Summer Goals Revisited!

 At the beginning of the summer, I created this checklist of things I wanted to do while in the States. Today, I'm looking back at how I did. We did a lot! It was a fun summer that ended with a beautiful marriage of my best friend!

Summer Checklist:

1. Sidewalk Chalk.
2. Ride bicycles.
3. Photo walks. >>> See them Here and Here
4. Drive-in Movie Night. >>> It was fun to say we did it but not that great.
5. Spa Day with my Sister. >>> Best pedicures.
6. Shopping day with my Mom.
7. Build-A-Bear. >>> See photos of Cleverbelle Here
8. Miami Zoo. >>> See us feeding giraffes here
9. Sushi night.
10. Shop for Ariana's school clothes.
11. Everglades Air Boat Ride. >>> Up close and personal with Alligators Here
12. See as much friends and family as I can!
13. Date night with my Husband.  >>> Fun Double Date
14. Suspension Show and Tattoo Expo. >>> Didn't make it with my inlaws there that weekend.
15. Waterpark/Splash Park
16. Beach (a few times)  >>> Only went once but it was fun!
17. Flamingo Garden or Butterfly Garden. >>> We went to Gumbo Limbo Nature Reserve instead. 
18. Drive to Georgia. >>> Home.
19. Drive to South Carolina. >>> 11 hour road trip.
20. Eat at Pearl's, my favorite restaurant in Savannah. >>> Best seafood ever.
21. Be a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding.  >>>  I posted some wedding photos here.
22. Shop for Ariana's ballet, gymnastics and tap leotards and shoes. >>> She's going to be the cutest ballerina!
23. Swim in the pool as much as possible. >>> Of course!
24. Hibachi dinner. >>> Worst Hibachi experience ever, not worth it.
25. Read 3 books. >>> Only made it through 1.
26. Get my camera cleaned. >>> Annoyed  I didn't get this done.
27. Beach sunset/sunrise shoot.
28. Celebrate my Birthday with my whole family! >>> 28th Birthday, 28 Random Things About Me.
29. Archery or Paintball.
30. Fro-yo and Jamba Juice.

And lastly I'll leave you with the last of our summer collages. See the others here.

1. Passing on the peace along the interstate between Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. 2. Peeking into the backseat. 3. Jamba Juice!. 4. Our Peace note. 5. Grammy and Ariana. 6. Riding my sisters bike.

1. Ariana and Paco traveling. 2. Ariana at Monkey Joes with Aunt Sarah. 3. Silly photos with her Aunt Sarah.

1. Getting fitted for her tap and ballet shoes. 2. Sisters on a road trip. 3. Ariana's first Jamba Juice. 4. Balloon butterfly at dinner out.

Home

Military life isn't always easy. There may be lots of travel and adventure and new friends along the way. But, there is also extreme bravery and sacrifices. There are lots of new bases, new people, new towns to learn your way around. New cultures, new challenges, and new houses to fit into.

While most of the time I really enjoy, in fact love (more than my husband) our life in the Air Force, there were times, like this summer, where I took a step back and realized I'm missing other things as well. Family.

Not the family you make in your home with your spouse and children, or the friends you make along the way that become like family, but the good old fashioned people who where there as you grew up. The ones who watched you blossom over the years. Who helped you up when you stumbled, and cheered you on when you were on top of the world. The family that's always waiting "back home". Wherever "back home" may be. The family that's always got a piece of your heart no matter where the military takes you.

We spent most of our time in Florida this summer, but that's not really home. Georgia is home. It's where we grew up. 

We only had a short visit to Georgia this time. My mom and sister in Florida, and my friend in South Carolina took precedent. But, we did get to stop for a day and a half in Georgia. We planned a dinner out and all those happy faces where there. All that family. All that love. 

As I looked around the table that night I felt overwhelming love and support. I needed that. I didn't even know I needed that until that night. I felt like I was soaking up the love from all around to carry me through this next year in Germany.

"My home is not a place, it is people."

Lois McMaster Bujold, "Barrayar", 1991

So, while I cherish our time in the military and all the places we go, sometimes, there's nothing like "home".

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center

My sister and I took Ariana to the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton Florida to see some sea turtles and other marine life. Ariana is posing with the Loggerhead statue out front. She loved these life-size replicas!

There weren't a lot of big turtles on display as they were renovating the rehabilitation center when we were there. 

We only saw a couple through a fence.

But, they did have a new batch of baby bonnet head sharks and those were neat! We loved watching them swimming in their tank and we got to see the momma too!

There was a few larger turtles in tubs and lots of babies waiting to get stronger for release.

Watching the seahorse feeding was pretty awesome too!

It was free to get in, they run off donations only. It was a nice little trip and Ariana loved seeing how big the full grown turtles can get. I think Ariana's favorite part was seeing how big the turtles can grow!

Ariana with the Leatherback Turtle.

Ariana with the Green Turtle.

Photo Walk: Florida Neighborhood

While we were visiting family in Florida we stayed pretty busy. On occasion I found myself with some alone time. One of those times I took my camera out for a walk around my mom's neighborhood. Completely different than my last photo walk in Germany. Lots of palm trees and tropical plants.

Lizard on a flamingo.

 Shuffleboard anyone?

Loved these reflections in the pool.

 Beautiful sunsets.

Miami Zoo - Feeding Giraffes!

When we were in Florida my husband and I took Ariana to the Miami Zoo one day. Being there made us miss living a few minutes away from the Omaha Zoo. Our favorite part of the day was feeding Ariana's favorite animal, the giraffe! Yep, that's right, we hand fed giraffes! It was so awesome to be so up close and personal with these majestic animals! I know zoo photos can get boring if you aren't there in person so I'm going to try to limit the photos in this post to my favorites.

I'm kind of in love with this frog one I snapped!

Coolest lizard ever and he was such a ham, posing for me!

Ariana loved getting to feed the birds in the aviary.

I feel like she's saying "what are you looking at?!" Nice hairdo and makeup!

Check out that long purple tongue!

My favorite shot was of Ariana and the giraffe posing. I swear it's like they bonded and she wanted to be in the photo too. They were so cute!