Orange Groves 2018

"Dear old world, you are lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you." -Anne of Green Gables

This past weekend we escaped to the orange groves for our last time while still living in Orlando.  The weather was perfect (not too hot), the smell of the oranges was stronger than ever, the trees were filled with oranges (usually we are scrounging to find some), and our legs got beat up by stinging nettle (again)...but it was worth it. 

Before heading in to pick the oranges, we stopped and chatted with the animals.  They had cows, a donkey, goats, chickens, a KANGAROO, and more. I was wishing the whole time that the animals and the orchards were my backyard.  How amazing would that be?  I would do dishes every day with out complaint if I had a window above the kitchen sink that looked out on a backyard with animals, an orchard and kids running around.  

This is my favorite time of year here (righ next to crazy rainy season) and it is making it really difficult for me to accept that we are moving soon.  I NEVER would have thought I would be sad to move from Florida.  But it has taken up a large part of my heart the past two years. 

I think that is a good lesson to learn... Any situation, or relationship can be rocky- but that doesn't mean it will stay that way. 

To cope with this soon-to-be loss, I plan on taking a picture of the clouds with our polaroid every evening at sunset starting today until we move.  Then I can take Florida sunsets with me to wherever we end up.

Last year I got stinging nettle on my feet because I was wearing sandals, so this year we put on our hunter boots and I was so proud of myself for being forward-thinking and protecting our feet. HA. Joke was on me.  Should have covered our legs too.  Poor Myra's legs were awful and she was so tough about it!

Check out the welts on her leg... 

Goodbye, Orange groves.  We loved you and loved on you for a beautiful four years! 

Bye, Bye, Daddy

Saturday was our last day with Jordan before he left for his rotation in Pennsylvania.  Myra had been begging to go on the Nemo ride for a while so we decided to head to Epcot for the morning.  We rode on some of the rides and enjoyed a delicious breakfast in Paris.  I generally try to avoid the parks in the summer the best that I can because they are SO HOT... but it was PERFECT weather on Saturday.... cloudy, overcast and oh so magical. 

haha that last picture kills me! Clearly, she thought she was far above taking a bite of Quiche that had part of the crust in the bite.  I thought I was a picky eater.... then I had kids and now I feel like I have the most mature pallet. hahaha.  It was a fabulous and perfect last day with him here. 

We are now missing Jordan while he is away but I am SO proud of how hard he is working.  Every day I am told how wonderful, beautiful and perfect PA is and that we HAVE to move there for residency, so clearly he is enjoying his time there.  The place that he is staying at has a lot of land and the owners have hens on the property so he gets fresh eggs each morning.  That alone has me convinced that I gotta get there ASAP!  We are hoping I can take the kids up there for his last week so he can show me around this cute town that he keeps beaming about and spend a day at the Hershey factory!  Seeing him before a whole month passes would be a big selling point for me too! ;)