Beach Day

We had a beach day with a lot of other moms/kids from our ward last week and Eliza loved getting to play with her friend Brin. She followed her everywhere on the beach, even when Brin seemed to be mostly ignoring Eliza. Eliza would signal Brin to come play with her with her hands sometimes and Brin wouldn't even be looking at her haha, she has a little bit to learn about communication. We ended the beach day playing in the showers, Em's favorite part as she loves to collect treasures in a bowl and play with them in the water.
It was the kind of day that made you grateful that on just a Tuesday morning you could have that many good conversations and good times with your toddler who, on other Tuesdays, sometimes pulls at your patience strings.

Another Staycation...

...in which there are no photos of and very little memory? So sometime ago I sat down at the computer because I felt like I had had the best five day weekend with Charly and Eliza and other misc family and friends, but then realized I should write some other blog posts first. Ones that I had put off. So I put those back on, and put that one off. Way off. To the point where I can't find, in my thousands of phone dump images, that weekend haha. I know we took a day to boat down to Sebastian Inlet and saw a lot of manatees getting it on, as well as ate at Captain Hyrum's. I think another day we went to Peanut Island, which deserves a post of it's own, and I seriously can't remember all the other days? But I know they were fun.

I'll have to circle back to this post another time.

Erna Nixon State Park

One Saturday night we had some time to kill and wanted to do something, so we jumped in the car and started driving. We ended up calling in for thai from our favorite place and took it to a park we had seen but never been to- called Erna Nixon State Park. It was one of those days that unexpectedly comes out so very perfectly. It was an hour from sunset so we gobbled up our thai in the dirt sand parking lot, then headed into the park. There was a hut where you could look at all sorts of creatures like baby alligators, snakes, and turtles. Then there was a butterfly garden that was lacking in butterflies and about a mile long boardwalk that took you through three ecosystems. Eliza thorougly enjoyed running up and down the board walk as well as climbing all over it- she even sought up the courage to walk it like a tight rope while holding our hand, and was almost more amused with herself than we were!

The park had a lot of cool trees and the boardwalk was built several feet off the ground so you could see everything. The weather was perfectly warm and we had it all to ourself- the only other person we saw was the one managing the hut. It was such a reward to what felt like a little mini adventure- I love exploring with Charly and Eliza, they make life so much more fun.

Long Update

I didn't think Florida had a winter until Summer came...it is hot! I secretly love it, even the way the steering wheel burns your hands or the the leather seats do as well, even though you're wearing pants. Going back to my childhood, it siginified freedom from school and lots of time spend in the water. I can still remember exactly how the wave of heat would hit you when you'd get into your car that had been baking during the last days of school. Sure, it made it hard to breath, but school was over and you were driving yourself. The possibilities to life seemed endless.

Now the possibilities just have to be done in the morning or late afternoon- before or after nap time. As well as prepared for with diapers, wipes, snacks, sippy cups, spare changes of clothes, and your loss of dignity when you ask a friend at a weekly meet up for the third time in a row for one of those things. We use to go to a weekly music makers class before it ended for summer, and the class always had the children eat a snack while reading books at the end. For the longest time we left right before that part to go climb, but then we started staying the whole time and I kept forgetting to pack a snack. Talk about mom guilt/shame as all the other kids busted into cheese sticks and gummy packs while yours just looked at you pathetically asking for some over and over while you try to quietly distract them until someone passes something your way.

Anyways! We have done some fun things. We almost went to Tampa for an overnight, but decided at the last minute to save on hotels and do a staycation. We went to an escape room that was made to be a ship wreck and made it out with less than a minute to spare! It was really fun and I am keeping an eye out for the next time they are on groupon again. Charly and I also did the aerial course in Cocoa Beach where you overcome obstacles hanging in the air- I completed them all and Charly did them all except one that was probably going to give him blisters. We could see the beach from where we were which was a nice touch as well.

We had a fun memorial day. We ate breakfast with our church in the morning, then headed over to the beach with many people from the ward. The waves were so calm- calmer than any other day I'd seen so we took Eliza way out into the water for the first time. Well, since the time we tried to take her and the waves were so choppy that she accidentally got dunked a few years ago. Anyways, she LOVED it. She floated around in her puddle jumper and we even let a couple of wave slowly go over her head and she took it like a champ. After the beach we went straight to a pool party and for the first time Eliza started swimming with her floaties on her own. She has been practicing swimming hard with just us holding her up and not very interested in any flotation devices, but all of a sudden she was doing it. We had such a blast watching her!

Eliza also played in the rain for the first time- you can't see it but there is a ton of water pouring off the roof. She would run up and down the driveway, in and out of the garage.

Eliza went through a phase where it was hard waking her up for naps, which made for tons of very sleepy toddler cuddles. The best ones!

And one last thing: our car broke down! We had it for a solid 6 months before it blew a head gasket that would cost twice as much as it was worth. It was handed down to us from our parents though, so it's not really a huge loss...just more of an unexpected cost since we ended up buying a new to us honda odyssey. The worst part of it all, aside from talking to used car salesman, is that it broke down right before we got to Orlando in the summer heat. When my mom arrived to pick us up, I felt so grateful to jump in a cool car after sitting on the side of the highway for an hour in the summer heat.