random bits from Florida

Reagan and Thomas walking to breakfast at Troyers (R's favorite "cafe")..

At Phillipi Creek (we are missing Carsyn and Luke!!)

R and Grandma Great...
making OJ at Grandma's...
Kiana...
When we first got to the beach I was unloading our stuff and a plastic bag flew out. I told Reagan to grab it. It was so windy that the bag tumbled down the beach. She chased it so far she couldn't even hear me calling her name. I chased her down the beach for about 5 minutes. When I caught her we collapsed in fits of laughter. We looked ridiculous chasing this bag across the beach- it was clearly not ever going to be in our reach.



We dug this big hole and she sat in it and laughed and laughed it was hilarious!
R loves to chase the birds.
It was cloudy and windy but every one-in-awhile the sun would peek out. She had a blast (until she fell face first smack on the wet sand- then we went home in a sea of tears).

beach girl

This girl is my beach girl. She LOVES every part of it: the sand, the water, the sun, even the birds. Monday evening we popped over for a walk- the water was cold but she had no problem running in it!

the mote

One of our favorite places in Florida is the Mote Aquarium. It is the perfect aquarium for younger children. They have great displays, a touch tank, a shark tank (where you can watch them train), stingrays, 2 manatees, 2 dolphins and 4 very old sea turtles, AND they have classes. We enjoy is so much we are members :)

Reagan's favorite manatee...

touching the stingrays...
We got there just as they were shark training...
Reagan loves to touch the sea urchins...





Fun fact:
The Mote is the largest center for shark research in the US.

jungle gardens

Dee and I took the kids to Jungle Gardens on Friday. When we got there we caught the end of an animal show....

The kids got to pet a skunk named Oreo...
We stopped to look at the birds "for Luke"...
Reagan was blending in so no one would notice her...

Thomas was all set to feed the flamingos (for the first time!) Reagan would NOT. She just threw the feed toward them....
There was much to explore...
Reagan actually volunteered for the bird show...

Frosty is the "star of the show"...
The kids always enjoy a trip to the Gardens.

snow day journey

Wednesday night it was predicted that we would have anywhere between 2 and 10 inches of snow. I was a bit nervous because Reagan and I were leaving for Florida at 6:30 am on Thursday morning. It started a snow a bit before we went to bed. I figured we would have about 2"... No big deal.

When I woke at 4:00- to get ready to leave- I saw a bunch of snow. Ugh. My flight was not canceled or delayed. So I got ready, we woke the kids at 5:00 and left for the airport. Thankfully we live about 10 minutes away. The road were terrible! You could not even see the lines on the highway! We made it safely, got checked in and headed to Starbucks :)

After we boarded the plane at 6:00 we pushed away from the gate. The pilot said we had to get in line to de-ice the plane- we were 3rd in line. Not a big deal... It's a fast process, right?!

Ha!

Wrong....

We sat and sat and sat.

The pilot kept coming on and apologizing. There were not enough trucks to de-ice. It was taking longer than they had anticipated. Nothing we could do about it.

At that point I knew I would miss my connecting flight in Atlanta.

It was finally our turn. After about 30 more minutes of de-icing the pilot said, if we don't leave in the next 10 minutes we have to return to the gate, open the door, see if anyone wants to get off, close up, get BACK in line to de-ice (and we would be 4th in line this time) then we can take off. FAA regulations state that a plane cannot sit on the Tarmac for more than 3 hours. If they do then they must return to the gate.

That's right folks we had been sitting on the Tarmac for 2 hours and 50 minutes!!

Needless to say we were all a bit anxious.

Finally the pilot said, "Everyone buckle up. We have 2 minutes and we are leaving!"

A lot of clapping and cheering rose up in the aircraft. We slid down the runway and thankfully took off!!

Reagan was amazing. We read Anne of Green Gables most of the time. After the 2.5 hour mark she watched the Flintstones.

We finally made it to Florida. Only about 3 hours (and a different airport) later.

my kids and their mom

It's not often that I am actually in the pictures with my kids. Occasionally, and by the special request of my kids, I will get on the other side of the camera....