11 Happy Years

Last weekend, we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.  In some ways I can't believe it's been 11 years already, and in others....it feels like we've been married much longer (and I mean that in a good way!)  It has been an honor to spend this time with Jeremy.

He is hard working, compassionate, caring, loving, tough, a man of integrity, adventurous,

funny, fun, Godly, silly, and my favorite person to be around.

Although we there have been trials, we have walked through them together.  Being married isn't easy...but it also isn't hard.  It's work.  It takes time, patience, sacrifice, compromise, love, vision, perseverance, and trust.

I am so thankful for this man.

This is what happens when Jeremy tries to take selfies of us...he's so tall that he cuts off my head.  Great picture though babe!

As we embark on another journey in our life together, it was so nice to take an evening away, slow down and enjoy one another.

But first...I should start at the beginning of the day.  We generally "sleep in" on Saturdays (and that means we wake up around 8:00 instead of 6:00), and the kids usually turn on the TV and grab some cereal.  However, last Saturday they didn't do that.  They woke up early and set our day off right!

They decorated for our anniversary.

Streamers in the door way.

Decorations down the stair case

And even the word "HAPPY" spelled out in streamers on our chairs.  Nicole made Jeremy an egg sandwhich, and she made me some cereal.  It was so thoughtful.

Between cleaning the house

Nate's first time in the attic

mowing the yard

Nicole's first time mowing the grass

and watching our wedding (an annual tradition...and....Nathan kissed me on the cheek every time Jeremy kissed me in the video, and the girls got all giggly during the ceremony)

That evening, after a day of working hard on our house, we took off for Medeira Beach.  We have never been there before.  We made it just in time for sunset (and playing with our new phones).

We did slow motion videos of us running through the water.

And Jeremy stood, in one place, for about 15 minutes while he "filmed" the sun setting.  He time lapsed it into about 30 seconds.

And....we saw a draw bridge go up.  Apparently this was a first for my husband :)  It was cool though....that a road that huge could be lifted straight up!

We enjoyed walking around St. John's Pass and watching a finishing tournament close out their day with their big weigh ins.

Seriously, this would be a great place to take a vacation!  Family friendly, huge beach, shops and restaurants near by.  Sign me up!

We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a first for me.  I ordered fried chicken ; /  But Jeremy got a variety of shrimp.

They have these little license plates that say "Run Forrest Run" when you don't need anything from the waiter, and then "Stop Forrest Stop" when you do (I put it out one time, it worked.)

Our waiter topped the night off with a little Forrest Gump trivia.

What a fun evening and memorable anniversary.  Thank you baby for sticking with me, loving me, supporting me, and being my best friend :)  I love you!

Silver Springs- The Forgotten Florida Attraction

As our time in Tampa is beginning to draw to a close, I am working on visiting more places on our "bucket list" of places I can get to in a few hours from Tampa.  Silver Springs was one of those places.

It was easy to imagine Silver Springs in its prime.  Reminders of years past when this was once a bustling Florida attractions surround this beautiful park.

Today, it was calm and quiet with very few people on property.

The kids and I went on a glass bottom boat tour.  This was their first time on a boat like this, and my first time since I was a kid.  For some reason, I always remember glass bottom boats as being dull with a scratchy glass area that prevented you from seeing much.

I think this is how Hannah will remind this ride, despite the fact that it was quite informative with crystal clear glass and waters.

Our captain took us over several springs where we saw bluegill, bar, bass, turtles, and lots of grassy areas.  Nathan and Nicole seemed quite intrigued.

We then spent some time touring the grounds.

We found a beautiful blue tailed skink.

And the kids were excited about the Osceola monument (he is even stabbing the treaty here).

There was a cute little display area with stuffed animals, and animal pelts

Nicole is touching a beaver pelt.  It was really thick and heavy

Hannah was sad because this poor animal had to die

 Hannah said this picture was for Papa....She has antlers on her head.

However the highlight of the day was something I didn't even really intend on doing.

We spent the afternoon at Wild Waters, the water park that was on the Silver Springs property.

Nathan was pretty nervous about the wave pool

Apparently, this water park was under construction earlier this summer, so the rates were greatly reduced.  They never changed the rates once construction ended, so we only spent $25 for an afternoon of great fun.

The best part was....all three kids were big enough to go down most of the slides.

With much excitement, we spent all afternoon running up stairs, and sliding down slides.

I even got in on the slide action...which was So Fun!

The longest we had to wait for any slide was two people.  No one was there, which meant we could pack a lot of fun into just a few hours.

One thing I love about opportunities like this is that it creates a fairly safe environment to overcome fears.  Nicole was so afraid to go down the slides with tubes because some of them were tunnels.

However, after one time, I couldn't get her to stop:)

Antics while waiting for his sisters

Hannah struggled with similar anxiety.  (Dad, this was the kind of tube ride that dumps you into a bowl that you swirl around in...it was fun!)

However, she quickly realized the fun outweighed the fear and tackled the tube rides several times.

This was Hannah's face after her first tube ride

And then her face after her second tube ride.

Nathan could barely swim by the end of the day, he was so exhausted.

That boy ran and giggled all day long.  He had a blast!

The one big thing that was missing was daddy.  I was so sad that Jeremy couldn't be there.  He would have had a blast on those slides with the kids!

However, now we know this is an option.  All three are over 42 inches, and all three can swim.

I LOVE that I got this shot!  It was purely by coincidence.....uh, I mean, completely on purpose!

Silver Springs is a forgotten little Florida attraction, to bad....it has a lot left to offer.