When Family Comes to Visit {Sarasota}

We always love it when family comes to visit! We have some family in the area, so we spent a day with them kayaking the mangrove tunnels at Lido Key. It's been years since we've seen our nieces and their mom, so this was a very special day for us!

This little guy tried to hitch a ride.

We found sea stars, jellyfish, dolphins and a sea urchin.

 Asher even managed to spot this teeny, tiny, baby seahorse! How cool!

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 Then my mom came to spend 9 days with us while Daddy was in Cuba.

We took her to the Mote Marine Laboratory to see seahorses, and pet stingrays. 

We spent a few days on the beach to soak up the sun while the kids played in the sand and surf.

Running circles around Meemaw.

My friend Nicole was still with us for part of my mom's visit. We happily took her up on her offer to watch the kids so my mom and I could have time alone together for the first time in many, many years! Of course we went treasure hunting (flea market and a thrift store).

We spent time looking at birds and other creatures at the Celery Fields, I took her to see the barred owl family that lives at Pinecraft park and before she left, we walked around the fruit festival where we met this goat with a panda on his side.

 We were parked on our friends' property where her three horses were just outside our door. One horse is very friendly so it was pretty comical the time he snuck up on my mom. Another time all three horses came to look in the trunk of her car to see what groceries she brought!

 The following week we managed to get all 3 siblings together for the first time in nearly 10 years! We had breakfast, went to the MOTE and to a park to play.

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Next my dad and stepmom came for a visit. They were doing the rounds visiting friends in different parts of Florida, which worked nicely for me. After spending a few days with us in Sarasota, I hitched a ride to Ft Lauderdale where my very first "mom vacation" began. They picked me up in Naples and stayed a few more days with us in Sarasota before heading back to Ohio.

We took them back to Lido Key for their first ever kayaking experience! 

A double-crested cormorant followed us around and kept diving under our boats. So funny.

They took us to the Big Cat Habitat where we saw lots of animals and even saw a few really cool performances including a bird that could roller-skate, a monkey and these giants- a lion named Handsome, a white tiger and a LIGER! Yes, really!

"Don't feed the bears"....unless you're at Big Cat Habitat, in which case it's encouraged.

 I took my parents to the Celery Fields where we had the best nature sightings of alligators, snakes, a raccoon, and of course lots of birds. We ran into a fellow birder, Steve, that I'd met previously. He is a retired firefighter who miraculously survived 9/11. He and my dad, also a firefighter, had lots to talk about.

Common Yellowthroat

Glossy Ibis

Tallahassee

We spent a few weeks in Tallahassee with family. While there, we celebrated the kids turning 6 and me turning 40 with a puppy dog cake!

When in Tallahassee, we must do the ropes course at the Museum! 

This Florida panther recently had surgery for a spinal cord injury. We watched as they did her physical therapy session. A few weeks prior, she couldn't use her back legs at all, and now she was taking steps while they used this special harness to hold her back end up. Pretty amazing!

Walking the trails thru the museum is always a fun experience.

One day we explored the Garden of Eden trail, a 3.75 mile hike thru sand, trees, and ravines leading to the overlook of Alum Bluff's 135ft drop into the Apalachicola River in Bristol, Florida. This was the most elevation change I've ever seen in Florida.

We walked trails and looked for birds at Ochlockonee River Wildlife Management Area and Old Bainbridge County Park. On my birthday, I prayed that God would allow me to see an owl for my 40th birthday, and you know what? He DID! I have been looking for over a year for a Great Horned Owl, and just as I was leaving the trail, I heard him call. I turned around and tracked him by sound and then somehow found this brown lump of feathers in the tree. He turned and looked my direction and I was just stunned. I'll always remember the day God gave me an owl for my birthday!

My friend Nicole suggested we check out St Marks National Wildlife Refuge and I'm so glad we did. We saw lots of birds and so many alligators, we lost track. There were 32 baby alligators in just this five foot area!

 Later Tallahassee- Time to head south!

Family Reunion FtF-Style (our third rally)

Fulltime Families (FtF) is an organization created by one family to connect others who live in RVs fulltime and make life easier for them by sharing info, securing discounts and organizing rallies (get-togethers). This was our third rally in three years and the first where we'd see some familiar faces. It's always fun to meet new families, but it's very special to reconnect with friends from past rallies. We learned from our first rally to arrive early and stay late, so we booked a full week even though the rally is only four days. This allowed us to catch up with old friends and meet a few new ones before the rally even officially began. After a rally is over, no one really wants to leave because you've met so many interesting people and just want to continue nightly campfire conversations. Staying longer gave us the opportunity to grow those friendships that had just begun.

This year the rally has grown to 80 families, more than any previous FtF rally! 

We completely took over the North Florida Fairgrounds for the entire week. We parked our RVs in four tight rows which made for a fun community-type feel. 

Only propane fires were allowed, so a few families pulled out their portable firepits and like a moth to a flame, we gathered. The most interesting conversations happen at night around a fire.

In addition to organized morning coffee talks on a variety of subjects, there were game nights, crafts, a swap table, potluck dinners, a dance and one crazy day of bubble soccer for those who dared!

One of my favorite parts of the rally is always the Parade of Traveling Homes. A few kind souls stayed behind and watched ALL the children so parents could explore on their own. We toured about 15 RVs including travel trailers, fifth wheels, class As and even this amazing Kid Quest traveling kids ministry!

Loved this class A, former celebrity owned, RV with the kids' room above the parents room.

Sunday was the last day of the rally and since there were a few pastors and musicians among the group, they put together a nice worship service for those that wanted to attend. There was also a special kids church put on by Charlie from Kid Quest, the traveling kids ministry. The kids LOVED it!

One of our new friends had seen an article about my husband's experience of surviving his extensive injuries in Afghanistan. On Sunday afternoon, I invited them and a few others to our site to hear the whole story. It was an amazingly personal conversation that began with his experience and led to others sharing their own stories. I love the honest, open sharing that happened that day.

*Some photos were taken by rally photographers- Kaycee Newmann Hannen and Brooke Spilchen Foster.