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

MAGIC!!!

One of the things we have missed out on with living apart the last couple of years has been Seth's involvement in the kids sports activities. At times he could make it back for games on the weekends, but I'm so excited to say that now he is able to COACH Hudson's team...yay!!! Hudson has played a variety of sports in the past, and when we asked what sport he wanted to play this season he decided on basketball. We signed him up at the local YMCA in December, and practice started last week. Hudson and Seth are busy making memories during practice on Tuesdays and games on Thursdays. It makes my heart so happy to see these two being able to spend this wonderful quality time together again. Thank you Lord!!! I have been blessed with a wonderful and involved husband who wants to make everyday memories with our kids.

This weekend we went to the park so the boys could practice some of their skills!

Excuse this horribly dark picture, but this is a shot from the first game

Hudson's team (Magic) had their first game tonight. They did really well...after all it was their first game! In the spirit of having fun and keeping it non-competitive, the YMCA does not keep score. Well, let me just tell you...the Y may not keep score, but Hudson sure does. When the game was over he informed us..."We Won...the score was 5 to 2." HA!!! He was right, but who's counting??

Lots of Love,

The White Family

Our week in Review

Phewww....this week flew by. We are back in the swing of things after the craziness of the holidays. Each week we are becoming more adjusted to our new normal in our new home. Monday, Hudson was still off of school so he helped me do a few marketing things for the store. Hudson LOVES one-on-one time (well, let's be honest what kid doesn't)! So Emmy went back to school and I had a personal helper for a few hours. He helped me finish the bulletin board at the store.

Here he is posing in front of the board...he is very proud of his work!!

Hudson had a great week at school. He received his first report card from his new school in Port Charlotte, and he did awesome! He received E's (for excellent) or G's (for good) in all areas. (If you recall, you don't get real "grades" in kindergarten). He is a little sponge...absorbing all the new information. He also received 100% on both math tests that he took this week. We of course told him how excited and proud we were, but he was also rewarded with a little celebrating. And what kid does not love to celebrate at Chuck E Cheese?? So off we went to Fort Meyers on Friday night to celebrate and reward our boy for a job well done!!

Of course, the little sis gets to reap some of the reward too...

Enjoying the monster truck ride...

The big kindergartner...when did he get so big?? Wah!!

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful Florida "winter" day!! I can see why the snow birds love this place!! We got out early to enjoy the weather. We took a drive down to the Naples Zoo. It is a little over an hour away...so I put the kiddo's dvd players on and off we went. The Naples Zoo was really nice. It was smaller than the San Antonio Zoo, but it was a little more manageable. They had a lot of neat shows where you get to see some of the animals up close and personal. We got to see a snake show, alligator feedings, a primate cruise (where you go out on a boat and see the monkeys), and a predator show. We made a full day of it, and after five hours there I still had to drag the kids out of there. We definitely want to go back and visit again!!

The zoo keeper showing off "Molly" the sloth during one of the shows

Huds enjoying the sunshine

Emmy found something to climb on

Our monkey

One of the many predators they featured

Super cute owl

Cheese

Happy girl

In closing out this post I would like to ask for prayers for sweet baby boy Field Johnson. He underwent open heart surgery this week. You can find the link to his blog on my blog list "Journey of the Johnsons." Praise God...he is doing well and is recovering. His mom and aunt are good friends of mine and his story is a testimony. So please if you will just lift him up in prayer that he continues to recover from thrive after surgery.

Lots of Love, The White