Spring Break Day #5...Nakomis Beach and a Ball Game!!!

Wow!!! Friday of spring break was non-stop go-go-go!! Today I volunteered to watch my friend's, Jamie, little boy. His name is Brenden and he is full of energy just like Hudson! They have a lot of fun together! Jamie's husband is a pastor and they were interviewing at a church this week. I knew these boys would need an outlet, and we are living in southwest Florida...SOOO...back to the beach we went. My sweet friend Sara and her little girl Lola came with us. Sara and I had a great time chatting on the beach while the kids played in the sand and sea...it was a perfect afternoon!

Crazy Boys!!

Sweet girls!!

Friday evening we went as a family to watch the Tampa Bay Rays play the Boston Red Sox. ALOT of major league teams do their preseason spring training in southwest Florida because of the AMAZING weather here this time of year. It was a great opportunity to enjoy a baseball game as a family!

Entering the stadium...

The stadium was packed...and because of the "snow bird" population there was equal amounts of Rays fans and Red Sox fans.

Our tickets...

My boys...

This is where our seats were...fifth row behind home plate!!

Spring Break Day #4...Phillipie Creek Restaurant

Thursday was a little of a breather for us! We have been "on the go" to say the least since spring break started. So we spent the morning hanging out, doing laundry and just lounging. Then we had the pleasure of meeting my cousin, Pam, for lunch. Pam lives in Tampa (about an 1.5 drive from us) and we have been trying to find a time to meet for a couple months now. It is just so tricky with kids and schedules. We finally found a time on Thursday. We met half-way in Sarasota...and she found a cute restaurant situated on the water for us to meet. It was such a nice visit! There are many years in between us, and during our lunch we commented that we were not sure we had ever sat down to have a one-on-one conversation together (it has always been at family functions). So it was great to have some time to get to know each other more. She is a strong christian and it shows. I snapped a couple pics of the kiddos outside the restaurant.

Spring Break Day #3...Lowry Park Zoo

Wednesday we decided to head out to the zoo. We got a large group together because most of us are on spring break (and we got a much better rate if registered as a group). We made a day out of it. Tampa is about an hour and a half drive north. I met my sweet friend Brandy who volunteered to drive us. She has an Odyssey mini-van so she could fit all of us. (On a side note I have decided I love minivans...they are chock full of so many mom friendly upgrades). So the kids got to watch movies and play games in the back all while reclining in their seats. Brandy and I got fun girl talk time in the front...so it was a win-win! Once we got to the zoo we ate a quick lunch and then headed out to see the zoo. The Lowry Park zoo is really nice with a lot of lush greenery and great attractions for the kids. It was a great time had by all...

Kaiden (Brandy's little girl) and Emerson...Emerson loves her!

A gator...regular site around Florida...but notice his missing right from paw....yuck!!!

Flamingos!!!

Hudson and his buddy Brenden!

Penguins!!

Hudson and Kaiden on the last car of the kiddie roller coaster...Look mom no hands!!

This girl loves her stroller!

One last animal...not sure what this one is...

Spring Break Day #2...Sarasota and Lido Key Beach

Spring break is off to a wonderful start! You can not ask for better weather! It is in the low 80's with a cool breeze and not a cloud in the sky...beautiful!! Today Seth took the day off...well let me clarify that. He planned to take the day off, but had to go in this morning to do a conference call, some paper work, and a delivery (and as a matter of fact...had to go back in this evening). But we had him to ourselves from about 1pm-8pm so I'm a happy girl!

I have really been wanting to go explore Sarasota together...so today we thought would be the perfect day for just that. There is a really neat place called St. Armond's square. It is situated around a round-a-bout...the streets are full of eclectic shops and original restaurants. I think this ranks up at the top of the places I have visited since living in Florida.

We started our afternoon off by visiting Kilwin's. I was introduced to this place a few weeks ago when some girls from church and I went for a girls night out. After eating at a fun mexican restaurant, all the girls were dying to head to Kilwin's and after arriving I could see why. The line to get yummy treats from this store is usually 10-15 people deep, and the smell of waffle cones and baking fudge are absolutely dreamy!! I wanted to take the kids and Seth...and it was the first stop once we arrived. It did not disappoint! They all split a waffle bowl full of cookie dough ice cream and there was a lot of tug-of-war going on with the bowl...LOL!!

After the yummy ice cream, we walked around and checked out the square. We did not go into any shops, but the window shopping was great! After just a little walking the kids started to get antsy, so we headed out to the beach.

Right off the square is a side street that leads to Lido Key beach. It was soooo beautiful!! I'm so amazed by the beautiful beaches and aqua blue water here. The soft fine-grain sand was almost white! It is a great place to experience God's creation. We spent a couple hours enjoying the cool ocean breeze while playing in the sand and looking for seashells. (We found 7 sand dollars). It was just a great day as a family!

This picture does not do it justice...but it is a shot of the white sand and aqua blue water.

Emerson and her daddy looking for sand dollars.

Hudson LOVES the beach!

Spring Break Day #1...Lakes Park

Our first day of spring break is today...and we are in Florida!! I mean can you pick a better place to have a "staycation"??? I am excited to have a great time with the kids and not be on a set schedule. Today we met our friends Alyson, Cayman and Charis. Alyson is the wife of another IM here in Florida, and her friendship has been a blessing. Having someone that is going through the exact same experience that you are (the IM program) is so nice because we can completely relate to one another! We don't have the chance to get together very often because we live about 45 minutes apart, and with the kids in school it is just too hard. But I knew we had to make a point to get together this week...because we just don't know when the other will be moving. So we met at Lakes Park...which is a very nice park in Ft.Myers. We packed a picnic and got to enjoy the beautiful Florida sunshine together.

The huge play system at Lakes Park

Emerson playing at the park and trying to hide from my camera.

Hudson climbing...that boy is such a monkey!!

There is a splash park there...the kids were so excited, but it did not last long because the water was really cold.

This is a picture of the train that you can ride around the park. The kids loved this...I think it was the highlight of their trip...

And to top the afternoon off they each got a scoop of ice cream...a great day at the park!

The most magical place on earth!!

First off, excuse me for my horrible blogging! It always drives me crazy when people never update their blogs...and now I am that person. Hopefully I will change my habits and get better about being a consistent blogger.

We just returned from a wonderful family trip to Disney World! It was such a great time, but we are exhausted! There is SOOOO much to see, and because we have no idea when we will have a chance to go back we wanted to fit as much in as possible. We had four full days at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Epcot. We all had a absolute blast, and the kids are begging to go back already...in fact Hudson has decided he wants to live there permanently...HA! Throughout the four days, Seth kept telling the kids we were at the most magical place on earth. When we went to leave Hudson started bawling(he was so exhausted) and in between sobs he kept repeating..."We are leaving the most magical place on earth." We had to laugh! Here are just a few pictures from our trip...in no particular order...

Hudson started posing...this is taken in "Italy" in Epcot...

The kids with Belle...before out character princess lunch buffet

Snow White...Emerson trying her best princess pose...

Sleeping beauty...Hudson said she was his favorite...

My little Norwegian princess...

My vikings...

Pluto and Goofy

Hudson giving Emerson a piggy back in the Animal Kingdom

Being monkeys

Practicing their drumming skills

Hudson took this picture...we were in Epcot

Family Pic...Epcot ball

The toy story ride...

And last...the princess castle at the Magic Kingdom.

It is no surprise they call Disney World the most magical place on earth! It was a magical family vacation, and I am grateful for the time we had to spend together and make memories.

Lots of Love,

The Whites

Donuts with Daddy

As I have said in previous posts, it is so wonderful to be back together as a family. Seth is getting to participate in all the things that he has previously missed out on. I was just telling Seth the other night how much more content I feel now that we are back together. There is such a peace now. When we started this journey, we never thought we would be living primarily apart for almost two years. God taught us so many lessons during that time, some of which I would not have learned if we would not have gone through that separation. Any who...I will save the rest of that for another blog post...on to Donuts with Daddy!!

Emerson is attending preschool four mornings a week in Port Charlotte. We have been very happy with her school and she loves going, which is the most important thing. They have fun activities planned throughout the year. The most recent event was Donuts with Daddy. I love this idea because dads always seem to get the short straw with Father's day landing in the summer. Seth went up to school and got to spend some one on one time with Emerson and enjoyed some yummy donuts. Here are a few pics...

Apparently she ate four donuts!!

Daddy and his girl...she is holding up the cork board she made for him. It has nuts and bolts on the frame, and on the sticky it says "I'm nuts about you" and has a little pic of Em on it. Seth has it proudly displayed on his desk at work :)

Showing off her art work...doesn't she look thrilled...HA!!

Lots of Love,

The Whites