Going Home

We had a debate during the week about the "big" parks, because after all, getting to Florida was ⅔ of the battle!  While I don't care about Disney or Harry Potter experiences,  I have family members who really wanted to go to HP.  Two daughters especially!  So, Mat and I talked about options.  I knew that paying for all of us wouldn't be reasonable @ $800+ for one days entertainment.  But maybe we could send the two who really wanted to go, and the rest of us do something else together.  After talking about it, we decided the whole point of the trip was to spend time together as a family, so Harry got chopped.

We packed and cleaned up on Wednesday night because we had one last adventure we wanted to experience in Orlando before heading to the airport.  Our flight wasn't until almost 6:00 p.m. so we had plenty of time to fit something like this in.

We had heard great things about this place and decided early on that this was a "must do".  And I'm so glad we did!  Lots of gator education, gator shows, a petting zoo, a huge zip line over a gator infested lagoon, etc. etc.  It was great fun!

McK loved the petting zoo, the food came in a ice cream cone that the goats also ate!

Oh Isaac!

Zip-Lining!

You only live once!  This is an albino Burmese Python, he was heavier than I expected!

Pythons don't bite, they squeeze, so there was no reason to worry about this guy.

Goodbye Florida!

This trip was such a blessing to us!  It was so great to be far from home and the daily grind.  It was such a blessing to miss a treatment, because I felt almost totally "normal!"  It was so great to only have our family to spend time with and rely on, to not have the distraction of doorbells and friends taking kids away from home.  There was so much laughter and cooperation and bonding.  We all needed to get away from the stress of cancer, have some time to play and laugh.  We all came home feeling a little lighter.

When we got home, we found our stockings filled (thanks Cindy!) and a few more Sub for Santa items.

We've been so blessed this Christmas season!  So many people have come to our aid and made the season more bearable under the circumstances we face.  Despite being gone on vacation, the family (who is still a mystery to us) that did the 12 Days for us continued.  My neighbor checked the porch every day/evening to pick up anything that got left for us.  Their thoughtfulness and generosity touched me and reminded me that there are so many people out there rooting for us,  people we know and people we don't.

Happy Times!

I've been bad at updating.

Mat took Maddie and Isaac to Midnight Mass at the Catholic Church in Ormond Beach on Christmas Eve.  They thought that was pretty cool!  In our younger days, we used to go pretty regularly.  Both of us went to midnight mass on our missions too, so for  awhile it was a tradition.

Christmas day was pretty laid back.  We have a tradition of giving each other a present from the dollar store.  It's actually really funny, because sometimes the gifts are more like a "white elephant", sometimes they are gifts that might actually get used!  For example, Isaac got pink socks, McKinley got a oil funnel for a car, Brooklyn got a package of paper clips, Maddie got a marijuana test kit!  No one got a dog toy this year, that's been a running joke for several years. We always laugh a lot and I marvel at the kids creativity with their $3 budgets.






We also have a tradition of going to a newly released movie on Christmas day.  This year we did two!  We all saw an early showing of Coco, in the evening half of us saw Wonder (which I would highly recommend!) and the other half went to Star Wars.  They were showing at the same time, so it worked out perfect.  IHOP was open, so that's where we ate our Christmas dinner.  :)  I did make a nice dinner on Christmas Eve . . .  for the record.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we spent some time at Blue Springs State Park.  It was such a cool place, it's one of the many places manatees come in the winter.  The manatees share the springs with all kinds of wildlife, turtles, alligators, lots of species of birds, I'm sure there were so many other critters we didn't see.  There were dozens of manatees lounging around in the shallows, and that was so cool to see!

After Blue Springs, we drove down to the temple in Orlando where Mat and the kids did baptisms.  I hung out with McKinley in the waiting room and on the grounds, got some great pictures!  I love the temple, no matter where it is!  There's no better place to go, it was worth going out of our way to get there.

Today (Wednesday) we went on a tour of a chocolate factory.  "Tour" is a big stretch though!  They had 4 windows in a narrow hallway and so many people that you couldn't see much, but we did get to sample and buy at the end of the tour.  I'm not much for creme-centered chocolates, but I did find a bag of dark chocolate honeycomb.  Anyone else know what that is??  I've eaten it since I was a kid.  My mom loved it too!  We'd go see my dad at work, and go to the candy counter every time we went to Ogden (we lived in Huntsville).  Everyone picked out their favorite thing, and we spent a large-ish amount of money on chocolate.  Worth every penny!

The weather has been kind of yucky today, cold and windy with some spotty rain.  We attempted the beach this morning, knowing that it would be our last opportunity, but we didn't stay long because of those conditions.  I posted a video on FB of Brooklyn attempting to fly the kite.  She kept it in the air for a few minutes, but it was flying wildly in all directions.

Last chance at the beach!  There was no one else there - the conditions were less than ideal!

We also planned to go to today to a mini golf place called Congo River Golf.  We pulled up and got out, and I was skeptical!  It was cold and windy (it's just across the street from the ocean), but my amazing family convinced me it would be OK, we should just try it.  There were a lot of people there, so I thought I should NOT be a wimp in this situation.  And I'm glad!  It was really fun! I've never seen a miniature golf place quite like this one, with water hazards, ball tunnels, obstructions, holes with hills going up and down, etc.  The kids were so funny, competitive in a great way, and encouraging.  Of course our resident golfer (Mat) got the lowest score.

St. Augustine, which I kept calling Petersburg because "chemo brain"

We spent much of yesterday afternoon and evening in St. Augustine exploring the old city.  History lover Mat signed us up for walking tour that went over what it was like when the city was colonized. Then we explored the historic city and shopped, etc.  I was pretty hammered from all the walking we did, but it's a cool town with live music wafting from restaurants and parties all over.  We went into a shop called MetalArts and were approached by a beautiful younger woman with a shiny, smooth head.  I asked her if she was going through what I was going through.  She has Alopecia, and has decided to embrace it and not worry about wigs.  Her confidence inspired me and I went the rest of the night without covering my head.  After all, it was high 70's and low 80's here yesterday!  I wish I had taken a picture with her, she inspired me to not care so much.

These are the Christmas light St. Augustine gets excited about.  Pshhhh. They need to see how it's done in Utah! 

This morning we went to church with the Palm Coast and Bunnell wards.  They combined like our home wards did, so it was just an hour meeting.  It was so nice to come around the corner and see that familiar church architecture and know we would be welcomed and uplifted!

Even Mat caught some waves!

After church, we went to the beach, because nature!  The kids have had such a great time on the beach!  I love the hours and hours I sit there with my feet in the sand, watching them run around, catching waves, building sand things, chasing birds and tiny creatures in the sand.  The lady whose house this is bought 4 boogie boards and some beach chairs so we could use them, and we have!  She also did some simple Christmas decorations inside and outside.  She didn't have to, but she knew our situation and wanted to make it a special week for us.  I can't express how amazing it has been!  I talked to a friend from home tonight who helped me clarify why it's been such a great week.  We're away from home, away from the day to day responsibilities, away from distractions and friends who might pull the kids into other activities.  All there is to do is spend time together and in the case of some kids, torment each other!  The only distraction comes from phones ... blaahhhh!

When we were at the dolphin place yesterday, Brooklyn commented again about how happy I was.  That warms my heart, because my heart has been heavy for three months.  Skipping chemo on Friday certainly helps, it really takes a toll on me!  This week has made me more aware of how my mental health affects the kids.  I don't cry often, and never in front of them.  It's hard to know how to manage that when I feel so overwhelmed, and sick, and tired, and unable to function.  When I'm doing chemo, I don't have the energy to get off the couch, let alone be funny and engaged.  I don't really know what to do about it.  It is what is.  I'm not happy about this path I'm on, there's a lot of heavy stuff to deal with.  So I deal the best I can.

p.s. Have a Merry Christmas tomorrow!

Florida Update!

Marine Land - just south of St. Augustine

Zack is showing off!  He was the dolphin the kids got to play with!

The kids did the "Touch and Feed" program.

Every dolphin has distinct markings and nicks, so they are easy to tell apart once you get to know them.

Hey Zack! Do what we tell you to do, OK?

Waving goodbye!

I did the shallow water experience.  So cool!

My dolphin was Aqe (Ah-Kee).  They are SO smart, social and sweet!

Now Aqe is showing off.  Anything for a few fish!

Time to say Good Bye!

His final farewell!