Florida! We’re here! I didn’t make it to this space for Gratitude Sunday, I just connected to the internet today and checked my e-mail for the first time since our arrival. It’s been so nice to be fully immersed with my loved ones and I can’t believe how much we’ve fit into this trip already. Jeff sure helped me get out the door and to the airport on time that morning we left (he often helps me get out the door these days) and he even cut up apple slices (and covered them in lemon juice so they wouldn’t turn brown) for us to bring for our snack on the plane. We needed something to dip in that nut butter I’d made, after all.

I met a nice lady at the airport and when we got to chatting we discovered we had mutual friends. I love that. When we fly from Oregon to Florida our day is long, taking three plane rides, and it always makes me appreciate even more the times my mom goes through that to come and visit us. Our day was going smoothly enough, until we got to the Dallas airport. I don’t like the Dallas airport. I needed to get to the C gates for our next flight and asked employees where to go. I was directed out a door and when I got on the other side, I was at baggage claim. Definitely not where I wanted to be. I went on a wild goose chase trying to find the buses outside to bring us to the C gates and I swear everyone I asked was sending me to a different place.

We did get on a bus and I confessed to the driver that I felt like a total moron and she told me that people do that all the time (walk out of the airport by accident to the baggage claim) because their airport was so confusing, huge, and not well marked. That made me feel better, but only slightly. I wanted to cry because we had to go back through security again. But luckily our layover was long enough that we didn’t need to worry about being late for our flight. Learning a lesson the hard way certainly does make it stick and I don’t plan to be making that mistake again. We arrived in Florida late at night. My mom and grandma picked us up and I knew as soon as I was with them, everything would be alright. I breathed a sigh of relief. They had a meal ready and waiting for us in the car (bless them), which we ate heartily on our way to the hotel, in Jacksonville.

Our first morning in Florida began in the best way I could imagine. I got to watch the sunrise over the ocean for the very first time in my life. It was magical. Breathtaking. Beautiful. But the word beautiful doesn’t even do it justice. Our hotel room was overlooking the ocean and I could see the colors changing in the sky out the window. My mom, grandma, and I sat on the balcony in our jamis, talking, and watching. We watched the colors in the sky change, the sun rise, and all the activity on the beach below us. Some people just sat and watched it side by side, some seemed to be in meditation, others were walking dogs, running, or riding their bikes. I loved watching it all. We let Bracken sleep as long as possible, since we’d had such a long day of travel the day before and such a late night, but those first rays of sun shone on his sweet sleeping face.

My friend Kim is an amazing photographer (and such a dear person), and sold me her old camera. I’m incredibly grateful to her and was so excited to bring it along on the trip. I had fun taking pictures of the sunrise that morning with my new camera (I included so many, I know, but loved to show the whole progression) and later of our walk on the beach. I’m a beginner and I have a lot to learn, but I’m really enjoying this camera!

Believe it or not, Bracken actually wore his wool vest in Florida quite a bit the first few days. Go figure! I was joking about finishing his wool vest in time for our Florida trip, but my mom said to bring warm layers for the beginning of our trip and I ended up putting it in the suitcase. My grandma (coming from cold and snowy Iowa) and I laughed, thinking my mom’s idea of “cold” might be a bit exaggerated living in Florida and all, but we admitted that she was correct in that. We needed those warm layers in the beginning.

That first morning we walked the white sandy beaches and collected a few shells in a paper bag we got in the hotel. We saw a heart someone had made in the sand and decorated with shells. I love to see how different beaches vary from place to place. Even though it was a bit chilly, it didn’t stop Bracken from wanting to get his feet wet! We came all the way to Florida and the first thing we all wanted to do together was to enjoy the ocean. It was the perfect way to begin our Florida adventures.