2021 :: week 15

April 4

We celebrated Easter by having an egg hunt on the beach. Miles' face adequately expresses his feelings towards sand that we were unaware of until this trip. I put all the candy and quarters in the eggs while listening to General Conference and was struck by how accessible everything is now. I remember driving the the chapel to listen to conference at the church building when I was a child because the church had the enormous satellite dish in the back. Now I can listen to conference live on my phone as I sit on a bed at at hotel on the coast of Florida and watch the ocean out my window.  

April 5

Monday morning the ladies (Mom, Jill, Emily, Melanie and me) went parasailing. The dads took the kids to the beach and then we all met up at the pool. That evening we took family pictures on the beach and then went to Fat Donkey's for ice cream. Unfortunately I got a really bad headache right as we started taking family pictures. The bright sun triggered a headache that was simmering below the surface. Our kids cooperated pretty well and I think we were still able to get some good fun pictures. 

April 6

Miles was a bit of a grump on this trip. He did not like sand one bit, and was unsure how he felt about water. I'm sure the change of routine and uncomfortable bed were contributing factors too. I am often reminding my older kids that when they were his age our world revolved around them. Now that we have a wider range of ages to please the older kids and younger kids have to be a little more adaptable and understanding. Tony and I try to plan things for our family that everyone can enjoy, but I think this is one of the hardest parts about having kids with ages that span nine years. We found that even though Miles protested, once I got him in the water he enjoyed being pulled around the pool in this whale floatie.  

April 7

Wednesday at 12:34pm we got to see a launch! Andrew was able to get us passes to watch on the roof of his building on the base. The launch we saw was a Falcon 9 Rocket sent into space by SpaceX at the Cape Canaveral Space Station. The Rocket was carrying 60 Starlink satellites with the purpose of improving broadband internet access to parts of the world where the internet is not readily accessible. On our drive to the base Andrew gave us a great overview of some of what is currently happening with the Space Force and the history of the area. He whetted our appetites to learn more about space and Anthony and I have been diving deep ever since we got home. As it was our last full day in Florida we ate and early dinner and then spent the evening on the beach.

April 8

I was feeling so grateful for these kiddos as we finished up our trip. Will was never a problem and was happy to participate in whatever was planned. It is so nice having an oldest child who isn't "too cool" to have fun with his aunts, uncles and cousins. Lauren was extremely helpful and tried to had fun with all of the cousins. I was impressed when she used her own money to buy her cousin Leah a lei at the souvenir shop so they could match. Elliott overcame his fear of the water and not only put his head under the water, but by the end of the week was trying to "beat his record" of how long he could hold his breath. Miles is an independent guy who has so much of his life dictated to him, I was impressed with how well he rolled with the punches when he clearly wasn't enjoying himself. We left the hotel at lunchtime to begin our travels home. We stopped at Burger King for lunch and had one of the most memorable worst fast food experiences of our lives. The drive to the airport was uneventful, but the walk through the airport was again hellish. The departure signs directed us to the wrong gate in the wrong terminal, and then our flight was delayed. This added to the stress, but did allow us to easily make it to the correct gate in time. When we arrived back in KC it was cold and rainy but we were happy to be heading home to our own beds, with happy memories of a great trip dancing in our heads. 

April 9

Lauren and Anthony went to Play It Again Sports to buy her a glove for softball. We like to get our kids' gloves there because they are already worn in. Lauren and TJ spent some time playing catch and TJ reported that she made his glove pop a few times with her throws. It was the last day of Spring Break, so Will and Lauren did not have school, though Anthony had work and Elliott's preschool was in session. It was a quiet day to ease back into real life after our trip. 

April 10

Saturday was full of errands and household chores to get us up to speed after our week away. Saturday evening we walked up to the park to expend some energy before bedtime. Elliott was pretending to fall down a hole while he was playing on the slides. The Ules walked up as well and we visited with them as the kids ran around the playground together.