A few more Florida

 A few more random shots of Florida.  My husband insists I get a lot of Starbucks on vacation, which I love. And walks by myself! Love those too.  We had such a nice time.

More Florida Beach Time

 Manasota beach...again...because we just can't get enough of the ocean. So many shells and shark teeth accompanied us home.  I actually had a little vacation myself and read most of this book on the beach.  What a lovely time we had.

This is the 'I don't need my swimsuit" girl. Everytime. 

Hats

 One of my fave things to do with palm trees.  Fancy hats.

Christmas Part 1

 Our Christmas was certainly different this year, with the travel to Florida.  We had some pre trip cookie decorating, crafting and gaming fun with friends. We had some early presents (thank you!). We had a wonderful Christmas Eve party with Justin's extended family (thank you!).  We had a delicious Christmas meal and presents (thank you!).  AND we ended up with a Florida sunset walk, looking for shark teeth.  Still to come, our return to Maine and another round of Christmas.  Extra blessed this year!

Myakka State Park

 As a family, we all enjoy watching wildlife.  We couldn't wait to get back to Myakka state park in Florida. We honestly could have gone here daily.  Alligators and all the birds are plentiful to enjoy. 

Dec 22nd

 I've been on a blogging pause, because we did something that's unusual for us...we traveled to Florida for Christmas, then took a road trip back. I have a whole bunch of posts ready to roll, detailing our trip.  Although AK has been to Florida 3x, she doesn't remember the flights.  It was magical watching her have this experience, which seemed like the first time in her eyes.  She thought about going to talk to the pilot, but apparently decided against it.

We are thankful Grampy let us stay with him.  Didn't take long to head to the pool, which the girls swam about 3 hours daily. More on our adventures tomorrow! 

Remembering Zippy.

 

Heavy doesn't even describe the day we found Zippy had passed. We have been so blessed to love Zippy for all these years. Zippy was so so so loved and snuggled us every night. He just showed up in the barn, decided he wanted to live here and we decided he could. He spent his days roaming and his nights inside with us. 7 years ago the vet didn't think he'd make it through the night, we were blessed with him all these extra years. He died from natural causes on the farm he made his home. My gardening buddy, we decided to bury him near the garden. We will forever have a Zippy sized hole in our hearts.