We Will Miss Florida!

So we are moving to College Station, TX on Friday.  In the meantime, we have been spending time doing some of our favorite Florida things before we leave.  Florida has grown on us and there is so much that we will miss!  Ryan and I have had lots of sentimental conversations as we reminisce.  We came to the conclusion that there is beauty and joy no matter where you live.  I am blessed to have lived in such different areas of the country and to be able to delight in the diversity.

Ryan and I came up with a list of some of the things we will miss (in no particular order).

1.  Dolphins

One of our first memories of Florida was when we just drove through the horrible downtown Tampa traffic during rush hour and then we came to the bridge that would take us over to Clearwater.  The ocean was breathtaking and we saw dolphins!  I couldn't believe that we were going to live here!  We saw dolphins often at the beach and when crossing one of the main bridges and for some reason it always made me feel so happy to know that I lived close to dolphins. 

2.  Beaches

World class beaches right here!  We've also been able to travel to different beaches around Florida, not just in our area.  Surprisingly, each one is different even though they are on the same coast and even within in a few miles from each other.  We usually went to Indian Rocks Beach because it was the closest, had free parking, and had showers.  We also liked North Beach because we could take Blue with us.  Other beaches we went to nearby: Clearwater, Indian Shores, Redington, Treasure Island.  And there are so many others we didn't get a chance to try!  Other farther away beaches: Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Siesta Key, and Lido.  I have to say that Siesta Key and Lido are my favorite even though they are in Sarasota, which is over an hours drive.  The sand at Siesta Key is made from 100% quartz, so it never gets hot.  But that beach was always super crowded.  Lido has all the same benefits, white sand and turquoise water, but without the crowds.  Plus it has a playground and raccoons that live there.

Indian Rocks Beach - Cannon, Micah, Savannah, Edin, and Noah (Korbin not pictured)

Lido Beach - with my friend Petra, her daughter Samantha, and Ace the puppy (4/4/14)

Treasure Island - our last time at the beach as a family (4/7/14)

3.   Parks

I can't say enough about the parks!  The playgrounds are great, offering a variety of equipment, and you can't beat the scenery.  Many of them have bike trails and ponds with turtles and alligators.  Our favorite parks are: Largo Central Park, Highland Park, San Philippe Park, Taylor Park, Lake Seminole Park, Eagle Lake Park, and the one downtown St. Pete with the Banyan trees.

Sunken Gardens

McGough Nature Preserve



Riding the train one last time at Largo Central Park (4/5/14)

When we first moved here my friend Rachel showed me a statue of a child wearing a CTR ring.  It made me feel peaceful inside and reminded me that home is where you make it.

4.  Animals

We are definitely animal lovers!  We were surprised to see such exotic birds when we moved here.  I couldn't even tell you all the names of them, but they are all over, especially the cranes.  I also love pelicans.  I have been able to see some semi close when we were at the beach and I just think they are so beautiful. 

In the spring it's common to see turtles crossing the roads.  People will actually stop their cars and get out to help them cross safely.  It makes me feel happy when I see that. 

Every time we go the beach we see some kind of different animal or sea creature.  We've seen dolphins, manatees, crabs, jelly fish, Portuguese man o'wars, and of course sea gulls and other birds.

Squirrels and lizards are in abundance.  And I discovered a new animal, the fox squirrel.   And yes we do see alligators from time to time.  Cannon knows that he cannot come close to any body of water, even little ponds, for fear of alligators.  It was also fun to go to see the tigers and bears at the exotic animal rescue by our church. 

I love seeing these birds!

We stopped to pet a turtle at Eagle Lake Park.  I think he wandered away from the pond.  When we were finished petting him he ran right back to the pond!

5.  Plants

I'm pretty sure Florida would be one big jungle if it weren't inhabited.   I absolutely love palm trees and it's fun for me to see so many different varieties!  Everything is lush and green here most of the year and there are many bright flowers that bloom year-round.  I also love knowing that many of my friends have naturally grown fruit trees in their yards like: mango, avocado, orange, and grapefruit.

6.  Friends

We have made the best friends here.  I'm so sad to be leaving them.  Ryan finally has guy friends that he likes and it's been neat watching Cannon grow up with his friends.  I'm happy that we have amazing technology that will allow us to easily stay current with all of our friends. 

Some of Cannon's friends: Micah, Savannah, and Everest.

Joseph, one of Cannon's best friends.  (4/7/14)

My friends had a little going away party for me.  Six out of ten people here are either pregnant or just had a baby!  From left to right: Rachel, Karlie, Jenny, Yvonne, Jodi R., Me, Jodi M., Whitney, Julie, and Desi.  I'm sure going to miss these girls!

Rachel and Me

7.  Church

When we first moved here Ryan and I told each other that we would jump right in to church and church activities.  I think that was the best way that we made friends and felt like be belonged somewhere.  Many blessing have come from that.

8.  Winters

Summers are super hot and humid.  When August comes around it's too hot to swim, go the beach or play outside.  But usually the winters here are nice and warm.  This last year was definitely not the norm and we had lots of cold days in the 40's and 50's.  Usually the winter is when we ride bikes again and play outside all day.

9.  Summer thunderstorms

Even though summers are scorching, it rains almost every day in the summer.  Not just a little rain, but BIG rains, with BIG drops, and thunder.  When it rains, it pours!  But it might only last for 15, sometimes an hour or so, but usually not for most of the day.  If you see a big puffy white cloud in the sky during a summer month, you can be sure that it will rain.  Never leave your home without an umbrella.  There have been many times I walked into the store and it was sunny and clear outside, only to have it be dark and raining when it's time for me to leave.  Or else to see that it rained for 5 minutes while I was shopping, but then got sunny again. 

10. Great pizza and Philly cheesesteaks anywhere.  There is a lot of New York influence, and we have found lots of great pizza places!  Our favorites are:  Grimaldi, Monty's, and Untouchables.

Random picture, but Cannon loves this statue of our Founding Fathers (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson) right outside of Ryan's work building at Raymond James.  He's been very into American history lately.

Cousin Time

Bev and the kids were spending time in Perdido Key while Robert was getting started at his new job in Iowa, so I said they should just drive an extra eight hours to come see us!  It had been two years since we last saw them, so it was a real treat to be together again. 

We had Cannon's party on Saturday and church on Sunday.  It rained all day on Monday so we took the kids to the indoor playground at Highland Rec Center.  Tuesday after it stopped raining we spent the rest of the afternoon at Largo Central Park.  Wednesday and Thursday they went to Disney World and then met up with us on Friday in Boca Raton. 

Jade became Blue's best friend!  Blue wanted to sleep with her every night while Ryan was gone.  Jade made little dog bone accessories for Blue to wear on her collar. 

And Blue claimed Jade's pillow, which she let her keep. 

Ryan returned from his trip early Friday morning and then we drove out to Boca Raton.  We had planned to attend the Ft. Lauderdale Temple open house on Saturday, so we thought it would be fun to stay at a hotel on the beach Friday night.  Ryan got us a hotel at the fancy Boca Beach Club - Waldorf Astoria.  It was definitely the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at!  We had to go through gated security and the valets took care of everything.  Ryan is a diamond member and he usually gets free upgrades to suites, but since it was spring break they were all full.  As an apology, they gave us $100 free credit towards food and discounts for the spa and other things. 

The beach was gorgeous!  Lots of big waves and the water color was turquoise.  It was a little cold at first, but once you got in it was fine.  The waves were too big for Cannon and Ally so Bev took them to the pool and Ryan and I stayed with Jade and T to go boogey boarding.  It was so fun to hang out with the big kids!

The salt water was stinging Ally's sensitive skin.

Jade and JT had the best time in the ocean!

Ryan teaching JT how to boogey board.

Portuguese Man O' War!  These balloon creatures started to wash up onto the shore.  Very cool, but I head they are more painful than jellyfish! They feel like slimy plastic outside and inside they are hollow, like a balloon. 

For dinner that night we used our free money to eat at one of the resort's many restaurants called Serendipity.  The shuttle took us to the main hotel and village where they have all the restaurants.  Serendipity is a cute little ice cream parlor made to look like a soda shop from the 1950's.  The kids had fun looking at all the vintage toys like Gumby and Pokey.  Bev and I really wanted to try their Cronuts, but they weren't making them until noon the next day, so we settled for frozen hot chocolate! 

Super yummy frozen hot chocolate!

We got up early Saturday morning to go on a tour of the new Ft. Lauderdale Temple.  I was so excited to be able to go with the kids.  Ryan invited one of his friends from work to come with us and Ryan picked her up at the airport on the way to the temple.  It was a very special experience to talk with Cannon as we went to each room.  He knows that Ryan and I go to the temple to do work and now he can have a picture in his mind.  We also talked about when Ryan and I were married and sealed in the temple.  I hope that Cannon will always keep this memory and that it will serve as a testimony to him of the importance of temples. 

Here we are two years ago when they had just started construction!

On the way back we stopped at Ryan's favorite pizza place, Grimaldi's, in Ft. Meyers and then finished the long drive home.  As soon as we got home Bev and I had to leave again to attend the women's conference at church.  And after that to pick up Blue who was being babysat by the Longs.  It was an exhausting weekend, but SO much fun!  Bev had to drive back to Alabama Sunday morning. 

Blue and Trixy - their last time together

Cannon fit right in with all the kids.  He admires Jade and T so much and values their opinions.  He got along well with Ally and they were so cute together.  Cannon pretty much wanted to play with T all day and T was such a good sport about playing football with him and they made up a game called "bad doctor."  Family is so important to Cannon and I was happy that he had this time with his cousins. 

Early Birthday Party For Cannon

Cannon has been planning his birthday party for months!  I was so sad when I realized that we will have already moved to Texas before his birthday, so I asked him if he would like to have an early birthday party with his friends.  He was very excited at the thought of having two birthday parties!

I asked him what kind of cake he wanted - Star Wars.  And he said he wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  I asked him how he wanted to decorate it and he pretty much designed it and decorated it himself (I frosted it).  He really wanted crushed oreos on top of the cake.  Then he found some little wooden people to be Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker.  Each one has a "light-saver" (the pencil and the golf tee) and then he added the red rocket, the American flag, and the number 5 that he picked out at the store.  I was going to get some Star Wars cake toppers, but his imagination was way better than anything I could have purchased!  He was quite proud of it too! 

Ryan had to be out of town for his party, however we were very happy to have Bev and her three kids here to celebrate!

I set up a little craft table so the kids could make Cannon a picture or write him a special note.  Then when I get around to it, I'll make a special scrapbook so Cannon can remember all of his friends.  We are sure going to miss them all!  The kids that came to his party were: Micah, Savannah, and baby Eli, Peyton and baby Reece, Joseph and James, Anna and Kate, Christopher, and of course Jade, JT, and Ally.  

JT totally photo-bombed us!!

The water was freezing, but the kids didn't seem to mind it!

James, Joseph, and Peyton were pretending to shoot the kids in the pool. 

Love my little guy, Eli!  He was content just hanging out in the wagon. 

We Pet A Baby Tiger!

On Saturday we went up to Dade City Wild Things with the sole purpose of petting a baby tiger!  This was something on my bucket list that I've always wanted to do! 

They don't allow cameras into the facility and they only take small groups, so you have to make a reservation.  We did a walk-thru "safari" and got up close to some of their other rescue animals like lemurs, cougars, jaguars, bears, different types of primates, coatimundi, deer, tigers, lions, and exotic birds.  You get a lot closer to these animals than you do at the zoo.  It was very cool!  Our tour guide has a personal connection with each animal and they would come to him when he called their names. We enjoyed every minute!  They also had about 40 roosters, a few peacocks, and a dog that wandered around the property.  Ryan and I joked that this was Cannon's perfect house! 

Lastly, we got to play with a 13-week old Siberian tiger cub named Noel!  She was quite playful and it was so exciting to be able to do something you've been waiting years to do!  Her fur was soft and what was really surprising was that the black skin on the bottom of her paws was incredibly soft.  It stays that way all their life so that they can creep quietly.  Cannon loved to play with her tail.  It was such a neat experience for all of us!  We certainly have a special place in our hearts for animals. 

Trip to Atlanta and Charlotte

Ryan's first work trip of the year was scheduled for Atlanta, GA and since it's not too long of a drive from us we decided to make it into a family trip.  And since the upcoming weekend was President's Day (a three-day weekend), we planned to extend the trip to Charlotte, NC to see Rick and Kristina and the kids. 

Aside from a long flight layover and a quick trip downtown, this was my first time to really experience Atlanta.  Ryan raves about it all the time and was super excited to take us!  We had lots of fun plans, new places to explore and new restaurants to try.  But...........the trip had other plans and it turned out completely different! 

Well for starters, it iced and snowed!  The city pretty much shut down for three days!  Since everything was closed, we missed out on some great restaurants and some sites.  But the upswing was that Ryan's offices were closed so he hung out with us in the hotel. 

To top it off Cannon got croup.  I think from the difference in climate.  I couldn't believe it, but I left all his asthma meds at home!  I felt so guilty.  His pediatrician was able to fax in a prescription for his inhaler, a $50 mistake I will never make again.  We've dealt with croup, a lot, so it didn't really phase us.  Cannon was acting normal and breathing fine once he got the albuterol.  We continued to swim in the hotel's indoor pool and play as normal.  I think it was good for him to swim because it made the whole room steamy, like a humidifier.  On day three of his croup, Cannon awoke in the morning much worse than ever. He ate a little breakfast and then got back in bed.  He was like this for hours.  Didn't want to play or do anything really.  I've never seen him this lethargic and I was worried he wasn't getting enough oxygen or else he was getting pneumonia.  His cough was horrible and the inhaler didn't do anything to help his wheezing.  He was getting worse, not better, so I called his pediatrician again.  They weren't comfortable prescribing anything else without seeing him so all they could tell us to do was to take him in.  All the urgent cares were closed because of the snow, so we had to take him to the ER.  Children's at Scottish Rite was just 8 minutes from our hotel, so off we went.  The nurses and doctors there were awesome!  They got us right back, the doctor came into our room right away, and he got his medicine right away.  I think we were there for 1.5 hours, which might just be a record. And Cannon was thrilled that he didn't have to get a shot.  In fact he told the nurse that he would rather have an IV than a shot!  Luckily he didn't need either.    

Once he got his medicine and could finally breathe, he started to perk up.  Ryan took us by the temple on the way back and we ate dinner at Flip Burgers where I had the best liquid nitrogen milkshake!

The next day was Friday, Valentine's Day.  The night before we had picked up some special cupcakes and saved them for the morning.  We went with Ryan to drop off some things at an office and Cannon finally got to play in the snow.  Then we headed for Charlotte!

Double chocolate, strawberry, and red velvet!

We met "OC" the office cat, made a small snowman, and then crushed it!  The sun was warm and it felt so good to be outside.

At one point in the trip Ryan took us by his old house in Suwannee.

It was fun to see Cannon with Cole and Lyla again.  The weather was cooler, but sunny!  It was really beautiful outside and they still had lots of snow in their yard.  The weekend went by way too fast and before we knew it Monday was here and it was time for us to leave again. 

Great day at the park

Super heroes!  They were pretending to go to Florida.

You can't miss Ryan in these shoes!

After playing in the snow all afternoon, it's nice to play by the hot fire. 

A beaver house

Tuesday when we were home, I took Cannon to the beach.  I told him that he must be a very special boy because yesterday he got to play in the snow and today he got to play at the warm beach. 

I would like a do-over of Atlanta again!  Even in the winter it was a beautiful city, so I can just imagine what it looks like during a warming time of year.