Florida - Day Three - Cocoa Beach

Our third day in Florida we decided to go to the beach.  Lora took her family to Disneyland, but we had enough of theme parks and we were eager to just kick back and relax a little.

I looked up beaches and settled on Cocoa Beach.  It wasn't too far and it was touted as a fun, family place without too much tourism.  Just my style.

Months later I was reading an article about a shark attack.  It was at Cocoa Beach and in the article it said, "Cocoa Beach, otherwise known as Shark Beach..."  What?!  Where was this article when I was picking out a beach to let my tasty, cute shark-baits out in the water?  I even went out with the twins chest deep for an hour as we jumped the waves.  

There was a moment when the life-guards called people back into shore.  We walked over and asked why they did, and all they said was that people were too far out.  They didn't add that sharks were roaming the waters looking for dinner.

Yikes!  

I'm so happy we are all in one piece.

So, here are the pictures of us, as we played in blissful ignorance.  

playing ball

Here was Laina's cheesey pose as well held hands.  "parting is such sweet sorrow..."

'bumming the wave!'

We had to stop for ice-cream.  Naturally.

These two were working on their teenager mugs.  They really were quite happy to have ice-cream too.

And tuckered out.

Florida - Day Two - Volcano Bay

A friend of Lora's got us into Volcano Bay for free.  She was so generous!   (plus she gave us a couple of wrist bands that allowed us to get free food every hour.  That was pretty awesome.)

silly girls photobombing our picture!

The wind-down back at the hotel.

Florida in June

At the end of June we drove to Florida to meet up with Lora and her family for a few days.  They were flying in from China and wanted to spend a little time seeing their friends in Florida before they flew out to Utah for the summer.

We got in Sunday evening and the next morning we woke up bright and early to spend the day at Universal Studios.  It was crazy...but a lot of fun.  Universal studios with an employee of Universal Studios is a whole different type of experience than when you just come on your own!

Here are some of our highlights.

Harry Potter World.

The doctor Seuss-go-Round was the biggest hit for the littles.

Anna

Audrey

We went around and around and around and around...

The bigs tried to ride the new Harry Potter ride and ended up waiting in line for 2 hours before they announced that it was closed.

It made me happy that I was with the littles in Dr. Seuss Land.

BFFs.

Audrey was DONE but sneaky Anna was still having a blast spraying people with water.

Lora kept the big kids (and Jojo!) for a few more hours after we took the little guys home.  It looks like they had a great time, but I have to admit I was happy to get bake to the hotel.

Happy Father's Day 2019

We cheated a little bit to get this picture.  Ethan was still at Sundance when Father's day rolled around, and so he wasn't around for the original picture.  He was home a couple months later, and so I got the kids to re-enact Father's day just for a few minutes.

On 'actual Father's Day' the kids helped make this awesome breakfast for Rob.  (The crepes were all Austin.)

Jason enjoyed mixing bacon and whipping cream which everyone seemed to think was an awesome idea.  I didn't...and I still don't.

Here is another group picture.  Aren't they all so cute?

A few days after 'Actual Father's Day,' Robert made it to Utah for a visit with Ethan.  He brought the shirt and tie with him so Ethan could celebrate Father's day like we usually do.  In Dad style.

Robert

This guy.

When I first met Robert, I didn't care for him at all.  In fact, after our initial meeting I was officially unimpressed with the good looking, young, hacky-sack playing kid that totally blew me off when I tried to talk with him.

The second time we met, he walked into a room of young adults that I was teaching a dance to.   I rolled my eyes as he strutted in, his cocky confidence practically oozing out of him.  My annoyance was quickly put aside by his quick wit and his ability to keep a beat.  There wasn't any way around it. The boy had rhythm.

And thus started our 23 year long relationship.  

By the time we got married, I knew that Robert was funny, honest (to a fault), enthusiastic about everything and just a really good man.

All his excellent qualities made me believe that this good man would also be a good father.  That, and the fact that all of my nephews and nieces seemed to love him more than they loved me.  

 It took us a little while to actually find out if I was right, but when Ethan finally came into our lives, my hopes were all realized.  

Robert was a wonderful father.  He wasn't excited about diapers or the emotion (from me and Ethan) or waking up in the middle of the night, but he dealt with the hard parts of being a father like a champ.  And the fun parts of being a dad...well, in those areas, Robert excelled.  He loved to play and to wrestle and to be engaged with all the kids.  

He quickly became the 'fun dad' and nothing made him happier.

That would be enough, I think, to prove to me what a great Father Robert was.  But small kids, as energetic and emotional as they are, are nothing compared to parenting teenagers.

These last few years have really shown me just how lucky I was to have chosen Robert to be the father of my children.  How was I to know, at the young, naive age of 23, what kind of grit and compassion it would take to parent five, strong willed children.  The good stuff is still hard, with the time and energy devoted to these five, attention sucking, money-guzzling, beautiful ankle-biters.  The sacrifice of money and self that Rob has given over the years really humbles me.  Working jobs he doesn't like so that I could be a stay at home mom, and so we can live  a safe, healthy life has always made me deeply grateful.

The bad stuff, on the other hand, is ever so much harder.  Through these last few years, I have seen Robert reach deep within himself to find the empathy and compassion to deal with a barrage of hostile rejection and an assault of hateful and cutting words from a child he loves so very much.  I have seen tears of sorrow fill his eyes in frustration, sadness, anger and despair.  I have watched him, repetitively,  give more than he had, both financially and emotionally.  

Through all this, he has still laughed and played with all his children.  He has dressed up for Halloween and taken us all camping in the summer.  He has put up his millions of Christmas lights and found solace and energy in his interest in gardening and bees.  He has kept the house running, the heat going, and the lights bright in our home.  He has made sure that food has always been on the table and our needs have always been met.  

I know that many times the stress is nearly unbearable.  But through these last few years of trial and hardship, he has proven himself to be much more than the man I thought I had married 22 years ago.  The proof is in the smiles of all my five children, and the light that brightens in their eyes when their Dad enters the room.

I love you so much Robert.  Thank you for being the best Father that our kids could have ever had.  You amaze me.

Christy