Spring Break

We were all pretty excited for spring break this year .... we decided to make the trip to Florida to visit my mom and stepdad. The week was one of many firsts for Miss Gabi .....

Before we left we dyed Easter eggs. It's so wonderful that Gabi's english is getting good enough for her to share the traditions she shared with Ganka. We learned that dying eggs was nothing new to her, she had done it in Bulgaria too! And, as amazing as it sounds, the dye they used was prepared the same way we did it. The only thing different was the colors ....she said they had darker coloring, not the brights that we had.

We had hoped to be on the road right after school on Thursday but plans had to be changed because Hailee received her first communion at church .... it was a very nice service. We thought the girls could slip into their pj's at church and we'd leave from there, but Gabi informed us that she couldn't change into her pajamas at God's House so we had to head home for the change. Finally got on the road around 8:30 for the 21 hour drive to Florida.

The girls were AWESOME riders ...

We arrived around 1 on Saturday -- so good to see Mom & Arlen -- it's way too long between visits! The weather was HOT but beautiful without a ton of humidity.

Finding eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's -- a first for Gabi. Hailee was giving her pointers as to where the rabbit would have hidden the 75 eggs. They found every one of them!!!! And of course, their baskets were found too. Another first for Gabi!

Grandma and Grandpa along with the girls --

Gin and Bob go to Florida every winter -- my mom lives fairly close to them. They invited us for Easter dinner .... It was nice to have the group together, the weather was beautiful and the food was yummy! Thanks Gin and Bob and Pat and Ken for serving up a fantastic dinner -- we enjoyed all the good company.

After dinner the girls wanted to do some swimming before we went back to Mom and Arlen's. Gabi was all decked out to go ..... what a fashion statement?????

Bob took us over to the horses that live near the park. We enjoyed feeding them a bag of carrots. Gabi was afraid to touch them (another first), she had never been so close to a horse, eventually she worked up the courage to give their nose a little pat. Hailee on the other hand was in heaven, she loved every second ....


Monday we headed to Silver Springs -- Hailee & Gabi LOVED the park ... we did the glass bottom boats and the jungle ride. We saw a lot of animals and Gabi did her first amusement park type ride ... not a wild and crazy ride, just a way to look over the park from the sky. Gabi was terrified but she did it ..... and then loved it.

Standing by the "good luck tree" -- it promised good luck to those that touched it.
On Tuesday we decided to go to Homasassa Park -- a state park that has manatees -- another of Hailee's favorites. She was excited for Jack & Gabi to see all the animals that she loved. Again we had beautiful weather and a wonderful time.

The manatees were lazy today and didn't even come over to do the show -- we had to find them. They were resting in their swimming pool --

Working together to put the manatee puzzle together ....

The girls made pictures of the animals .....

Meet Lu -- the hippopotamus with personality. He was Gabi's favorite ...

All of us ....

It was hard to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa -- we miss them already ....
The next stop was Hendersonville, Tennesse --- a quick??? 11 hour drive from Ocala. We ran into a lot of traffic in Atlanta and had a scare with the car. We were driving down the highway and Jack couldn't accelerate .... he managed to get the car over to the side of the road, turn the engine off and start it back up again. Scary stuff!! We did exchange the car once we arrived in Tennessee -- was afraid it might happen again.

At one of our rest stops the girls picked up some special treats .....

It was late when we arrived in Tennessee -- BUT it was SO good to see the Komoll's We packed a lot of chatting into our short visit.


The night was fairly warm and we were able to sit around the campfire with everyone. Hailee and Gabi had their i-pods -- they gave one earbud from each to Norah in the middle and she listened to both. After a bit she decided that Gabi's music was more her style so she and Gabi serenaded us with Miley Cyrus songs.
Again the visit was much too short .... we hit the road again on Saturday - this time heading to Jonathan and Amanda's. All of us were looking forward to seeing Hayden .... we had talked to him on the phone and he was telling us that we were coming soon!

Posing with his doting aunties!

He's learning so quick -- he can say so many words and he definitely knows what he wants. After dinner Amanda mentioned that she wanted ice-cream. Hayden jumped down from his chair and headed to the freezer. He came back with the ice-cream and a "spoon." He's just too cute!!!



Our trip ended on Sunday -- Amanda & Jonathan made us a fantastic breakfast and we started home. Lucky for us we made it through Chicago pretty quick -- everyone was tired when we got home. The girls were looking forward to spending the night in their own beds -- it was a great trip. Lots of good memories!