the last officially planned summer hurrah!

i mentioned in the summercon18 post that i couldn't find the friendship ball after i had just explained it to the crew...how disappointing! so i went ahead and ordered another as quickly as possible at the twiggery.com and it was amazing how quickly they got it to me! and then i went to get the items to place inside from one of my favorite little places and created an instruction card and sent it off! a few days later i got a sweet text and it just reaffirmed the importance of going with your gut to encourage others.

i think the reason the friendship ball is important is that it is the beginning of little ripples, and even more than receiving it, it gives others the opportunity to feel an excitement about making a difference to someone else! it's easier to ignore that gut feeling, but now there's an excuse if you will to do something nice or fun for someone else!

the thing i was most looking forward to last week was saturday! why saturday, you ask...well, this was my final 'hurrah!' the 3rd summer goal!

i met shea at epcot on saturday morning, to take advantage of our annual passes! shea set up some fast passes, so that worked well! epcot is unique! definitely an educational experience. i loved the rides that we went on! we went around the world, and it reminded me of the time i was in elementary school, when my grandparents brought my cousins, my brother, and me from michigan to florida (roadtrip in a custom passenger van). we did wdw and epcot; the thing that came back to me was my cousin thinking it would be a wise decision to purchase a mexican sombrero. i don't know if he was really thinking about the long trip home, but the rest of us weren't very fond of that hat.

tostadas!!! nom nom!

i mean...since the pics were included, it just seemed necessary!

our patriotic display after the race track!

future includes underwater adventures!

apparently she wanted us to frame up the epcot globe...?

anyhoo, we did that for the day, when we stopped in mexico, i was a little hungry, and figured i'd try the tostada, and it was pleasing! we were done around 3 p.m. at which point we went our separate ways to visit with different people in orlando until the late-night drive toward cocoa beach.

i got to see brandy, one of my dear HONDURAN friends who lives there. even though the time was short, it is always a joy to see brandy and catch up! we had greek, because i can never pass on authentic greek food! then at about 10:30 shea picked me up and we were off to the east coast! i was incredibly frustrated that i'd brought my go-pro headgear, but because i'd been charging the camera itself, it was sitting on my desk at home. boo. anyhoo, about an hour and 15 minutes later, we were turning into a dark gravel road on the 'wrong side of the bridge!' it was dark, we'd passed a couple of police cars-lights flashing, so that automatically makes your guard go up! about 1/2 mile down the dark gravel road, which seemed like a scene from 48 hours...until we finally came upon all of the other cars and it was obvious this wasn't going to be a craigs list killing!

we signed in with bk adventures for the midnight madness, and we had about 20 minutes before the tour was to begin. so we sat and watched the previous group paddle in, and one of the mother-daughter combos with us using the constellation app to check out stars and planets- i so wish i'd had that app when i was teaching 4th grade science! (i already taught them more information than they really needed to know, ie: tides, tide tables, etc.)...i did decide i need to go ahead and download that app!

we got off into the water, and of course, we opted to be first out, and it's almost worse being first, because because you have to wait so long for everyone else to get launched. so yes. we finally got everyone on the water, and the guides led us off down the canal. fortunately the weather was perfect, and we were able to book during new moon, meaning there wasn't too much glare on the water, making it excellent conditions for the dinoflagellates to be observed! as the oar sweeps through the water, the cell is activated and flashes...i don't know, it's super technical and has to do with a drop of ph levels, etc. but it's pretty much fabulous! we had a net to swish through and pulled in several jelly goopy globs that were gelatinous in nature, and so we were able to touch the crazy glow! pretty cool. God is so creative!

so, this was the only photo of our adventure that we got!  ugh. but i suppose that's part of living in the moment!

apart from trying to avoid the other kayakers, it was a pretty awesome experience! i think this just reaffirms my desire to get a kayak, so that i can go and do this at my own pleasure without relying on and waiting for the tour groups! it would be totally worth it! while i liked the clear kayaks for this adventure, they were set up more like canoes, and wider, like canoes, making it hard to paddle with a normal kayak stroke, skimming the surface...but we still did well, and i couldn't believe the timing was so short-another reason to go on my own time to enjoy it longer!

once we pulled the canoes back in and handed in our lifevests, we got back into our cars and headed back. i'm so glad that shea was driving, because at this point it was around 2 a.m. and i was barely hanging on! #notanightperson yikes! we finished bossy pants-the audio book, and then needed a bit of music to keep it on track. got back to brandy's around 3  and after taking a quick rinse in the shower, slept so well! but i was up by 7:30 and out of bed by 8. then we hung out for awhile and chit chatted over coffee before i finally got on the road to return to my coast! 

just a little batch of yellow flowers at the rest area

i love it when something stands out to me and seems just perfect for someone and so i get it for them... that's why it's even more special when someone does that for me! brandy brought back a raspberry chocolate from belgium- which i heart! and she also gave me a book called WITH GRATITUDE which i didn't read until i got home, but i love it-very special and very much on my display stand.

when gifts are thought of with you in mind! thanks for being thoughtful, brandy!

successful weekend!
julie