Spring Break in Central Florida- Part 1

Snorkeling Excursion

The Shed...

Our backyard for the week

Rainbow Falls

We began Spring Break on Saturday by celebrating Trevor and Patrick's birthdays boating with our old friends, The Flesner's. We had a great day on the water with Patrick as our captain. 

On Sunday, we met Kaylee up in Traveras, FL at her basketball tournament. After a nice meal, we headed to our rental house in Hernando, FL. Hernando is a hole in a wall location, that is equal distance from the springs we visited this week. The house itself was beautiful, but we couldn't help but laughing, as we approached the house passing by a trailer park, dirt lot next door, and a shed the kids swear holds dead bodies. Thankfully, once inside the house, their faith was restored in me, as the house itself was fully updated and perfect. The backyard was gorgeous, so peaceful with its fire pit, lake and Spanish moss. 

Our first destination on Monday was to Crystal River, where we had the privilege of swimming with manatees. The water was not the crystal clear water we had hoped for, but regardless the manatees were amazing! One even bumped into Kaylee. Such a unique experience! After snorkeling, we enjoyed a meal at a local joint where Kaylee braved the fish bowl.

On Tuesday, we took a day trip to Rainbow Falls. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and cold, so we decided not to brave another snorkeling excursion to Devils Den. Instead, we hiked at Rainbow Falls State Park, which admittedly was a bit underwhelming.

 

Grandma Russell's Funeral

 

My beautiful Grandma Russell passed away 12 days shy of her 101st birthday. I had the privilege of flying back to Iowa to celebrate her life and spend time with my dad and Sue. It was great to see my cousins and spend time with family in general. Grandma Russell was a lovely lady and will be missed.

Shelli's Birthday Bash

Stacie planned an amazing day to celebrate Shelli's birthday. She made her a fill in the blank puzzle to solve. Once solved it led us to Fort Lauderdale for an amazing lunch on the river, followed by a gondola ride through the canals. It was a gorgeous day. Stacie was so excited to bump into two costars from one of her favorite shows, "Below Deck". Once back in West Palm, we went and had appetizers at the Okeechobee Steak House. Another great day with my sisters!!!

 

Miami with Becki

Becki and I had the best day together. We took the Brightline from West Palm to Miami for the day. We Uber'ed to Viscaya and toured the lovely gardens and beautiful home. We then Uber'ed to a yummy Cuban restaurant, where we had an amazing meal and splurged on dessert. We then Uber'ed to the Bayside Marketplace, where we did some shopping and had foot massages that turned into full body couples massages...a little awkward, but so much fun!

 

Grandma Carie's 99th Birthday

                                                

What a privilege it was to celebrate Grandma's 99th birthday with my sisters and mom in Galena. We had the best time together. We had a yummy meal at Vinny Vanucchi's followed by lots of laughs. My mom had prepared 50 questions about Grandma. We had such a great time going through the questions and hearing more details from Grandma about her life in the orphanage. I sure love my family!!!

U-Tiki with Grandma Becki

 

Grandma Becki came to visit for a couple weeks and no trip is complete without a yummy meal at U-Tiki and pictures at DuBois Park.

Jupiter High Basketball

The girls just completed their first basketball seasons at Jupiter High. They had very different experiences. Kaylee made the varsity team along with some of her Jupiter Jaguar teammates. She started off the season, as one of the first ones off the bench and somehow got less and less playing time as the season continued. When she got in, she would try her best, but sometimes only got 30 seconds or a minute of playing time. It was a frustrating season for her and several of her teammates who found themselves in similar situations. She is hoping to work hard in the off season to earn more playing time for next season. She's looking forward to her club season, which begins shortly. 

Kianna made the JV team and quickly became a starter with her aggressive, scrappy nature. She is not afraid to shoot and made several three pointers during her games. She had two double doubles, one game she scored 14 points and 10 steals and the other 12 points and 10 steals. She is super excited to continue playing basketball this Spring with Jupiter Jaguars. Her JV coach, Georgia Taylor, has agreed to be the new Jupiter Jaguars coach too, so she's excited.