Last day

Today was Tate’s last day of camp. She loved the whole thing and said she’d like to go again. I’m glad. She’s quiet and loves to read and is a little shy and self-conscious. She reminds me a lot of myself as a kid. It was brave of her to go to camp on her own and to make new friends. 

We had the best time having her here. She was neat and agreeable and helpful.  We read scriptures almost every night, played games a lot (Grace is a nertz ace), baked, cooked and watched movies. 

We talked about books a lot and she always wanted to go out and do things!

After camp we went to Disney Springs. We saw the Jungle Cruise, and we all liked it. It was funny and entertaining throughout.

We did a little shopping after, including going to Gideon’s.

Sadly Covid is in the rise again. We actually know a handful of people who are currently sick with it. I don’t know if they have been vaccinated or not. Our bishops whole family has it and they did not get the vaccine. The others I don’t know about. The CDC is recommending masking indoors again regardless of whether you are vaccinated or not. This is very disheartening. No one likes the mask, no one wants a shut down like we just went through. This is terrible news.

 

Rainy

It rained a lot this afternoon. This meant that after camp, during which it did not rain, we came home and watched EverAfter and made spaghetti. 

 

Rides

After camp today we went into the park and rode every single ride!

We saw where Tatum swam with sharks.

We watched the Orca show (twice).

The Evan’s came and met up with us, which was very fun. 

The baby penguins were so so cute! We had a fun day!!

 

Animals

Everyone likes the little cat. He’s very mellow.

Tatum feeding sea lions. The birds try to steal the fish all the time!

Brown dog likes to watch Gilmore Girls.

Shark tank was so cool! And T looks like a little marine biologist for sure.

 This guy charged R at the pond while he was fishing. Yikes! He looks like Tik Tok

Camp

Tatum started marine biology camp today and had a super day! She made two friends, one is a sea lion and the other is a girl from Alabama. She said it was hot but really fun and she’s excited to go back tomorrow!

 

Meanwhile the topic of much conversation around here has been about the acquisition of a second cat. Grace is convinced that Luca is sad when we are all gone all day so talking point #1 has been surrounding his need for a companion.  Rob just wanted one. Grace also feels like she suffered trauma from Sierra’s accident and that the only cure is a cat. (Can anyone say crazy cat lady starter kit?)

Anyway I don’t want one cat, and I don’t want two cats, but one or two is in the noise I guess. So we spent the day on the hunt and tonight brought home “Ollie”, a cute little black and white kitten. 

FYI Luca hates him. And there is an upside for me too. Grace is a strong negotiator, I got one game night a week and one beach day a month (with no roll overs) until she graduates. 

Sunday

 

This morning Dani flew safely home to Utah😢 Luckily we are going back for Kenzie&Brandon’s wedding in September but after that it will be a long time. We had a lot of great adventures and very little sleep while she was here!

Everyone was tired today but it was our beautiful Sabbath day of rest so that was awesome!

We went to church, had lunch after, drove around Lake Apopka to look at gators, watched Grace work with the animals, played games, had Come Follow Me, watched Gilmore Girls, had dinner, played more games, and went to bed early!

Beachy

Dani had to take an American Heart Association CPR class before Monday. Luckily there was one in Tampa and we had already planned a beach day. We switched coasts and went to the gulf.

While she was in class Tatum and I went to a used book store and picked out some books for my classroom. Rob waited in the car for us while he listened to his audio book.

 After class we headed to the beach. It was warm and sunny. Unfortunately there was also a red tide which meant lots of stinky dead fish! We stayed about an hour and a half then decided that was enough so we hit some beach stores, stopped to eat at Crabbys and headed home.

Hollywood

The girls got me this awesome loungefly to celebrate my new job! It’s perfect for an English teacher! Funny story, I had seen this one before and really liked it and when I was looking for job I told myself if I got a job teaching English I would get it. So I got the job, and I bought the bag and then the girls got me another one. Still I thought it was SO SUPER NICE. I have good kids, that’s one of my biggest blessings in life. 

Well as luck would have it Tatum also loves books! So I gave one to her. So we both have awesome backpacks and we both will be in 6th grade English! 

 

I was still in my pajamas! Obviously.

I asked T which park she wanted to go to and she really wanted to ride Tower of Terror so we went to Hollywood Studios. Also Dani is a huge Star Wars fan so that worked out:)

Wendy came with us and the four of us had a fun time. It was hot but that’s Florida in July for you.

Harry Potter

 

Tatum loves Harry Potter! She’s been dying to go to Hogwarts forever but Dani said she couldn’t go without her and the last two times she came to Fl she came without her.

Then a brilliant plan was hatched! (Thanks Greg!)

Dani flew in at midnight last night. I picked her up and thru some creative sneakery T didn’t know. I woke her up this morning and we left to “run errands”. While at Publix in came Dani! T was shocked! Then D told her we were going to Harry Potter …today!! Shock and Delight!

We had the most fun, and most sweaty day. We spent literally from park open until around 7:30 in the HP lands. It rained then so we visited Seuss land and then came back to finish off the night!

We rode all the rides, drank all the butterbeer, ate at the 3 Broomsticks and saw all the sights! It was Awesome!!!

Tatum even got selected at Ollivanders to be chosen by a wand!!! 

Dani made us house bracelets❤️

Happy Girl!!

Loving all the books!

Weeki Watchee

 

Florida has the best names for things! 

First off last night we had a YW boat & BBQ. Unfortunately we had thunder storms, fortunately we still had fun!

Then grandpa and I went to the airport to pick up Tatum!!! Yay!!

Today we woke up early and drove to weeki watchee springs to see the live mermaid show and swim in the crystal clear waters. 

The show was fun, the water was cool, the sun was hot, the company was awesome!

We could see fish all over the place and had a really fun time.

Grace twisted her ankle at band camp. 

When everyone got home we went and picked up pizza and then we had to walk Kraytos, everyone showered (cuz FL in the summer is swassy), then we played bears & bees and nertz, and day one is ✔️.