Reddington Beach

OK... this place was super "Beach vacation" ish.
I big hit for the whole family.  Beaches - check, 7-11 for slurpies - check, crazy boardwalk with lots of beach stores with beach sundries - check.  oh... and alligators.

Sage loves the ocean.  so.very.much.

John's Boardwalk

a little reality

Last night was hard for Curt.  He was moved to a different room last night (out of ICU - hoot) but ended up getting really confused and scared in the middle of the night.  He managed to call a neighbor here (probably dials their number more than his own- so it was the one that came to him)  looking for Carol.  The neighbor called us and I woke and answered.  Chris went up right away just to hang out with him and hold his hand.  He was having some delusions.

Carol just went back up to the hospital - but thankfully she was able to sleep through the night.

Yesterday, I went to water aerobics with her and it was so bittersweet to see all of her girlfriends in the village checking in on her and what not.  You could see the look behind all of their eyes - "I might be next",  the next one to lose a husband.  It's a fact, women live longer than men and it is pretty clear here in a retirement village.  I have never been interested in living in one of these compounds... BUT being here in this last week it is so clear to me that they have a huge advantage in rallying and dealing with these end of life things.  People are over all the time and calling and checking in with Chris and I to see what is needed or will be needed when we are gone.  They are good at knowing what needs to be done.  I'm not saying I ever want to live in one - but I sure am glad they are living in one.  Community.


A picture from when Sage was 3 months old:

Connor blogs

Picture of Connor and Finn making "phone calls" at the swanky Sheraton lobby (hotel thanks to Uncle Curt)



When I went to the hospital with dad to visit grampa and we were all talking and saying how we went to the beach and how cool it is that its warm and the water is luke warm. Then she started talking about how she would go to a nice beach like the one we were planning to go to only its less crowded and its 30-45 minutes closer. She said that there was also this place called john"s crossing and at john's crossing kids get to feed alligators and there's all sorts of shops, candy shops and ice cream shops. I hope to go there with my mom and dad.

Howard Beach

Howard Beach.  Tarpon Springs.

Ok... Tarpon Springs is a very sweet little beach town.  I usually am not very kind about the gulf / Northern bit of Florida... we haven't found a lot to do here that is beachy.  I guess we just needed to talk to some nurses and get the skinny on where to go.  We have 2 other beaches to check out as well.  This was a nice drive (took about 45 minutes and was pleasant) and once we got there - OHMIGOSH _ MOM...MOM!  you can RENT CANOES!!!!!!!

so 30 bucks later (I thought that was reasonable for renting 2 of them for the afternoon) I had 2 very happy older boys.  Sage was jumping and clapping as soon as we got out of the car and he saw the Gulf.  He had an "are you kidding me???" look on his face.  He ran straight into the Gulf and started kicking it around and splashing the 3 of us.

Howard beach is a little peninsula that sticks out and you take a land bridge to get out and park.  On either side of the parking is a beach that is Gulf.  On one side there are Canoes, paddle boats and ... seems like I am forgetting something to rent.  On the other side is just swimming.  There are food trucks and lots of pale people - or burnt people.  It is March.  The swimming side was MUCH colder and rougher - weird.  So Sage and I just waded by where Connor and Finny were paddling.  With Sage randomly yelling to them "innnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!  onnnnnnnnnn!!!!"  He was much happier when they were close.

The rental dude let us grab a kid life jacket and Sage got to sit in the boat with Connor with me right by and - woah... heaven.

Ruby Falls by Finn

Chattanooga, TN Ruby Falls.   Most Pictures taken by Finn.

The Drive

The Morning started early.  Every one in the car and buzzing with the excitement of another road trip.   We feel like we are old hat with this now.  It was pretty exciting to have Daddy with us this time though.

There was sun - there was some rain in lower Ohio and Kentucky.  And then we got to Chattanooga.  HOLY SMOKES!  OK, we really liked that town.  We had pizza that reminded us of Supino.  Seriously...  just like it.  There are electric buses and bike stations you can check out a bus from...  in Chris' words "crunchy and awesome".  It was super duper green and warm and gorgeous.  I would be OK with moving Ferndale down to be the neighbor to Chattanooga.

Here is Sage - he has been learning the fine art of taking pictures with my phone.  It is pretty cute to look through my phone after a few hours of driving and see what is there.  And for those of you who get face times in the interim - I am sorry.  What can I say... he loves face time and knows how to use it.

Finn's thoughts

The place I most want to go is ruby falls because of looking at pictures it looks amazing.the look of HUGE rock walls I was amazed.

Packing... T minus 15 hrs

I think I am a much better packer after last spring's trip.  We leave in the morning and we are all packed.  The car has been seen by the mechanic (thank you, Don) vacuumed, windexed and spruced.  Snacks have been bought.  While packing Sage helped out...  by putting 2 pair of underwear on (USA underwear was bought as a joke for Connor when we went to CISV - he was representing the US after all...) (and yes, he thought it was hilarious to Open his bag and see USA underwear when he got to camp.)

We still need to buy our book on tape (on Iphone -whatever...)  and after a vote Gregor the Overlander book 4 has won for the trip down.  We are also trying to find a good baseball biography that isn't crazy old or full of sex and drugs... but I think that is going to have to be a book we actually read together.  Nothing audio that I can find.

Yarn is packed, of course, I have some new babies on the way to knit for (NO, not for me).  Sketch books, soft ball to throw in car, earphones, flip flops and swim suits (looks to be 80 next week in FL - HOLLA)  and suits in case we need to go to a funeral.  I am a pretty notoriously light packer... it was tricky packing for beach and funeral/ visitation trip.

No, Curt, Sr. has not passed but he has been on a ventilator on and off this week and the Dr. is surprised at his tenaciousness.  I don't know if that means he thinks he can get better or if he is surprised at how hard he is fighting dying.  I can only imagine how trying this is for Chris emotionally.  The KM clan is going to make the best of the situation though.  We were planning on doing this trip in June and so we just pushed it up a bit and now we can spend some time being there for Carol.  Well, Chris can - his dad has CDIF and the kids and I will not be going in to see him.  This trip will be bittersweet in many ways - I just wanted to acknowledge that up front and say we will be focusing on the sweet.

Another road trip

Where is the K-M clan headed to next?
I wish it was Hawaii, alas it is Florida.  I'll take it.

Driving in trusty Vanna White, we will be leaving on Friday and. stopping in Chattanooga, TN.

The boys and I have been researching.
We want a half way (ish) point.  We thought about Graceland...  we thought about Atlanta...  then we saw the picture of Ruby Falls.  SOLD!