Our Very New Life In Florida

At the airport before my flight down with two of the kids. 

We have been here now for two and a half months. It has been so nice down here! My favorite thing about this place is our weekly visits to ocean! Oh my goodness I could just be in those waves all day long! We like to go on Fridays to Saint Augustine and spend the whole day there.

Our first week here was so helter-skelter. We moved into a charming gated community. I arrived from the plane the day before Easter, so we just didn't celebrate it much because we were unloading the U-haul. Below is a picture of us, the day AFTER Easter. I had cute outfits so I couldn't resist dressing them all up.

I unpacked while nursing, and keeping an eye on my older 3, who were socializing with 3 little neighbor girls that we shared the back fence with. My boys love that there are sidewalks, and we are in a cul-de-sac! They're used to living on a dirt road that they cant ride bikes on because semi-trucks speed past doing 80. This was heaven for my boys - pavement and safe slow drivers!

After a week here it was Hadassah's third birthday. My baby!

 I baked her a cake and thought it would be a good chance to meet some neighbors. I think I will never forget calling out to a neighbor before they pulled out of their driveway, messy spatula in hand, and extending an invite to her party the next day. Then I went out back and called over to the neighbor lady who was sitting in the shade of her patio. That's when I met Gwen. still holding my spatula, with baby on my hip. "Oh, you've got another wee one?" She asked.

Right away I was entranced by her strong Irish accent. She was an adorable little brunette, a few years younger than me, who has only been here one year. She met a navy guy in a pub back in Ireland and they were married in a week, so she could sail back with him to be a step-mother to his 3 little girls.

We spent many evenings on either of our patios with kids running around - she with her "wee pint o' Guinness". Gwen is so laid back, cheerful and funny! We took to each other like long-lost sisters and spent nearly every day together! But sadly she moved only a month after I got here. I haven't made a friend like that since and it's been a tad bit lonely. But that's okay because life here is still so much less stressful!

We go for daily walks as a family. The boys haven't really been on electronics because they are so busy with biking or their scooters, and the little friends they've made around the block. I feel so much better because of all the vitamin D I'm getting. Also while it is humid here, you don't get the clouds of mosquitoes and gnats like back in MN. It's amazing! Mosquitoes are pretty much the Minnesota state bird. We can be drenched in sweaty humid air here and yet not one mosquito!

Other differences from Minnesota. There's a lot of sand in grassy areas because we're close to the ocean, But there isn't much real grass here. It's all crab grass. Northeastern Florida is odd because there are these beautiful palms and other tropical trees and vines... and then you'll also have huge green forests of tall evergreens - much like Up North in MN. There's actually so much about my home state that I also really miss. It's just been so cool being down here though!

I have not seen one snake or alligator, but I hear they're everywhere. Oh, and there is a church on every corner. And all the gas stations have "boiled peanuts". All of them.

Allright that's it for today! See you in two months! Jk... I'm going to try to post once a week! Next up - what inevitably happened with the schools here and my son's ADHD issues....