Jacksonville Beach, May 2011



A very quick hello and update. Our time in Florida turned out to be even shorter than anticipated. We had a wonderful weekend on the beach which included the exciting opportunity to see the space shuttle launch, a night out with my book club friends, and lots of pool and beach time. The best and biggest surprise of our time in Jacksonville was that Noah did not need surgery after all.

As soon as we heard that happy news, we jumped in the rental car and drove straight to Louisiana. Adam was only able to stay for a few days, but the kids and I will be here for several more weeks. We are loving the time with family and friends and the fried oysters and the snowballs and the Cajun music and the cashiers who call me "baby". Coming home is a very good thing.

Arriving

We flew on Friday the 13th and in retrospect maybe we should have picked a different traveling day. We barely made it on two of our flights. They lost our car seat and I think I may have food poisoning from eating some sushi in the Munich airport. BUT, we made it and we woke up to waves crashing, surfers on the horizon, and pelicans cruising for breakfast. Noah announced his plan for the day: pool, beach, pool, beach, pool and I have to agree it sounds like a good way to recuperate from jet lag. We decided to squeeze in a couple of beach days before all of the medical stuff starts because if Noah has surgery he won't be going anywhere near water or sand for awhile. So beach, pool, beach, pool, beach, pool. That's where we'll be. Feels so good to be back in the States.

P.S. Something wonky is happening with blogger...several of my posts and all recent comments somehow disappeared. I attempted to re-post them but I don't really have time to fully investigate the situation...gotta get my swimsuit on!

Erupting

An erupting volcano, a pending surgery, selling a house, packing for a trip back to the States. Mt. Etna is erupting again. It was beautiful last night when we got out of bed at 1am to see it. It really was amazing. But I don't feel quite so charmed by it tonight. The airport has been shut down and we don't know if we'll be able to fly out tomorrow as planned. Needless to say tensions are high and it feels like more than just a volcano is in the midst of erupting.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, say a prayer to Saint Lucia (Noah is having eye surgery), send us some good traveling vibes, and if you want to buy a great house in Florida, call us right away.