Spring Break

It is officially summer now! Last summer I blogged almost every day, and if not I doubled up and wrote about the day I missed. School got out May 25, so yesterday was our first official day of summer! And I didn't write. Yikes. Not only do I have tomorrow to cover, but the last almost two months! I made a list and am going to try to hit some of the important, exciting, things I have pictures of to remind me of type events!

Friday March 30 Dan, my mom, Maria, my friend Sarah, and I all piled ourselves and luggage into the van we rented and sat. Well we sat and tried to entertain ourselves by watching movies and texting and making friendship bracelets and reading and sleeping and laughing and playing road trip games, while Dan drove.

That night we stayed in a hotel room (yes all five of us. in one room) in Tennessee. Something wasn't quite right. Apparently when it comes to pull out couches they have a different size chart? Maybe in the opposite order as beds? Because Sarah and I were supposed to have a queen bed and we could hardly fit both of us on it.

Saturday March 31 we got back in the car and drove. Almost all day. Doing the same things as the day before and occasionally stopping for gas, bathroom breaks, and food. Finally we made it! We were so happy to be out of the car, but mostly happy to finally see my Grandparents! We hadn't seen them since they left for Florida. Maybe that was in November? I can't even remember.

Our days consisted of going to the beach where we laid in the sun, took pictures, did handstands, found sea shells, walked to the dog beach, and played in the ocean. One day we even got my grandparents to join!

We rode bikes around the park where they live. And played bocce ball and once we managed to find the pickle ball court open to play! We also laid out and swam at the pool and went to exercise class with my Grandpa.

During the week we also ate a lot. Fresh strawberries and ice cream from the Nokomis Grove and yummy ham on hard Chicago rolls from Publix grocery store. And a few nights we ate out. Our favorite was Rosebuds like always.

 Oh and we also went to church on Sunday April 1 which was Palm Sunday! And was retold the story of when I was younger they called the children to leave mass during the readings and homily for sunday school so they could learn and listen on they're level. Apparently I remembered the Knight's of Columbus selling tootsie rolls after mass when we'd go to Florida (and at home sometimes), thought that's what the kids were all leaving to get, and confidently joined right in. Why my parents didn't stop me? I have no idea either.
We visited old friends like Marv & Fran and Bonnie & Dick. And we even saw Pepe!

Of course we also got some shopping in. We hit up Target which is sorely missed in our town and the souvenir shops.

We tried to catch a few sunsets, but we never really successful.

It was a lovely, relaxing, fun week. It was really nice weather and the sun was almost always shining. We did have two rain storms, but luckily they were both at night!

We got packed up again and left Friday April 6. It was sad to leave my grandparents and the sunshine, but we knew both would be back home soon! Again, we spent the night at a hotel and got up to drive all of Saturday, finally arriving back in Crawfordsville.

Sunday April 8th was Easter. We went to church and unpacked and did laundry. In the evening we had a lovely meal and Josue came over to share it with us. I made and gave him his first Easter basket ever! I was happy to be celebrating Easter with my family. But I was sad that not only were we not in Iowa for Easter this year, but also my Grandma Demeter was not in Iowa gathered at her house with the rest of our family, and making her beautiful lamb (shaped) cake. She usually decorated it herself for as long as I remembered. Then, one summer I took cake decorating in 4-H and somehow that qualified me to help. Oddly. So every Easter after when we were in Iowa I got to help my Grandma (and sometimes Aunt Elaine too) put a frosting flower necklace on the lamb's neck frosting flowers in the green-dyed coconut grass it sat in, and make the face. I really miss her still, but especially at Easter when I thought about all of the years we spent at her house helping decorate the cake, eating lots of food for a late lunch and always being hungry for dinner which consisted of the same things from lunch, eating those meals in the basement with the other kid cousins, going to mass, and taking a picture afterwards before we could change into play clothes, lots of dying and decorating hard boiled eggs that I never ate, finding Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts with my cousins outside in the yard.