life

Taking a [spring] break

April 13, 2021 by Kristin Leave a Comment

I needed a change of scenery. After a year with a lot of days at home, I wanted to see a different backdrop to our everyday life. So we went to St. Pete Beach for Spring Break last week. So did a lot of other people.

We planned the getaway in February when we were in the throes of covid, quarantine, snowstorms, and my mother-in-law staying at our house while recovering from heart surgery. I knew then my girls, who gave up their spaces, deserved a treat. I knew my boy needed different ground on which to roam. I knew I needed an adventure and my husband needed a break from his work, which has been incredibly busy even in a weird year.

Greg went hunting two times. We all went to Busch Gardens one day. My girls and I went shopping one morning. But mostly we hung out at the beach, moved to the pool, and then went out for seafood. It was a welcome routine that looked different from our life in landlocked Kentucky. Plus I read three books. (See more about those here.)

I thought having covid restrictions would make Busch Gardens more enjoyable, but that wasn’t the case. It was crowded and took us more than an hour just to go through the temperature check at the front gate. And then we waited almost as long for pizza and chicken fingers lunch. We had to buy admission tickets in advance, so the crowd couldn’t have surprised Busch Gardens. But somehow it seemed to have. Many concession stands weren’t open, which meant the lines were long at the dining options available. And I’m going to wait a while before having to wear a mask at an amusement park again.

Even so, we had a good day at Busch Gardens. The lines for rides really weren’t that bad, other than the Cheetah Run roller coaster, which we would have wanted to ride had the wait not been nearly two hours. I particularly loved Cobra’s Curse (which we all went on) and also rode the thrilling Kumba with my big kids.

I didn’t cook all week, which was a good plan because our hotel kitchen was teeny tiny. But, goodness, we ate well so I’m going to tell you more about that. Unless noted, the restaurants are in St. Pete Beach.

Hurricane at Pass-a-Grille Beach — My shrimp tacos were good and there’s a rooftop option with great views.
Caddy’s — We met my cousin Jen here and I ate coconut shrimp. It was a family-friendly place and the kids’ food was served on a frisbee.
Shell’s Seafood — We ate at the Tampa one after we went to Busch Gardens and we all enjoyed our meals.
Snappers — This is a little more upscale food-wise than our usual, but we still wore shorts & T-shirts and loved it. Greg and I really like the different food choices. I ended up getting Coconut-Cashew Crusted Mahi-Mahi, which was delicious! The kids’ pizza and grouper were also good.
Crabby Bills — We loved the casual waterfront atmosphere. There’s an outdoor, rooftop option too. The hush puppies were really good.
Ice & Cream — We went there three nights in a row to enjoy delicious homemade ice cream & some unique flavors. I ordered Dreamsicle in a waffle cone every time.
Fo’ Cheezy Twisted Meltz — The girls and I happened upon this when we walked from our hotel to the Corey Avenue Shopping District so we stopped on our way back as it was almost 11 am. It’s a fun restaurant with tasty sandwiches.

Our break was welcomed and enjoyed thoroughly. Of course, we were glad to get settled back in at home for the last six weeks of school, soccer season, birthday season, and whatever other ordinary adventures come our way.

Hello, March!

March 1, 2021 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Hello, March!

Honestly, I’m glad you’re here. I’m going to need to recap February, just for documenting purposes and while hoping spring truly comes this month.

Cate came home early from school the first Monday of the month because she (and her class, and turns out probably her whole basketball team) was exposed to Covid. Ben came home early the next day because he didn’t feel good. He had strep throat. His Covid test was negative.

My mother-in-law Peggy, who had quadruple bypass heart surgery on Jan. 4 and recovered at our house, had an issue with her incision the same day Ben was sick, so I actually was on the way to the surgeon’s office an hour away when Ben called. Her incision was fine, but I’m glad we got it looked at and brought some advice home.

Rachel’s preschool teacher was exposed through a different student not in that class so Rachel didn’t go to school that week either. The irony of the Covid cases at school was the timing. We hadn’t had any students and only one teacher test positive while school was in session since August. Then the week multiple middle & high school students then teachers tested positive, several of us were able to get Covid vaccines. I’m thankful my part-time job at the school gave me the opportunity to get a vaccine.

On Thursday that first week of February, Cate started feeling tired and achy. She was up in the middle of the night with severe chills. I took her to get Covid tested on Friday morning. The rapid test said she had flu A, but we also did a send-off Covid test, which came back positive on Monday morning.

We all – including Peggy who was still with us – quarantined. Then on Monday, Ben’s teacher started with Covid symptoms so she and the students who had been at school were quarantined at this point too. Miraculously, nobody else at my house got Covid and a Cate was a champ quarantining in her little sister’s hot pink room while her Gran-Gran was living in her bedroom. (I shared some on Instagram here and here, if you want to read more about our Covid experience.)

Ice closed the school that second week of February – not that my kids were going at that point anyway. Then on Valentine’s Day, our last day of quarantine, we had a snowstorm. It snowed multiple inches multiple times that week. (Yes, of course, I posted some snow pictures here and here and here and here.)

On Monday, Feb. 22, all three kids returned to school after three weeks at home. The same day, the heart surgeon cleared Peggy to resume normal life, so she moved home that Tuesday after more than six weeks at our house. My sweet mother-in-law celebrated her 70th birthday on Saturday.

Last seemed incredibly busy because I was catching up on things with our vacation rentals, taxiing kids to and from school and basketball games, following up on emails and phone calls I’d put off, and sitting at the orthodontist’s parking lot for two hours while the dentist caught up on Cate’s mouth.

On Thursday, during one of those taxi services, I was rear-ended while stopped at a red light. At first I didn’t think much was wrong with my van, but I soon realized the trunk isn’t working properly. It’s dented right at the latch, so the vehicle thinks the trunk is open when it’s not and now it doesn’t actually open at all. We went to Walmart on Saturday morning, and I had to crawl into the back seat to get the things we put back there. A body shop is waiting on the green light from the insurance to repair my van, which, of course, really just seems like something else to deal with at this point.

We were on the way to church on Sunday morning when our road started flooding. We ended up not going to church. While watching church online, we heard what sounded like thunder and looked out our front window to see a mental culvert from our road not where it belonged. About an hour later, we heard the sound again. This time the second culvert from the same spot in our road was floating down the creek. Not long after, a third culvert, not belonging in our road, floated down from somewhere. We had almost four inches of rain in the morning hours Sunday. Once the water receded we saw just how destroyed our road is. It rained more that night. (See photos here!)

At this point, we are thankful for a house on higher ground, where we’ve been sheltered from so much this month. We’re thankful there’s another way out, and the school taxi commute is only about five minutes longer than usual. We’re thankful for health and each other and God’s goodness and provisions even when – perhaps especially when – we have no idea what’s around the next corner.

How was your February?

Love Your Home Once Again

January 14, 2021 by Kristin 2 Comments

Life certainly doesn’t look like it did a year ago, thanks to the global coronavirus pandemic that interrupted our lives. So many people have spent more time at their homes – working from home, schooling kids at home, distancing themselves from crowds. Of course, this has come with much adjustment in routines, logistics, and even our spaces. Improving our home has been a good day to navigate our increased time here.

While spending more time at home, we have been made adjustments to our space and noticed possible improvements. Yes, you can use even this weird season of social distancing to fall in love with your home all over again. Here are some ways to do that:

Renovated Your Spaces

Conducting home renovations is important to make your space feel like home. Many people have the time to do this, so this is one way to focus on moving forward in your home, even when so much of the world is uncertain.

We haven’t done any major renovations, but my teenager did paint her little sister’s room. She may not have agreed to it had she known bright pink doesn’t easily cover mint green! We’ve rearranged closets and bedrooms as we make our spaces function better for all the extra time we’ve spent here.

Take Pride in Where You Live

Taking pride in where you live is vital, especially when you’re truly living in your home like we have been. I discovered how easy it is the clean my hard floors with the Shark VacMop, ordered more forks and spoons because we were eating so many meals at home, and ordered cleaning and household supplies online.

Honestly, I like a clean house, but I also know we live here, so taking pride for me involves some daily tasks to contain the clutter and crumbs. Of course, there are bigger projects, such as using window cleaning services, in order to really spruce up your views.

Speaking of views, I truly have appreciated country living as we’ve socially distanced ourselves from crowds of people. The wide-open spaces have been good for my soul, especially in the spring, summer, and fall. I’ve loved noticing how natural colors change. And we’ve all needed the extra space to safely roam.

Plant a Garden

We actually planted our first garden! It was small and barely successful, but I was so glad the spring and summer days at home helped me accomplish something I’d wanted to try. We planted zucchini, tomato, and pepper seeds in planters. Then once the plants grew, we transferred the zucchini and tomato plants to the ground. They grew well and produced, but then the deer ate all the tomato plants – produce and all! We got several zucchini and sweet pepper to enjoy. And we came away with some better plans for this year.

Making summertime fun is always important, especially during the pandemic when traveling may not happen as much. Gardening is one way to do this. Plus it improves and helps you appreciate where you live and the natural seasons.

How have you found yourself loving your home and property during these social-distancing days?

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I’ve written some other posts about social distancing that may encourage you.