Monday, March 5, 2012

DIRL 2

As I write this very sentence, I'm tuning into the Today show (my feeble effort at catching some news before K stirs and the week begins) and there is an interview of a tornado survivor. Life really is a breath, and every current breath is the only one we can count on - what will I do with it?

Speaking of life, today is my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, DK! I hope you know you're life is incredibly celebrated today! You teach by example how to make the most of every day. Live it up!

And speaking of living it up and counting the crazy blessings that come our way at times . . . what are the chances of having two DIRL experiences within six weeks of each other?! We had the gift of time off and travel a few weeks ago when we converged with family for a long weekend in Florida. "Are you ready to go to Florida?!", said Karis for a couple weeks before. We had the best time with my parents, my bro and his girlfriend. The journey there was fun (going through a fabulous stage with Karis as far as flying is concerned, she even shocked me by napping on my lap. Precious). We arrived, shopped like maniacs for meal supplies at Supertarget, ate Chick-fil-A in the jam-packed van, and enjoyed a breezy drive to the house.

We fell into a relaxed rhythm of early mornings, time on the beach, rest, meals together. We enjoyed outings to a different beach, Bahama Breeze restaurant, a gorgeous drive to Captiva Island and a dinner at the Mucky Duck. Watching sunsets on the water, watching Karis hilarious entertain, reading magazines,  exploring . . . walking or riding bikes on the beach, people watching (you would too! beaches are fascinating places). It was quality time, refreshing, encouraging, fun. We even snuck in some movie watching and a round of Dutch Blitz. I am so sad to say we didn't take many (any?) videos - tragic! I also took a whopping 19 pictures. Ack. Karis was a delight to watch, we reveled in her joy at being with family and in a new environment. The girl loves life and her exuberant attitude is contagious.

There were a couple tell-tale signs that Trevor and I are novice beach-dwellers:
- You know that common perception about long, romantic walks on the beach? Our first day there, we tried that . . . Andrea style, which means fast. We got a good mile away, at which point Trev's toes were ripped up from walking on some rocks. Poor guy! We of course had to walk back, it looked painful. We did end up taking another walk on our last day there, with shoes that time.
- My toes were fine, but my pasty white shoulders burned pretty badly the first day and I wore a t-shirt the rest of the time. To further my midwest ways, I wasn't even disappointed to not get a tan.

Small blips on the bliss that was vacation. We're thankful for the memories.

Florida style Karis-isms:
- "The waves chase me!"
- "Go to the beach!"
- "Build sandcastles! Seashells!"
- "Watch cucumber, Bobby the tomato!" (Veggie tales, a fave activity at all times - especially dancing along)
- "Diapers!" (while pulling maxi-pads off the shelf at Target)
- "Paint nails again!" (almost everyone had a turn or two painting fingers and toes)

1 comment:

  1. I love reading what Karis says! Keep it coming. I'm glad you got to get away with family - how fun! Hey, it's your birthday month, so you are celebrating all month, right?

    ReplyDelete