We’re back from Florida, what a trip that was! Normally when we visit, we fly to where my mom lives and stay right around that area for the duration for our trip. This time we decided to be a bit more adventurous and traveled around the state, my mom coordinating the trip around all the things she thought Bracken would love to do. My mom travels for her job and now I have a visual for many of the places that she travels to, which is so wonderful. It was fun getting to see and experience so much more of the state of Florida. I felt that this was the first year Bracken was up for all that traveling and he did great in the car because he had his great grandma sitting next to him in the back seat. They have a special bond and really enjoyed each other.

These are snapshots from throughout our time in Florida, pictures that didn’t fit into a particular post about places we went to. (I have a few more posts to share with you about what we did during our last days there, so I’ll be sharing some more Florida Love this week.) Bracken and I loved driving past fields full of orange trees. Coming from Oregon, seeing oranges on the trees is something that still excites us every time we see it. One morning Bracken woke me up and whispered “Mama, I have a surprise for you” and he pointed out the window at the sunrise over the city of St. Petersburg. (We found a treasure of a restaurant there too, by the way, Mickey’s Cafe & Organics.)

We have a friend who also has a booth at the Eugene Saturday Market and she also visits family in Florida every February. We found out her family lives about an hour from where my mom lives, so we got to see her while we were down there and also meet her 96 year old grandmother. It didn’t work out for us to coordinate our trips to be able to fly together (which would have been awesome), but I was glad we got to see each other while we were down there.

While we all enjoyed the travel time and everything we got to see and do, I know we were all happy to be back at my mom’s, have a break from the car, and have our days a bit less scheduled for a stretch. It was nice to have that home time, to wake up and eat breakfast in our pajamas, messy hair and all, out by the pool. We ate many dinners outside as well, and my mom’s boyfriend often grilled something up for us. A few nights we had a fire out there too and Bracken requested roasting hot dogs, like he did for the first time over the summer. I made a new waffle recipe, with coconut flour, out of Megan’s cookbook. (Her family owns Vanilla Jill’s, one of our family’s favorite local spots.) I really enjoyed them and want to make some for Jeff here at home. I loved making smoothies many mornings (my mom has a blender that works, ours is so terrible I stopped making smoothies at home) and cooking up breakfasts.

Some nights we would get in our jammies and watch HGTV (my mom and grandma’s favorite shows to watch are on that station.) How wonderful is it to be in your cozy jammies, snuggle up on the couch with people you love (and my mom’s dog Ole), eat leftover waffles for dessert, and watch HGTV? Pretty wonderful. I saw on a few of the shows some old houses that were so dark and the layouts were so strange that I wondered how in the world they could make the space nice, only to see the designers transform them into an absolutely beautiful living space. I could see why my mom and grandma liked those shows so much. It was inspiring and it would be great to get Jeff hooked so we can watch HGTV together sometimes. (My mom totally needs to fix up old houses for a living, by the way, it’s her gift and she would be amazing at it!)

We made many meals at home, but we also ate out quite a bit. For our family, eating out is a treat, not usually a regular occurrence, so I didn’t take it for granted as we ate so many incredible meals during our time in Florida. I mostly had an appetite for Florida seafood. We ate so much good food while we were there, my mom and grandma spoiled us and then spoiled us some more. I can’t thank them enough.

We visited the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. It’s a turtle reserve that my mom had always wanted to check out. From their site: “Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is one of Florida’s most unique non-profit cultural destinations focused on ocean and sea turtle conservation. Our vision is, “to be recognized locally and internationally as the leading authority in sea turtle education, research, and rehabilitation.” I was surprised by how large some of the turtles were. We liked seeing the turtles and we learned things we never knew before while we were there (like not being able to have lights on at night along some beaches in Florida because baby turtles think it is moonlight on the water and will head in the opposite direction of the ocean.)

In Florida, spending such quality family time and making memories with my loved ones was the most important thing. The good food, seeing new places, and learning new things was a nice bonus, as was soaking up some sun. Coming from our rainy season and grey skies in Oregon, I really wanted to get some Vitamin D while we were in Florida! That’s a big plus to going somewhere warm and sunny in the wintertime. While we wore layers in the beginning of our time there, as we headed farther south the weather warmed up. We made a few trips to the beach and I swam in the ocean one time. I savor the feeling of that saltwater on my skin and never want to wash it off. We found some really cool shells (and how do you like Bracken’s “shell stache”? Ha!)

But now on to the best surprise EVER! Grandma Julie told Bracken that she had a surprise for him in the morning. I didn’t think much of it, wondering a bit what she had planned. That night my mom woke me up in the middle of the night and said “come with me” and I followed her, practically walking in my sleep because I wasn’t awake yet. Standing in the kitchen was my sister! I was dumbfounded, standing there feeling like I was dreaming, and hardly being able to believe that she was standing in the same room with me, that she was really there. My sister said she couldn’t make it to Florida this year and I missed her, feeling her absence during our time there and every time we took a group picture and she wasn’t in it. I wished, if only she could come for just a weekend, but knew she had so much on her plate so accepted the fact that she couldn’t make it this year. But my mom and sister had been planning a surprise for all of us for over a month and had kept it a secret the whole time.

When Bracken woke up in the morning, my mom asked him if he wanted to see his surprise. She led him to Aunt Sam and he could hardly believe it either. A few minutes later he said to me that it was “the best surprise ever!” Then he said “Mom, Aunt Sam is my present!” Having her there truly was a gift. She arrived late Friday night and flew out Sunday (the same day we flew out), so our time with her was brief, but that time we got together meant so much to me. I kept thanking her for coming.

I loved the feeling of a house full of people and having that time together. It was wonderful to have so much help with Bracken, we both felt renewed. If one person was busy, he would head to the next room and surely there would be someone to go on a walk with him, or get a glass down for him from the cupboard, or play with him. Having a community to get meals made, things cleaned up, and daily things accomplished, made everything so much easier. A group to work together is such a great feeling and made me want us to all live together. My mom wants to convince me to move to Florida, and I’ve wished she would move to Oregon, but for now we’re all living in different states and savoring our time when we are all able to be together. Four generations together is a special thing, I love my tribe.

It’s always hard to say goodbye. Luckily, we had all seen each other in Colorado in September, but no amount of time together ever feels like enough. I did have a better experience at the Dallas airport on our way back. It was a long day of traveling and Bracken and I were completely exhausted and ready to sleep when we arrived, since we had woken up so early. When I stepped out of the airport, Oregon felt cold to me. Jeff laughed because he had been working outside in a t-shirt. Being in Florida made me feel more sensitive to the cold. Right before we had left on our trip, the electricity had stopped working in half of Jeff’s workshop. He got that fixed before we left, but then his sanding machine broke down. He had plans to get a lot of work done while Bracken and I were gone, and a broken tool was quite a crimp in his plans. It took a few days, but he got it up and running again.

I felt a bit guilty soaking up the Florida sunshine and having fun with family while Jeff was at home fixing broken tools, working his butt off, and experiencing crazy storms and downpours. He told me we left at a good time because the weather was pretty terrible while we were gone. When I mentioned that in an e-mail, Corina said to me: “No, no, no, girl, stop feeling guilty about soaking up the sun! I bet Jeff is actually having a good time at home… I know our guys love us and the kids, but I tell ya, they do like some time alone, too!” She was right. Jeff missed us and was happy for us to be back home, but he enjoyed his solo work time too! Now we’re settling back in and I’m working to get caught up on packaging up orders and mailing them out. I started on that before I even unpacked my suitcase. Jeff has been busy making stuff, and we’re excited about all the new things we’ll be adding to the shop. I feel more energized in my work and renewed on so many levels, thanks mom for bringing us to Florida, it was just what we needed!

P.S. I chopped off my hair. I felt a strong urge to do so, so I went for it. It feels lighter and fresher, so I’m glad I did it, even though I prefer having longer hair.

P.P.S. My mom had a gift waiting for me, a coloring book and colored pencils because I had told her I wanted to start coloring for my stress relief this year. It really works! Plus, bright colors make me happy.