I Love This Place

Cruisin' through our sweet little college town, I often find a view such as this:

Love her flowers in the basket for decoration!

Now that school is back in session, our town has come to life again! Many families here summer in the NC mountains or spend their time at the local beaches in condos. All the snow birds are gone through the dog days of summer, which will unfortunately continue most likely through October here.

There is, however a hint of fall with the onset of school. I love the hum around town, and I love seeing the new freshmen arrive for their first step to independence. I love the sidewalk cafes full of moms chatting over coffee, coeds getting to know their new roommates and business people making deals over croissants. Our town has hit the reset button and has come alive again!

What gets you going for Fall???

The Encounter

Last weeks of summer, so what does a mama do? Squeeze in all the things she said we'd do at the beginning.

On a whim, I took the brood to the butterfly encounter at one of our local nurseries. We bought a season pass in the spring, and it has proved to be well worth the money. I also got to pick up a few plants for around our yard while we were there.

I let the girls get dressed by themselves. AE looks adorable and Christopher Robin-ish in her rain boots, but why did HJ choose AE's old soccer jersey? I love that she paired the jersey with some beachy, terry shorts, ruffled eyelet socks and her "fast shoes."

I dressed the baby.

Love how they just hung those Adirondack chairs up in the pine tree!

My loot:

The butterfly encounter is a multi-room exhibit, landscaped with all manner of nectar producing plants.

It is all enclosed in a greenhouse-like structure, so you can imagine the warmth on a lovely day in August. In central Florida. In August. To be fair, we did have a nice overcast morning that I THOUGHT would make it a little more bearable.

There are lovely water features and garden art.

When you enter, you get a chart detailing the different varieties of butterflies and many instructions on how to behave inside. No chasing the button quail, no touching or catching the butterflies, except inside the designated area where you can feed them Gatorade.

Can you see the wings in motion up above? That little beauty would NOT sit still!

Inside the approved "feeding" station

Toward the end of the exhibit, there is a nice little surprise collection of finches.

Some are quite colorful.

This little blue guy was my favorite.

The girls of course love the rainbow colored ones.

If you squint, you can see the sweet little hummingbird that I was lucky to catch for half a second as she rested on this empty branch. One of the nursery employees was rehabilitating the sweet bird and brought her to work with him that day.

These are the sweet button quail that run around on the ground all throughout the encounter. They are hard to get a picture without laying down on the ground, but these old girls were roosting and preening right by the exit, so I was able to finally get a shot.

The colors and flowers throughout are gorgeous:

And so is our little button-nosed baby boy:

Welcome to Florida! It is hot.

We are doing anything we can to keep cool here. Last week we went with friends to a local beach on the lake which butts up to our neighborhood. SJ and I stayed on a blanket in the shade while all the children played at the water's edge.

The very next day, they issued an amoeba warning. We won't be going back until it cools down (a lot) and we get enough rain.

So, back to the splash pad/bubble fountain. You can smell the chlorine as you approach, so no chances of our brains being eaten by amoeba and dying.

We met the Bishops and a few other friends for a picnic and water time.

SJ screamed when I set him down at the edge of the splash zone. Not ready just yet.

Other ideas for keeping cool here: library, science center, slip and slide, sprinkler, our neighbor's pool, heading north for the summer...

The Beach Trip

For the first time ever (and I mean EVER!) we took a vacation on our own. Just our immediate family. Just Mama, The Daddy and the kids.

Scratch vacation. We took a trip to the beach. :)

Over Memorial Day weekend, we enjoyed the sun and sand and snot. Yes, our little SJ was a trooper with his snotty nose that ran for the entire trip. In those seven days at New Smyrna Beach, he got to experience lots of firsts.

First time in the sand at the beach:

Loved playing with and eating the sand!

First time to see the Atlantic Ocean

First time in the ocean: he wasn't too sure about it.

Watching the waves

Feeling the sand and salt water on his toes

These two had an absolute blast going back and forth between the beach, the baby pool and the big pool.

We stayed in the same condo complex with our good friends the Bishops.

One night we even met up with some other friends in Port Orange at Aunt Catfish's restaurant.

Aunt Catfish's is brilliant because they have a playground out front for the long wait times!

HJ, Brooke and AE

Going down the slide together!

Parker

SJ being a trooper again!

For the first time ever, we were able to put all the big(ger) kids down at one end of the table so the adults could socialize a little easier! All of us parents were so impressed with how well everyone behaved!

At our table were:

• four families
• 19 people total
• two sets of twins
• 7 boys and 4 girls aged 5 and under
• two highchairs
• lots of fun, laughter and conversation!

Racing to the beach

Just before the sky opened up, the girls and The Daddy took a walk on the ONE morning we had gray skies. Later that afternoon, the sun returned. Every day we were there was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous.

Lots of wildlife on the beach:

AE with her friend, Carter:

HJ getting in on the action:

Our ONE family shot from the whole trip:

It's been a great start to the summer!