The Mangrove Forest

We have really interesting signs in Florida.  I was once at a resort where the parking ticket said something like "the resort is not liable for vehicle damage from falling coconuts."  Another time I told my brother in law we didn't worry about sharks at the beach, and he pointed over my shoulder to a sign that said "Warning! Sharks!".  Still, this one below has to be one of my all time favorites:

A good friend visited this past week- hurray!  We had a wonderful time (at least, we did!). She's really a kind of quiet-joy person... not all outwardly enthusiastic, but an authentic and realistic positive outlook.  She's also from the mid-atlantic area, so it's like seeing Florida with fresh eyes when she visits.  I tend to appreciate- even more- this very unique place we live.

It has interesting sights, no?  The photo above is a mangrove seed forming.  If you've ever been to the beach and wondered what those brown cigar like sticks were... well, now you know: mangrove seeds.  Interesting on the beach, in the water, or developing on the tree.

It's beautiful here in the mangrove forests.   I'm not sure I've heard that term used often, if at all, but I like it.  It was one of those odd days- cool in the shade, but really warm if you were in the sun or walking around.  

We stumbled across some scat, shown here above (at least we didn't stumble INTO it).  Anyone know what it is?  We had no idea- thinking maybe a bird, but it's pretty well formed.  With berries!  I was thinking deer, but it was up on a boardwalk.  Another local friend thought pig.  Anyone?  (Note, if you don't recognize it, I wouldn't recommend googling images of various animal scat to compare.  Ahem.)

It was a lovely visit, all in all.  We were only at the mangrove forest for about an hour or so.  We did hit the beach, of course.  That was a little chilly too, so we watched the moon rise and headed home.  Nothing better than friends and fun, nature and good health :)

Vacation, part 2 and Post Vacation Blues

That almost Disney, almost free trip worked so well a few weeks ago that we thought we'd try it again! It didn't work nearly the same, though.  Not worse, just... different.

 

First of all, our hotel was near SeaWorld, not Downtown Disney.  Tough times, I know.  However, the grounds were BEAUTIFUL.  I'm not usually blown away by landscaping and atmosphere and such, but wow.  We stumbled across an outdoor chess set- conveniently located near a playground, so everyone was happy!

I found Virgil's Cream Soda in the same hotel deli that sold Starbucks bottled frap for $4.  Nah, we didn't get either.  I did, however, immediately think of the cute pup my brother once had, and so snapped this pic to send to him.  But I entered the wrong number, so someone else must've been puzzling over the odd txt msg!

 Kaden took to the pool like a toddler to water.  In fact, this time around there was less adventuring and more swimming, running and - wait for it- cable TV.  Perhaps we still needed down time?

I know I did, because this time it was my turn to work- and the conference blew my mind away. The first part was ministry and technology, the second part was educational tech.  Holy gigabytes, Batman!  There was rock music and giveaways (computers! yes, plural!) and inspiring speeches and more iPads than I've ever seen in one place! 

 It was nice to come "home" afterwards and walk the beautiful grounds at night with the family.  We'd pass fire pits, and little fake streams and ponds, and Kaden would run his energy out while I tried to summarize things with Jim.

And now, this week, we are back to work and the laundry and all those other things that make everyday life run.  I really want to figure out how to make sense of and use all the info and inspiration from the conference (which deserves its own post), but I've inherited extra hours at work to deal with "tech stuff."  Which I proposed, thinking more along the lines of electronic communication and social media.  But our website was hacked and went down, and now I'm in the midst of learning how to design a temp one.  Yes, learning how.   I haven't felt this dumb since I tried to help a relative with Medicare.

But, then again, working a bit late means a fantastic commute home.  There's not a lot of traffic on the bridge, and I get to see some gorgeous sunsets.  These pics are from the last two days.  So perhaps I shan't compain too much...

What Holiday is this, again?

So tonight I finished the family Christmas photos- they'll go out tomorrow, mostly sans cards.  Sorry!  The entire season got away for me.  Maybe I'll start planning for Valentine's Day on Monday :)  I did spend a lot of time creating (on Picasa) a little DVD of our Christmas photos, but can't figure out how to burn it to a DVD.  So today, I officially give up.  We do enjoy and appreciate all your thoughts and cards... hope you'll forgive our extreme tardiness!

Today I finally cut up Kaden's fingerpaintings into the Christmas Thank You cards... and we finished his "hand turkey shirt" by painting his hand outline on it.  So we've one shirt with 3 years of handprints, but it won't fit him next year.  Unless I sew it onto a NEW t-shirt.  Which, given my track record for completing projects, I should start in about 3.5 hours.

I keep forgetting we have Monday off for MLK day.  I like the idea of doing a service project... and then again I like the idea of hanging on in PJs in the backyard.  Hey, does completing your own unfinished house/kid projects count as service?  Just kidding.  (Mostly.)

Anyway, we also packed up the tree and Christmas stuff earlier in the week, but left the boxes on the porch because there's always random ornaments or PJs that show up a few days later.  But tomorrow they go into the attic!   Well, after we get the wreath off the door (I got used to seeing it there).  

Speaking of getting used to things... we have 3 pumpkins still in the front door area.  Not carved, but glitter painted.  I ignored my neighbor's suggestion to paint them red, but maybe now we will.  For Valentine's Day, of course!  I was officially tired of them at New Year's, but now it's kinda like Kramer test-driving that car with the fuel gauge on E:  how long will they make it?

(almost) DISNEY (almost) FREE

Jim had a conference at a Downtown Disney hotel last week, so Kaden and I tagged along for the adventure. Due to Kade's age and affinity for FLIPPING OUT with excitement, Jim and I decided not to do an actual park, but just to soak up the atmosphere.  Which was suprisingly easy and fun to do!





First, there's Downtown Disney itself, with a variety of character statues, interesting/interactive shops, and free random entertainment.  Disclaimer: though a Florida native, I'm not a Disney geek and might not be using the real, actual names of places.  Because I don't really know them!

We stopped by Goofy's candy shop where Kade custom designed a cookie and then watched them make his order (gingerbread mickey dipped in chocolate, covered in mini MMs and then drizzled with more chocolate). We each had about 2 bites and then saved the rest of it for later... too sweet!

Then there was the LEGO shop.  We spent about 2 hours in there, making mini-figures (2 police guys and a crimnihmal) and looking at all the lego statues and just playing.

At the free play station, there were a lot of different ages there.  Kaden saw a table of teen boys, walked right up and said, "Can I play with you guys?"  They were *great* with him- turned out the group (3 guys and 2 gals by the end) was from a NY college, in town on a band trip!  It was really nice of them to include Kaden and play along.  Actually, it was the perfect fit- Kaden kept coming up with the ideas (what about a police helicopter?) and the guys would make it.   Talking all the while, about school and cousins and what Disney characters they liked best.

We also used the free "Disney Transportation" - buses, boats and the monorail of course.  When Kaden recognized 'Mickey's castle', I thought to myself 'gee, maybe we *should* take him inside the park.'  And then we got on a BUS and he sat under the CARS ad and bounced up and down in the seat, before turning to me and whispering "This is so exciting!!!"  Yeah, we'll skip the park for now.

We did explore a few resorts, like the Campground.  Kaden screwed up his courage and rode a Shetland pony, that I got to lead, around the "trail".  As you can see, he was much less impressed with the massive breeds we saw in the main barn, preferring to climb fences and play in the dirt while I goggled my eyes at their beautiful muscles and intelligent eyes :)

We also visited the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and got to see quite a few animals on the savannah.  In this photo, if you enlarge it, you can see a giraffe and zebra, maybe the ostrich or antelope.  Despite what Kaden says, we did not see a rhino- it was a very entertaining warthog.

Somewhere along the line, we also visited the Fort Wilderness Lodge- also great scenery inside and out.  They have a neat geyser that goes off every hour.  We stumbled across a campfire on the beach and were offered marshmallows.  Kaden asked for two, then scarfed them down without roasting them!

There's a 100 other stories of course... mostly Jim and I got a kick out of seeing how excited Kaden got over all the "little extras"- like the Disney Channel in the hotel room.  Or when we rode the monorail (he insisted on calling it a train) to the Magic Kingdom gates: he heard the welcome announcement and jumped up and down- I'm in the Kingdom! I'm in the Kingdom!  

***

Overall, I really liked this Disney on the cheap trip.  Not spending ticket money made it feel like we weren't going overboard with a cookie treat here or lego set there.  Plus, I didn't feel the need to "pack it all in", which made for some pretty relaxing explorations most of the time.  The best part, though, was not being separated from Jim while he was on a conference- meeting up for lunch or at night was pretty cool.  I realize it won't work for a lot of families, nor for us in another year or two, but for right now this was a great family adventure.