nothing says september like busy!

wow...august 19th seems like an eternity ago!

since then i've been just as busy. i drove over to the east coast and got to do some pd sessions in village green and north miami beach area, palm beach and broward county, then down to naples... followed up by a trip up to buffalo, with a few days to be home before heading off to miami to work with a colleague in the greater miami area. my parents got a chance to visit-they are at my place right now, while i am up in gainesville for a quick training tomorrow and back!

so let's unpack this a little. the miami area professional developments have been fast and furious, but you know that they've been a hit when you have participants say they understand the program so much better now that they've had training! and then a couple teachers from one campus had been at our training last year just after IRMA had her way...and they said this time was even better because they had used the program for a year, and this time they were able to come into the session with a different purpose!

i didn't choose the room...the room chose me.

buffalo. oh buffalo. let me begin by saying that working with a larger group is always fun, because we do a lot of communicating prior to the sessions to get everything planned. this was a fun group; i missed one or two of the planning sessions, due to our schedules just not matching up. the theme for this group was BIRTHDAY! which is entirely appropriate, as it is istation's 20th birthday...so we wore the cutest little aprons and birthday hats and headbands. it's strange because i used to be SUPER into dressing up for parties (not fancy, 'real' parties, KAMP parties, a completely different type of dress-up, in which you go through the skit closet and find the gaudiest, silliest costume possible)... this felt somewhat similar just because i would NEVER wear an apron when baking... just not an apron girl, i guess. but the sessions were successful and the purposes were met #happyparticipants

playing our games!

love the architecture up in buffalo!

it's been so crazy go-go-going, that shea and i haven't gotten a chance to hang out, so hopefully in the next few weeks we'll be able to go do the fun things on the weekends! and if we're lucky the red-tide issues will become a non-issue!

i headed down to miami again last sunday and met up with one of my colleagues, and this was the first time that we were getting to work together. we had a fabulous dinner, and i was able to take her down and show her the wynwood walls. i was fascinated by them the first time hellen took me down to see them, so i figured i should share them! we took google's short-cut through the hood, no worries. then we were near kush, so i had to share that gem with her as well and we had mouth-watering burgers that were beyond-filling!

i do think this is such a great attraction

in the morning, we got out to the rogue-i love the keyless fob action! until i realize that the keyless fob is in my pack that i dumped into the tailgate and slammed shut. i guess when you do this, the car doors won't open, and they sure didn't! so what does one do? well, i called national and they said it would take about 90 minutes and $57. hmm. we didn't have that kind of time, so we uber-ed and of course, the handouts were in the back...so at least i had my computer! we printed off just one of the handouts that i felt would be the most beneficial, and emailed the rest to the instructional coach...i did offer for them to follow us back to the hotel to wait for the locksmith and get the handouts, but no takers.

so of course there was a problem with my usb thumb-drive, and the files were corrupted or something of that nature, and i couldn't access them, so we had to email them to the secretary to print...eeeee.

then the projector, we were afraid it wasn't going to function because it took Waaaaaayyyyy longer than necessary to boot up (time for a new bulb). anyhoo, we finally got situated and both sessions went smoothly. improvise and go-with the flow. i feel like i've gotten very good at it this year!

at least the view was nice!

only thing keeping me sane

then we got back to the hotel and the little duckies were still out and about-they came to greet us! so friendly. thankfully our locksmith guy got there in a timely fashion, and i was able to get sonya to the airport for her flight! then i made my drive home, through alligator alley.

my parents drove down to visit for a few days. the timing isn't ideal, because it's still hot down here, and it's still busy-time for me, but i'll take anything i can get! the past two days during the day i've been busy with preparing for tomorrow's training, as it is a bit different than the sessions that i've had most of august up to now. but we were able to get out to myakka yesterday afternoon, because they hadn't gone yet. we tried to go to the starfish for dinner, but it was closed for until this weekend, so we went to swordfish, but it was closed for remodeling...so we went next door to cortez kitchen and had the grouper and mahi sandwiches, as there isn't as much variety; but it was decent, and there weren't too many people there, so we had better service than the last time i'd been there!

true sports, we went all the way to the top- far above the tree tops (77 ft)

braving the swinging bridge at the tower

thursday we stopped by the river walk before dinner, and then i headed out a little later than i like, but the drive was an easy drive. it rained a little, then once it got dark, i was behind another car which swerved back into the middle lane. the next thing i saw was a huge shadow. somehow one of the orange construction barrels had gotten loose and was laying in the path...i was doing around 80, because anything less is like nails on the chalkboard of driving...anyhoo. needless to say, i killed it! and dragged it...and was able to pull off to the side. fortunately it was a plastic orange barrel, and crumpled under the car. i thought it would be in front of the car, being pushed, but no. it had to go and get itself lodged under my car. uf. so i may or may not have had to lay on my stomach to reach it and start trying to move it and un-wedge it. when i finally got it from the mid section toward the driver side near the tire, i put the car in reverse, moved a few inches, tried to pull, fwd, pull a little more, back, get out on my knees and move it around again, back in the car, repeat...i was finally able to get it out from under my car, and hopefully no damage was done, except to my pride. i threw it with disgust and disdain into the median and reprimanded it. i think it learned its lesson.

pretty sure the girl at the check-in counter probably wondered what the cat drug in...

this could have been a very bad experience. fortunately i got a good night sleep, and the session with admin and coaches went very well! i look forward to working with them again!

i got home friday night to hang out with mom and dad, and we had a great breakfast the next morning before they left to check out alabama to see about different areas where they might find a new landing spot! 

the following week was another quick drive to miami for the last scheduled bridgeprep training! it went very well, and i knew it would because the scenery on the way there was a good omen! and i finally got to meet the woman with the plan in person! it was a really great staff to work with!

oh, but this lighting!!

that almost wraps up september...next post: september 22.

until then-julie

peachy-bakers, cache-takers, training-trends and miami-friends!

what's been up these days? glad you asked!

since the last time i posted, there may or may not have been a donut-truck incident...thanks to shea's suggestion...yes, i will partake. i mean, who wouldn't want to check out peachey's at 8:00 a.m. (not early for me, but early for some). there were to gals in front of us, and the one who looked middle-school-ish, said i had to try the pretzel, so of course, it ended up being a donut and a pretzel to get the full experience! glad i did, because both items lived up to expectations!!

dripping with sweetness!

yes, please, i will partake! the salt after the sweet #allaboutbalance

this cute little outfit began as a family farm business, and they took their shop on the road- it used to be amish something or other, and they made a wise decision to change their name, as food truck drawn by a horse might not go over as well...check them out on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAmishBakingCompany/

that was friday the 2nd. the next day we went to sarasota to pick up shea's running packet because she was brave enough-or got fanagled into doing a half-marathon; funny how that all panned out...so after we picked up those packets, we stopped in sarasota, since we were down there anyhoo. there were about 3-5 caches in the area, so we walked around town, saw one of the parks, and walked the marina area, finding some neat little hides. it felt like we walked 7 miles, but all said and done it was only like 5. ugh, amazing how walking, standing and searching can be so exhausting!

check out these cool historical buildings/houses! cool little finds in sarasota!

i'd live here for a minute!

at the marina on a beautiful day

iconic

at some point during last week, i got some items in the mail: oriental trading pins (the cheapest and cutest i could find)! these will be amazing little trinkets to put in caches far and wide! my e-trex gps also arrived! thank you southwest points!! so it will be fun trying to figure out how to get my maps to download and get things going with that! (i find myself running my battery down on the phone). 

southwest-the gift that keeps on giving!

the flamingos are adorbs, the pineapples are welcoming, and the flowers...well, they're flowers!

friday i got on a flight to miami, where i was meeting jane to then drive down to marathon, in the keys. the flight there was uneventful. i despise the miami airport with every fiber of my being. i stopped to grab a cuban sandwich while i waited, but it was nasty. not all cuban sandwiches are made the same (i loved the panini one we had in key west). then i made my way to the baggage claim, and then on to the rental car pick-up. once jane arrived, we made our way down to the keys. we stopped at lazy days on the way down, and had some sea food stuffs. i'm such a sucker for a good ocean view with a slight breeze!! in fact, it was so breezy that it blew a couple slices of baguette off the crab-dip plate as the server was bringing it to us...only he didn't notice it had happened. so we ended up having to pile it on to get the correct disbursement.

unbeatable dinner view!

the airbnb guy, robert, called and we gave him our ETA, so that his dad could meet us at the place and show us the ropes. we arrived a bit earlier than expected- probably because i have a lead foot, and it was hard not to drive the dodge 300 like a boss. it was dark by the time we arrived, and then siri told us one thing, but there was no place to park, and the house numbers weren't matching up. we must have driven up and down the little street three times before we finally called robert to get specifics. there was indeed an rv in the driveway, as they were renting that space to someone to park. his dad arrived a few minutes later, and finally we were able to get in and it took longer than necessary to walk us through the basics-he just wanted to be a host and took his responsibilities seriously! #proudpapa

unfortunately we only had a few hours there, once we arrived we worked a little to talk things through, and come up with a final plan, and woke up early enough to hit mcdonald's on the way to training. we had to go around twice. the first round we got my meal and all of our drinks, but they failed to order up correctly, and we were missing 1 hot cakes plate, so we made a second trip around the drive through! uf.

the training went off without a hitch! we had another great group-two of the ladies from last time returned, and even though it was basically the same training, they said they got even more out of it, and were now looking at how to apply what we were going over. i love repeaters, because they were serious! everyone else was new, but they were all tuned in, except that one. at least that 'one' wasn't rude, just there for the stipend, i'm sure.

just a little balanced literacy and istation!

we got out around one and stopped at a cute little lunch place on the way back to miami. the staff were super sweet and the inside was adorably decorated. we were able to make it to our hotel by the airport around 5:15 pm. got checked in, and i made a quick change and headed over to hellen's to have dinner with her and jacy. we had comida tipica- i should've gotten a picture, because hellen fixed up the table to be so cute!! from the table cloth, to the souvenirs, to the food! best beans-baleadas, pupusas and taquitos...yea! we sat around chatting, mixed with some laughter, and then hellen pulled out the videos from senior year! ha!!! good times! a little reminiscing goes a long way! can't wait until we can pull together a little class reunion in miami with more classmates when they happen to be up visiting!

ah, these two! familiarity is comfort!

the next morning came early! jane and i got to the airport and took off in good time.

alright, those of you in relationships, enjoy valentine's day! for the rest of us...pizza and netflix! then off to the candy sales aisle before they start putting out the halloween candy!

julie

some pd after the storm

it was fun to get back into some training after irma. cue up first session back... it was good to get to work with pam and michele. you can't please everybody all the time...and i've learned from experience as a teacher that elementary teachers and middle school/high school teachers are just different breeds. they have different perspectives and needs. makes sense. it's always interesting when one session feels like playing with baby sloths, hedgehogs and kittens and another session feels like hellen keller trying to navigate the fire swamp and fire swamp rats... but we did it with a smile and class.

when they really like the colors so they take your numbers...

sharing out

working through reports-around the world

having fun with alex!

then michele and i were off to miami 2 days later. we had a short flight to fll, and met up with joyce and alicia and headed to the hotel-after poncing on one of the two available suv rentals. we found the hotel easily, and tried to check in, but it was too early, so we left the luggage, and went to grab a bite to eat at a little spanish restaurant around the corner. it was nothing to write home about (mom, that's why you didn't receive a letter). then we took the long way to find the training site (because we missed a turn or two or five...) anyhoo, we found it and then headed back to the hotel to do the REAL check-in!

i think a alicia and joyce took advantage of the pool (or at least they had mentioned it), and i took a nap, because napping is my favorite thing!! then alicia knocked (she and michele were in rooms across the hall), and she showed me some of the great little prize bags she'd put together and brought for our participants. i truly did appreciate that because i just don't have items for give-aways, and the participants really appreciated them!

then we all got together and discussed dinner. we went to the same strip mall we'd been to earlier to try the recommended steak and seafood place. it was also mediocre. the garlic toast before-hand was akin to the bread that i leave out to dry for bread crumbs...the kind where when you take a bite, crumbs spew out everywhere and there's no getting them off your black shirt, don't even bother. then we ordered the smashed plantain tostones, expecting exactly that, but what we received were mariquitas de platano...like legit chips straight from the bag. and when they offered tortillas, alicia asked if they were made there, and the lady laughed and said, "no, walmart!" not even lying. the flan and 4leches were pretty good.

we hit up the nearest grocery store for some lunch items for the next day, because we didn't see anything in the area the day before, and knew we wouldn't have a lot of time to go get anything. when we got back to the hotel, the parking lot and the garage were full, which was strange. so we finally found a spot over the river, through the woods, across the prairie...as we got out and started toward the hotel, someone was coming up the stairs and we asked if there was a special event going on. the young lady looked at us with disdain and said, "it's church." as if we should have know they were having services in the hotel.. she almost said it in such a way that she maybe should've gone back to get more love in her heart for others... so i went back to the car to secure a closer parking spot as people were leaving, because we knew we'd be tight on time in the morning.

the following morning, we were up bright and early, and the restaurant didn't open until 7am...we had complimentary breakfast, so we weren't going to pass that up, as there were no real restaurants on the way. joyce and i walked in, and the lights were dimmed, and we stood there for a second until the manager behind the bar doing inventory acknowledged us and just stood there looking at us. we smiled and said we knew it wasn't open until 7, we were 10 minutes early, could we just find a seat and wait til they were ready? he looked at us without saying anything and so i added, "or would you rather we waited outside?" he (not very nicely i might add) said he would prefer that. so we waited.

alicia joined us after getting stuck on the elevator temporarily-just not a great way to start the morning! when she mentioned it to the fella at the front desk, he said oh, it happens. as if it were a normal thing. for the love. then as soon as the clock struck 7, we were at the door pointing at our watches, it was almost like the runners at the beginning of a race, or shoppers at the door on black friday. we got our food from the buffet and scarfed it down so that we could get on the road.

once we arrived, we found a parking spot at the front of the building and people were beginning to arrive..we waited patiently, alicia and michele had a nice little dance-with alex to an 80s song, and then we saw the coordinator and found our way to the room we were to be working in. we got everything set up and ready, but then we had to wait because after people ate donuts, someone came in from the school with bagels and other breakfast stuff, and everyone from the other training came over and they all had second breakfast. michele and i just grinned and beared it...bared it....bore it...waited. once we were able to get started, it went well-almost everyone was new, and so they were able to see how it would benefit them. both sessions went well, and it was great to have alicia and joyce there for the feedback and to provide additional information!

because sometimes ya just gotta' dance it out

cafecito-delectable!

there was about to be some weather at the end of the day, and we were supposed to end at 3:30, but someone popped their head in and said we had to clear the building by 3:00 (it was a church), and so we had to fast track the ending, but we weren't complaining! this was assurance that we would all make our flights home without having to be rushed.

we bid farewell to joyce and michele, then alicia and i found a great little pizza joint before going our separate ways. it was a good trip.

coming up soon-more florida adventures-
julie

post-irma recap donuts, pizza, and keurigs

i'm blaming irma for some of this weight gain...i bought some foods i never would've purchased otherwise! also, since we blamed irma for so many other things, it just seems appropriate.

irma came and went. the night of, while we were at img, the wind was loud, and there were a couple times i was acutely aware of where the boys were in case the roof were torn away with the wind. that said, i can only imagine how loud it would have been at the house!

the next morning, we all piled out of the dorms, and it felt a little like the last day of kamp during summer, cleaning up, loading up and putting mattresses back in their places.

we went back to check on our homes, and realized that i had locked the front screen door, to which i do not have a key (it's glass, so not really a screen...), and the electricity was still out, so i couldn't open the garage door. oops. the only damage outside seemed to be one screen on the lanai. and so we went to shea's and checked it over. the main damage there was the bushes around the house, because the winds formed a wind-tunnel of sorts around the sides. the electricity was out there as well, but it wasn't too hot yet, so i took a nap, and then we saw that the farmhouse was open for business, with wifi, so donuts were on the menu! we went and got donuts to make a couple stops over on the island to give a little sugar-encouragement to a couple families whom shea thought would appreciate it. it was fun hanging out with them- very congenial!

checking out the neighborhood damage-so many trees with shallow roots blown over-fortunately this one missed both houses.

i posted this little guy on my facebook page (please note the banana down here  that looks nonplussed!)

mini donuts!! #sugarsupport

the branches have mostly been blown off of my tree in the backyard, but at least none of the trees were blown over

on the return, we stopped at one of the beaches on longboat key, and got a little video and pics.

this is on the other side of the dunes before walking out to the beach-you can get an idea of water/sand

dear irma, buh-bye. roll closing credits:

then we noticed that there was a pizza place open on the island coming home, so we stopped in and placed our to-go order. we overheard them saying they weren't planning on opening, they had just come to see if the stoves were working and things were in order, and before they knew what was happening, someone came in and ordered a pizza, they said yes (around 4 p.m. and people hadn't stopped walking through the door since, it was now 8 p.m.). this was exciting, as most restaurants were still not open for business, so i'm guessing they made more cash that day than they've made in a long time! we got our order and took it home-it was smelling pretty amazing (especially after all the pretzels, crackers and beef jerky stuffs)! when we got back to the house, the electricity was still off, so we opened the cross doors to get a little wind-flow and set up citronella candles, and just hoping no one would walk in. we live in a pretty safe neighborhood, and to get to shea's you almost have to get lost, so we felt pretty secure. plus there's bruno and chaco, who, while small, make it sound like there are 15 of them when they feel the need.

now i'm trying to remember...i think i had electricity on tuesday...but not until later in the evening. in the morning, we were hoping for coffee, and thought we'd try to power shea's keurig with the adapter in the car (brilliant, right?) yes, well, unfortunately the keurig requires a little extra juice, so we tried to find a plan b. starbucks was still not open.  plan c. i found my 'survival bag' and got the sterno burners out and started heating up some water. it took way longer than is acceptable for any coffee drinker-how did the pioneers do it?! ugh. finally it was hot enough for me to make some oatmeal that 'passed for edible'...and then we let it go just a bit longer to try steeping the k-cups--i would give it a D+. i mean...it was something, and it was caffeinated. and then we may have gone driving around for a bit just to recharge devices and enjoy the a/c...maybe.

we were SO ready to have this coffee experiment work!!

eventually, one of our neighbors was texting with shea and mentioned that there was electricity at her house, which is on my street, so we checked and mine was on too, meaning we were able to get in and get the a/c going...unfortunately internet was still not up. i'm pretty sure it took days to get recuperated on a good sleep. and in the midst, i was trying to plan for a pd in miami. the issue was that we weren't sure about what was happening at our miami site, because our contact had evacuated. so we were planning as if everything was good-to-go, ready to cancel if needed. we canceled our hotel rooms because of the 72 hour policy, and would book later if it were a 'go'.

while we waited to find out about miami, one of the schools nearby confirmed that despite the damage, and chaos, they were still following through with the pd. and this area pretty much took a direct hit, fortunately all buildings were still intact. so i made sure my colleagues knew about it and tried to keep the others informed as soon as i had information for miami!

next up local training- good times!

thankful that with as big as irma was, the damage could have been worse.

julie

they don't wear blazers in miami anymore-at least not that i saw!

when monday came, i borrowed shea's hammock and made plans as i went. first stop: (where else?) the donut experiment on anna maria island! i just wanted to make certain that they still tasted as good the 2nd time around! thank heavens, it did! i went in search of parking to go down to the beach, but parking on a.m.island is scarce! so i just kept going because i knew there would be a place at coquina beach! i found a spot near a restroom, shower area and set the hammock up in the perfect area behind the lifeguard station.

not a bad spot!

it should go without saying that i was in paradise! i fell asleep for a bit and then a little later, i saw a man walk up to the lifeguard and tell him something (hard to read lips from that distance); he then got into his little sand-rover-thing and drove off. some little girls came running up to their dad from behind the dune. they were so excited when they told him there were sea turtles! so i grabbed my camera and made my way around the dune to see them! it was especially exciting, as shea and i had observed the turtle rescues earlier...they were cuties!

cowabunga dude!

wonder how many were under there waiting for nighttime to get out!

there was a small crowd gathered, and the lifeguard had put the little dudes into a 5-gallon bucket, and said he was waiting for some rescue people to come and take them away. one of the older ladies in the crowd (if you can call 7 a crowd), was explaining that she felt something crawl over her foot and thought it was 'one of those little crabs' (i hadn't seen any crabs on the beach since i'd arrived). she proceeded to brush it away, then looked down and realized it was a baby sea turtle-imagine her surprise!!

after a couple of pics, i went back to the comfort of the shade and continued to be lazy and relaxed.

while i was laying there, i saw some beautiful sails up over the beach-parasailing!  that looked like a bit of fun! so i texted shea to see if she'd ever been, and decided to try to book tickets for that evening. the lady was super friendly, and she said she had me down, and if anything came up, she'd call to let me know! then i decided to go down to the little snack shack down the way. i'm still working on trust issues of leaving things on the beach unguarded.

when i arrived, i was looking for something light, just to tie me over until dinner. so i went up onto the deck and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and a diet coke, and the lady at the register-area was having a discussion with the park maintenance guy. for as much as i hate small talk, i must have inherited some gene from my dad or something, because i often either say one thing that leads to a full-blown conversation, or people strike up conversation with me out of the blue. sometimes, i'll just say one silly little thing, and it completely draws me into a conversation--must stop letting those thoughts exit through my mouth!

anyhoo, i learned all about the ridiculous protocols for state park employees-good times. but hey! i got a delicious grilled cheese! so simple, yet so comforting! when i got back to my little area, almost no sooner did i get back into the hammock before i felt a huge raindrop-so i immediately unstrapped and got everything to the car before i was completely drenched. i decided to stay and just watch for a bit and see if it passed over. it did, and then i got a call from the para-sail company and they apologized, but they were going to have to cancel because they were having to move all of their appointments back due to the rain, and at the moment there was lightning. boo.

it may have been a good thing though, because when i met shea back at the house, she wasn't feeling great, which means that a ride like that might not have gone so well. she self-diagnosed: sugar overload and dehydration from soccer camp. so i insisted that a nap would do the trick...only...for me a nap is 20 minutes and BOOM! let's go! shea's body doesn't know how to nap apparently, and i didn't want to wake her up, so i just did some work; i worked on this awesome postcard! a postcard that i had to put in an envelope in order to send it off to trish; hopefully she appreciates that!

when shea finally exited her state of hibernation, we went for poppos tacos-not bad! in fact, an excellent dinner to end out the 1st weekend! (regardless that it was monday, shut up).

 tuesday morning, i wanted to get the earliest start possible so that i could get to hellen's before she had to leave for an appointment with her mom.  the drive down to miami was really uneventful. what would miami adventures hold? would it be more like csi miami, or more like miami vice with crocket and tubbs? i am happy to report that it was really like neither! although, i have determined that it could probably never be home for me. big city...dressing up and putting on make-up are not among my favorite things. there is a time and a place, but in my ideal world, every-day-life is not the time, nor the place! (thankfully hellen was still willing to be seen in public with me!)

when i arrived, i heard the voice of an old friend on the other side of the door as it opened, and it was so good to see hellen again! we had just enough time to catch up a little, before she had to take her mom in. i settled in a bit, had some time to do some work. her husband came home with sofi from the daycare, and i got to meet this little firecracker of girl, with the most amazing head of curls! i think part of her personality is wrapped up in those curls!

i was thrilled that jacira and karla were able to carve out some time for dinner-i know there is always so much going on in the summertime, especially with families in town and places to go, etc. so it was great when jacy arrived and we were able to catch up- she has not changed! kind, fun and so caring. nor has karla-funny as ever-she was sharing some great 'mom' stories! we were laughing just envisioning everything!! especially the holes in the yard-omg! we had some tasty mango with salt and pepper-delicious! i have decided that i really need to eat more mango (which is why i purchased and ate some today!). we went to dinner at a great little central american restaurant and a huge appetizer plate with pupusas-ah! yum, i was impressed! but more than anything, it was the company that did my soul good. the funny thing is that saying goodbye is kinda' like see ya later, and it feels like we'll see each other again, sooner than later (i mean, why wait 24 years to reconnect?! ridiculous, i tell ya!).

it had been an especially long time since i'd seen this one-karla had left eis after our 10th grade year-such a joy to see her again!

jacira and i-my spanish-class friend..and just all around friend; i'm betting that part of what makes her a successful teacher is her caring spirit!

riquisimo!

these gals are pretty stinkin' amazing! so glad i got to spend time with them!

i loved being able to stay with hellen, because it gave me a glimpse into normal life-and one doesn't come by these glimpses every day. running errands with people is such a great opportunity to chat and laugh and just share thoughts about what's going on, so i do consider this time precious!

on wednesday, hellen kept sofi home, okay, not really home, because we weren't home most of the day! after the first stop, we decided to go down to miami, lincoln road to walk around for a bit. we took the stroller for sofi and made our way down the road to an area with several restaurants. we opted for rustic pizza, which was delicious! great salads, and even greater pizza! i'm just a sucker for margherita pizza! yum! the only drawback of eating outside is pigeons. pigeons wouldn't be so bad if they didn't strut around pretending that they owned the entire walk! and if they didn't scare sofi so much..not sure if she was scared by them, or merely annoyed.

i had so much fun sharing the back seat with this one for a few days!

you can't really see it, but there is a great little mist sprayer there!

and we got to pose together in front of the coolest wall full of singer sewing machines! 

we left as the sky was beginning to gray-up and there was lightning in the distance. so we began our little trek back to the car, and were trying to remember which parking lot we had left the car in. we located it without too much of a hassle and made our way to the pharmacy to pick something up-sofi's movies were entertaining, and it was hard to believe that by the time we got back to the house, it was so late! we had a little coffee with some sweet bread and just talked-i couldn't even begin to retell what all we chatted about, because i'm sure we were all over the place!

thursday we took sofi to her school and i got to meet her teacher and see her classroom-this was particularly fun because it connects some dots-karla's kiddos had also gone here, and i remembered on fb, hellen had asked for some recommendations about where to take her, and this was one of them. so seeing it made it more real-she's a lucky little girl! she is going to be so prepared for school both academically and socially!

after we dropped her off, we went down to wynwood walls in miami, in search of the actual little park. it was an impressive area! it was fun looking at all of the artwork. we decided that truly, some of the most creative artwork was on the walls of the buildings surrounding the attraction. i love it when townships recognize the importance of revitalization!

check out that wall! i love this girl! 

for lunch, we went to a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall bar and grille that had one of the most amazing hamburgers i have ever tasted! i think part of the secret was the pencil fries and the guava paste, not to mention the sweet potato fries-in love!

best burger ever!! i would certainly go back for another!

we made it back in time to pick sofi up from school and once again, coffee in the afternoon (it's how we do). later that evening, i got to meet hellen's brother and sister-in-law. we went to their home for dinner, although we weren't too hungry due to the amazing burger at lunch. BUT when someone offers you HONDURAN tamales, you don't say no! these are usually a Christmas delicacy, but for whatever reason, they had some and they were willing to share! that was amazing. loved meeting the fam-they are so fun and easy-going!

unfortunately i had to leave on friday--time is always much too short when you're with old friends!
i was in far too much of a hurry to get this posted, and i failed to include one of the most important parts about miami. hellen was a most gracious friend! she wouldn't allow me to pay for any of my meals when we were out-which i was totally not expecting! and she had a gift that she'd meant to send earlier-it was a gift for the boys! including some sweet artwork from sofi! touching! so thoughtful! thank you, hellen for being you! what a treat it was for me!

the drive is short enough to not be long, but long enough to enjoy and unwind. while i was driving through the everglades, i was certainly thankful for the fences around the glades, as the stop and go for wildlife on the road would not be very entertaining. i did look over to one of the ponds and saw an alligator peeking his head out. not nearly as exciting as mayakka state park! ;) i was very impressed by the rest areas, though. almost confused by the roads that wound around and under bridges to get me to it, but impressed none-the-less.

i did appreciate the WAZE app! it took care of things and even re-routed me around a slow traffic area..or so it said. for all i know, it may have just been taking me on the scenic route because it knew i was a tourist. (?) anyhoo, i got to see an area that i was unfamiliar with and then got me into bradenton a little after noon. it was pouring down rain, so i couldn't go to the beach, and shea would be at work until later in the afternoon, so i went to starbucks. while i was there, i worked on my first post about vacation.

and now you are probably wondering, well... how did the last weekend end? and trust me, i will cetainly let you know!

julie