Dear Parents,
Happy April! I hope you each enjoyed our two-week holiday and were able to travel, play, rest, sleep, explore, read, and/or (fill in your own fun here). Most of the children were able to share about their experiences today and it sounds like most everyone had a really great time!
I was very thankful to spend time at home in Florida with my family and friends. It's always so wonderful going back as there's truly no place like home. As it's been 8 months, I took particular notice of the verdant and lush the landscape, the vibrant blue sky, cool gulf stream ocean breezes, and the abundant wildlife (rabbits, snakes, alligators, squirrels, moles, eagles, etc.). It was like life was in true living color once again! Every morning, we enjoyed walking the dogs at 6:30 am, so it was as if the earth was waking up and coming alive every day.
(It also helps that we live right next to Jonathan Dickinson State Park, which is replete with animals.)
While I was home, my family and I played mini-golf, camped on a beautiful
island/state park, ate ice cream, visited one of our favorite
marinas, snorkeled, swam, made cookies, watched movies, shopped, snuggled, lingered over
coffee, played with our dogs, saw my nearly 102-year-old grandmother, and had many great conversations (just to name a few activities). It was just the right balance of active and restful.
One of the best parts of my holiday was having my brother, Peter, fly down from Pittsburgh and surprise us! There I was, eating ice cream with one hand, and talking to him on the phone with the other when I felt a gentle tapping on my shoulder. I turned around to see PETER right there in the flesh! We were all in such shock that he had somehow managed to arrange a quick flight to FL and gift us all with his presence. So, having him there for the Easter weekend was truly the highlight, since it's been 1.5 years since we were all together as a family.
On the subject of shocks and surprises, my Friday flight to Dubai was interrupted as my connecting flight (at 5:55 pm) from Palm Beach to Atlanta was more than 2 hours delayed, which would've caused me to miss my 9:36 pm flight to Dubai. Despite all my efforts, Delta had to rebook my flight for Saturday evening. Then, imagine my shock when I went to the airport and learned that my flight to Atlanta was
canceled and they needed to rebook me
AGAIN for a Sunday evening departure! It was surreal to say the least, as nothing this consecutive has ever occurred in all of my travels.
While the two rescheduled flights (and all that went with them) were somewhat stressful, the silver lining, of course, was being able to spend a little more time with my family. For this, I am very thankful. I'm reminded that we must be flexible in life and ready to just go with the flow at any given moment's notice. So, I want to thank YOU for being flexible as well as you and the class had to adjust to my absence. I so appreciate your understanding. :)
Here are just a few pictures of our fun, if you're interested:
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| We love going to the Sailfish Marina. It's a fun place to eat a fresh "grouper-dog," buy local arts and crafts, hear live music, watch the sunset, and relax by the water. Their Thursday night celebration has been happening for more than 20 years. |
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| Right after Peter surprised us!!! |
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| Walking down the Juno Beach pier is always a great place to see sea life, including sharks, turtles, dolphins, and more. |
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| This is the Jupiter Inlet, where we love to snorkel when the tide is high and the water is clear. (Not on this particular day as they were drenching the inlet.) |
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| We went snorkeling under the Jupiter Island Bridge, where the water was perfectly clear and lovely! |
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| Oops...the instagram filter made the sand dollars look dirty, but they were all white after I cleaned them! |
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| Julie found this HUGE sand dollar, which will likely break the world record! She already sent her submission to the Guiness Book of World Records in the UK and should hear a reply of confirmation in about 6-8 weeks. Very exciting!! |
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| Adorable Keebler, the tiny puppy in the lower left photo. Growing bigger in the upper left. And, now, she's two years old and just as cuddly. |
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| And, here's the second interrupted travel ticket issued in as many days!! |
Lastly, here is a short clip of the puppies actively moving in Oakley, who just gave birth. Her puppies were born on Monday evening as I was flying to Dubai!
Since Oakley is a breeder dog for New Horizon's Service Dogs, we don't get to keep any of these precious ones, but we know they will go to good homes and improve the lives of many people with disabilities.
Oakley will spend 2 months there (in Deland, Florida) to nurse her cuties and then she'll get to return home to my sister, Julie.) This is her second litter of service dogs.
Click
here to see a darling video clip of the puppies during one of their initial feedings.
Here is a close up of rubbing the puppies. They have to "annoy" them so they cry and move around a lot. This helps to dispel the fluid from their lungs.
