To Share Florida is to Love Florida

The drooping spanish moss, the seemingly melancholy shade of those stunning Florida-sunsets... Everything seemed to be screaming, "Why would you want to go anywhere -- just STAY awhile!"

Though I've been inexcusably absent from the blogosphere, we've made up for it in the amount that we've seen and done over the past two weeks. We met Mickey Mouse and Goofy, went on an African-style safari Disney's Animal Kingdom, hugged the real-life-Grinch at Universal Studios, and watched a volcano rupture at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. We also sampled some fine Southern "swamp cabbage" (aka "Heart of Palm"), introduced Lukas to clogging & rodeos, ate dinner in the midst of an indoor-thunderstorm at the Rainforest Café, sipped on tropical drinks beside the dolphins at Sebastian Inlet, revisited the town where Tobi and I were married and Lukas was born and even played with some of his little Floridian friends. Perhaps most importantly, we were fortunate enough to be able to spend lots of quality time with Aunties, Uncles, sisters, Grandma (or the boys' Great Gramother), and "Ga-Ga" (the name the boys have chosen for my mom). From watching the sun rise and set and ocean tides roll in and out -- to witnessing osprey swooping, owls prowling, racoons scavenging, armadillos scantering, and deer grazing -- every moment has been truly memorable, and we've been so blessed.

I love Florida, and - thanks to these three incredible weeks here - I know that our boys share my love for this special place, a place that I will always call home.