Finding the Best

 "Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." Anthony J. D'Angelo

At Busch Gardens with our friend Troy

We are home from Florida.

It was an Uh-Maz-ing trip.

Beside the fact that we got some much needed quality family time in, the beauty of this trip went much further than this. 

JB and I have not lived in the Sunshine State since we were in our late teens. I left for college and have never been back permanently. John left after he received his Associates Degree from the Fort Lauderdale Art Institute when he was 20. 

We really have sort of "lost the love" of this place. 

• It's hot.
• It's crowded.
• The traffic is simply HORRENDOUS.
• There is a lot of crime. 
• (Oh, and it is so stinkin' long to drive to when your family lives at the very bottom. )

But when JB and I decided to take this trip, we decided to find the hidden gems in Florida. Growing up, financial and time limitations for our families meant we didn't see much of this great State. But we decided: this State is great for a reason. Let's enjoy its greatness.

So on the way down we . . . 

1. Stopped in St. Augustine (fantastic city!)
2. Birded on Merritt Island (beyond a gazillion birds we saw alligators and manatees)

Both of these things were basically places we passed on the drive to Coconut Creek! All these years of driving down the East Coast, we've just kept driving. 

This time we STOPPED and ENJOYED!

We arrived at my parents' house and decided to AVOID THE TRAFFIC.

(Seriously. South Florida traffic is a post in and of itself. It's insanity. Truly. It should require a different kind of license to drive there.)

We hung out at my parents' house. My brother and his wife and four kids live just three doors down now meaning we didn't have to try to drive all over and see people. We just hung out. JB went and did some birding. I did a little shopping. We swam. We went to the park. We took walks around my parents' lake. We got out of the craziness and just hunkered down. John's brother Matt and his wife and kiddos came by too. I went out to dinner with my two amazing sister-in-laws. 

(Oh and we enjoyed the cuisine! Man oh man is there good food in this melting pot of people. Greek and Indian were the top of my list!)

After a few days in Coconut Creek we drove South to Roy & Joan's house. They live across the street from the intercostal so we enjoyed some time at the beach. Hannah learned how to swim too which was super fun. John's Aunt Betsy (who lives even further south in Miami) joined us for an afternoon too. And we got to see Isaac's birth mom, Bri, and her husband Robert. 

After that it was off to Tampa. But on the way we stopped at Sanibel Island, another place we had never been before -- to let the kids collect shells. We arrived at Patty and Yami's, ate Turkish, and spent a day at Busch Gardens before driving home -- this time along the west coast and thru the Chattanooga area.

I will be sharing more -- some fun videos and pictures. But for now, I just wanted to share how blessed we were to get time with all of our family. We are so blessed for the Kotynski family and Jacob and my in-laws who help keep the farm going while we are gone. And to JB's co-director at the hospital who fielded all the calls so JB could NOT be in charge for awhile. That was great too.

More to come, but for now, I'm heading to bed!