Winter Week in Florida

Wesley has been getting up at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings to run with Hyatt, Jadin and Caden. Which sounds crazy, except that Khaysy makes them breakfast afterward, and she's kind of a show-off. I also had to document the most common way that Wesley says "I love you" these days. Loving the comment that I love him is pretty close to saying I love you too. (Carigan and I were in line for Hagrid's Friday when that particular notification came in, and I decided to screenshot it for posterity). 

Winter arrived in Florida for its weekly stay, which means last Sunday was caramel sweater day at Heritage! Matchy-Matchy with Isa Cano and Emma Green:

Nana Susan and Mr. Charles realized they missed us too much and they moved back to Florida where they belong! They briefly tried to live in Alabama, but we got them back! We took them to lunch after church to celebrate. I took the girls shopping at Five Below and Ross up across from the mall (we're still waiting for our own Five Below to open in Merchant's Walk where Stein Mart used to be). We ran into Carlee McCoy and her mom at Ross, and while I was distracted, Anna Kate bought Sponge Bob hoodies for herself and Wesley. Lovely.     -BELOW- Carigan opening her birthday card with major cashola from Granddaddy:

Photo-documenting Tate's school project on bees, which I didn't have to help him with at all. I think he did most of it at school. God bless Mrs. Sligh. Tate was very proud of the 3-D feature he included of the bee's butt. -BELOW- Anna Kate, Libby, Ellie & Carlee eat lunch in Carlee's mom's classroom... in her closet. When they're not playing with their food, they turn off the lights and watch My Little Pony in the dark. AK gets really embarrassed when anyone opens the closet door and finds them.

Bus & locker room pics from Anna Kate's phone.^  Her last game of the season was an away game, and they won! That wrapped up the season with a 10-1 record, undefeated at home!  -BELOW-  On the bus with Libby and with Coach Harris' cutie patootie daughter Ari:

Y’all check on your Florida friends. We are not okay. News this week includes falling iguana warnings and notification that the Weeki Wachee mermaids are on hiatus. Also, we don’t own coats.  P.S. We were just being polite complimenting your wintry pics. Not even a tiny little part of us enjoys cold weather. I ordered some hot chocolate for the kids to keep them going, and Tate and I had to borrow jackets from the lost 'n found rack in the cafeteria to brave sitting outside in the courtyard where I have to sit with Tate when I get to eat lunch with him after my piano lesson.

 

Friday night we took Anna Kate out to celebrate her amazing basketball season! We wanted to try something new, so we went to Palace Restaurant on the north side, right in front of Defy. It was nice & cozy. And Michael abandoned his Keto diet quickly. Wesley is at Trinity's youth retreat this weekend.

Mom & Aunt Cynto took me to lunch at Cheesecake Factory for my birthday on Saturday. Anna Kate and Carigan wanted to come, and I told Mom I'd pay for them. I left my credit card in the car, but Anna Kate had her new card Michael got her for emergencies. I told her to pay for lunch and showed her how to tip and sign the receipt. So here it is... Anna Kate's official FIRST credit card purchase. Her future husband I'm sure will find this amusing someday. 

 

Y'all know that receiving gifts is not my love language. I go for memories and acts of service. Thus Michael spent all day Saturday painting upstairs (which has sat unpainted since the completion of the addition 1.5 years ago, not that anyone's keeping track). I would have pressed him to do it sooner, but I was convinced we'd have to hire someone. I had no idea how he was going to reach up to the top above the stairs. Well this is how. He put boards down and put a ladder on top of those boards. And did it while I was at Cheesecake Factory so I didn't have a heart attack.  -BELOW-  I wanted to spend some time with Tate after lunching with the girls, and even though it's freezing outside, he picked Pelican's Snoballs. We played lots of tic-tac-toe.

Sunday I turned 43. It continues to be surreal. I keep telling Michael, don't they know I was born to be young?? This was never supposed to happen. But as a mother of two middle school aged girls, I can also vouch that there's much to be said for adulthood. Even though it's weird to be old. The kids all came together to wake me up and brought me cards in bed.

 

The McCoys (REAL McCoys, by the way. Granny that always kept a gun in her apron and everything!) came to church with us today, and we went to lunch at Crisper's afterward. Melody made a new lifelong bestie in Anna Kate:

I went straight from lunch to pick up Leanne from the airport in Tampa, and then on to St. Pete airport to pick up Amber. When we walked in the door, Michael and the kids were waiting with ice cream cake. Wes got home from his retreat in time to celebrate with us. Granddaddy had sent a package with an Office game for Wes and vintage Cypress Gardens postcards for me:

I will forever be proud that my kids are hilarious. 

For my 43rd birthday my hubby helped me pull off a Senior Year Roommate Reunion, 20+ years in the making. No Whitney, but 3/4 is pretty good. We bought that Christmas tree for our apartment in 2000. I’ve put it up in my house every year since! 22 Christmases & going strong!

 

And I hadn't seen Amber since Bridget & Jeff's wedding nearly 20 years ago! And she's never been on a cruise. And it's snowing in Birmingham and Memphis. So our timing is perfect. Take these mamas to the Bahamas!!

The Day She Turned Twelve

Getting all Huffleypuffely:

 

 

So the name of the hotel may have been Universal’s Endless Summer, but winter arrived while we slept last night! Huge temperature difference today, but we kept each other warm. Carigan LOVED being an only child for a day, but still was so eager to get back to her siblings that she wanted to leave the park early. Special memories made today on the day she turned 12! 

We started the day with a bagel & a smoothie in the hotel food court, followed by some gift shop browsing and arcading. Mom cannot be beat. Air hockey is the family sport. Carigan beat Dad every round. She takes after me.

 

We decided against swimming, even though the pool was giving off massive amounts of steam due to the freezing cold air. 

We had lunch reservations at Mythos, which has repeatedly been ranked the #1 theme park restaurant in America. It was impressive! But still freezing inside. 

Carigan’s been saying for a few months that she wants to try sushi. So here it is!

 

She didn't like it. But she loved the banana split! All of the food was delicious, actually. 

It's very rare that we're at Universal before 4:00 p.m. when our Express passes take effect. The lines weren't bad though (thank you, Omicron), and we stood in the regular line for Forbidden Journey for the first time. And we discovered that when you don't bypass the line, you get to see it snow inside Hogwart's Castle! The camera didn't pick up the snowflakes in the photo above, but trust me. It was snowing. 

More Hagrids! More Hagrids!

Inside the creepy Halloween shop and churros in Suessland. As close as you can get to Cat in the Hat during a pandemic:

Carigan's first time riding the The Simpson's Ride. As with the other kids, also probably her last. It's really a lost cause if you're not ingrained with 90s Simpson's nostalgia. 

We decided to go warm up at Cracker Barrel. Mom's a slow eater. 

Carigan was anxious to get home to her siblings. She can only handle being an only child for so long. Anna Kate made C a special birthday treat. Thank you to Grandma for staying with the abandoned children!

 

 

She opened the last of her presents and enjoyed being reunited with the siblings she was so eager to escape just 36 hours ago. Happy Dozen Birthday, C-dog! We love you!