Vacation re-cap and etc...

Ok, for the first time since we've been home I am sitting in front of my computer with a cup of coffee and more than 5 minutes of free time (there is also a chocolate chip cookie involved here, but shhh.... or the kids will think they can have one for their lunch too.)

The trip to FL was wonderful. It was so great to see friends and family and also to party at Disney for a few days. Victoria was tender from her fall for the first few days but recovered just fine. Tomas' biggest problem was a low fever for a few days, but an increase in neb treatments and a little more O2 support and all was well.

Starting out: My birthday boy is one!!!!

Miami:  visits with a Great-Aunt and lots of cousins, food, noise, and warm weather

Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte: more cousins, animals, dogs galore (my in laws have 6 - they live on a small farm). I wish I took more pictures of this part, but we were just so comfy and enjoying ourselves that I forgot.

Disney: not much to say when you are at the happiest place on earth. We had friends meet us there who stayed at the campground, and we were out from 9 in the morning until 10-11 at night every day. It was a huge accomplishment for me and means trouble for my husband now that I have figured out I CAN be fun and fancy free again.

Last day: A visit with friends from our old town. Again I wish I took more pictures but we were just having so much fun.

Back home: My darling Victoria turned 7 yesterday. She is a free spirit and challenges me at every turn. I can not begin to describe how intense a person she is. Every thing she does she does with her whole being. I think the story that sums her up best is from my sisters wedding. My dad had been in the ICU at the hospital battling throat and stomach cancer for the 4 months leading up to her wedding. He died just a 10 days before the ceremony. It was such a juxtaposition of events to have the funeral and then the wedding so close together. The wedding was at a beach and the weather was a light mist just starting to clear up. Everyone was somber and joyful at the same time. A few yards away from the wedding arch was a huge flock of seagulls resting on the sand. Olivia and Victoria were the flower girls. Olivia was dutifully paying attention to what was going on but Victoria was absolutely itching to chase those birds. She kept glancing back at me and a couple of times made like she was going to make a break for it, she was 5. It had become a bit of a distraction for me and my mom to keep her still. As soon as the ceremony was over and the pictures were over she looked at me and I nodded. She took off for those birds in a leaping gate. Of course the birds took flight and flew right over the whole wedding party. It was a magical moment. I turned to my mother and apologized. She told me in her tired, weary, I've been through too much voice, " Don't apologize for her. She is more alive than any of us." And that is my Victoria, more alive, more jubilant, more miserable, more whatever she is at the moment. Victoria is just more, and I love her dearly.