The view from here

Greetings, from sunny South Florida!

We barely escaped another big snow and it sounds like more is on the way...it tried to keep us home and succeeded delaying our take-off for an hour and a half...but quickly our flight was above the fray and into blue sky. The babes were wide-eyed and thrilled...I love to fly (especially take-off!) and am so glad they enjoyed it.

Bug and Bean once again proved to be great on the Johnson Traveling Team for their first air travel experience. There were many questions and a few harried moments, but really, we all rolled with the punches and enjoyed the day.

Sweet Daddy rarely checks any baggage on his frequent flights, and suggested we carry-on everything. I packed strategically. So, each kid had a wheeled suitcase and his/her booster seat rubber banded to the case (thought we needed them for the flight...I was wrong.) And I had my 2 bags and 2 other bags. Mucho luggago...and not thinking it all through, I forgot that I couldn't just leave a pile of bags to go to the restroom...we had to take everyone and everything. Whew...ah, well. SD will be traveling home with us...he can lug it all.

Bean asked many in-flight questions such as, "Is that man safed?" I had told her and her brother to keep their seat belts on until the light above us went out. In order to be safe, she had to stay buckled until she had to get out of her seat. That's Bean, making sure everyone follows the rules...including the flight attendants.

We flew to Tampa and saw a guy from my brother's high school class on the flight. When we landed in Tampa, I saw the mayor of my hometown...she was stuck there as she tried to get home. Funny seeing people I know, in a far-off place. Our flight continued from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale...and then a 20 minute cab ride to the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure...the site of Sweet Man's annual meeting.

Today, we explored...walking to an area with some stores. My frugality came back to bite me. There are 5 restaurants here in the hotel...and room service. I wanted a less expensive option for lunch. After asking for a map from the front desk, we set out....40 minutes later, we saw a Walgreens in the distance and knew that other shops and restaurants were nearby. Not quite the walk I was expecting. Ah, well.

We made up for all that exercise by spending the afternoon at the pool...if you click on the link, the picture of the waterfall on the left and the cabana on the right is pretty accurate...I sat in beyond that waterfall and watched the kids frolic in the water. Perfect. Ah, well.

Tomorrow, Sweet Daddy is finished with his meeting at noon and we're off to another place for the rest of our stay here.

Perhaps this is a whole other post...but on days like today, I'm thinking:

I don't believe in luck, so I'm not lucky. I do believe in blessings, but to say "I'm just blessed" doesn't feel right, either. Again, fodder for another post.

My heart skips a little when I wonder if this is His plan for me? I hope I'm on the right track at least with my little world. I know I need to work on reaching out to the big world. I guess I don't know what to call this unbelievable life I have...rich in friendship, love, and life experiences. How did I get to be here, with these people, in these places, with more love and fun than I could ever have imagined?