In a sunshine state of mind...

With great thanks to my very generous father, we were able to spend the past week in FL, soaking up some sun, hopping from theme park to theme park, and....best and cheapest thrill around....enjoying the beach. I would add in an extra beach day were I to plan the trip once again, but I suppose the two we enjoyed planted enough sand in our pockets to hold us over until summer arrives in New England!


For whatever reason, Blogger seems to want to post my pictures in reverse, so I guess I'll walk through our vacation backward! We started the trip with the beach, and we ended the trip there as well. We were frantically building our fortress against the oncoming waves....perhaps a sign that we knew already all good vacation things were about to come to an end. I loved how the kids continually congratulated Matt and me for creating the perfect sand towers--as though this was a highly marketable skill we could take on the road in the declining economy. They are such loves!

The tree of life stands tall behind us at the entrance of Disney's Animal Kingdom. The tree is a "bit too green" as Matt likes to point out, but the carvings of all the animals are quite spectacular. Disney is always a mixed bag. Even when they are carrying forward a positive message (e.g., the planet and its creatures matter immensely!), it always feels as though it's purely a market strategy. Did we have a great time? Of course. Am I always conflicted about this? Yes, yes, yes!

Siblings, one and all!

We had Matt's birthday dinner with my dad at Steak and Shake, and the kids donned their "chef" hats happily....that is until I informed Kyra that it was indeed a chef's hat. She had believed they were sailors all through the meal. Off came the hat! Oh, well! I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Day one in Florida....back at the beach! The surf was particularly rough that day, and both kids could stand on the edge only with the grip of a grown up. Kyra stepped forward on her own once, was planted firmly in the ground by a wave, came up sputtering, and grabbed a hand once more! The sight of her flexing her muscles in the face of an angry surf inspired me to begin the lyrics of a song in the middle of the night that night. We'll see if the creative energy keeps flowing now that we're home!

Tomorrow it's back to work and school, and we're all in a somber mood. The joys of this CT life are many, though, and we're happy to be sleeping in our own beds tonight after a fun morning on the river enjoying world class kayak races just a few short steps from our home. We're so fortunate to feast at the banquet set at both ends of the Atlantic coast!