go see Winter. She was not wearing her tail while we were there, but they brought it out for us to see and touch. It was fun to learn about some differences between what was in the movie that wasn't exactly what happened in real life. We got to see the trainers interact with both dolphins and Hope did several tricks for us. While there, we also got to see some other marine life. The kids touched a sea urchin and checked out some sharks and turtles. There was a sting ray petting area downstairs, so all the boys had their first experience touching a ray. Hannah decided to pass this time!
We also enjoyed going to a pizza place with my parents that offers dairy and gluten free pizza that actually tastes good. There was a place like this in VA, but there isn't a lot of demand for that here, so we have no pizza place to go to here that won't cause us negative side effects afterwards. It was nice to be able to do something as simple as going out for pizza that other families take for granted.
We headed down to Ft. Myers one day and met up with my uncle, aunt, my cousin, and my cousin's daughter. It was nice to catch up with them. We went to the beach first and then went to dinner.
We got to spend most of one weekend with my brother and sister in law. I miss my brother and don't get to see him or Jill very often, so this was something I had really been looking forward to. It was good to catch up with them and just spend time with them. Of course, I love it when the kids get to spend more time with their aunts and uncles too and make memories. They took us to a nature preserve near their house for a nature walk. We saw alligators (or were they crocs??), armadillos, cranes, a variety of birds, turtles, and two American bald eagles. I had never seen the eagles before, so that was pretty cool. We went to my brother's church the Sunday we were there. He leads worship at his church and I wanted to come see him as a worship leader. I was glad for that opportunity. My brother owns a boat and he and Jill enjoy going out on it often. He took my kids for their first motor boat ride, which they enjoyed very much. We even saw a dolphin jump out of the water.
My parents hosted a cookout one Saturday that my brother and sister in law attended, along with an uncle and aunt I had not seen in a long time. It was really great to be able to see so many family members on this trip (on my side and on John's side). My aunt got down on the floor and played with kids, so they enjoyed having her attention while the other adults visited with each other.
My parents got a new Wii game for the kids to play on days we weren't going anywhere. It was a really fun game and they enjoyed it a lot. I loved it because it made them exercise to play. It was called Outdoor Challenge.
The kids enjoyed watching Wheel of Fortune with my parents in the evenings. My parents had introduced them to that show awhile back when they were watching them for me. Nathanael really got hooked and I had to download the Wheel of Fortune app onto the Kindle for them. He also has a WOF activity book he uses on road trips. I love the big, fun things we do with my parents, but I also enjoy these simple things that will be fond memories for my kids when they are grown.
We enjoyed a few special visits that weren't originally planned when we decided to take this trip. It turns out that one of John's cousins lives only two miles from my parents. I had seen her a few times before, but I have not had very much interaction with her (due to distance). I knew she and her family were living in FL, but I had no idea where. When my MIL (mother in law) connected her and I, we were surprised to learn how close she was to my parents. So we were able to meet them at the park one morning for a playdate and get to know them better. My kids only have one cousin their age, so I'm always glad when they get to spend some time with John's cousins' kids. The other special visit we had was with with a lady whom I had not gotten to meet yet, but who had been a huge blessing to me. I will tell more about this in the next post.
What else? We packed so much into a short time. I hope I didn't forget anything! Looking back, I took a lot of pictures of things we did, but not of my kids with my parents. Doh! Wish I had taken a few of those! Guess we will have to go back!! :) We had so much fun with my parents that we did not want to leave! However, we were really missing our daddy by this point and he was missing us. We had been away from him for longer than ever before and now it was time to go home. But not without one more surprise visit (that I will tell about in the next post).
After a good night's sleep, we headed out to the grocery store to stock up on food. My parents (Tee Tee and Pee Pop to my kids) took us to special grocery store that has a lot of organic, gluten free, and weird hippie foods like we like to eat. :) The highlight of that trip for the kids was the shopping cart escalator. The grocery store has a parking garage attached to it and if you park upstairs, you can use the escalators to enter and exit the store. There is a special escalator just for shopping carts. We had never seen one before, so they thought that was pretty cool.
Here are some other highlights from our trip:
We went to visit a big sundial in St. Petersburg at a new shopping center. They had never seen one so this was also a good opportunity to teach them a little about how people used to tell time and talk about the sun's shadow. There was a cupcake shop around the corner that had gluten free cupcakes, so Tee Tee (my mom) treated us to cupcakes afterwards. For kids who can't normally do stuff like that, a trip to a cupcake shop is a very big deal.
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| The Sundial |
We enjoyed swimming in mom and dad's pool a couple times. The kids had really been looking forward to doing this. It was a little chillier in the water than we would have preferred, but it was not too cold to swim. We also got to swim in Uncle Sean and Aunt Jill's pool. The kids had so much fun with my brother in the pool. They were calling him Mr. Riptide and trying to shoot him with water guns while trying to keep from getting caught by him.
The beach!!! We got to visit a couple of beaches while we were in FL. We love the beach and miss it terribly, so this is something we had all been very excited to do. The water was clearer than what the kids have been used to in the Outer Banks of NC, so they were enjoying putting their faces in the water and seeing the fish. There had been 7 sting ray attacks at one of the beaches on the day we came, but thankfully we did not run into any rays.
Another highlight was a visit over to the aquarium in Clearwater to meet Winter and Hope the dolphins from A Dolphin's Tale and A Dolphin's Tale 2. We had seen the first movie and they remembered the story. It was cool to go see Winter. She was not wearing her tail while we were there, but they brought it out for us to see and touch. It was fun to learn about some differences between what was in the movie that wasn't exactly what happened in real life. We got to see the trainers interact with both dolphins and Hope did several tricks for us. While there, we also got to see some other marine life. The kids touched a sea urchin and checked out some sharks and turtles. There was a sting ray petting area downstairs, so all the boys had their first experience touching a ray. Hannah decided to pass this time!
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| Winter |
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| Hope doing tricks for us |
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| Sea Urchin |
We also enjoyed going to a pizza place with my parents that offers dairy and gluten free pizza that actually tastes good. There was a place like this in VA, but there isn't a lot of demand for that here, so we have no pizza place to go to here that won't cause us negative side effects afterwards. It was nice to be able to do something as simple as going out for pizza that other families take for granted.
We headed down to Ft. Myers one day and met up with my uncle, aunt, my cousin, and my cousin's daughter. It was nice to catch up with them. We went to the beach first and then went to dinner.
We got to spend most of one weekend with my brother and sister in law. I miss my brother and don't get to see him or Jill very often, so this was something I had really been looking forward to. It was good to catch up with them and just spend time with them. Of course, I love it when the kids get to spend more time with their aunts and uncles too and make memories. They took us to a nature preserve near their house for a nature walk. We saw alligators (or were they crocs??), armadillos, cranes, a variety of birds, turtles, and two American bald eagles. I had never seen the eagles before, so that was pretty cool. We went to my brother's church the Sunday we were there. He leads worship at his church and I wanted to come see him as a worship leader. I was glad for that opportunity. My brother owns a boat and he and Jill enjoy going out on it often. He took my kids for their first motor boat ride, which they enjoyed very much. We even saw a dolphin jump out of the water.
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| Can you spot the gator? |
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| Adorable!! |
My parents hosted a cookout one Saturday that my brother and sister in law attended, along with an uncle and aunt I had not seen in a long time. It was really great to be able to see so many family members on this trip (on my side and on John's side). My aunt got down on the floor and played with kids, so they enjoyed having her attention while the other adults visited with each other.
My parents got a new Wii game for the kids to play on days we weren't going anywhere. It was a really fun game and they enjoyed it a lot. I loved it because it made them exercise to play. It was called Outdoor Challenge.
The kids enjoyed watching Wheel of Fortune with my parents in the evenings. My parents had introduced them to that show awhile back when they were watching them for me. Nathanael really got hooked and I had to download the Wheel of Fortune app onto the Kindle for them. He also has a WOF activity book he uses on road trips. I love the big, fun things we do with my parents, but I also enjoy these simple things that will be fond memories for my kids when they are grown.
We enjoyed a few special visits that weren't originally planned when we decided to take this trip. It turns out that one of John's cousins lives only two miles from my parents. I had seen her a few times before, but I have not had very much interaction with her (due to distance). I knew she and her family were living in FL, but I had no idea where. When my MIL (mother in law) connected her and I, we were surprised to learn how close she was to my parents. So we were able to meet them at the park one morning for a playdate and get to know them better. My kids only have one cousin their age, so I'm always glad when they get to spend some time with John's cousins' kids. The other special visit we had was with with a lady whom I had not gotten to meet yet, but who had been a huge blessing to me. I will tell more about this in the next post.
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| Cousins! |
What else? We packed so much into a short time. I hope I didn't forget anything! Looking back, I took a lot of pictures of things we did, but not of my kids with my parents. Doh! Wish I had taken a few of those! Guess we will have to go back!! :) We had so much fun with my parents that we did not want to leave! However, we were really missing our daddy by this point and he was missing us. We had been away from him for longer than ever before and now it was time to go home. But not without one more surprise visit (that I will tell about in the next post).
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