I'm All Growed Up

I am officially an adult.  LEGIT.  I travelled by myself, complete with connecting flights and riding a shuttle.  I confess that my personal assistant, Stephen, booked the shuttle and put all the info in my phone for me.  He is sweet like that.   I still feel very successful though.  I am also way out of my comfort zone.  I came to Orlando for a 7 day conference and don't know a soul.  I feel like I am constantly having a "first day of high school experience".  I also have to bum rides to go to restaurants.  That seems like too much commitment right now.  What if they are weirdos or don't like One Direction?  I can't commit to a whole evening with strangers at this point.  The past two nights I have walked 1.5 miles to grab some quick food and walked the 1.5 miles back.

The conference has been great.  I am learning lots, having some great refreshers of previous learned material, and hearing great ideas.  I don't have many pictures but here is real doozy.  I call it The Cafeteria Lady.  I miss my family and can't wait to see them.  I always thought a week alone sounded great but, it gets boring and lonely.  I have enjoyed being alone in the bathroom though.

This is a great video that they shared today.  We hear about bullying a lot in the news.  I have been very annoyed by that term because it is way overused.  Today Dr. Bailey said that even Barrack Obama has said he was bullied for his big ears and that was being made fun of, not bullying.  There is a difference between normal aggression in children and bullying.  I had no clue that you can spot a bully as a baby.  I know.  Watch the video and learn more.  

The Great Outdoors

Friday night we went to Cedar Hill State Park.  It was a blast!  Stephen and I are also learning how to be more efficient campers.  I didn't even bring make-up!  We set up camp while the kids played around the site.  Then we went swimming.   By we, I mean the kids.  The swim area was perfect and only about 2 feet deep.

Catching butterflies

 
 That evening we made fajitas and had a family from Stephen's work meet us out there for smores.  They have a 6 yr old boy and 3 yr girl.  Our kids all play together so well.  They were so entertained that we were able to hang out with Jeff and Beth by the fire.  Somehow between the 8 of us only Beth and I got chigger bites.  I have over 80 bites!  I don't know how those little buggers made it through my clothes, but they did.  I sprayed my exposed skin but know I now to spray it all!

Stephen working by the fire

We caught lots of roly pollies.

 

Saturday morning we took what was supposed to be a 2 mile hike.  We somehow missed our way out and hiked about a half a mile back in.  I started noticing that some things were on the same side as before so we turned back.  By this time the kids were tired and we had to carry, piggy back, and give shoulder rides all the way back.

 It was beautiful and peaceful.  The kids slept great and had a blast!  Camping has been so fun for our family.