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!