Vacation: Day 2

Abe and I really wanted to experience part of the Florida Keys. We wish we would have had more time to travel and explore all the way to Key West. I guess we will have to save that for another day. In our rush to get out I forgot my swimming suit and my camera. (Palm to forehead) We stopped quickly at a Ross where I was able to score a clearance swimming suit and we made do with our phones. Again, we made sure to send our boys pictures they would like. They did the same.

We stopped in Key Largo, John Pennekamp coral reef state park. We rented a kayak and did some exploring in the mangroves. We saw quite a few jellyfish, crabs, many varieties of fish, crabs, lobster, puffer fish, small stingray, and a lot of sea life I could never name! We swam a bit and enjoyed our time. If I could do it again, I wouldn't stop at the first island and would have gone further down the keys to explore.

I stopped to take this picture and decided to scoot closer for a better shot. After I scared the iguana and he scared me, I realized I snapped a picture of him without even knowing.

Islamorada was our final destination. We drove until we were hungry and stopped for a yummy dinner. For an appetizer we had fried banana chips. The are a mixture of a fry and a chip in texture. Cruchy and chewy. The garlic and lemony dipping sauce made these so yummy! Dinner was consumed so rapidly that we never even took a pictures. It was good! We also stopped for an authentic piece of key lime pie. It had a macadamia cookie crust and was a little too sweet overall. I like a little more bite and less sweet to my key lime pie.

The drive back to the hotel was much quicker than the drive to the keys. We both loved driving with ocean to look at on either side. So pretty!

Our evening was spent doing a bit of laundry, packing up, and making sure we knew where the church was for Sunday.

Our boys worked hard in the garden with Grandma, Grandpa, and Liam. They also washed their toys, cars, and had a yummy hot dog roast.

Vacation: Day 1

Today we have Crew's name in the lottery and we are hoping to get him into our charter school. We decided it would be the best day to attend the temple as well.

Unfortunately, Abe misread the location of the temple and we left early enough for a session if it was the correct location, but we arrived 5 minutes after the session started. Instead we did sealings. A lot of them. The Fort Lauderdale temple is beautiful! It was so enjoyable to visit with some people and learn more about the temple. 

When we got out of the temple we learned that Crew didn't make it into the school by two spots. We had a lot of mixed emotions. But we are trying to do our best for Crew and his education and we know that our prayers and fasting will bring us the best situation for him.

After the temple we stopped at the grocery store for a few items and then went out to explore and eat some dinner. We were also able to facetime our kids; they weren't interested in speaking much. Instead Abe and my Dad chatted about cars for a bit.

Vacation: Travel Day

 Yesterday we made the trek to my parents and dropped our kids off. This morning Crew woke up in time to give us loves and kisses before we flew out of a small, high security airport. Abe and I both got extra attention. But Abe had the extra special pat down. I knew the worker and we chatted about life while Abe got the full pat down and checking of luggage.

 Because Abe just got out of his walking boot, his doctor wrote him a special note so he could board the plane first. It made it much easier to not feel rushed and be able to situate himself before others were waiting behind us. We made sure to keep our kids up to date through grandma and send a lot of pictures.

This was our view after taking off North in Idaho and banking back around to Utah. Utah was covered in fresh snow and it was pretty chilly. It also looked gorgeous!

It was late when we finally flew into Fort Lauderdale. I was a little nervous about how our car rental experience would go in Fort Laduerdale because I had read many horrible review on all of the companies. We made sure to go in with a smile on our face, chat, and give the guy some kind attention. It worked in our favor and we got out of there in the 2015 convertible mustang that we wanted.  The thirty minute chat about the mans mother and watching his Sean Connery video made it totally worth it.

Backyard Play

"Aunt Lindsey, will you push me!" A lot of swinging happened this weekend. It is really nice now that Crew can pump himself. He will ask for a few underdogs but he is able to swing as high as he wants now. Sawyer is working on the pumping skills. 

We took our teeter totter over to Grandma's yard so more kids could be happy when the swings are full. It worked out well. 

My kids really like to play crochet when their cousins are here. I am waiting for the day that someone ends up in the ER with an injury from one of the crazy swings!

Easter Eggs Hunt

The kids spent the morning decorating hard boiled eggs. There were quite a few messes and a lot of smiles for all of their creations. In the afternoon Grandma hide the boiled eggs and a few prize eggs. I believe there were about 5 different hunts. All of the eggs would be gathered and then they would re-hide them. It was the first time Crew experienced a group egg hunt, and it took him awhile to realize he had to be quick. 

Unfortunately, Sawyer was exhausted and missed out on the hunt. Grandma did save a prize for him and that made up for it. 

Boys Will Be Boys

I can't remember exactly when this happened, but I do remember that Carmen sent me a picture of what the boys were. Lovely.