Graduation, Aquatica and Leu Gardens

Last Sunday, the Mottas came over and we celebrated JD's graduation. The kids swam and the parents played Scattergories and Aggravation. Kim won both games. She also won last time when we played the train game. I need to find something I can beat her at! I came in a dismal third at Scattergories and I used to be unbeatable at that game. But, Thomas and I kept cancelling each other out. We apparently think alike. It was still fun, I hadn't played in years and enjoyed opening the box and seeing the old score cards with writing on them from friends and family in times past. We all ate good food, including a Publix graduation cake (I am so happy to be back in the land of Publix) and enjoyed being together. We gave JD his gift. I am sorry we didn't get to attend any of his end-of-year events, but at least we got to see them.

I finally made them all gather for a picture!

The week went by in a blur. I can't think of anything that stands out until Friday when we went to Aquatica. They opened up the Sea World parks on Thursday and we decided Aquatica would be fun. I have been following the opening of Universal and the crowds have been really light. We had some friends who went to Legoland the Friday before and they said there were only about 150 people in the entire park. We wanted to take advantage! Thomas and I got up early and worked about 3 hours. Then, we headed out. The first disappointing sign was the line at parking. It was very, very long. Getting into the park required masks and a temperature check. That part went really quickly--I think the bottleneck at parking helped keep it short. We headed to our favorite ride--Ray Rush, which all six of us can ride together. The park opened at 10 and it was about 1015. We only waited about 15 minutes. However, by the time we got on, the line was at least twice as long as it was when we got in it. We decided to do Roa Rapids before it got too crowded. Roa Rapids is a not-lazy river and is amazing. It was relatively empty and we went around 3 times. Then we did the regular lazy river, which was packed. I went with Luke on a double float, which was really nice. I laid back and relaxed and he navigated us through the water. After that we got lunch. Finally, I took Luke to the wave pool while the older 3 kids alternated between the wave pool and body slides. The other slides all had crazy lines, much, much longer than what we were hoping for. I would say the crowd was similar to when we went last year in this time frame. The parking lot was full and even though we heard it would be restricted to 30% attendance, it felt normal crowded. There were a few things that were closed, so that may have impacted the ability for the crowd to spread out more? We still had lots of fun.

Around 6pm I got a text asking me if I had reviewed some documents that "needed" to go out that day. I had not, as I thought I was taking the day off. I had told my clients that I could look over stuff if needed that afternoon, but I had misunderstood and thought anything else coming in could wait until Monday. So, I had to log back into the computer. It only took about 45 minutes, but I am getting tired of the expectation of being available at all times. It is no ones fault and I like my coworkers, I think it is just another side effect of this weird work environment. Once I finished, we all went out for ice cream to end our fun day.

Saturday we went to Leu Gardens. We brought our masks, but mostly kept them off as we walked around. I would only put mine on if other people with masks passed on the pathways. I get irritated at the people not wearing masks. All the latest research recommends them and shows that if two people are wearing masks the odds of catching/spreading COVID drop dramatically. But, they are mainly to prevent asymptomatic people from passing it to others. So, if someone else is not wearing their mask, why should I protect them by wearing mine? I know that is a childish attitude, but, I was feeling annoyed. I feel like our society is so worried about protecting their individual rights that we no longer care about doing what is best for everyone. It is a hot topic of debate and the commentary on my Facebook groups has been full of vitriol. I mainly feel bad for workers who have to wear them and are not being protected by the general public. Of course, I spent a day at Aquatica, so I guess I am picking and choosing where to pass judgement. Regardless, we really enjoyed walking around Leu Gardens and seeing all beautiful plants. Anna's favorite area is the arid garden. I like the rose and butterfly gardens. Kara also loves the rose garden. The boys don't have favorite areas, but they all enjoy visiting.

In front of one of the many live oaks.

Rose garden in the background

Time to stop and smell the roses. We disagreed as to which color smelled best. Luke said the white ones smell like peppermint.

I was taking a picture of the turtles, but then the shadows looked kind of cool

We spent a while watching this owl while he sized us up.

One of Thomas' awesome photos

While all of this was happening, the cases in Florida rose exponentially. We had record setting days for new cases. However, hospitalizations and deaths don't seem to be rising at the same rate, so that is good news. Although, I expect that could change soon. Today was another record setting day of almost 2800 new cases. A few weeks ago the state was averaging around 650. I received an e-mail this morning from the base CO who said to expect another year of limited travel. I really hope that's not the case. We have a cruise planned in March and I already feel like it has been too long since we took a vacation. I find myself feeling more irritable and frustrated than usual and I am really tired of all that is happening. There is so much bad news every. single. day. Not just COVID, but the BLM movement, which has been a long time coming. I hope this time there are actually systemic changes. Although, I feel bad for the good cops. But, between that, the COVID crisis, reelection news, record high temperatures (and accompanying articles about global warming) and just all the general uncertainty--I am feeling worn down. I am trying to find the positives, but honestly, I am getting sick of telling myself how much worse it could be.

And, to try and end on a happy note, a final picture. Luke really likes marble runs. Thomas built this one afternoon. I love the kerplunk noise the marbles make, especially when we send dozens down at a time: