In the Past Month

Our family hadn't been camping together in a year. But the Relief Society organized a camp out that the whole ward was invited to attend. And they really did a good job putting it together, too. They chose a clean, spacious park in Palm Bay for the location, and entertained the families after dinner with s'mores and an open-air showing of The Princess and the Frog (which is really very good). The evening sky was clear and full of stars, with a light breeze adding a slight chill to the 63-degree night air. We slept in our tent without the rain fly so we could look up into the heavens. The girls slept in sleeping bags, and Drew had the Pack 'n' Play, while Kev and I shared the air mattress, sandwiched between a fuzzy blanket and a heavy quilt. I was warm and cozy. Too bad I really couldn't sleep. But at least I was comfortable! In the morning, Kev cooked up a pot of homemade apple-cinnamon oatmeal on the camp stove while the girls rode around on their bikes, even sharing them with their friends. The little girls played Duck Duck Goose, and some of the women and older girls played Four Square while the men took down the tents and loaded gear into the cars. On our way out, we and a couple other families stopped at the playground for thirty minutes or so before going home to tackle the chores that awaited us. Of course, Kev got in a good nap first. Not me, though-- I knew if I napped, I would lose all motivation to accomplish anything, so I just worked through the fatigue... and then crashed at night.

A week ago was Easter Sunday... as well as the weekend of the General Conference of the Church. I actually have loved it when Easter and General Conference collide-- the day is always so much more relaxed. Upon waking up Easter morning, we gathered for our normal scripture study, doing in place of it an Easter scripture egg game that we had gotten a few years back from Rebekah Jarvis. Each plastic egg is numbered, with the contents including, in chronological order, a scripture on the Savior's last days as well as an object related to the scripture. It took us about 15-20 minutes to get through all the eggs, but the kids seemed to enjoy it. We followed our family prayer with the official Easter egg hunt-- with the eggs full of M&Ms and jelly beans and sour gummies. The girls got Pez dispensers in their baskets... which they thought were the coolest things ever-- just that the thing spit out candy through the bunny's (or lamb's) head. We don't do the whole Easter Bunny thing, though. The girls know we are the one's that hide the eggs and leave them treats in their baskets. So Allie was pretty upset when she heard that the "Easter Bunny" had visited her friends. She felt forgotten. I changed the subject. It's tough enough for me to go along with the Santa-thing (which, while fun, we didn't really teach them either), but I just can't bring myself to get into the Easter Bunny.

The week leading up to Easter was Spring Break for Allie and Sami, which they spent with their Aunt Mallory who came to visit... and babysit while Kevin and I took an early 10th anniversary trip down to Key West for three nights. Mallory was a trooper to tackle the job all by herself. We did pay for her ticket, but told her she could invite someone along to keep her company, but she didn't. By the time she left at the end of the week, she was exhausted (staying up till 1am "trying to say on Vegas time" couldn't have helped either). But she did a fantastic job... especially since all three kids were battling illness-- colds, pink eye, an ear infection, etc. Sami just about put Mal over the edge with her incessant whining. I knew that it would a tough job for her to do all by herself, which is why I felt terrible about having asked her in the first place. But when the plan to have Kev's parents do it upon finishing their mission out here didn't work out, I asked Mallory out of desperation... and because I knew she was fiesty and responsible enough to handle it. She is amazing! But I don't think I could ever feel good about asking that of her again...

But we will forever grateful to Mallory for helping us to have those few days together without the kids. We spent each sunset at the pier, enjoying the street performers and applauding as the sun went down, and each night wandering Duval St., looking in stores, watching people, eating gelato. We took a day trip on our first full day there on a catamaran out to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, seventy miles west of Key West. The nearly three hour trip out to the island was rough, heading directly into a wind coming out of the west, with the seas still recovering from the storm that had passed through the day before. We were hitting 6-8 foot swells head-on. By the time we reached our destination, nearly 80% of the passengers were nauseated and sitting out on the back deck of the boat. Kevin gets sea sick fairly easily, and sat out there away from me for most of the trip. I ended up out back for the last hour because I started to feel slightly sick. More than anything, though, I was terrified. I appreciate water and its beauty, but at the same time, I have a very real fear of it. I found a strap on the place where I sat, and gripped it till my knuckles were white. I prayed for comfort, that the burden of fear might be taken from me, and immediately felt peace wash over me, like a warm wave. I didn't want that to leave, so I kept praying... for the rest of the trip. Thankfully, on our way back later that afternoon, we were traveling in the same direction as the waves, and the seas had also calmed quite a bit, so we were able to stay inside the boat, even taking a short nap. But while at the Dry Tortugas, and after the tour of the fort and a buffet lunch, we tried to snorkel in the unseasonably cold water, but we couldn't see anything through the murky water that the storm had created. So we wandered around the fort taking pictures and soaking in the varied blue tones of the gulf waters.

That evening, back on Key West, we even ran into Jeff, one of Kevin's bosses, and his wife. So we took a picture, I with our camera and Jeff's wife with his phone.

The next day we started out a few blocks from Duval St., eating breakfast at Harpoon Harry's, and then "hoofed" it through the town. I think my favorite thing to do in a new place, is to get my shoes on and walk-- explore. We went to the Shipwreck Treasure museum, learning about Key West's history in the wrecking industry, and walked down to the Hemingway house.

We saw the Southernmost Point (but refused to wait in a huge line to take a picture directly in front of the marker, so from the side had to do) and spent a couple hours at the beach looking at the marine life along the shore-- conches and urchins, etc.. Kevin (very carefully) took the camera out with him on his second trip out to take a video of a conch flipping itself over... which some drunk spring break-er passerby thought was pretty cool.


On our drive home, we stopped at Crane Point, a reserve on Marathon with trails and exhibits and terrific views of the water.

And then we arrived home to fed and bathed children and a clean house. Thank you, Mallory! The day after our return, and after Mallory had gone home, we took the kids to their first carnival, which had been set up at the mall a couple miles away. They had seen the Ferris wheel earlier that day while out to lunch with Mal, and begged me to go. I told them to ask their dad. So we went that evening, and got the bracelets for unlimited rides. They rode every kiddie ride they could, but also ventured out on some bigger rides, like the Ferris wheel and the Tilt-a-Whirl. Allie pleaded to go on Starship, which is the "gravitron" spinning ride where you spin so fast you don't even need to be strapped in. I was hesitant, but she was persistent, so we went. Man, my head can't handle stuff like that anymore. I actually need some recovery time after rides like that anymore.
Sami also celebrated her 4th birthday on St. Patrick's Day. She woke up to a decorated house, and later we brought chocolate cupcakes with green frosting to her preschool class. She wanted macaroni and cheese and mandarin oranges for her special dinner, and then to go to the ice cream shop (just like Allie) for her birthday treat, in lieu of cake (whew!). I think my favorite part of the day, though, was when she opened up her gift from us. Back in December, I had sneakily bought this music/jewelry box that played a tune from Swan Lake when Sami came with me to Sears and saw it. While she stood and looked at the boxes, I secretly grabbed one and bought it, hiding it all the way home. I worried that she might forget about it. But when she opened it up, she gasped, "It's what I always wanted!" Kev and I smiled.

And, lastly, Mom and Dad Smith finished up their Florida mission and, sadly, have gone home. They served as terrific missionaries at the Ranch, and are very missed by the people in our stake, as well as by us! It was wonderful for us to have them here for a year.

Ugh... I need to go take out my contacts.

A Leprechaun Adventure

It has been a week since Allie walked home from school wearing her leprechaun mask the whole way, with its big ears and orange beard. As we walked, she told me all about the leprechaun that had paid a secret visit during recess. When they came back to the classroom, the room was "all messed up" and a note was left to look in the bathroom where the toilet water had been turned green. She really, REALLY wanted to see a leprechaun. It had never occurred to her to try to catch one until we went to the post office a half hour later.

The postman at the desk smiled at my girls, commenting to them on how quiet they were being. Allie responded in a half-whisper, "We're trying to find a leprechaun."

Again, he smiled, and then said, "Well, one year my son set a trap and caught a leprechaun!" He went on to explain the ins and outs of the trap as the girls listened, their eyes wide.

Thanks to the postman, Allie had a plan. Obviously, she would set a trap. She and Sami got right to work, using Legos to make a sort of pavilion. Their bait was a gold-colored bouncy call just sitting in the middle... but Allie realized her "trap" wasn't much of a trap at all, since there was no way to actually trap the leprechaun. So I jumped in and helped. I grabbed a shoe box, tied a short piece of yarn around the ball, and tied the other end to an unsharpened pencil, which held up the box-- the idea being that when the "leprechaun" would try to steal the "gold" he would pull the string with it, which would pull the pencil over and drop the box over him. The idea wasn't flawless, but it was a pretty convincing trap to a six-year-old anyway.

The next morning, Allie woke to find the box had dropped. Thinking they caught a leprechaun, but too scared to open the box themselves, the girls asked me to open it. I lifted the lid, and they gasped, "The ball is gone!" Indeed it was, with the empty string still attached to the pencil... but a note sat with it.

Where's the gold? Look in Mommy's drawer! Ha ha! -- The Leprechaun (Seamus O'Malley)

All three of us went to my nightstand drawer. Allie opened it to see a velvety drawstring bag-- a bag that had held my gold bracelets. Upon opening the bag she found the ball, but my bracelets were gone. She went to school, hoping the leprechaun would do the right thing and return my gold.

A couple hours after she came home from school, I pointed to another note stuck to my door.

If you want your gold, I ne'er can tell.
So look in your room, and look really well.
-- The Leprechaun

We "searched" my room until I opened one of my jewelry box drawers. There sat my gold bracelets, where they had been hiding the whole time.

Of course, Allie wanted to thank the leprechaun, so we left him a note... and included an addendum (at Allie's request) asking him to stay with us so "we could teach him how not be naughty." The next morning, we found Seamus's reply, "Sorry, Allie, I can't. But thanks anyway!" She was devastated, hanging her head in despair after having read his response. She got over it, but it took a good twenty minutes at least.

Plus, all the cupcakes, presents, and ice cream from it being Sami's birthday as well helped to drown her sorrows.

Ride 'em, Drew!

I put Drew on the bouncy horse, and he had a good time wigglin'... and making me laugh.

TICO Warbird Airshow

Friday afternoon I pulled the "TGIF" section out of the paper. The front cover advertised the TICO Warbird Airshow to be held over the weekend in Titusville. We have several airshows of some kind every year around here, but in the nearly five years we've lived here in Brevard County we have never gone to one. I really, REALLY wanted to go this time. That night Kev had the Scouts over here for a leadership training camp out, so it wasn't until they left late the next morning that I got to talk to him about it. He was game, so we loaded the kids in the car and grabbed some fast food to eat on the way. We arrived nearly an hour later... to be told by the soldier dressed in camo and manning the parking lot entrance that they only took cash for admission. Since we never have cash (and they wouldn't take a check), we turned around... and since we were in the middle of nowhere, we couldn't really find a convenient ATM. We set up camp across the road in the grass out in front of a commercial office building, and at least fifty people had the same idea. We sat there for 2 1/2 hours watching the WWII planes, fighter jets, Blue Angels, etc. fly practically right overhead. But we got some fun pictures and videos. I wish we could have gotten a video of the two F16s that flew over us, but they came so fast we couldn't even hear them coming... till the roar hit us (of course when I was facing the other way). Sami screamed and burst into tears, Drew cried (half-heartedly), Allie never lost that goofy grin, and I yelled "Holy crap!" and nearly hit the deck. Even Kev's heart was pounding. So awesome!



I almost busted out with an impromptu performance of "Danger Zone."