Florida Trip - Part 4 {Strawberries & Winter}

This past summer the boys and I went to see Dolphin Tale.  Such a good movie - we all loved it, and at the end there was a little blurb about being able to see Winter (the dolphin in the movie) at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.  So we thought we would do that while we were in Florida this time.  We don't typically go to that side of the coast and thought it would be something different, too.

So the night before we were to drive to Clearwater I was reading Nancy's latest Southern Living and saw this citrus and strawberry market featured that was on our way to Clearwater.  It claimed that its strawberry shortcake was world famous.  Well, we shouldn't let an opportunity like that pass by, so we made it a stop on our little jaunt to the coast.

It was a fun market with this trademark red and white awning.  I was reading some of the signs and brochures and learned that the same family has owned this place for many years - 30 maybe?  I can't remember now, but I thought it was great that the passion for it had been kept through a couple of generations.  

The boys didn't want the shortcake, but they were all about fresh strawberry shakes......at first.  They drank a little and then decided they were too "chunky" since they were made with fresh strawberries.  Brian and I were happy to help them out with not wasting anything.  And we were so glad we did!  Those were the best strawberry shakes ever.  There were signs saying they had been featured on Food Network, and I can definitely see why.  So good!!

This was the world famous strawberry shortcake.

It was good, but I really like my mother-in-law's better.

Probably the main reason was that it was made with the spongy shortcake.

It was made-from-scratch shortcake, and Brian really liked it, so I still recommend stopping by.

They had tables set up to the side of the market in this lush tropical garden.   I wasn't expecting that - they had really done a nice job making it a fun place to visit.

It was really such a neat place to stop and have a bite

There were tons of citrus to choose from, and lots of other yummies, too.

And after we finished our treats (or tried to finish them, I should say), we found this huge strawberry throne!

They even had crowns for you to wear for your picture!  How fun is that?!  This market is in Plant City where they have the Strawberry Festival each year (bummer that we miss it by about a week every time), and I'm wondering if there is an actual strawberry queen that is crowned and seated on this throne each March.  Hmmm.....

So, back to the reason we went to Clearwater in the first place.  We got to the Aquarium and it was PACKED!!  Maybe it was coincidence and lots of people were on the same spring break and all wanted to see Winter.  Not sure.

But this is really all we got to see of her

Can't see anything?  We really couldn't either.  We were really disappointed.  I really wanted a better look, but that's okay.  They seemed like they were really overwhelmed with the amount of people that were there.  It also seemed like it could be a really great learning experience when it's not so crowded.  They specialize in rescue and rehab of marine animals, so it was neat to see some of that, which we don't get to see in regular aquariums or at the zoo.  In fact, we were lucky to see them scoping a sea turtle (we think) in one of the exam/operating rooms.  And there was a gentleman outside the aquarium with some hands on props talking about how Winter had lost her tail and the whole process of how they created a prosthetic one for her.  They even had the prosthetic tail there to touch.  I thought that and the sea turtle procedure were pretty cool!

This was cool too - underwater viewing of this turtle.  I think the guy said her name was Bailey.  (Brian always jokes around with me about not listening on the tour - I do try - I just think I'm way more of a visual learner, distracted by all there is to see, and he is hands-down better at auditory than me - we're a good pair - I remember what we've seen and he remembers all the facts about it) He said she was one of the most photogenic sea turtles around.  I believe he knows what he is talking about!

Florida Trip - Part 3 {Spring Training}

Brian had mentioned before that it would be fun to go out to the Braves Spring Training facility at Disney while we were there to catch a game.  It was mentioned again on the trip down so I looked up the schedule and they just happened to be hosting the Cardinals while we were there!  So we got seats overlooking 3rd base (and David Freese) and enjoyed the day with Nana and PaPa!

I believe this is probably the nicest stadium I've ever been to.  Love Busch Stadium too, but the whole setting at this one was so unique and pretty.  Thankfully it also had plenty of seating inside in the shade for when I thought I was going to melt during the game, which is definitely a bonus at a baseball stadium!

Of course, Mickey was definitely present!

Nana bought the boys new sunglasses while we were there so that they could actually open their eyes and see the game.  They were pretty excited about them! 

And, we had to have a hot dog, of course.

We thought we would be able to try to get some autographs and talk to the players, but we were wrong.  It seems that experience is a whole extra ticket and expense.  I felt pretty bad cause we had talked that up with the boys and they were excited about that.  But it is what it is, and we did get to see a lot of players a lot closer than we would at home.  It was just fun to be there.

If you look in the reflection on Elliott's glasses, you can actually see the rest of us.  So this is the one photo of all of us :)

Brian's mom was regretting pushing her sleeves up later.  That sun was really hot and all of us left at least a little redder!

Florida Trip - Part 2 {Downtown Disney}

The boys wanted to go to Downtown Disney our first full day of being in the Sunshine State.  So after church and lunch, all of us headed there.  I think it's actually called Disney Village or Disney Marketplace or something like that.  We've always known it as Downtown Disney and probably will call it that forever - hope it doesn't confuse anyone :)

So the boys always want to rent these boats when we're there.  We always say "no, maybe next time".  So we thought we would do it this time.  I tried to get them to rent the bigger boat so that all of us could go, but they really wanted these little speed boats, so those of us who were not chosen to go with them stayed on shore and watched.  They seemed to have a really good time.

See in this picture above how Ethan seems to not be listening to the instructions, like he already knows everything?  Hmmmmm.....

Ethan got to ride with Uncle Rick and was trying to be funny and not look at the camera.

Uncle Rick tried to force him to be a good subject.  He was having none of it.

I don't know what it is about this tube of powdered candy that it seems all kids like.  But that was what Ethan wanted from the candy store.  I think it's because you get to choose however many different flavors you want and how much of each you want.  They love all those "self-serve" kinds of things.

This was my indulgence for the day.  I don't pass up the Ghiradelli place when we're out there, and since I was passed over for riding the boats I thought I would drown my sadness with some cookies and cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. Okay, I wasn't all that sad, but it was a good excuse in my mind to have some ice cream and not feel so bad about it.

We walked through Pleasure Island (where they were still celebrating St. Patty's Day) and then through what I believe really is called Downtown Disney to eat some pizza at Wolfgang Puck's.  The boys never pass up an opportunity to hang out with Uncle Rick and Aunt Beth.  Love this picture of them with Rick.

And then an end to the day with two of my favorite things.....

Caramel apples.

Look how fun they are!  I'm not a marshmallow fan so I opted for just the chocolate drizzled version at Universal a few days later, but these are so cute.  I will say these still didn't look as good as my very favorite chocolate covered caramel apples in Grayson, GA.  I can't remember the name of the little chocolate place that sold them, but they were the best!

And Jelly Bellies, of course.

Elliott, Ethan and I stopped in the Candy Cauldron to find this Jelly Belly wall.  I believe Ethan's eyes were bigger than his stomach that night.   He filled his bag up, and we've been snacking on that $10 bag of Jelly Belly goodness for many days now.  I think he was a bit shocked at how much they cost, but only for a minute and then he was on to the next thing in true Ethan fashion.

I must say it was a good end to the day!

strawberry shortcake

My mother-in-law is so thoughtful.  She knows how much I love strawberries and especially how much I love her strawberry shortcake.  We get to Florida every year right at the end of strawberry season, and she always has some for us.  And I can almost guarantee that dessert at our first meal at their house will be strawberry shortcake.   Yes, there was strawberry deliciousness this time too!!

I didn't used to like strawberry shortcake, because I'm not a huge fan of the sponge cake that is usually the "shortcake".  It's too sweet or I don't like the texture.  Not sure.  I would often just eat the strawberries and cream and leave the sponginess.

But then I met Brian and was introduced to this other type of strawberry shortcake that I did not know existed.  Oh my goodness it's sooooooo good!  For years I assumed it was something his mom made from scratch and I would not be able to replicate (like the green beans - I've given up on them).  But a few years ago I just asked how she made it and......get this.....she used the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box!  What?!  It's that simple and I've been limiting my strawberry shortcake intake to once a year?  (I didn't feel so naive when I heard Beth ask her the same question last week - at least I wasn't the only one who thought it was a special recipe handed down for generations).  So for the last few years, we've been enjoying strawberry shortcake any time we want!  Even in the winter.  Although it's definitely best when the strawberries are fresh from the patch!

So, since strawberry season is quickly approaching those of us in the big M-O, 

I wanted to share this deceivingly easy recipe in case some of you are sponge dislikers like me and have yet to discover the goodness on the back of the big yellow box :)

(See I made it again the day after we got home from Florida, I missed it so much)

Strawberry Shortcake

4 cups strawberries, chopped into bite size pieces

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/3 cups Bisquick mix

1/2 cup milk

3 Tbsp granulated sugar

3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted

1/2 cup whipping cream or 1 container Cool Whip

Mix the strawberries with 1/2 cup of sugar and set aside.  Heat oven to 425.

Stir the Bisquick mix, milk, 3 Tbsp sugar, and melted butter until soft dough forms.  Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until they start to turn a golden brown.  Split the warm shortcakes.  Once the sugar has dissolved with the strawberries, fill the shortcake with strawberries and top with more strawberries and whipped topping.  (I did not have whipped topping the other night, so my picture is lacking that - I like it just as well or better without it, but I think I'm probably in the minority on that).

You can see the original recipe at the Betty Crocker website.  It's almost exactly the same and is probably easier to print out!

Florida Trip - Part 1

I said yesterday we had a GREAT time in Florida!  I'm still enjoying just sorting through all the photos.  I had become a little too relaxed about taking pictures and made a conscious effort to capture lots of different moments on this trip and in our lives in general.  And I'm pretty happy with my efforts.  I thought I would just share a little at a time as I sort through them.

So, this part 1 (of how many parts, I don't know - I just go with what comes to me) is highlights of the road trip down.  The trip down is always more pleasant than the trip back home, because we're all looking forward to seeing family and friends and relaxing.  The trip home.....not so much.  Mostly in bad moods cause we have to go back to "normal" life :)

So we started the trip off like we do each and every trip to Florida - a stop at Zaxby's.  Oh how I wish they would take up residence in Missouri!  Mmmmm.....I can still taste that crunchy chicken, that Zax sauce, and of course the crinkle fries.  Everyone in my family knows that we stop at Zaxby's for lunch (often as soon as we hit the closest one to us, which is in Clarksville, TN if anyone wants to know) or I will not be a happy camper!

I love this leg of the trip.  A little northwest of Chattanooga.  You travel through a small amount of mountains and it's beautiful.  Especially in the spring or fall.  We were able to catch some glimpses of pink this time and also some low lying clouds tucked into the valleys.  So pretty.

This is my friend Joannie.  

We taught next to each other for about 5 years when I worked in Georgia.  I can't remember the last time I saw her, but we are pretty sure it's been at least 6 years.  I loved teaching next to her.  She is so good at balancing work and family and was definitely my mentor for that.  And what a great friend!  I used to go house hunting with her, I would hang out at her house with her boys before I had any boys of my own, she came and helped me when I did have boys.  She's the one that first told me "little boys love their mamas".   And recently I got a surprise package in the mail from her....

It was a t-shirt from her school's Relay for Life.  She had added my name along with her sister's onto the list of fellow fighters and survivors on the back and had walked for us.  What a humbling gesture.  I love her!

And can you tell that our boys instantly became good friends?  They had a blast!  Wish we lived closer.  Wish we could have seen her oldest (who is driving now - I taught him when he was in kindergarten - where does the time go?) and her husband, too.  We missed you guys!

We usually spend one night in a hotel during the entire trip, and the boys were super excited about getting to swim.  Imagine how disappointed they were to find out the pool was outside and closed for the season :(

Bonus for me, though, cause that meant there was time to walk across the parking lot to one of my favorite ice cream places ever - Bruster's.  The status of the clientele was a bit questionable as they were apparently celebrating St. Patty's Day a night early, so we ordered and took it back to the room to avoid having to dance a jig or something.  I have to say that I got the chocolate raspberry truffle and highly recommend it if you are an Atlantan.  But don't tell me if you get it cause I'll be extremely jealous.

And that ended our day.  Watching the NCAA tourney and eating Bruster's.  It was actually my birthday, and I was pretty happy with all that I had been blessed with just in this one day.  Definitely a reminder to myself that God gives us way more than we deserve!

what is THAT?

WARNING:  You may or may not be grossed out by the not-so-flattering picture below.  Just so you know.  I debated posting it, but figured we had been through a lot together and you could handle it :)

We had a GREAT time in sunny Florida last week.  I'm still going through the pictures, but there are some fun ones!  Most of the reason I haven't sorted through them (besides the mounds of laundry) is that I haven't been feeling all that great.

The day before we left for FL, I had my mammogram (which, if you're not on Facebook, turned out AWESOME!!!).  Let me say that mammograms are not comfortable to begin with, but I wasn't even thinking that my port would bring that uncomfortableness to a whole new level!  So the next day and all weekend, I felt like the area around my port was really sore.  In fact, sharp shooting pain would come out of nowhere - you know the kind that tends to take your breath away and you start thinking something is really wrong?  It just kept getting worse, but I really just thought it was from the port being pulled on and that it would go away once I had time to relax and wind down from vacation and sleep in my own bed.

Not so.  By Tuesday I had this weird rash show up around my neckline on my left side.  Brian thought it was poison ivy.  I could not think of one instance where I had been anywhere near poison ivy.  I thought at first it was an allergic reaction to the sunscreen from the day before, but that didn't make sense since it was only on one side of my neck.  Then we thought maybe it was an allergic reaction to some bug bites that we got the night we got to Orlando.  I didn't remember getting bit on my neck, but who knows?  The rash and the pain persisted, but it wasn't enough to keep me away from all of our excursions (important places like the beach, visiting family, Universal Studios, the beach, etc.).

We stayed with Chris and Lynda on the way home.  Chris is well experienced in poison ivy and confirmed that it definitely was not poison ivy.  I started thinking maybe it was Rubella.  I've been vaccinated for it 4 times and it hasn't been successful any one of them.  I looked it up on my phone, but the symptoms really didn't match up.

This was Sunday.  I was a total grouch.  We had been in the car for close to 15 hours and I was done.  I didn't feel good and everything was pushing my buttons.  I'm pretty sure I yelled at the kids every time they opened their mouths.  I knew as soon as I opened my mouth that I should just shut it.  I apologized later.  I just didn't feel good.  By the time we got home and got unpacked, I felt achy all over.  It was very Neulasta-like.  I hadn't missed that feeling in the past 5 months and didn't care to feel it again.  But that really wasn't my choice, huh?

I ended up taking some Nyquil just so that I could sleep.  I couldn't get out of bed the next morning.  Thank goodness Brian didn't have to go in till later that morning.  When I finally did crawl out of my stupor, I called the nurse at my surgeon's office.  She called back later to say that they didn't think it had anything to do with my port or my mammogram.  So I got an appointment with my dermatologist for Tuesday morning.

"I hate to tell you this, but you have a case of the SHINGLES."

Huh?  I thought only older people got that.  Nope.  Apparently, it's common in cancer patients because of their lowered immunity.  Which I thought my immunity was pretty good since it's been 2 months since radiation ended, but I'm finding out that I'm wrong about that (first the never-ending cold/sinus/virus thing that lasted from December to February and now this).  

Anyway, she said that it comes on due to stress or an illness.  Hmmmmm.  So the week before vacation was a bit stressful, and I think we all agree I've had a bit of an illness.  Note to self:  stress is BAD.  Pray.  Relax.  Take care of yourself.  Eat right.  Exercise.  Enjoy life.

So I have this lovely horse pill to take every meal to keep the shingles from spreading any more than it already has.  I have pain meds to help me sleep (which I'm not sure I had enough of last night) and still just generally don't feel good but pretty functional.  One of the icky parts is that I can't really be in close contact with other people.  Especially kids or anyone with suppressed immune systems.  Since I don't know who that might be, I've just been trying to lay low.  I did sneak out to lunch and little window shopping with B this afternoon, but that wore me out and I napped the rest of the day.

Is it just me or does anyone else think there is something just funny about the word "shingles"?  Not funny like, Tommy Tuberville or Shaka Star or any other fun sports names like that, but funny in a negative way.  I don't really even like to say it.  I may as well be saying "the plague" for some reason.  That's what it seems to me.  Maybe because you kind of have to quarantine yourself.  I don't know.  And they don't look like shingles one bit.  I may have to consult my pharmacist about all of that.

seeing nothing

I know I've been bad about keeping up with this lately.  I'm sorry.  I'm not sure how to do better at it, but I promise I am trying to figure that out.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is my follow-up visit with my surgeon along with my first mammogram since chemo and radiation ended.  It's not technically a diagnostic one, but more just to get a new baseline.  I've known this was coming up for months.  Three different doctors have talked to me about it.  But I guess I had other things on my mind at the time.  I really hadn't thought much about it, except that I didn't want to forget the appointment (which is so unlike me but I've done it twice in the past few months at the dentist - yet they still act like they love us - yep, that's the kind of people they are there).  But in the past week or so it has hit me that this really means a lot more to me. 

It means getting to actually SEE that the tumor is gone. 

I trust my doctors 100% when they tell me that it's gone, but actually seeing it NOT THERE will just be icing on the cake for me. 

It also means getting to see NO OTHER tumors or signs of cancer. 

That's our prayer right now. 

That all of the surgeries, chemo treatments and radiation treatments have done the jobs that God designed them to do and that they've done them really well! 

So we're asking for prayers for tomorrow's mammogram to be clear of anything negative and to get a good report.