Fill 'er Up!

When you're staying at your destination for a month, suitcases are out, bins are in! The packing is well underway around here as we waffle on whether to leave tomorrow late late night or early early Friday morning to head to Maryland then onto Ohio. Stay tuned!!

Pool Hopping

There wasn't much holding Nora off this morning as she woke up ready to put on her suit and hit the pool. We did manage to convince her to have a little breakfast before diving in. We also went for a short walk/Nora bike ride and then had a little bit of brunch before heading back to Orlando. The drive back was touch and go at times, Lincoln got sick, more than once (see brunch) and we were on some back roads which made for some fingers crossed for stopping points ahead moments and more than one phone call to Kyle for map consultation. BUT, we made it back in time to head straight to the Y for swimming lessons...and leave swimming lessons before they were over in a blaze of epic meltdown! Insert eye roll here. Lots and lots to do the rest of this week!

Naples? Why Not?

My Aunts Ann & Maggie are staying down at the new Geib retreat in Naples this week so upon request, we packed up the car and headed south to join them for an afternoon, evening and morning. It was a longer drive than anticipated due to some traffic snags here and there and a further off the path than expected Jeremiah's stop for "lunch", but we made with plenty of time to enjoy their pool, have a lovely dinner and catch the sunset while doing some beach swimming. Lincoln loved the sand, Nora loved the water and even touched a starfish (she didn't like it haha!). We had a popcorn movie night (until Nora lost interest, as usual) and will spend the night here tonight before heading home sometime tomorrow late morning in order to make it to swimming lessons tomorrow afternoon.

Breakfast Tales

Happy Fathers' Day!! Nora & Lincoln gave Kyle a book called Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast to read while I cooked up some pancakes (with sprinkles of course). They all snuggled in and enjoyed the read before breakfast, then it was off to church. After church and a Panera lunch (at Nora's request) we came home, it was nap time and for Kyle, time to catch a little bit of the Open and practice his casting with his brand new fishing pole and reel (after it was repaired). We finished off the afternoon with a trip to the Y for some swimming. We sure are lucky to have Kyle and are grateful for his dadding and all the dadding and grandfathering done by all the dads and grandfathers we know!

Lost & Found

As I'm beginning to gather things up for our upcoming journey to Ohio and Kyle and I were discussing that we haven't seen Nora's stroller in quite some time. We asked her about it and she very matter-of-factly let us know that it was missing. Haha! As are most Saturday mornings, this morning was a yard work day for Kyle and what do you know...guess what he came across? Apparently Nora & Baby Margaret (along with her Betty purse) took a little walk in the wilderness and left the stroller behind. Mystery of where the stroller has been: solved!

Helpers

Photo Credit: Child Life Disaster Relief
Nora and Lincoln should be in this picture too - I'm a little sad I didn't get them out of the car - mom fail moment. Anyway, there are some child life helpers dispatched to Orlando to help the shooting victims - they're specially trained to go to disaster areas as part of Red Cross relief's children's services. (This has been on my list of things to do for a while now, hopefully by year's end) When they arrived I messaged them offering to help in anyway that I could. Last night I got a text with a list of some things they could use so this morning my crew and I got to work. We met up with Ms. Debbie who had some stuff in her stash at the hospital and gave us a great start and we raided my collection at home and picked up a few items at the store too. After nap this afternoon my patient kiddos climbed back in the car and we headed to Camping World Stadium (where the Orlando City Lions play) to drop off our collection to help make some sad and scared kids feel better. Since it was a quick meet/drop off in a parking lot I kept the kids in the car, but Nora should have gotten more credit because she was a great helper. Anyway, Katie was thrilled and able to take the goodies and immediately put them to good use with kids who were at the stadium with their families, receiving assistance from the many groups that are offering support services. Nora knows to always look for helpers when things are sad or scary and she was pretty excited that today we got to be the helpers, even though she seems to have no interest or idea why people might be sad or scared. That's fine with me for now.

New Session, New Class, New Location

We're back at the pool. Nora started her new swimming lessons class/session on Tuesday. She and Elizabeth are now a pollywog/guppies and in a class with 9 kids ages 6 & up (instead of her usual 3-5 3 & 4 year olds). Talk about a test of attention and skill! Hahaha! For Lincoln and me, it's just hot. We sat in the shade and he happily played with the keys on the table while Nora (in the green over his left shoulder) did her best to listen and participate.