Sarasota Florida - Beach Days and My Birthday

Hello 52

Rebekah spent two weeks dancing with the Sarasota Ballet. I joined her for the entire two weeks and Dear Husband and the boys flew down for a few days in the middle. We arrived in Sarasota just a few days before my birthday. We spent almost every evening at the beach, including my birthday. We spent most of our evenings at South Lido beach, which has a bird habitat and is the most natural of the beaches. The shell collecting was incredible. In all my years of going to beaches, I have never seen so many intact shells. The sunsets were stunning as well. 

I decided that I wanted authentic Key Lime Pie and Flo's bakery was the winner for my special birthday pie. They have a long list of awards for their Key Lime Pie and they did not disappoint. It was the best Key Lime Pie I have ever had. 

My stepmother, Sue also joined us for a few days. We went to the beach two times during the day. We went to Lido Beach (different from South Lido Beach) and Siesta Key when we wanted to swim because they had lifeguards. The heat was really intense the weeks we were there, so we didn't go to the beach very long during the day. The water was very warm, too. 

Sue with Elijah in the background

WOW -- the Sunsets!

Rebekah and Elijah collected buckets and buckets of shells.

Rebekah found this many shells in about 10 minutes.

I must say I am not a fan of heat, sand, or Florida in general...but Sarasota beaches were gorgeous! We really did have a lovely time sitting out each night watching the sun go down. The water was so much more gentle than the Atlantic Ocean on the Eastern seaboard, too.  I think I prefer the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic. 

This is part one of three of our Sarasota trip. I hope to have them all loaded in the next three or four days. Then there will be a life update post because life keeps flying along. 

Blessings, Dawn

Spring Update ~ New Job, Daughter's Ballet, Preparing for Change

Catching Up ~

 Where did the spring go? The school year is over and we are rushing headlong into summer. We had a successful, but rough spring. Elijah got a new job working in a warehouse for a shipping company where he ships products for small businesses. He likes the job (as much as you can like a job, he says), but it is a very, very small company and he is the only guy. The hours and pay are ideal, though. Unfortunately, he suffered an acute depression and severe panic attacks that started just days after starting the job. He maintained the job, but keeping him stable while getting medications to work took about three to four weeks. He was so miserable during that time. It was a very rough patch and he is still suffering some, but it is now manageable. We hope that this summer will bring better mental health to him and that the job will become a happy success for him. The women are friendly, and now that he is getting the hang of it all, things are going more smoothly. 

Elijah and Me

We spent Memorial Day at Anakeesta in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Other than the chairlift that carried us to the top of the mountain which scared my children to death, it was a very fun day and a huge relief after such a rough few weeks with Elijah. There were obstacle courses, food, a lovely garden, gorgeous views of the valley and a five story tower with a glass floor at the top. I think the boys liked the views and photo opportunities the best; Rebekah loved the obstacle courses the best; and David and I loved the skywalk which was swinging bridges between trees. It was so cool to walk in the forest canopy without having to zipline. 

Rebekah and Dad doing an obstacle course

My kiddos sat out the tower. I zoomed in on them from the top.

It was very cool standing on the glass floor.

Dear Hubby

The forest skywalk

The wind made the 20 minute ride on the chair lift a bit daunting for some
and terrifying for others. 

David and I finally got to take a continuing ed class at the community college. We took a smartphone creative photography class. It was fun and l liked learning to edit in Smartseed. I should go back and work a bit more on the lighting, but here is one of my first attempts. We hope to make taking a class together a tradition and take another class in the fall. 

The drive to Elijah's work each day is so beautiful. 

My job with my sweet little guy continues to go well. I have really enjoyed working with him for the last two years. However, he is off to preschool in this autumn, so I will fall back to being a date night babysitter for him. It is going to be a sad transition for me, but change is good; and I look forward to seeing what the future holds. I could easily get another nanny job with the extreme day care shortage in our area, but I think I am going to take a break for a few months to help my young adults adult successfully. The last few months of work have been very challenging with Elijah's struggles and all of Rebekah's transitions. Also, I have my second job working with my adult son, Tim. I have been splitting the 40 hours a week with my daughter, but she will have less time to work with him next year. 

Rebekah is always busy and everywhere all at once. She is burning the candle at both ends and sometimes the middle, too. However, she is doing very well. She completed this college year with straight A's and was inducted into two honor societies. She also danced with BCA for a second year and really enjoyed it. She performed in Paquita to wrap up the school year.  In addition, she held down two jobs and did lots of substitute teaching at BCA when she could squeeze it in. 

This Summer ~ Rebekah has a very busy summer ahead. She is doing five summer intensives this year. She will be dropping into her home studio for their summer intensive whenever she is in town, In addition, she will be dancing with the Sarasota Ballet in Florida; Carolina Ballet in Raleigh, North Carolina; Stewart and Owen Contemporary Company here in Asheville; and Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. I will be traveling with her for the weeks in Sarasota and New York City. It looks like it will be an amazing summer.  The guys in my family will fly down for a few days in the middle of the Sarasota weeks. 

A Big Change ~ Rebekah auditioned and was accepted as an apprentice to the Carolina Ballet Theatre in South Carolina. Her professional ballet career will start in the fall. She loves this company and it looks like a really good fit. It is an unpaid position (which is pretty standard for an apprentice in the ballet world), but she will receive a stipend for her pointe shoes (which cost $120 every few weeks).  It is a 3 hour round trip commute three days a week with more days during shows.  She is going to start off doing the most economical way, which is using her little Subaru that has 168,000 miles on it; but if the highway driving gets to be too much for it, we will have to help her upgrade it. Also, she could look for a living situation down there if it comes to it, but the cost would be much higher and she wants to keep her job with Tim if possible. She will also continue classes a few nights a week with BCA as a guest dancer as well as taking three classes in community college. Like I said....burning the candle at both ends. 

Blessings, Dawn

Bathroom Renovation

 I am so thankful for our new bathroom. We bought this house as a foreclosure about 12 years ago and have lived for a long time with a very broken down bathroom. There was so much work needed and a lack of money to sink into this house for a long time. However, with my return to work, my husband's raises and a small inheritance, we have made some real progress in the last few years. Our 2024 project was our largest yet and I am so thankful to see it complete. 

Our bathroom renovation was completed about a month ago. It went well with just a few surprises...surprises are a given during renovation. Unfortunately, the surprises all cost money. We didn't find any gold behind the walls...LOL. Our home was built in stages. There have been several owners through the years. This bathroom was the original 1955 kitchen that was converted into a bathroom when those owners doubled the house size in the 1970's. Unfortunately, much of the work done in the 1970's was inferior, and we have found crazy plumbing and electrical work from that time period. The big surprise we found behind the wall this time was very dangerous electrical work that included using metal candy boxes for junction boxes(!) and splicing old wiring to new wiring without using proper techniques that have been the standard for over a hundred years!! As this electrician put it, "It is some kind of miracle that your home didn't go up in flames years ago".  Oh, and they did find burn marks of a tiny fire that started and blessedly put itself out years ago. Yikes! That is the third time in the last 12 years that an electrician has said our house could have burned down.  I wonder what we will find behind the kitchen walls if we stay here long enough to gut that room. At least it was all new construction in the 1970's and none of it was the dreaded aluminum wiring commonly used in that decade. The electrician said that the real issue was the splicing from old to new so the kitchen should be in better shape.

 Our goal for this bathroom was actually to take it back to the early 1900's with some modern touches as if it had been slowly renovated through the years with the keeping of original charm. Yes, I know I live in a 1950's to 1970's rancher. I really dislike ranchers and am methodically taking it back in time whenever I have the opportunity.  I am an Edwardian/Victorian light (think minimalist Victorian) lover of interiors. I insisted on Hex tiles for the floor and tiles that are reminiscent of  subway tile for the walls. We went with a larger tile than typical subway tile, because they were on clearance and similar. We also added the chair rail to give that old world charm and to break up the really dark wall colors that Elijah had chosen. I may go back someday and add faux wood paneling and crown molding. 

Demo day is always exciting and scary all in one. 

You really don't want to see wiring like this behind your walls. 

By the window is the original plumbing from the original kitchen sink that they never even capped. It could have broken and flooded behind the walls at anytime!

New drywall. 

Original open water pipes that hadn't been used in 40+ years.

Color on the walls and floor being put in. 

I LOVE this floor. It is a pleasure to mop it on my hands and knees. Is that crazy?

Complete

There was just enough floor tile to create a pattern in the shower nook.

We had the old bathtub removed that was sinking into the basement, restructured the floor and opted for a shower. We still have a bathtub in the other bathroom. I think the room is wonderful. We, of course, went over budget, but it is complete, safe and fulfills many of our dreams. 

Blessings, Dawn

Oh, Canada!

 Oh, Canada! For Spring Break this year we went to Niagara Falls (Canada side) and Toronto. We had a wonderful trip and finally got to use our passports! I was so excited about using our passports but was disappointed that they didn't stamp them at the border. Apparently, it is all done digitally these days.  

Day One was a driving day and on Day Two we entered Canada at the Niagara Falls, New York border. We got through just fine and headed straight for the falls. They were even more stunning from the Canadian side. Gorgeous!! We visited the historic power station first which has a tunnel that is 180 feet below the ground and stretches 2,200 feet to the edge of the Niagara River, where there are panoramic views of Niagara Falls.  It was memorable and amazing to walk through a tunnel that used to have water rushing through it.

After a quick snack at the gift shop, we headed down to walk along the falls. The sky was so blue and the rush of the water was intense and delightful. We arrived at the boat ride and got tickets to go on the next boat to the falls. WOW! Even with the raincoats they provided, we got wet. The mist was blinding at times, and we couldn't even see the falls when we got close, but we sure could hear and feel them. I was surprised how well we all did with the rough water and movement of the boat. 

This little black squirrel had a lot to say to us since he wanted food and we had none for him! Black squirrels are rather rare on the North American continent. They are only found in five states in America, plus Ontario Province, Canada. 

This cheeky little squirrel was very excited about crackers.

We had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and then drove to our hotel in Toronto.  We stayed at the Homestead Suites in a two bedroom apartment.  We really appreciated the two bedrooms,  two bathrooms, living room with a sleeper sofa and kitchen. Our arrival in Toronto marked the end of sunny weather. It rained, snowed (just spitting snow), hailed and drizzled for the rest of our stay. Nevermind, we were prepared to do mostly inside activities anyway. The two pictures below show the CN Tower. One day we couldn't see it at all in the fog. We did not go up it because all of the kiddos are afraid of heights, and I am not a fan of elevators (I take them...but don't love them).

On day three we spent the morning in the Royal Ontario Museum. It is large, not as big as The Met, but a huge museum just the same. It wasn't crowded. In fact, everywhere we went had very manageable or no crowds at all. It was a pleasant surprise. We all enjoyed it, but Timothy loved it the most. They have a very large display of dinosaur fossils. 

After about three hours at the museum, we went to the St. Lawrence Marketplace. Some travel experts consider it the best food market in the world. We found many delightful things to eat. The Pastel de Nata pastries have been on my list to try for years. I thought I was going to have to go to Portugal to try them, but it turned out that the St. Lawrence Marketplace was one of the few places that have them outside of Portugal. They were yummy, but not as amazing as I had expected. I am not a huge sweets person.

The famous Pastel de Nata from Portugal were incredible according to most of my crew.

The famous meat sandwich from Paddington's

We went thrift store shopping after eating our way through St. Lawrence Marketplace. Rebekah and I love to thrift shop and finding new stores in different cities is always a treat. We got a few clothing items at the shop we went to. We headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza and played board games that night. 

The next day we visited Casa Loma. This is a cool castle built in 1911 for a financier named Sir Henry Pellatt. He went bankrupt pretty quickly and only lived in the house for 9 years. Some of the rooms were impressive. We traveled through the hidden tunnel that took us to the carriage house. We especially liked the towers, which were seven stories high. However, when you have the Biltmore Estate in your neighborhood ... well, it is unfair to compare. I am not sure anywhere on this continent would measure up in size and grandeur to the Biltmore. 

There were 59 phones in this home when it was built which was about HALF of how many phones there were in ALL of Toronto! With such excessive opulence, it is no wonder they lost all of their money. 

My Mother did not join us on the Casa Loma tour, because she wasn't interested and prefered to sleep in. We picked up my Mother and went to Ripley's Aquarium Toronto after a nice lunch at Mr. Greek. The aquarium was wonderful. My kids prefer aquariums to zoos, if they have to choose. This one did not disappoint. The kids loved the jellyfish, as they always do. The sea tunnel was my favorite part.  The stingrays were really putting on a show and interacting with the onlookers. 

The next day was even grayer and rainier than the previous days. We decided to visit Little Canada. This is a very nice museum that is still under construction. When it is complete, there will be miniatures of all of the provinces and major cities in the country. Right now, there are only a few east coast provinces. We loved it and spent several hours there. The details were amazing. 

We really enjoyed looking at Quebec City since that had been our original destination. We didn't make it there, because, with our time constraints, we would have had to fly that distance. We couldn't afford to fly due to the recent bathroom renovation, some needed major car repairs and saving for a new furnace needed by next winter. 

Toronto

We wrapped up our trip with some mall shopping, good food and walking on THE PATH (a 19 mile underground path under the city that connects hotels, office buildings and shopping areas).

Here is the a cool video about The Path. Honestly, there were moments that we didn't think that we were on The Path, because it seemed so much like a shopping area, but when we asked the police they always said we were still on it. Speaking of the police, Toronto is the second safest city in the world. The police were everywhere. They often were just on traffic duty and would help you cross the street. If there were any incidents (we saw two ~ one with a disgruntled man and another with a homeless man), the police moved in instantly and resolved the situation peacefully and with dignity for all involved. Also, no one honked their horns. We were driving a rental minivan in a new city and sometimes got confused. The other cars just let us in and everyone was so friendly and understanding.  All the cars were really nice, too. No clunkers or beater cars in Toronto. We made a game of trying to find one after we realized that all the cars looked so new.  Also, you almost never heard any sirens and when you did it was an ambulance. This city of 3 million was quieter than our small city of 100,000. I kid you not. 

Friday brought our trip to an end. We got out of the hotel early enough that we decided to try to drive the whole way home in one day.  We accomplished that goal. We made only three stops on the 795 mile trip home. One of those was a quick last peek at the falls and to get a picture of my Mother and me. 

A few other impressions ~ I was surprised how calm everything was in Toronto. Every place was well staffed, and the clerks really seemed to like their jobs. They were happy and weren't rushed. There was just a very respectful ambience. That said, the people of Toronto walk fast and almost ran us down a few times ... lol. I am a fast walker, but much of my family is not. 

Blessings, Dawn