Florida Sunshine: August 2009

Wow its nice to have the house almost to my self once more. I have Heidi home but she is easy to keep entertained, granted by me but then I guess I can't have everything.

All the girls were so excited to be going back to school. I walked them there this morning and that chattered all the way! They talked about every thing and nothing at the same time its funny how little girls can do that.

Autumn was a little nervous about it but way excited as well. She was worried about not having everything she would need in her back pack this morning. I told her all she needed was some paper and a pen, to write down what her teachers told her she would need to bring in for school supplies. Then she would bring them the next day. She freaked out and said "how in the world do you know?" I looked at her and said well this is not the first year I have had children in middle school. how many children have I had? and how many years did they all go to middle school? she just glared at me and thought I was crazy. Oh well.

Ben drove to early morning seminary today, out of all my kids he is the only one to have any interest in driving. He is always volunteering to drive Will or I when ever we go out. It was not too bad but I did worry about this big tree we almost took out!! Ben calmly stated that he had lost of room and that my screaming did not help he drive any. And for the record I did not scream. I just spook loudly.

This is Josh's last year in high school I can't believe how fast time has gone. He has decided that he wants to go into graphic design. He had been planing on being an Engineer. but he hats to do math. I suggested to him that perhaps he should major in Engineering and minor in graphic design that way he has more then one option in this big bad world. He told me he would think about it.

Court has been postponed for our foster girls until the 21st of September. That is the date that their parents could loose custody of them permanently. We have decided that we are not going to be adopting them and they know this and this did not seam to upset them too much. There is a family that has shown some interest in adopting all four of them. They are great kids and I think it will not be hard to find a forever family for them. But we have been getting a lot of pressure to adopt them. There is one person in particular that keeps harping on it. she tells me that we will regret not adopting them for the rest of our lives. Well I know this is not true. We do not want to raise any more children. I want to start my own life now and get a job and pay off the house and travel. Plus I know deep in my heart that I do not love the girls the way they need to be loved. I love them as a care giver not a mother. They deserve a family they want children desperately not settle for a family they just cares about them.

I have been in the need of a break for a very long time now. But the opportunity to take one was just not happening, so my Mom came to my rescue and we both had a vacation from all the stress and upset this big bad world has to offer.

The weather was great! We had a lot of plans and more then enough days to do it in, or so we thought. It took a few days to really get up and going I think we just needed time to detox from life, so we sat and watched movies and t.v. Ok so waist of time in some peoples minds but just what the Dr. ordered in mine.

As always when my Mom comes to visit we have to do some craft project of once kind or another and this visit was not exception to that. We made witches hats. It was a awesome project

We started on the hat the second day of our vacation...I finished it on the last night of the vacation, you could say we kept getting distracted in a very fun way.

Mom wanted to go to Animal Kingdom. I was less then thrilled about the idea, as a resident of Florida I have always made it a rule to never go to a theme park in August!! One word here Hot!! I tried unsuccessfully to convince my Mom to the error of this plan, but to no avail so I determined to make the best of it. I was pleasantly surprised it was not too hot or to crowded. The best part was that around lunch time it started to rain there was a lot of thunder and lightning. We sat under a covered patio and ate lunch as we watched the tidal wave of tourists rushing out the front gate! It was greatI took this photo just before I trek up Mt. Everest! We left prayers to the Gods for our safe return. Everest is a new roller coaster and I would say it is by far the best one I have ever been on. I think one of the best parts it that at one point in the ride it comes to a stop because the Yettie has ripped the track apart and we were just about to plunge to our deaths when we started to go backwards. What a rush!!!!! We had so much fun.

I think that one of the highlights of our journey to Animal Kingdom was seeing all the animals. The Tigers were out and right next to the windows. I love tigers! they were so magnificent We saw giant fruit bats. I have seen photos of them and even movies about them but there is nothing like a up close personal experience. They are HUGE!!After the bats I took this photo of Mom on a bike. I told her she needed to work a little or she would not enjoy her vacation as much. We saw a lot of other animals and went on other rides. it was a wonderful day. I have always enjoyed taking the kids to theme parks and seeing the excitement and feel their energy. But I can't tell a lie going to a park with out small children is the best thing EVER!!!! Mom and I enjoyed sitting and watching other families battle with their children. "Get off of that!", "You had better eat that! you told me you wanted it and now you wont eat it! (angry eyes glaring down at small child no longer wanting the red Popsicle that cost $4.00 and only had one lick of off it) LOL it was priceless.

We drove to Tampa and spent two days and a night with Jessica. we went to the beach the next morning! It was wonderful the water was so clear that you could see the fish swimming around you in schools. After the beach we went out to lunch and then to a movie Juli/Julia. It was so much fun all of us together, the only down part was that we were all sick! It was silly but oh well its always ok to be sick when with family. This is Jess out side of her apartment. Another thing we did is go and see the light house. I have been there once before with Alan when he came a spent the day with me when he was in town for a nursing conference.Mom and Josh climbed up to the top I had done that with Alan and did not feel the need to do it again. Here they are way up top.Here I am way down on the ground. (you can barely see me) The two white fenced places buy me are not graves. They are around two anchors one from a ship wreck int he 1600's and the other from the 1800's.In a building just the the right of the light house they have displayed the crystals that were once used to help magnify the light in light houses they come in all kinds of sizes. the largest one is from St. Augustin. They no longer use them in the light houses. One thing that Florida coast lines are know for it finding Cuban refuges. here are two boats that were actually used to bring people from Cuba to America. When the Coast guard finds these rafts they rescue the people and let the boat drift, they wash up on shore where they were found and placed on display. the first raft we know that the people on board were rescued because of the life vest that was left on it by the coast guard, but the fate of those on the other raft is not know. It was getting late and so we walked to the beach for some last photos before going home. The last big thing we did was go to the springs, Mom loves to ride on the boat they have there. It has become a tradition for her to ride it, she has every time she has come down. The oak trees here are hundreds of years old. and they are giant!! Ferns grow up their long branches. The boat ride was so relaxing the cool air blowing our hair as we sailed smoothly down the river.