Davis's dad, step-mom, and half sister live in Orlando. My grandmother lives in Northern Florida, in a very rural area on the Suwanee River. We hadn't seen these parts of our families in a while. It seemed time to make a trek to Florida. My parents also came down from Georgia to see us too.
Eden had her first flight ever to Orlando. It was a red-eye deal and I was super nervous. She did great! Mostly she slept and ate and when she was awake she was happy. Hooray! We had breakfast with Davis's family before we headed to my grandmother's for the weekend.
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| So very jungle-like compared to Utah! |
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| rope swinging |
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| here is hoping those alligators don't try to get us |
There isn't much to do but spend time together. So that's exactly what we did. Except Davis and I went on a walking adventure along jungle-like paths I used to explore in my youth.
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| Eden and Grandma-great (and me) |
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Eden loves her grammie and griz!
They love her back. |
Eden was able to meet my grandmother, whom she is named after. Marie Genevieve and Eden Genevieve, two peas in a pod. I am so thankful we made it down when we did. Grandma got sick shortly after we left and ended up in the hospital. She is doing better now but would have made visiting harder. I love seeing our family together. Every time we part ways it stings the heart. I am grateful for quick and frequent transport to the ones we love. Back in the olden days a move across the country could be a goodbye forever deal.
On Tuesday while we were traveling, I had my 29th birthday. We were able to see a best friend, and my "twin", and somewhat see the ocean. Two things that were important to me on this trip.
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| Florida loving |
We met up with Alexis at St. Mark's nature preserve. There was the ocean (but no beach), a light house, birds, crabs, and some alligators. We had lunch at Sonic. I went into a diabetic coma from my birthday cake shake. Then we parted ways and went back to Orlando. There we celebrated with carrot cake, trick candles, and family time. It was a good birthday.
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| Cocoa beach adventures |
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| OoooMmmmGggg. My heart!! |
The next day we took a little side trip to Cocoa beach where there was actually a beach with the ocean. Eden seemed cool with it until a way caught us by surprised and she got splashed more than she wanted. We strolled up and down the beach until we felt she had enough sun. Eden got a lot of swimming time later that week at the neighborhood pool. She became more and more comfortable in the water and even splashed a little. Sadly, no pictures of that though.
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| Florida adventures in Orlando |
We mostly hung around Davis's dad's house. We played with Lilly when she was not in school or gymnastics. We took Regan, the Basset Hound, for walks. Most of our time was spent relaxing in the humidity. We enjoyed some seafood as well. I am sad to report we forgot to take pictures together. I think Davis's dad has some but I need to get them from him.
Our trip back was an evening flight. Eden struggled a little more with this. She didn't cry, just some screaming, not too bad over all. But everyone seemed nice about thankfully. I guess Orlando to SLC probably has lots of kids on the flight normally anyway.
I hear my little one stirring from her nap. Time to go!
