Last Day in Florida

On our last day in FL, we took Tanek and Boo to story time at the tiny little library that I used to walk to as a child.  I remember pulling my little sister in a red wagon up to this very library.  It has doubled in size since I was there last, meaning it now consists of two rooms instead of just one!  I love it!


While we were waiting for story time to finish up, the big girls and I spent some time outside at the playground.







If you look closely under this beautiful old oak, you can see the Easter eggs waiting for the story time kids to come and find!  That's the library behind the tree.






There was a serious horse, skunk, purple dinosaur race going on.....


Banana even went side saddle.....


and somehow the purple dinosaur ended up carrying the entire load.....


And the Easter egg hunt begins!!!








Some sidewalk chalk fun at the playground.... I love that we were playing in all the places I played as a child.  This is actually a huge star shaped cement slab just perfect for some good ol' southern clogging or square dancing!!




Punkin and her Papa G made some great memories taking the neighbors horses on a long trail ride.... Papa's muscles certainly paid the price the next day, but what a wonderful memory he gave to Punkin.


We decided to make some cookies and cards to deliver to the residents living at the assisted living facility where we sheltered during the tornadoes.  The kids drew an Easter card for every resident there.  On our drive back to Maryland, we stopped to visit them and the girls really enjoyed handing our their treat bags.


Please remember to pray for the residents living there in Dunn, NC.  They were very hurting people, not so much elderly, but those who have made some very poor choices in their past. 


I pray that we were able to at least show the love of Christ to them..... and that they may cherish these children's drawings revealing the truths of the scriptures.


My silly Boo immensely enjoying her orange slices while we sat on the back porch watching the afternoon Florida thunderstorms roll in.








The part of this day that I would like to forget was the $591 dollar ticket I got driving home from Wal-Mart.  I was simply driving along at 48 mph on a deserted two lane country road and completely not paying attention (I had seven people in the van with approximately 20 conversations going on), and I failed to notice a very tiny school zone sign saying during these certain hours I should be going 15 mph.  Whoopsie-Doodles.  It was entirely my fault, and I deserved it, but $591???? Really???  It was my first ticket in over 20 years, so I guess it's not so bad.


The last evening we were there, my dad and stepmom came to Nana's house and enjoyed a wonderful southern home cooked meal with us - including some peas straight from Papa's garden.   I think it was my most favorite meal of the week - and that says a lot because I DO love my Sonny's BBQ.   Boo gave Papa lots and lots of extra love and hugs and kisses.


After a rather uneventful drive home (THANK GOODNESS) - we arrived to Daddy waiting for us in a freshly cleaned house with a banner that he and the dogs made to welcome us.


Apparently, he was counting down the days until our return!

Florida, Day Three

On Tuesday, we had a relaxing day at Nana's house, but we managed to pack a lot into it.


Punkin and Dellynne enjoyed plenty of conversation about very intellectual things.....


like literature.  One of their favorite subjects.  Dellynne is one of Punkin's teachers (she also directed the play Cyrano that Punkin was recently in).  She is most likely teaching her AP World Literature and AP World History next year.


Banana enjoyed plenty of snuggle time with Nana.


And we all had plenty of laughs about Papa and his useless cell phone (he never answers it).


I stole lots of hugs and kisses from this very special little nephew of mine - I think he's the only kid in the world that has a veeeeery southern accent mixed with a Russian accent.


My Punkin enjoyed plenty of time at the pool and the porch with the sun and her book.


This was not an uncommon sight on this trip..... Can I just tell you how wonderful it is to have someone other than Boo's parents care so deeply about her little heart?    Dellynne has an incredible gift of being able to see straight through you and read you like a book.  I love that about her.  She challenges you to want to become a better person. Here she was showing Miss Boo what she looks like when she is so grumpy.   She wouldn't let ME complain either...... sigh...... 


When this little one got grumpy, self-focused, and demanding - after some tears she was always able to look like this again, our little ray of sunshine!   And what a burden that was lifted off her little heart.




Dellynne was born and raised in Florida too - just like me. So, her sister-in-law came up for a visit with her niece and nephew. 


Henry and Tanek had so much fun playing together!


We all enjoyed walking through Papa's garden to see what was popping up!


I absolutely LOVE this picture above....


Go this way ..... no THIS way!!


Four five year olds!


We spent some time at one of my favorite places - Keystone Beach.  I grew up right here - this is where I learned how to swim.  Stephanie had given Dellynne strict instructions to not get her wounded foot wet - she was very obedient!


But you just can't keep this girl down for long......






Boo found her very own "Whomping Willow"  and had a grand time playing in her own little imagination world.


Banana found an air plant to bring back as a gift for her BFF.




Do you think Mary Poppins flips upside down out of swings? I'm thinking yes. .....


Punkin loves that she is shorter than someone....


Since this was a last minute trip, I didn't tell my Grandma in the nursing home that we were coming.  My sister Jennie came up from Tampa with her kids and we all surprised her! It was so much fun.  I have a video of it, but because my sister's baby is a foster child, I can't put the video on the web.  She did give me permission for this tiny little profile shot of him though.  I have sooooo many great pictures of him that I can't share here. Most of the pictures I have of Jennie and her girls include the baby so I can't share those here either.  We enjoyed spending time with her at Nana's pool and they joined us at Keystone Beach as well.


We brought Grandma back to Nana's house so she could watch the kids swim for a while.


That evening, we had a little visitor outside of the pool screen.  Nana was THRILLED that the new screen is doing it's job and keeping the snakes out of the pool.


My Boo LOVES snakes - that crazy nut.  I hate them.


Here are a couple more crazy nuts who apparently aren't afraid of snakes either.



We stayed up well into the wee hours of the morning just talking and talking sitting out by the pool.  We made some great memories and my family has adopted Dellynne as a welcome addition to our family.