Making the most of our last days. . .

The end of our time in Florida is always sad as we do our "lasts" - last time with the Martins, last time with Mama and Papa, last time with all the cousins, last time with Mimi and Big Daddy. The long goodbye is hard, but it's worth it to see everyone each year. 

Last big American breakfast.

Last swim and Mama and Papa's - with Cricket herding the girls from the side of the pool!

Last meal at Panera. These two having a good day together.

Last time swimming at Mimi and Big Daddy's.

Last American fast food- the delicious Steak-n-Shake.

Last time out in the boat tubing.

Our last day in the country was spent at Carlouel with Mimi, then Big Daddy and the Hardees joined us in the late afternoon for tubing and dinner. It turned out to be a rather eventful and frightening last night - Big Daddy had let us know he was on the way to Carouel in the boat and then he didn't arrive, and didn't arrive, and didn't arrive. Mom and I were very worried and called Lindsey to have her go by the boat ramp and check to see if she saw him on her way to Carlouel from the office. She left the office immediately, but just before she got there we saw him heading towards us in the boat. It turned out he had fallen off the boat and couldn't get back in - that is VERY unusual, this man has been driving boats and on the water his whole life and he is strong and able. More importantly he wasn't even sure why he had fallen. He was in the water until thankfully someone saw him and helped him.

When he arrived at Carlouel he was acting "off" but said he was fine to take the kids tubing. We weren't sure what to do, but Bill and I joined him on the boat and he managed to to take the girls for a quick spin. I was very tempted to call an ambulance and get him to the hospital immediately, but it was one of those situations where he was insisting he was fine and did seem in some respects to be ok, but in other ways you could just tell something wasn't right. He made it through dinner but it was clear to all of us that he wasn't well. Bill went back with him on the boat at the end of the evening to make sure all was ok. I might add that Big Daddy had been having headaches for days.

That night Mom made an appointment for him to have an MRI the next day and Bill Hardee did some Googling and guessed, correctly, that Big Daddy had a subdural hematoma. We were flying out midday so we were still at the airport when the diagnoses came through along with the news that Big Daddy would have surgery to release the pressure by taking off part of his skull. Apparently when he had slipped more than a month prior he had hit his head hard enough for a hematoma to develop and by the night we were leaving it was creating huge pressure on his brain, which explains the loss of balance and other side affects we had noticed.

I've never felt so acutely the distance between my life here and the rest of my family as I did that next day. By the time we landed in Wellington and could contact them he had already had his surgery, which thankfully went well. After some very hard weeks of recovery I can now say that he is doing great, back at work, driving and whatnot. We are all so thankful.

Party on the Beach

Mimi and Big Daddy invited us out to Carlouel for a beach party on one of our last nights in Florida. It was the last evening we would see the Martins as they had to drive Anna to North Carolina for camp the next day. We enjoyed tropical drinks, dancing, playing games and dinner. Most of all Stacy got some really great photos of us all together, I love the bright colors and the beautiful white sand. 

Busch Gardens and perhaps not my most brilliant parenting decision . . .

When we were on the cruise I had promised my girls that I would take them to Busch Gardens since we didn't go on the excursion to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Busch Gardens cost less than half as much, that was my main motivation. What I forgot was what a miserable experience we had the last time we visited Busch Gardens five years ago. It was hot and miserable and Ellie and Josie couldn't ride most of the rides because they weren't tall enough and it took all my willpower to just make it through the day. 

This year wasn't a whole lot different. We got up bright and early and Ali dropped off Lilly, Anna and Samantha and several huge refillable drink containers and bid us farewell. Lindsey and the little ones were planning to meet us later in the day. The girls rode their first ride while I parked the car, but even with us getting there at the crack of dawn they still had to stand in line for about forty minutes. When they finally emerged everyone was thirsty so we stood in line to fill the containers Ali gave me and to purchase the two more that were needed at some extraordinary price that I've blocked from memory. We then stopped to use the restroom that was right there at which point some large person banged into Anna and knocked her drink out of her hand so it went all over her and cracked when it hit the ground. Back into the beverage line we went where the lady there kindly gave us another at no charge. We then walked over to the next ride and got in line and just as it was almost our turn it was closed for lightning nearby. Argh. 

By now it was late morning so I suggested we eat an early lunch while we waited for the weather to clear. We stood in yet another line to purchase rather horrible and overpriced food and after eating we went back out to find something open. If you guessed that we got in line only to have the ride close again just before our turn you'd be right. Busch Gardens has animals so we wandered around looking at those, but really that is not what one goes to an amusement park to do. We finally got to ride a few rides after queuing for hours, no exaggeration. 

I'm taking the photos and holding all the drink containers. I should have photographed those things, they were enormous.

Finally on a ride!

While the girls were tempted to stay at Busch Gardens until closing in the hopes of getting on more rides, I was done. We'd earlier made plans to meet up with Ali and go to a locally famous burger joint that had some rather interesting entertainment and I wanted to go ANYWHERE else. Lindsey had arrived at Busch Gardens with Mari and Baker and had invited Ellie to stay with them and spend the night, so it was the perfect night to try this place out as the entertainment was not entirely wholesome and definitely not age appropriate for a 9-year-old. In retrospect perhaps it wasn't age appropriate for Josie either - after her initial shock, a few stares which her sisters quickly told her was NOT ok, and a promise that we could leave if she was too distressed, she actually rather enjoyed the evening. We went to a place called Hamburger Mary's, famous for their burgers, and their drag show.

The girls with our waitress.

Katie offering a tip.

What could possibly be wrong with this picture?

The burgers were really good and it was all good fun, ours weren't the only children there, and it didn't get so saucy that I would feel the need to go to confession, so all in all a fun night. Much more fun than the day that's for sure!