Just Beachy, Then Not

Clearwater Beach, Florida

Our plan for Saturday was to get up early and head to Clearwater Beach. Chris wanted to go early so we could enjoy as much time together as possible before I had to fly out in time to get home to the kids for Easter.

We arrived at the beach around 8:30 maybe, after only a half hour drive from our hotel in Tampa (which was not bad at all!). Chris caught a stellar parking spot right up front and we set out. The beach was beautiful. It stretched for miles of white, soft sandy beach with a rainbow of umbrellas set up for the day (more due to spring break), Pier 60, and just a handful of people. The temperature was a crisp, cool start to the day, but the sun kept us warm. We walked the beach, checking out the shells, splashing in the water a bit, just talking. We love walking the beach together. At around 10 as the sun really started heating things up, we looked around and there were people everywhere. Oh yeah...spring breakers. Ugh.

We sat down on the beach and just chilled in the sun for a couple hours, sunscreen in place in every square inch of exposed skin (I was already a little pink for the previous 2 days). Before leaving, we picked up a couple of treats for Chris to bring home to the kids, then set for the hotel so I could get cleaned up before my departure back home. You should have seen the traffic coming into the beach! It was absolutely crazy! I am so glad Chris suggested getting up and going right away so we could enjoy it.

I got cleaned up for my flight home and relaxed before Chris took me back to the airport to head home. It was a wonderful yet too short trip to visit Chris. We have realized how lucky we are that we have not been traveling apart the last few years. The last time he traveled was during his first year at his job when we were newly engaged. The last time we had been apart for 2 weeks (other than his 2 week trip way back when) was when I went to training in Napa for my pharma job (and that was horrible!). Other than that, I had many trips for work, all a week or under, and we hated being apart for all of them. The separation issues I had back then all rushed back to me as Chris left me at the curb at the airport, begging me not to leave. I was heartbroken to leave him, torn between my love and my kids waiting for their Mommy at home. Clearly, I needed to get back home.

I cried on and off until I boarded the second plane 6 hours later in Dallas. Yes, I was a mess. Let's hope he does not have to go for 2 weeks again, or we will have to increase our travel budget and start to home school. JK

The kids would have loved this!

WOAH! It got busy!

4	days
118	hours
7092	minutes
425540	seconds				until we can pick Chris up at the airport in Omaha.	I am counting.COUNTDOWN TO CHRIS COMING HOME!

Happy 40th Birthday, Chris!

Okay, so this is not exactly what Chris envisioned his 40th birthday looking like, sunny and warm and working. But, we tried to make the best out of the situation.

There was not a jeep in his birthday (although in hind sight, I so should have rented one!). I called a friend in Florida to get ideas on where to eat, best beaches, etc. It was up to Chris what he felt like eating and what he wanted to do.

In the end, he was tired from his long week and just wanted to chill, doing our normal Friday tradition during Lent, cheese Pizza. So, we selected Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza for dinner, followed by sitting on the beach watching the sun set. It was beautiful, quiet and peaceful.

I hope Chris enjoyed his birthday! Happy Birthday to my wonderful Topher...and Many More!

A little too much fire, but it was still good.

In Florida

I arrived in Florida around noon on Thursday to sunny skies, temps in the 80s. It was beautiful. I counted the hours until I could see Chris.
Once at the hotel, I laced up my running shoes and went for what turned out to be a very hot run. Gees, it is hot here! I saw a sign for Cypress Park and thought that looked like a potentially good place to run towards. Wow, what a treasure. The park is filled with beautiful palm trees, pretty flowers and it ended on a beach! It was fabulous! I laid there and slept for a while (not even sure how long I was asleep), resting on my running shoes. I loved listening to the waves crashing in. That is the way to take a nap.
I then had to run back to the hotel. It was then the middle of the afternoon, I was hot and was quite thirsty. I arrived in the room and quickly stripped off my running shirt. Then, I heard someone at the door. It was Chris! Not exactly how I wanted to present myself when he arrived! He ended up his meetings to rush back to the room to see if I had made it in. It was so nice to see him. It has been years since we have been apart for an extended period of time. I guess we took that for granted.
He had not eaten yet (at all!), so went out and picked up Panera, and went back to Cypress Park for a picnic. It was so beautiful and peaceful. He caught me up a bit on what he has been up to as we enjoyed a quiet meal ocean side. Amazing.
Chris then had to go back to the hotel and catch up on his daily recap. Towards the evening, we went for a walk around his hotel. He had not been outside of his room much, so it was nice to get him away from his work.
Today he is back to work on base. What a way to celebrate his 40th, right?
I have spent my time running, getting cleaned up and walking back to the beach where I got poured on, walking back  where I have laid out at the pool awhile. Lucky for me, it was only a brief down pour and is now sunny. Now I am about to head back up to the room (using the hotel computer this time. I still do not like blogging on the iPad) so I can read more of my crazy book on my ipad and eat a late lunch. It is nice to relax, but I miss Chris.
We have plans to go to Clearwater Beach, go shopping for the kids, and hit a beach front restaurant, not sure in what order. I will see what Chris wants to do for his big birthday! Until then...

Oh no...I believe I am going to get wet.

Just some friends I met (and left) in Florida.

Spring Break Day 3: Taking a Safari

Today was our day to take a safari, to the Wildlife Safari Park  near Gretna. This year I bought a membership since it was the same cost, practically, for our entire family to go once. This way we can go several times during the season.
We arrived right at opening, 9:30. It turned out to be a great idea bty as there was a line to check in when we were leaving! Anyway, The kids quickly jumped up and had their heads out the window pointing at the Elk, awwwwing over the little white tailed deer, and making fun on the bills on the pelicans. The safari does have something new this year which was a huge hit with the kids, a petting zoo! They had 3 week little baby goats on display that had so much energy I was begging them to share (with me, not with Asher who seems to have an endless supply lately). They were SO CUTE! Asher even tried to pet the roosters. I guess they will be getting chickens soon and at least one goat was due to have babies like yesterday (she was huge!). The petting zoo area was the kids' favorite by far. Funny, they thought it was so cold hiking up to see the wolf (that we never saw) and the black bear, but they stopped complaining in the petting zoo. We stayed there a good 20 minutes before moving on. You drive through the safari with the exception of the Bald Eagles, bear, wolf and now the petting zoo. It was chilly this morning, but it was not unbearable.

It took us an hour and a half to drive through. We could have stayed longer, probably, if the weather was nicer and I did not have 101 things to do before my big trip.

After the safari, we came home for lunch, then made chocolate chip cookies. No chilly day in spring is complete without some baking. Alivia had the "wet" ingredients, Addison the "dry" and Asher did the chocolate chips. It was really a team effort, and I am shocked they turned out. :)

The kids played outside while I mowed. Seriously, I need to mow on our rider more often. It took me a couple minutes to figure out how to actually mow. It rained before I could move on to the trimmer (shoot). Grandpa Bill and Grandma Bet gave me a quick run down on how to run that thing. Seriously, Chris has too many tools, and I am not sure I want to use them.

Speaking of Grandma Bet and Grandpa Bill...they have the kids for the next 1 1/2 days, then Chris parents have them for 1 1/2 days, before I return just in time for Easter. Addison and Asher jumped in the car and Asher yelled, "Sleep tight Mommy!" Alivia struggled to get used to the idea. It is sad to see her like that. She is not good at separation. That is okay, I am not either. But, sounds like we better get used to it.

Meanwhile, Chris had an intense day, taking a tour of base (which sounds HUGE), meeting with some important people, getting a feel for what he is to do there in Florida. I guess he is going to working at CENTCOM for the remainder of his trip, checking in at his employer's facility as well. He has a little workstation in Florida now, and it sounds like he will be sharing some time there and here. It also sounds like they do not like him spending too much time here and being there most of the time. Chris, who likes to stay in the confines of his little box, is a little overwhelmed. It is a lot to take in, a new position at work (new job essentially), new city, new base, tons of new people, new culture, etc. Give him a week and he may turn around. He finds Tampa to be beautiful yet HOT! Hey, we had at least the hot part on Monday. And, if you catch it at the right time, Nebraska can be beautiful. Okay, I can be beautiful if I try hard enough and I am in Nebraska. Okay, now I am stretching it. Anyway, I am looking forward to getting down to Florida myself so I can see what it is like and see if it is somewhere we want to move to (gasp!). Me in Florida?! The idea scared me to death, but I am up for adventure most of the time. I am not saying anything on this one and letting it play out. Chris is the one that really has to decide if this is what he wants to do. We are a family unit here or there. Obviously, our extended family is here. Chris and I have never lived away from our parents, so that would be a huge deal. There would definitely have to be some more money put into the travel budget, that is for sure. Anyway, we will just see how this plays out.

Happy Easter! Will post when I can.

Today's rundown in pictures...

The Greeting the kids made for Chris' big 40th birthday on Friday!