Thankful: The Florida Edition

I'm sitting here in the Florida room of my parents' timeshare, at least an hour earlier than I anticipated due to Laney's early wake-up call, but surprisingly, I am actually grateful for the time to chill and reflect on the past few days. I can hear some birds chirping, a little creek peacefully bubbling by outside the screened-in porch...oh yeah, and Laney happily crunching a plastic container. Music to my ears! :-) Mom & Dad are at an owner's meeting with the timeshare people and the boys are sleeping, so it's just Laney and me enjoying a little breakfast and some quiet time.

I thought Laney would really sleep in today b/c we were at Disney World ALL day yesterday -- we left here at 9am for breakfast and didn't return until after 11pm (WHOA!), but alas, she did not get the sleep-in memo. She's not a fan of the timeshare crib. My mom and dad have been taking care of her in the middle of the night since she's in their room, but they came and got me at 7am this morning since they had to go to their meeting. Normally she sleeps through the night at home, but like I said, she's not impressed with this crib. Oh well--back home tonight (maybe tomorrow if we stop in Atlanta).

Before anyone else wakes up, I better get to the thankful part. :-) In no particular order...

1.) Time off from the ordinary! It has been really nice to take a little breather from normal everyday life. Before we left, Josh worked 5 days of 15-hour shifts (including his commute), which didn't leave much time for anything else. It was nice to have his undivided attention during our little vacation. We have had a lot of fun in a few short days!

2.) Our kids have been so great...and so much fun! They did great on the drive down, and we have loved watching them enjoy the pool, the beach, the park, and everything in between. We pushed them to the limit yesterday, and they really did great, considering how exhausted they were by the end of the day. I think the fireworks were worth it. :-) (Actually, let me reevaluate that when Kaden gets up and we see how grumpy he is!)

3.) Great weather this week. We had forest fires to the north, a tropical storm to the east, and high winds from the storm that blew the smoke down the Gulf coast. But fortunately for us, Orlando is just far enough inland that we missed all of that stuff! Pretty amazing. We've had a few showers, but the overcast skies have actually been a blessing by keeping the hot temperatures and scorching sun at bay. We had such great weather yesterday at the park, and the day before that we had sunny skies at the beach, too.

4.) A new swimsuit! Josh and I went shopping at Target for a new swimsuit for me. I literally haven't bought one in about 4 years, and I was overdue. I don't swim a lot, so it hasn't made it to the top of the priority list until this week when I realized all of my suits were in serious disrepair or just downright ugly. I found a really cute tankini, and I think it will last me for a few years.

5.) Fun times with my parents. When my parents separated last summer, I wondered if we would ever go on a family vacation again with them. That made me very sad because it's something we've looked forward to doing -- getting all the siblings and grandkids together every other summer for a big family vacation. This week was really an answer to prayer because after having faced the threat of losing time together with both of my parents together, it made these days even sweeter. Thanks to their hard work and God's grace in beginning to heal and change their relationship, we had a great family vacation (but we really missed the other siblings and grandkids)! More than the weather, the down time, or the smiles of my kids, that has made me the most grateful this week. Thank you, God!

More adventures await, so I need to sign off. Sending love from sunny Florida!