Family Days

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. We went to the Circle B Ranch and did a 2.5 mile hike. We saw lots of amazing birds, including a bald eagle, several turtles, one snake, and many alligators. The herons were nesting and way up in the trees, we even saw a little baby heron peek it's head out. Kim, Dave, JD and Amanda joined us. Unfortunately, our kids were kind of grouchy. Kara especially did not enjoy the hike. We had told them we would get some ice cream if they didn't complain, but that was a fail by everyone. Well, Jack didn't complain, but he kept fighting with Anna, so we disqualified him on that front.

Climbing trees is always more fun with your cousins!

We recreated the photo we took last year. I actually think everyone looks pretty similar (2017 is on the bottom). Also, I dropped my sunglasses in the lake after taking them off to pose for this shot!

After the hike, we headed to Grandpa's house. We had an early dinner, with my dad, Maggie, Kim and her family and my brother, Kevin. It was nice to see everyone. Maggie brought a surprise cookie cake so we could do an early celebration of my dad's 75th birthday. We engaged in some political discussion, which fortunately stopped just before things turned ugly ;) We also took the kids to the little miniature golf area in his community, which they love.

Happy  75th!

Monday, we had a relaxed morning and had the kids spend some time on homework. Around 11, we headed to my dad's house. Then, we did another split day. This time, Thomas took Jack to see the Tigers take on the Braves. My dad and I took the girls and Luke to the most amazing park. We had gone a few years ago when Thomas was deployed and I never forgot about it. So, when we were searching for something to do today, I knew it would be perfect and it did not disappoint! I will let the pictures speak for themselves (and, these legitimately don't even cover half of what is there).

They actually have a map detailing each awesome area!

Each area would have been a nice playground on its own.

This swing was pretty awesome.

Balancing act...

Slides built into the mountains you can climb. 

Create your own river, then follow its path down the "mountain"

Or, maybe you would rather unearth some fossils?

Thomas and Jack had a great time at the game. Although, they left in the 8th inning when the score was 6-2 Braves. Then, in the last inning, the Tigers came back to win 11-4! So, they wish they had stayed. But, they still had fun. And, they made it onto the Jumbo Tron! They were dancing and having a good time while YMCA was playing and suddenly, there they were. So exciting, I wish I could have seen it.

We had pizza for dinner and are trying to get everyone calmed down and ready for a good nights sleep, since tomorrow is our first day at Universal Studios.

Since this is such a short post (well, it was before I added pictures), I will go off on yet another tangent. Being in Florida is a good reminder for me of how quickly time passes. There are so many memories here that are fresh in my mind, as if they could have happened weeks ago, rather than decades. Honestly, it makes me a bit sad. I vividly recall being a child, then a teen, then a young adult just starting her first "grown-up" job in this town. The area has changed a lot. The people I love are getting older, which obviously means I am getting older. Most days, I don't feel much different than I did back then. Even that park I wrote about earlier, I went back to look for pictures and realized the last time we were there was almost 5 years ago. In my mind, it was much more recent. Yet, Kara was hardly older than Luke! How can the days be so long and the years so short? Of course, the other big reminder of the cruelty of time is that my mother is no longer here to greet me when we visit. Marta's house is in the same neighborhood where I lived as a teenager. It is sometimes sad to drive by my old house and to remember my life inside. I wish I could go back and talk to myself. To remind young Kori to enjoy the things that really matter and to help her learn not to worry about the rest. To hug and sit with my mother and have a real conversation. But, since I can't, I will have to remind myself now to enjoy all the people I have in my life, since it is truly the relationships that matter. My husband, my children, my extended family and my close friends. To enjoy the days I have with them, because in another blink, 5 more years will be gone and who knows what will go with it?