Our time in Florida with MiMi and PopPop was fabulous! (That may have to be a whole separate post.) Simply put, it was a blast. We had some great time with my parents and with my grandparents. The kids love the water, both the pool and the Gulf, and the wildlife and surroundings are so amazing, it's a bit like Epcot in some "engineered" environment meant to feel like the real deal - the real deal being...PARADISE! One of the days we got to go on a boat ride with Captain Larry and Aunt Faye. When we pulled the boat up to the backside of a restaurant right on the canal, I realized and even said, "geesh, people dream of vacationing like this and you guys (my parents) live like this! This year it really was paradise - Daddy joined us for a portion of the trip for the first time in over 3 years!! It was great.
Once we returned home to Colorado, we still had 5 more days of break here in our own sunny corner of the world! The weather couldn't have been more perfect! I think it was high 70's every day, with very little springtime wind. We went to the zoo, biked, had picnics, hiked, and biked some more. One day we wanted to do a hike we hadn't yet done. The boys are great hikers and truly love being on the trails. Elyse - well, let's just say there is tremendous room for improvement! ;-) So, since I had all three and Elyse is getting too heavy for this 34 year-old back, I wasn't sure how far we'd make it.
Within the first 5 minutes Ace tripped on a root and landed directly on his left arm. Did I mention that the cast was removed less than 24 hours prior?!! I nearly had a heart attack, and I'm not the kind of mom that frets about falls, cuts, bruises, etc. However, I am the type of mom that frets about costly medical bills! He was fine, praise the Lord, but I quickly decided the sling he was told to wear to protect himself was actually another accident in the making rather than a helpful tool that particular day, so we took it off.
We used all our senses and thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors. The kids were having so much fun and being such wonderful siblings (especially the boys to Elyse, which doesn't always happen), that we just kept going. We counted the early spring flowers, watched for wildlife, pretended to be different super heroes saving the trails from the villains, ate our picnic lunches, and eventually came to the top of the trail! I never expected we'd go that far. I think it was 4-5 miles round trip. I love to hike and do it daily early in the mornings with girlfriends during the summer/fall months so I am so thankful my kids have become little hikers, too. I think that day was a real turning point for E. She had a ball and there was absolutely NO whining!! She wanted to keep going! It's a joy to have kids who enjoy being outdoors so much! They truly are little Colorado Kids!
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