We're pretty settled in our new home. The house has a lot of open space and not much small storage space. We thought we would need a third room for storage, but we did not need it. The house has a florida room which is basically and enclosed patio. We have a couple things stored out there, like bikes, but it's basically empty. We don't use the patio now either because it's hot. Maybe when the weather cools off we'll use it more. The house also has an attic we don't use at all. We downsized so much we don't have enough stuff to fill up the house :) What storage we do have is stored in our trailer which is parked next to the house.
The main fun activity we've done here is go to the beach. We go several times a weeks. Here's some pictures of our first time at the beach.
The boys absolute love the beach. They love running around in the shallow water, digging holes in the sand, bobbing up and down in the waves and looking for seashells.
I've been the only one who has gotten sunburned. Probably because I'm the only white one :)
We've gone to several different beaches and though they all have sand and water, they are all a bit different. Some have big waves, some are shallow for a ways out into the water and some have lots of seashells. It's been fun to explore all the new places.
We tried swimming/playing in the Indian River Lagoon in the Fort Pierce area one day. We drove past it one day and it looked nice, so later we went and checked it out. The water was really nice. It was warmer than the ocean and shallow for quite a ways. But, the people there were very sketchy people. We ended up leaving because we didn't want to around the people.
The Spruce Bluff Preserve is a mile or so from our house. We went for a short hike on the preserve one evening. It was quite enjoyable. Lots of bugs which seemed to feast only on Adrian, which is the norm.
It is very humid here. We notice the humidity more on the very hot days. We've had multiple people warn us of the hot summer that's coming. Apparently it will feel like we're boiling during the next few months.There are always bugs about. We don't go out of the house ever without putting on bug repellant.
We came home to a visitor munching on our lawn one day. Since then we've seen him several times, along with a smaller tortoise we've seen in our backyard. We have an empty lot next door that's overgrown with brush and trees. We think they might live in there.
The city put on a "Safety" community event. We got to see up close a helicopter, fire engine ambulance, school bus, coast guard boat, K-9 dog and some other cool rescue trucks. Levi could see bounce houses in the distance and he did not care about anything else but those. It was almost comical.
Here's the prettiest beach we've been to so far. We're not sure makes it look pretty. Maybe the sun and the time of day because all the beaches are along the same coast and are the same sand with the same water.
This beach actually had a strong current pulling you out, so we did not play in water much at all.
My parents came to visit!! They stayed for 10 days and left yesterday. For my birthday we went canoeing in the St. Lucie River. I was a bit nervous at first because I knew there were alligators. But, to our disappointment, we did not see a single alligator. I think I saw an alligator leg as it was walking off into the trees. My dad saw two big eyes disappear quietly under the water once. The water in the river is a dirty brown color, so you're not able to see in it at all. We did see quite a few big splashes ahead of us as we paddled along. I think that must have been the alligators hiding as we approached. There was one time we paddled into a small little outlet, as we tried to turn our canoe around there was a big splash right next to our canoe. We couldn't see what it was because the water was so dark, but it made me scream a little scream and we hurried to get out there. I still think it was probably an alligator right under our canoe in the shallow water!!
It was pretty funny to see my parents canoe. They zigzagged back and forth a bit trying to go straight :) Malachi did not enjoy the ride much. From the get go he was saying he wanted to go home and get the life jacket off. Levi enjoyed it for a bit. Then he got tired and wanted to go home to nap. We spent 3 hours paddling on the river.
Here we are going under a tree that came out over the water.
We went to a few beaches while my parents were here. We enjoyed time just relaxing and soaking up the sun. The beach is fun because the water is really warm and the air is warm when you get out. Every beach does seem to have a lot of seaweed. But, we've gotten used to it and don't mind it so much anymore.
We got both the boys goggles. They really don't like getting the salt water in their eyes when we play in the waves.
The main adventure my dad wanted to have while he was here was to go deep sea fishing to catch some great big fish. Adrian asked around and found a company they thought would be good. They ended up catching just little tiny fish. In fact, the biggest fish caught by anyone on the boat the whole day was a 7 pounder. The day was quite disappointing. We should have just purchased our own poles and asked around where to go and what to use as bait and fished off the piers and shores the whole time my dad was here.
One day we saw our friend the tortoise back in our yard. Much to our surprise it dug a hole right next to the front our house and laid eggs. Then it buried them and made it look as if nothing there ever happened. Then, it went on its way. After some research we learned that in about 3 months the eggs will hatch. That should be fun to see :)
Another big surprise are the gigantic wolf spiders we have encountered in our garage. They trump all the big spiders we've ever encountered in Utah and Missouri :(
We've enjoyed our time so far. Adrian starts work July 1st so we've basically been playing for the last month while we get settled in. Adrian purchased a new car. A Mini Cooper. He says it's the funnest car to drive that he's ever owned. It's been a bit of a headache to buy it and get it registered, but we've figured everything out.
We've been to our new church ward for about a month now. We have to drive 30 minutes to get to the meeting house. That's the furthest we've ever had to drive to get to church. The ward is very diverse. Lots of people from all over and many languages. It's different, but it's good to experience. There are two temples close by, both being about 1.5 hours away. We're assigned to the Orlando temple, but the Fort Lauderdale temple is close too. We have yet to visit the temples. Malachi does great in nursery. They say he plays well and sings the songs. Today when I picked him up he was roaring around the room and so were some other kids. The nursery leader told me they were roaring like dinosaurs. I asked her "was this Malachi's idea?" She chuckled and said "yes, actually". Ha, I find that really funny. At home we run around roaring like dinosaurs while playing hide and seek. All the nursery leaders kept chuckling at Malachi. They must all have girls for children because I find it to be quite normal :) Levi will tell you he hates primary. Today the Primary president told me they can't get a good consistent sunbeam teacher and because of that none of the sunbeams really know a teacher or each other. So, no wonder Levi hates primary, he's really not getting to know anyone and he feels like he's always with strangers.
For my birthday Adrian bought a new handgun. He's worried of the possibilities that might happen to me and the kids. There is small park close by out house. The first time I went there a young man appeared to be taking photos of me and the boys. The whole situation with him was not normal. But, the neighbors say the neighborhood is safe and now that school is out that same park seems to always have people playing there. We went and shot my new gun for the first time while my parents were here. I'm still getting used to it and would like to get a bit more proficient in using it.
I'm hoping to find some kind of preschool for Levi. I don't think I'll actually pay to take him somewhere, I always thought I'd just do preschool at home. I think I've found a program that's online for free that will be okay. I also wanted to put the boys in swimming lessons. Drowning is the most common cause of child death in Florida. I'm also hoping to find some kind of beginning music lessons for the boys. We think we'll like Florida. We're going to try to stay here when we apply for residency again. We're really sick of moving around the country so much.
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