december was an incredibly busy month as i continued photography sessions & designed & personalized holiday cards for clients, all the while knowing that at some point i would need to consider our own holiday preparations, shopping, shipping, & cards. it was a mad dash this year (well, isn't it every year?) & each year business gets a little busier for me, but in the end we finally put up our tree & decorations, purchased gifts for family, shipped everything out, & the cards were done in a series of steps & in the end were shipped from my printer to our hotel in florida where i stamped & addressed them & sent them out.
the other big event for us was our 20 hour drive to florida commencing the day after christmas. we decided to drive instead of fly......because we're crazy. well, as the trip approached it became harder & harder to remember why we had decided driving would be better for us. days before we were to leave i even honestly discussed with my mother the possibility of madyn flying back with them on the return trip if she freaked out on the way there & we couldn't imagine strapping her into her carseat to embark on another 1,300 mile trip. luckily, all went unbelievably well. shockingly well. okay, i have to admit that we also had our babysitter with us, sitting next to madyn, occasionally holding her hand, searching for her thrown pacifier, passing things back to kieran & andie. really i think that helped. a lot. but no matter what, the kids were wonderful-even when we drove on the way home for 11 hours one day & 9 the next. i'm already planning our wild west trip for summer.....
we went to florida to celebrate my grandfather's 85th birthday, he & my grandmother live in florida & it was so nice to see them as well as my father's siblings & all my cousins. and florida was lovely. green, lush, 70-80 degrees while champaign was 1. that's right, 1 degree. we went to the beach, enjoyed the sunshine, visit quaint downtown stores, swam outside in the hotel pool. whenever i'm in florida my top priority is getting to the beach & the kids were eager too. so on our first day in florida we rushed to the beach, aaron staying at the hotel with madyn who suddenly threw herself into a giant fit right before we were to leave & sealed the deal for a nap right then. my parents & sister came along though. and after a mere 20 minutes at the beach, suddenly kieran got stung by a jellyfish. he & andie had been splashing not far from the shore, probably up to their thighs when he ran to me telling me he hurt, he hurt! we couldn't see anything immediately but wondered if it was possible he'd been stung. there was a lifeguard nearby who was sure he was, asked if we'd seen the jellyfish warnings (somehow we'd missed the written warning on a sign & the flag signifying a jellyfish warning). but even so, we probably still would have let the kids wade in the shallow water as they'd been doing, i really couldn't believe he was stung so close to the shore. the lifeguard doused him with vinegar & applied a salve. kieran then announced that he wanted to leave, which we could understand. by the time we got back to the hotel he felt completely better & in a matter of days the marks were completely gone. i was pleased that the following day he agreed to go back to another beach & while he wouldn't go into the water much, he enjoyed himself & dug some sand trenches.
so that was our trip. we got back yesterday around 5pm & were so happy to sleep in our own beds & get back into our routine. although now we have unpacking to still do, christmas decorations to pack away, & new toys to find homes for........we're getting there. and we're acclimating to the frigid temps again. and i'm dreaming of the wild west trip.
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