These are a few of Alli’s most recent art projects she has brought home from school. Allison is our little artist. She is very creative and when she does a craft for the first time it is usually at a level it took me several tries to get to. She is good at drawing, painting, chalks, making things from clay, or anything else. The other day she raided my craft drawer and is working on making a bird house out of popsicle sticks. She has a sweet little heart and can be very thoughtful. She often makes cards for everyone in her class at school and puts them in everyone’s cubbies at school.
I was talking with my mom today and was telling her that Alli started out good but took a quick turn and had a rough morning. Allison is so passionate, there is no middle ground for her feelings, whatever they are. She has always been like that. She has a very strong personality. She is very much like my sister Sherri. In fact it is almost eerie how similar they are. It is amazing how genetics can come through from different family members. My mom made the comment that she hopes Alli will realize how special she is. I couldn’t agree more. I worry for her that she is so harsh and defensive sometimes because she is unsure of herself. I pray everyday that I can help her develop a strong sense of self worth. She is very smart, she has a very quick wit and funny sense of humor. She can be the sweetest, most helpful little girl. She loves it when there is a little baby or toddler around so she can follow them around and help take care of them. She doesn’t have a shy bone in her, and is a natural leader. She loves trying new things. She likes knowing whats going on and being in on whatever people are talking about or doing. She tells me all the latest news from school for 2nd grade and 5th. She likes to walk home with a bunch of the girls in 5th grade with Matthew. I signed her up for a singing/acting/stunt show camp this summer. I think she will totally love it. Drama, drama, drama is what she loves. She likes to know everyone and their stories but she tends to have a few closer friends instead of a big group of friends. And when Allison decides you are her friend and she feels like she trusts you, you have her loyalty forever. She has a great memory. She is a strong determined beautiful little girl. I hope and pray she realizes and knows that. I am excited to see her grow into her potential.
Coaches handing out the individual medals to each player.
Matthew, Jake, Joaquin, Frank, Camden
Head Coach Jimmy Adams and his son Jake.
Matthew moved from his regular spot at 2nd base and pitched a little.
He did well but prefers his 2nd or short stop postition.
He had some great hits.
He worked hard on his hitting this winter and it shows.
Testing the waters to steal second.
Living up to his nickname ‘Cheetah’ running the bases.
Team Pics
The weather has not been very cooperative so far this season. We have had several games and a tournament canceled because of rain, snow, and cold. This past week we had our first enjoyable regular season game on Thursday and then the weekend was our first baseball tournament. The weather was almost perfect, the boys were in it to win it. It was an awesome weekend. I really enjoy watching Matthew play. We stuck gold with this team we are on now. It is exactly what we were looking for. The head coach is awesome with the boys, he is knowledgable, consistent, level headed, good natured, good all around person. The other coaches are great too. The boys are a great fit for Matthew. They are helping him come out of his shell a little more. They all LOVE baseball, they are all talented and work hard to get better at it, they are good natured and have fun but listen when it is time to get serious and want to be competitive. The icing on the cake is the parents and families are pretty much all on the same page supporting the team, being positive, and fun to hang around with. For the most part we are all similar in our goals for wanting the boys to have fun playing baseball while learning some important life lessons like; hard work, applying yourself, dealing with success and failure, friendship, teamwork, dedication, self discipline, having confidence in yourself, etc. All these things make spending 12+ hours at a basball field enjoyable and fun. The girls have each made friends with some of the other siblings and have their snacks, toys, other items they want with them down to a science. They watch a little but then go play at the park, or explore around the fields with their friends. I had the pleasure of Ryan’s company for Fall Ball, but he has now become one of the assistant coaches so he can be in the thick of everything more. He loves doing baseball with Matthew. I think we are making some great memories.
The pictures above were taken by one of the moms who is a photographer. She takes some great pictures of the boys during their games and then shares them with us so we can have them. It is pretty awesome.
So the tournament was a great time, everyone watching was full of peanuts, popcorn and icees, a little sunburned, very dusty, emotionally drained, and raspy voices from cheering so much. Matthew and Ryan could easily recount every play and at bat for the entire weekend but I will summerize by saying by the end all the coaches and players were full of sunflower seeds, bubble gum, water, a little sunburned, covered in dirt, sore from bumps and bruises, physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted and over the moon excited that they won. Matthew played 2nd base for all the games except for a few innings they switched things around and he did short stop, center field, and pitcher. He had some great pop fly and line drive catches. With the exception of one game all the boys were pretty much on point and doing great in their positions. Matthew had several double hits, of course singles, several walks, and luckily only one hit from the pitcher to advance to first. I believe his batting average was 500 at the end of the tournament. He is still dying to get a home run, he did hit one to the fence but hasn’t made it over yet. He is excellent at stealing bases, and just running in general. He loves that one of his nicknames is Cheetah. He proves he is the fastest one on the team regularly in practice. Allison added another nickname to the list by calling him Cheetoh instead of Cheetah. When other people started using it too sometimes she was very proud of herself. I have to agree it is a funny thing for a sister to do.
Reading like a book: Emilee, Chad, Reese, Teegan, Ragin, Emmersyn, Lyla
I think this time of year with Spring finally coming and things blooming and changing and getting to be outside more and summer getting close and the school year starting to wrap up I start to feel naustalgic. We have a few months left before we officially finish up the toddler phase of our family and enter the everyone is in school all day phase of our family. It is a bitter sweet feeling. On the obvious side of the perks of having the kids at school and the time that opens up to get stuff done faster and get to things that have been put off for a long time that will be nice. It will be nice to be able to get stuff done so once they get home I can focus on just them and not have other distractions. On the other hand though I will really miss having some company during the day. For the last 12 years of my life I have had at least one of my kids with me for the majority if not all of the day. This is going to be a big change. Things just aren’t the same once they start school, everything speeds up.
I remember before Matthew started kindergarten I thought the parents that said they cried when they took their kids to school for the first time were kind of weird. I envisioned myself doing a cartwheel. Then I took Matthew to kindergarten and I wasn’t crying (ok, I cried when I got home) but it pulled at my heart strings a lot more than I expected. He had been my buddy. He is such a good kid too. He is so kind and pleasant to be around. His cute little giggle and adorable smile. He loved to play and run and do whatever I was doing. He is a thinker and is good at making people around him feel good. One of my favorite memories of Matthew is when he was about 18 months pushing his little bubble lawn mower next to his dad and wearing one of Ryan’s hats while Ryan mowed the lawn. I remember watching them and wishing I could push pause on time for a while. Contrast that to yesterday while Ryan and I were working in the yard and Matthew was riding MY bike in circles in the driveway while he talked with us. He is still an amazing kid but he is starting to get a little teenager in him and doesn’t want to hang out as much as he used to or has a lot of things going on with friends and baseball that keep him busy.
Allison was my saving grace when Matthew started kindergarten. She was still home with me to keep me company. With her little determined independent self accompanied by her cute little bouncing blond pony tails she has always been a force to be wreckened with. She has always been ready to go out and explore the world around her. I could put Matthew and Emilee on a blanket on the grass and they wouldn’t leave because they didn’t like the poky grass. Allison never paused for a second, she would immediatley take off to explore through whatever terrain surrounded her. Her being the middle child Emilee was on her way so she didn’t get as much one on one as everyone else. But we still had many fun times together at the park, or on walks, or story time at the library, playgroup, and anything else we did. She was very good to Emilee and liked to take care of her and help with what she needed. Allison was only going to be five by a couple weeks when she started kindergarten so she only did one year of preschool. She really is an independent person and wants to do everything her older brother does so she had no problem starting school and never looked back. I am more of a home body and she is the exact opposite so sometimes it is exhausting for me to keep her satified with getting out and doing things but I am glad she is that way. She is already great at making things happen instead of waiting for things to happen.
Matthew and Alli were only half day kindergarten, which I thought was perfect for them. Last year was the last year Kansas did half day kindergarten so when Emilee starts next Fall she will be gone all day. I think she will do fine with it. She will be almost six when she starts and has reached the stage where she wants more social interaction and activities going on during the day. I am the one that is going to struggle with it. Emilee is a joyful easy companion. She is fun to take pretty much wherever I go. She has done preschool a few days a week the past two years but it will be very different to have her gone all day. She is my little buddy. I will miss having her joyful little self skipping around the house. I have been feeling a little glum lately wanting to push a pause button on time again. When I got her preschool pictures back it got me thinking about it all again.
I love watching my kids and discovering the traits they were born with from day one and the things they learn and develop along the way. I know I am not done with that either, like I said it is just changing. When we left the baby phase for good, I was a little sad about that too. Our new phase has its perks too. It is pretty easy to hop in the car and go places now. Our Florida trip really was pretty nice, everyone can entertain themselves and can handle being in the car all day. The girls still need a little help but everyone can get themselves ready for things for the most part. I also like them being able to explain and talk things through more, and have a few more reasoning skills.
To sum up, I am happy and gratful I get to be a mom, and I get to be a mom that gets to stay home with her kids. The sleepless nights, blow-outs, being thrown up on, crying, tantrums, fits, sickness, messes, diaper changes, days without a shower, no adult interaction, reading the same book 50 times in a row, singing the ABC’s ‘one more time’, and all the other exhausting sometimes mind numbing activities that aren’t the easiest part of being a mom are completely worth every hug, smile, kiss, giggle, snuggle, laugh, joyful discovery, dried tear, fixed ouchie, silly, funny, happy, once in a lifetime moments that come along with it.
Here is some of my favorite moments from the past few years.
A few years back we were on vacation in Island Park, Idaho. For part of it we went camping with Kenny and Sherri in Yellowstone National Park. While we were there Ryan noticed how many RV’s were around and started making a business plan with Kenny. At the time the French’s were living in Idaho so we were trying to get logistics worked out for having our own RV Rental business. There were some hitches in how we wanted things to work, and then the French’s moved to Florida. RV Renting fell to the wayside for a few years. We still talked about it and Ryan was ready to do it if it was ever possible. When we went to Florida in March he and Kenny were joking about finally starting the RV business when we came to visit. One night we went to dinner without the kiddos and started talking about it. We quickly started thinking that we had a pretty ideal set up to start it. Kenny and Sherri have a big lot they could keep it on and Kenny could service and turn them over. So we decided to do it. When we got home we all started working on different things to get the business underway. A week later we had our LLC submitted and approved and an RV bought and listed to rent with supplies on the way to get her ready for renters, and the month of April completely booked with more bookings coming in almost daily. It has been a pretty crazy process. I am glad there are four of us to split the work load. I am focusing on our website/social media/accounting stuff. Our first one was booking so well that we decided to get two more right away. So a little into our second week we had three RV’s, a website, Facebook Page, logo, and software for booking and accounting rolling out. It has been pretty exciting to work on too. Every time things start to settle it seems like we think of more things that need to be done or we want to do. I am going to flat out pat myself on the back for the website. I impressed myself that I managed to get a fully functional pretty decent website up and running! That is not my wheel house at all. Ryan and Kenny are now talking about how to get this growing even more.
We named our little business FAT Adventures. Which has a few thoughts behind it. One is a play on words that we want to help people have a FAT adventure using the slang meaning of the word Phat. Another is the acronym with French and Terry. We also wanted a name that wasn’t specifically for RV’s because eventually we hope to expand and have homes and storage facilities for rent too.
So, as I mentioned it is pretty exciting. I have learned a ton already. I am excited this is something I can work on from home too. Even though all my kids will be in school next year all day, I still want to be home when they come home and get to be with them during that time. So far this seems to have the potential to grow and really take off. We are all crossing our fingers it will be a success. We also named our RV’s so it is easier to keep track of them the picture below is our first one. We call it Cowboy, we have a slightly smaller one we call Li’l Sebastian, and a big one we call Moose.
I have always wanted to try pottery making with a wheel. I have thought about taking a class on the community college once the kids are in school. I decided to look into any businesses that offer it around here and found one! The lady that does it offers a weekly month long class, or she has a ‘try it’ night, once or twice a month. So I asked some friends to go with me and last night Lauren and Alysa Wada went to a class and had our first try at making pottery. I loved it! I was okay at it, I think I could be pretty good at it with practice. The instructor taught us to make a vase, a bowl, and a plate. My vase was looking pretty good and then the top flew off because it got to thin and twisted. I would have preferred starting over but instead the instructor salvaged what was left…I think it ended up looking more like an ash tray than a vase. My bowl ended up looking very similar to my ash tray vase but a better version. My plate was pretty good but when next to the others looked like a squashed ash tray. So I was a little frustrated with my end products but I loved doing it and would want to do it again. Her weekly classes are not at a very convenient time for me right now, but hopefully someday I will be able to take one of her month long classes. We weren’t able to trim them last night either because of time constraints, so the instructor will do the trimming, put it in the kiln, and then stain it for us with the color we picked. Then we go pick them back up in a few weeks. She said once they are trimmed they will look a lot less like an ash tray. It was a fun night. I have always wanted to try it, and now I want to try it again!
When Matthew was 5 he asked us to take his training wheels off and we helped him get started once and he was good to go. I was shocked at how fast he got it. Allison was almost 5 and we were in Utah visiting Aunt DeAnna and her family. We would ride bikes out front several times a day. They had one of those balancing bikes with no peddles. Alli had been trying it for a few days and then tried a regular bike and took off. We like to go on family bike rides, and last summer I sold our bike trailor to someone because it was getting to hard to drag Emilee behind us. The next bike ride we went on Emilee rode her bike along with us with her training wheels. As we all know it takes a lot more work to ride a bike with training wheels than without them. At the beginning of the ride she was singing and loving it, about halfway through she was wailing and crying at how stupid bike rides where and saying she never ever wanted to go on another bike ride. We made it home and told her it was time to start working on no training wheels. She practiced through the Fall until it got to cold to ride a bike. She could do it but then started thinking to much and over correcting and eventually crashed. We tried again a few weeks ago and she was doing much better but couldn’t get started on her own and still got nervous with turning sometimes. Last weekend Alli spent a little time working with her and it finally clicked. She can start, stop, turn around and do anything else she needs. Of course she loves it. I remember how exciting it felt when I was learning to ride my bike and it finally clicked and all of the sudden I could just do it. It is fun remembering and seeing these little milestones as they grow up. Between Emilee learning to ride her bike and loosing her first tooth, I am a little overwhelmed lately with how fast time flies and before you know it your babies aren’t babies and your toddlers aren’t toddlers and your son is almost a young man. So crazy.
Another example of time going to fast is Emilee had her Kindergarten Round Up, last week. The school has all the incoming Kindergartners come to the school and see the class rooms and meet the teachers and see the library and lunch room. They have several activities for them to do too while the parents fill out all of the paper work. I was actually at a dental conference so Ryan took her. She is pretty shy in new situations but went to the activities and did what everyone else was doing when it was time. Matthew and Alli were in half day Kindergarten. They have changed things around since then and there isn’t really a half day option anymore, so Emilee will be going full day. She will be almost 6 when she starts in the Fall and has done a few years of preschool so I think she will be just fine but I feel like I am getting shorted out of my time of having her at home with me.
This year our church starts at 8 a.m. I will not lie, this is not out favorite time of the week. We try to have everyone shower and lay clothes out and get as much ready the night before but it doesn’t always happen. We have occasionally made it and gotten sat down right before the person conducting starts the meeting, but more often than not we are a few minutes late. Once we actually get to church though, I am liking the 8 a.m. time. The kids are fresh and more alert and usually have eaten enough breakfast that they are fine until we get home to go without a snack. Then we get home and have the rest of the day to enjoy our sabbath day of rest. As the kids are getting older and our schedules are getting more hectic I am really starting to appreciate even more having Sunday as our day to step back, relax from the daily grind and enjoy our church and family time.
We have gotten into the routine of coming home and making a breakfast meal for lunch. Then anyone that wants to can take a little nap, usually its just Ryan and I but occasionally one of the others will decide to nap. The non-nappers read or play quietly together. Unless we do a family movie or AFV episode together, we have decided to not have any electronics on Sunday. This is probably a little bit of a ‘haha!’ moment for my parents. When I was in about 3rd grade I remember them telling us there would be no more TV on Sundays. I remember saying and thinking many times that it was a dumb idea and I would never do that when I was older. Of course my kids whine and try and think of every possible reason or excuse to make just watching TV like normal a good family building experience. That is some of their best bonding and playing together time of the week though. I love hearing them decide what game to play together and spending some quality time with each other.
After naps we all play games together, read books together, make a dessert together, things like that. Sometimes we make a treat and then invite another family or two to come over that evening and help us eat it. One of our favorite treats is to help Ryan make his Grandma Groom’s cinnamon rolls. Ryan is the one who likes to cook of the two of us so he usually cooks a nice dinner for us on Sundays too. After dinner and dishes if we don’t have someone come over we watch America’s Funniest Videos together while we eat popcorn (preferably air popped). If our Monday night is busy the next day sometimes we have FHE on Sunday night too. We try and get a little one on one time with the kids on Sunday also.
Its just a nice day. I am grateful for Heavenly Father’s wisdom in giving us the Sabbath day to rest from the daily grind and chaos of the other six days of the week and recharge. I love having the whole day to focus on the Savior and family.
The last few weeks have been flying by! I’ll start with Easter and work backwards. This past weekend was Easter and also General Conference for church. It was also April Fool’s day much to Alli’s delight, and we got to have Grandma and Grandpa Jones come visit us for the weekend.
Friday night started with the girls and I going to Disney on Ice with Aliya, Cambrie and Lori McDonald. They had a special offer through the girl scouts and Lori’s daughters are in girl scouts too so we all went together. It was really good! Disney always does a good job. Everyone had a fun time and got to sing along to fun songs. Emilee was over the moon excited that Moana was part of it. Allison sang her little heart out for the Frozen songs. After the show they had a special behind the scenes for the girl scouts. We went down and sat right by the ice rink and they showed us different things that make the show work and told us fun stuff about the show, and we watched some skating of course. We were so close we got sprayed with the ice when they went by. We were all hungry afterwards so we went to Freddy’s for some hamburgers and ice cream. It was a really fun girls night.
Saturday we watched conference and played games with Grandma and Grandpa. I have been teaching Allison a few card games, so she wanted everyone to play Wacky Six together. All of us can play except Emilee but she just sat at the table with us and colored and got to tell us when to start the round. My parents and I also went to Spring Hill and looked around at some houses there. Hopefully they will be moving by one of their kids soon so I wanted to tempt them with some possibilities here if they end up in Kansas.
Sunday was a relaxed morning, the kids went through their baskets and found all the eggs. Aaron’s Easter basket has a little Easter lesson in it that we do every year. We usually do it for FHE the week before but we hadn’t done it yet so we did that too. We watched the rest of Conference Sunday. It was a really nice Conference, they changed several programs and ways that things are organized. They talked a lot about ministering to those around us and taking care of others. We set out snacks like we usually do with a word that is said often in conference by each snack. When the kids hear the word they can pick a snack out of the bowl. It helps them pay attention a little better and they look forward to having fun snacks. We like to have ham and cheesy potatoes for Easter so we did that for dinner. My parents didn’t have to leave until Monday so we finished up the evening with more games. It is always fun to have grandparents come to visit.
Allison has been counting the days down to April Fool’s day for almost a month. She was giddy about it. She doesn’t quite get what you are supposed to do though, so she used it as a day to be ridiculously silly more than pranks-which is fine with me. At one point she was wearing her clothes inside out, my bra on top of that, her hair in a pony under her chin so it looked hairy, and every body part she could reach labeled with a sticky note. I helped her do a few things like hide a few extra eggs with peas and carrots in them, and putting food coloring in the bottom of everyone’s cup so the milk changed colors. She has some pre-April Fool’s jokes throughout the month while she anticipated the actual day. All of us had our turn of going to get dressed one morning and finding instead of our own underwear, someone elses.
Emilee had a momentous occasion this past week. She lost her first tooth. It has been wiggly forever. She is going to be one of those kids that hangs onto her teeth until they fall out completely on their own. She could have wiggled it out days before it finally fell out. It was exciting for her though. Before we know it our youngest isn’t going to be so young anymore.
First lost tooth
First lost tooth
The weekend before Easter Grandma and Grandpa Terry came down for the weekend. They stayed at Ross and Lauren’s so we spent most of the weekend over at their house. Roger is getting ready to retire this summer so we talked with them about moving down here by us sooner rather than later. It was a pretty busy weekend with baseball, soccer, cleaning the church, a baptism, and other things so we didn’t get to see them as much as we would like but we are always glad when they come for a visit.
Earlier this month I was working on a Monday and left for work about 7am. When I work Ryan drops the kids off at school and then heads to work around 7:45. Earlier that weekend I had driven Ryan’s car for some reason. His car has a key you don’t have to put in the ignition. It just has to be on your person somewhere, and we only have one of them. I usually try to just not drive his car because I always forget to take the key out of my purse afterwards and there have been far to many times where I leave with his key and have to bring it back to him. It is very frustrating for all involved. So as you can probably guess, I forgot again and was 35 minutes away working in a dental office when Ryan called to see if I had his key. Grrrr. It gets better though. I found someone to pick Emilee up and take her to preschool and Ryan said he would walk the other two to school, and actually he had been planning on working from home so he was set. Now it gets worse. When it was time to walk to school it is not just sprinkling or drizzling rain. It is a solid steady down pour of rain. Allison was not swayed at and she grabbed her stuff and was out the door. Matthew was not so cooperative. Stubborn little stinker. If he gets hit with a 50 mph baseball he shakes it off like nothing happened, but if you tell him he has to get wet or cold against his will and he will have none of it. He refused to walk in the rain. Refused. Ryan asked, told, demanded, threatened loss of electronics (this usually works 99% of the time for Matthew), actually took away electronics, bribed , begged, and demanded again, Matthew would not go. So he started doing the list of chores that would take him all day long to do instead of going to school. About this time Emilee’s ride came to pick her up and Matthew asked her to drop him off at school on the way. Like I said- Stinker.
Baseball season has started…but no one told the weather. Our first few scrimmages, outdoor practices and game or two have been canceled because of cold, rain, and snow. We have a game tonight that was rescheduled from a week ago. Matthew has been checking the weather every five minutes hoping it will cooperate. So far so good. He will be excited to have the first game under his belt and really get into baseball season.
Wednesday was our beach day. As I mentioned it wasn’t really hot while we were there. We went to the Ft Desoto Beach. It is a beautiful beach, white sand, blue water. It was freezing though. It wouldn’t have been to bad but it was windy so once you got wet it was even colder. The kids still got in and played for a bit. The wind made some bigger waves so they thought that was cool. There wasn’t really anyone else there which meant the sea shells hadn’t been picked over for a while so the girls found some nice sea shells. We finished our beach day by building a sand castle then hurried back to the car to get warm. We were only at the beach for about an hour so we had time to go to the power plant by the ocean called TEKO. It pumps out a lot of warm water so it attracts hundreds of Manatees. They have put in a really nice boardwalk area to see them and the Mangroves. We saw lots of cool fish, a couple sharks, and tons of Manatees. They look like giant potatoes floating in the water. After we got home and cleaned up and ate dinner we watched the movie Coco together and called it a night.
Working their way out into the water.
Matthew is letting us know how cold the water is.
Emilee was nervous at first then she decided she loved it.
Collecting sea shells.
Getting water for our moat.
French Family.
The kids told us this was big enough and it was time to go!
In the shuttle heading to TEKO.
Manatee watching.
Giant gentle floating potatoes. 🙂
Thursday was another one of my favorite days we were there. We went to a place called Weeki Wachee. It is a natural spring that they have made a big swimming area with slides and a beach. They have a live mermaid show we went to first when we got there. Alli especially was very excited to see it, she loves mermaids. We all decided it was a big flop though. I think it is the same show they have been doing since it opened decades ago. They could make it really awesome but it was not that good. We went over to the swim area afterwards and once again had the place pretty much to ourselves. Once we got in the water it wasn’t bad at all. We had goggles so we could swim and see all the fish and other animals that were in the bay. When you held still for any period of time dozens of fish (we called them zebra fish because they were black and white striped) would come and surround you and it looked like they were just starring at you. There were lots of other fish, including a very active flying fish that much to our delight liked to show off his flying skills. There was a turtle or two swimming around too. We all were pretty impressed and thought it was awesome. The girls took turns burying each other in the sand too which they had wanted to do at the beach but didn’t.
Enjoying the sun at Weeki Wachee
Taking turns burying each other in the sand.
Getting used to the water.
Watching the ‘zebra fish’ and other fish.
Alli went down one of the slides.
After we played at the beach area for a while we walked over to the kayak rental area. Sherri and I and my kids rented two tandem kayaks and then went down the river on a 5.5 mile float trip. It was BEAUTIFUL!! It was breathtaking. The plants and trees around the water were thick and it felt like you were floating through a gorgeous jungle. The water was clear so you could see the bottom and all the plants and animals in between. It varied in depth from a few inches to around 20 feet deep. There were many places along the way where a little beach area opened up so you can pull over and stop for a bit if you want. We did it once or twice to stretch our legs. The hope is to see some manatees but there is a lot of other animals to see too. We saw a raccoon, tons of different kinds of fish and birds (the ones we knew the names of was a wild turkey, black vultures, crane and an Egrit) a snake (gross), far to many spiders and other bugs, and the last mile or two we saw two manatees! We paddled along side the first one for about a half mile or so. Against Matthew’s protests and best attempts to sabotage our efforts those of us that wanted to were able to touch him. They feel like potatoes too. It was pretty awesome, we just followed him along and he swam back and forth and underneath us. Eventually he slowed down and we went on ahead. When we started out it was about 70 and nice and warm, it took several hours to get down the river so it got a little chilly by the end. We were very glad to get home and take a warm shower. It was a pretty awesome day though.
Starting our kayak trip.
Matthew was a pretty good paddler
First stop. Sandy submerged beach.
Emilee had her eyes watching for animals at all times.
They liked how their feet sunk into the sand.
Second stop. Cute little sandy beach.
We never really felt hot, but we were all a little pink the next day.
Look at that water!
The scenery is beautiful!
This is the Manatee we paddled along with for a while.
Friday morning it was time to pack up and restock snacks and load the car up. We took our time getting ready. Kenny put new brakes and rotors on my car too. We left early afternoon and drove to Nashville the first day. We got home about seven on Saturday. I was supposed to pick Ryan up from the airport at midnight but his plane was delayed and I didn’t pick him up until 3 am. Today has been our recover from vacation day to be ready to get back to real life tomorrow.
It was an awesome Spring Break. We did a lot of fun cool things but I love just getting to see my sister and her family. I felt the same way when I went to see DeAnna. I love staying up late and talking about whatever and being there and seeing what their lives are like. I don’t know if we will ever live by each other which makes me sad because we would all love it. For now I have to take advantage of the times we do get to see each other and enjoy them as much as possible. I always have a bit of a mourning period after I leave from seeing one of them. We of course talk on the phone and text pretty often but it isn’t the same. We always pick right back up like we saw each other yesterday when we do get together. I am glad that all of our husbands are pretty good about helping us work out opportunities to see each other. It will never be often enough though.
Our first full day in Florida was very nice and relaxing. We slept in and then played games and visited with each other. Kenny grilled up some burgers for lunch and we at those and played in Sherri’s yard. She has a swing set, hammock, plenty of room to run, and the biggest hit was her zip line. It is about 90 feet long and everyone took a couple turns. The kids took an uncountable amount of turns. They loved it. We played outside most of the afternoon. It was in the mid 70’s so the weather was perfect. That night Kenny started a fire in their huge fire pit and we roasted hot dogs and smore’s for dinner. We finished off the day with a game or two of Kick The Can.
Kids doing the zipline
Dad doing the zipline
Swinging in the hammock
Kenny doesn’t mess around when he starts a bonfire
Monday was one of my favorite days while we were there. The morning was a little chilly and rainy so we went to the Florida Aquarium. Alli got to pet some sting rays which was on her must do list so she was happy to get to do that. By the time we were done with the Aquarium we grabbed some lunch and went to the zoo. The rain had stopped and the sun was out. It was perfect weather. Almost every animal we saw at the zoo was up and about and active which the kids loved. We have been to lots of zoos but we saw a few animals we had never seen before, one of the most memorable was the sloth bear. The Orangatans were really active and there was three new babies the kids loved watching play. We fed the Lorikeets too. When we have done it at the KC zoo they have feeding times that everyone does all at once. At this zoo they just had you buy some nectar and you can feed them so it wasn’t as crowded and you could take your time. We told the kids they could pick a souvenior while we were in Florida and they usually pick a stuffed animal for their souveniors. They decided to get one at the zoo. Alli got a sting wray, Emilee got a clouded leopard, and Matthew got a leopard. There was a little kid area with some rides that the kids tried out after we looked at all the animals. It was a really nice day. That was that was the tone for the whole week. The weather was a little cold for Florida so there wasn’t a lot of people everywhere we went. It made it feel even more relaxing and fun to not have to fight crowds. We got a babysitter for the kids that night and the four of us went out to a Sushi/Thai place. Kenny and Ryan got their sushi and Sherri helped me order some Thai Curry food that I loved. We are wanting to get a RV rental business going so we talked a lot about that too.
Heading into the Aquarium.
Watching the monkeys. Not featured in this picture.
Kids with their Florida souvenirs.
Feeding the birds.
Alli loved it.
Aubry watching the birds.
Bald Eagle.
Playing at kid town.
Great day at the zoo!
We slept in on Tuesday again. Kenny is a morning person. He pops up like a daisy between 6-7 every morning. Not going to lie, I’m a little jealous but it is not in the cards for me. The rest of us are not morning people and enjoyed getting a little extra sleep. We packed a lunch and went downtown to a park by the river. After we ate and played a while we went to the Children’s Museum. Matthew is getting a little old for them but he found some fun things to do. Everyone else had a good time. After that Kenny’s parents had invited us to come over and swim in their pool so we headed over there. I took Ryan to the airport to catch his flight to his annual friend get together in Las Vegas for March Madness. The kids were done swimming when I got back so we went home and had dinner then played outside. We ended the day with a game of Kick The Can again.
Children’s Museum
Playing at the park after our picnic.
Passing time while we get to out next destination.
