Between the hundreds of hours The Big Guy Lowe put towards the planning and following through of The Life of Christ event (which was truly wonderful!!) and the added hours he's needed to fill with work and increased traveling to CA, not to mention all the activities that are part of our daily lives, we have been ready for some sort of reprieve. Just time to sit and relax. Doesn't that sound simply wonderful?? I thought so too.
Flash back to January. The Big Guy Lowe was invited to a conference for those in his profession. In order to be invited, you had to be doing very well. We were thrilled and humbled when an invitation was extended. As The Big Guy Lowe explained to me what we would be doing and where we would be, all I could think was "Why wouldn't we want to go?!" One week later it looked like we wouldn't be able to attend as I had a severely burned arm with a lengthly recovery ahead of me. Gratefully, the new skin on my arm had healed to the point that my doctors said a week in the sun (with sunblock) would be wonderful! Whew!
Again, Grammy HB was a life-saver as she provided the loving care to our three boys. We are so grateful mom, and love the memories our boys have of the "vacations" they get to share with you!! Thank you!! With the boys under her watchful wing, we were able to head out to Naples, FL.
May 2nd, we headed to the airport at an early hour--4 AM! Thanks dad for taking us!! With Stake Conference being the weekend before and The Big Guy Lowe being in CA part of the previous week, our trip kind of crept up on us! Before we knew it we were on the plane headed east.
After traveling all day, we made it to FL and met up with some wonderful people that we were able to enjoy the week with! To begin the wonderful-ness--we were staying at the Ritz Carlton.
Very nice is all I have to say. Take a look at what we were going to have to deal with the next week.
It was going to be rough!!
We started our stay by taking a walk out on the beach. We were immediately amazed by the number of shells strewn throughout the beach!
There was a beautiful sand sculpture too!
When we were unpacking in our room, we found a little "kipper" that made it into our luggage. ;) We decided to take him with us as we explored a few places. :)
Here's our room, with kipper.
Kipper had a bit too much sun, so opted to stay under the blue umbrella for some time.
A turtle that lives in the trees just up from the ocean made his way out to the water and back. Kipper was there to see.
Another sand sculpture was admired by our feline friend.
While the "cat" might have liked the sand, our favorite view was right out in front. The water was actually warmer than the water in Hawaii--that includes all of the seasons we have been there. It also had a greater salt content. Nothing we couldn't deal with. Oh it was wonderful!
The Big Guy Lowe had meetings in the morning, and I was free to do what I pleased. One day that included a class on flower arranging. This was my final product.
Another morning I sat and read in the most wonderful space. Sigh...
After the morning meetings, The Big Guy Lowe and I would head out to the beach. It was wonderful! So relaxing sitting on the beach and then running into the surf and playing for a few hours until we were tired enough that we wanted to sit and dry off a bit--only to run into the water again.
See that little flag on the pole? In case we needed some refreshments while we were lounging. NICE!
We enjoyed reading on the beach too. I was reading President Hinckley's biography Go Forward With Faith, and The Big Guy Lowe was reading President Monson's biography To The Rescue. So wonderful being inspired by the lives of modern-day prophets.
In the evenings we would dress for dinner. Some nights heading out to nice restaurants, other nights attending conference events. This is where we ate one night--great steaks!
One morning we headed into the Everglades for an "Eco-tour".
This is what we saw...
We followed another boat the entire time.
The wildlife we saw was a bit staged. The drivers hit some milk-type jugs that were filled with stale marshmallows against the mangrove trees...and racoons came a-runnin!
Unfortuantely our lense was dirty from the trip, but The Big Guy Lowe was able to hold a baby alligator.
Yep, I did too!
On our way back to Naples, we stopped at a nature preserve. We actually saw some wild alligators here.
Look back through the trees...
he was probably about seven feet long.
While we had a nice time, we were happy to get back to the beach!
Later that night, the awards dinner was held at a private exotic animal preserve. Amazing dancers, musicians and fire-breathers entertained.
And we were able to enjoy a few animal-friends too!
Here's Tyson, a FL panther.
Can't remember the name of this beautiful giraffe.
When dinner was served, this is what our table looked like. Each table was different and each was beautiful.
Our last day we drove up to Sanibel Island for the morning. Such beautiful shells!
We also ate at an interesting place, that had pretty good food. We even tried alligator. How about that?
Tastes like chicken...chewy chicken. :)
We had a wonderful time, but amid it all, we missed our boys. Cell phones have made being away from our boys a bit more tolerable.
The morning we were to leave, this is what we saw on the tarmac.
We were looking forward to being home on Mother's day by 11:00AM. Unfortunately, a gas line leak derailed that plan. We did end up getting home by midnight that night after an adventurous day. The bright point of it all was getting to know Rod and Julie. I still laugh a bit when I think about the adventures we shared. We will definitely look forward to seeing them again in the fall. But nothing could make me happier than seeing this as we drove up that night.
It says "Welcome Home" and "Happy Mother's Day Mommy".
While it's always nice to take a break, it's always better to get back home. :)
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