Thankful

The Friday before Spring Break was not a banner day for me. It was probably the worst day in my teaching career. I left for Spring Break not really caring if I came back. I wasn't really feeling it when I went in to school today.

And, then one of the other teachers poked her head in my door as she walked by and said, "I'm really thankful today." And proceeded to keep going. I (somewhat cynically) asked "Why?!" I pondered her answer for most of the day. She said that she was just thankful as she walked in the door because everyone in her family was healthy, they all had jobs and they all were happy ... and, that was all she needed.

I am quick to be thankful for the big or amazing things. For vacations. For beautiful sunrises. For raises or accolades at work. For a beautiful home. For warm weather. But, why is it I find it difficult to be thankful for the every day things ... why is it hard to just live a life of thankfulness? To say (and mean it), Lord, thank you for this ... even if the this is a trial.

And, so today there are many things I am thankful for ... for Dean and Torrey. That Gram is with us. For two crazy dogs and two moody cats. For the fact that I knew what was for dinner before I pulled in the driveway tonight. For a good day at school. For sweet friends. For family that I adore. For lessons learned. For a path we haven't traveled before knowing that God is ordering our steps. For the fact that I didn't get yelled at today (I told you the day before Spring Break was rough!) Simple things. Not fancy, just plain. But, they are enough.

What are you thankful for today?

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

We left our beautiful beach paradise around 8 this morning and headed to Panama City Beach because we had an appointment to swim with the dolphins at Gulf World. Panama City is beautiful. Gulf World was nice, but not SeaWorld!
Torrey loves penguins ... she was excited to see these four guys. Not sure they were living in the right temperatures ... um, Gulf World, they are arctic animals!
They had several shows. We went to the sea lion show first ... notice I said sea lion and not lions? You got it ... there was only one sea lion in the show. It was very educational, however. And, the "little" guy was cute.
The dolphin show was our favorite. About an hour later, Torrey was in this same pool swimming with these dolphins.
Dean and Torrey enjoyed the show ... or, was it the pretzel? We had just sat through a bird show (those of you who know me know how much I love birds ... not!), so we were all happy to not see birds!
We got back to the condo around 4 and Torrey and I hit the beach. She spent over an hour building and playing on the beach.
As we were walking back to the condo, someone felt the need to jump in the pool! We really had a fun and relaxing day ... tomorrow we hope to hit a go cart track and spend some more time on the beach. We would all like to stay here forever!

Dolphin Girl

We moved to Orlando the week Torrey turned two. The first thing we did when we moved there? Got season passes to Sea World (hey! we knew our priorities!) Torrey immediately fell in love with the dolphins and would proclaim to anyone who would listen that she would one day be a "dophin dirl." Her dream came true today ...Ready to go ... it was chilly out (again, Northern peeps we are from Texas!), but that and the cold water could not dampen her spirits. She was the first one in the water and the first one to get to pet the dolphins.
Torrey started out slowly ... she called the dolphin to her and Sandy gave Torrey a kiss. Unfortunately, the photographer was on the other side of the pool and Torrey had to face him ... I guess unfortunately for us because we had to buy the picture! I will scan it when we get home and post it on a future blog.
Then Torrey put her arms up and Sandy gave Torrey a hug. Somewhere after this, they all had to get out of the pool because one of the dolphins needed a time out. Time out ... a universal discipline!
Torrey also got to pet the dolphin ... Torrey said she felt cold and smooth.
They also had Torrey swim out into the deep water and she got to splash the dolphin ... she should have known the dolphin would splash her back! HA!
Here she is ready to climb on board. Torrey stood there with her arm up and the dolphin slid right up to her and Torrey hung on to her fin and off they went ...

And, there she is ... our "Dolphin Girl"! She has said about 100 times how much fun today was for her ... guess what little girl? It was fun for your daddy and me too!

And, it wasn't lost on us that she got to swim with the dolphins on Grammy's birthday. Grammy so loved watching Torrey at the dolphin shows at SeaWorld and if she had been with us today would have been out there in the water with her! Happy Birthday Mom ... we miss you so much and can't wait to see you next month!

We Never Want our Vacaton to End!

Our 1st real day of vacation started out freakishly early. Dean went out at 7:30 to get me a coffee and as soon as he left Torrey got up. Good thing ... because we were up so early, we got to see dolphins swimming along the shore. We were telling Dean about our sighting and he looked out and said "Oh, there they are" ... and there was another group of dolphins. We tried to get pictures, but they weren't the best. But, we thought you would like to see the view that we are enjoying ...paradise ... pure and simple. We enjoyed spending time on the balcony watching the beach and the water. So relaxing!
The sand on the beach is the softest I have ever felt. It was cold, so Torrey said it felt a little like snow. She enjoyed playing and digging in the sand.
Our girl down by the water ... she is definitely a beach girl!
The water was cold ... but, that didn't stop Torrey from making the attempt to go all the way under the water. She got close! We all enjoyed our time at the beach. We especially enjoyed watching the kids using their "skim" boards ... they throw them into the water at the edge and ride them like surf boards. Our favorite part was when a dad gave it a whirl and ended up doing a face plant ... note to self, skim boards are for kids!
We found the neatest restaurant for dinner. Everything tasted like chicken. It had a french name ... Chic-fil-a ... HA!
Torrey and I went down for one more visit to the beach before watching American Idol. Tomorrow we will be going to Panama City so Torrey can swim with the dolphins. Can't wait!

Sook-San-Wan-Gerd

Sook-San-Wan-Gerd Torrey ... which is Happy Birthday, Torrey in Taiwanese! Our girl is 13 today. Dean and I are officially in mourning! We started our day off with presents. She got lots of fun things ... among them were ...
money from Gram ... she is full of good ideas how she is going to spend her loot!
... a beautiful necklace from Grammy & Papoo. It is a heart pendant made from her birthstone.
... a Jon Hart bag from Dean and I. It is in one of her signature colors with her name on it ... she loves it.
We ate breakfast in the hotel and she ordered a smoothie ... I was a little jealous when it came out (although my lemon pancakes with raspberry sauce soon made me forget the smoothie!) The wait staff was amazing to Torrey ... the Taiwanese girl who sat us came and told her Happy Birthday in her native tongue (then wrote it out for her so we wouldn't forget it ... I wonder if she realized what a treasure that became for Torrey!) Our waiter and another random waiter decided against singing "Happy Birthday" to Tor and instead gave her boxes of chocolates. Wise choices! It was a sweet start to her special day.

Right after breakfast we loaded the car and headed to Destin. They let us check in early and we got unpacked and since we hadn't eaten since breakfast, we joined the other "early birders" at, where else ...
Outback! Torrey loves this place ... although, they have changed their recipe for the baked potato ... definitely not as yummy. Why mess with perfection?

We made a stop at Publix (oh how I miss that place!) and then headed back to the condo to call it a night. It is raining ... but, we have reports that tomorrow will be perfect beach weather. Can't wait!

Historic Mobile Home Park ... HUH?!

We made it to Mobile, Alabama in record time. I saw a sign that said "Historic Mobile Home Park" and said "Only in Alabama would there be a historic mobile home park." Um, it's not a short i sound ... evidently it was a park in Mobile, AL. Who's the dummy now? Anyways, we spent the night at the Historic Battlefront Hotel in downtown Mobile. It is a beautifully restored hotel. Torrey wanted to make sure I took a picture of her bed ....
and our bed. HA! Actually, she loved her bed ... we all were very comfortable.
Torrey fell in love with this little couch ... she would like one in her bedroom, please! Um, I don't think so.
We found a scary little park on our walk through town. Torrey immediately noticed the squirrels. There were tons of them. I mean they were EVERYWHERE! At first it was funny ... then it was a little freaky. Little known fact, my sister Laurie talks to squirrels. And, she thinks they talk back to her. She would have loved this park!
We made a trip up to the rooftop deck ... this is the view of the Mobile bay. Lovely if you like containers and barges!
And, the view of downtown Mobile. We all enjoyed our quick visit!

On the Road Again

We have been waiting and waiting for our trip to Destin ... and it is here! We left before the sun on Sunday morning. Dean wanted to leave at 7 am ... we were a little off. But I wanted to state for the record that Torrey and I were buckled and ready to go at 7! (To be fair ... Dean went back in to make sure we had enough batteries for the back seat headphones!)
And, look who else was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed? She thoroughly enjoyed her spot in the back seat ... she watched movies and played with her iPod. She was also thrilled to be in charge of the snacks!
Torrey announced she had never been to Mississippi before. Imagine my surprise when Dean said he hadn't either. So, now two more Townsends can say they have been to Mississippi ... they so enjoyed the beautiful rest area!

Next stop ... Mobile, Alabama!