We were so excited to welcome our first visitors from home! Sara, one of my very best & dearest friends, flew down with her kiddos on Valentine's Day. It was such a blessing to see a familiar face! You can imagine with 4 small children, no day was ever boring but we had such a great time. While surviving a bout with the stomach virus & a pretty intense seagull attack, we managed to visit 3 parks in 4 days, enjoy a beautiful afternoon at Lido Beach and even got to see a baby gator! I am so incredibly thankful Sara's husband is a pilot; I am hoping this is just the first of many, many visits just like this one.
This is our baby gator spotting! The pond & rock he is sunning on was about 30 feet from the playground. A local told us to beware; where there is a baby, there is a momma!
Sebastian gets so excited when he sees a motorcyle. Even though this bike didn't make noise, he loved riding it! It is my prayer this is as close to riding a motorcyle as he ever gets.
Sara & her beautiful babies at the beach!
Sweet Coco hiding from the seagulls. Let me tell you about our seagull "attack." We had a great picnic lunch packed & spread out our blanket to enjoy the perfect day. We passed everyone's food out and within about 1 minute there were literally 30 seagulls swarming us. One even took the top of Sara's sandwich! Sebastian was curled in Sara's lap, Faith was hunkered down head first on the blanket, Coco was in my lap & Sam Harris was standing up looking terriffed. "Sara The Brave" stood up and starting shooing the birds away...to no avail. They were NOT afraid of her. I started snatching sandwiches & chips and stuffing them back in the lunch boxes. Finally, after the food was gone, the birds left us. Wow! All of the kids were screaming at this point and people were staring. Honestly, it was kind of funny and I couldn't quit laughing. Everyone managed to move past their trauma and enjoy the afternoon...but poor Coco. She was scared to death and spent the remaining hour underneath a beach towel, screaming.
The 4 munchkins
The 4 munchkins Coco 4, Sebastian 22 mo., Sam Harris & Faith, 3
I will never forget taking this picture. We pulled up to a restaurant to eat dinner. When I opened the car door and saw this view, I literally screamed with excitement. Only being here for 2 weeks, I hadn't really taken the time to breathe in all that had just taken place. Unpacking boxes, settling in to a new home & being so sad about what all I had left behind was taking precedence. God used His creation to fill me with His peace & bring on a new (and more positive) perspective. Even as a teenager the power & majesty of the ocean was amazing to me. My mother said it perfectly: "You can see & feel the presence of God in this picture." And that's just what this moment was for me. A visible & tangible image of God and the sweet reminder that same Father who controls the wind & waves is in total control of my life.