Outside Every Day- Big New Year Catch Up!

Well, it’s been a while!  I’ve missed sharing our adventures with you, so here’s our big catch up post from the holidays.

We “unplugged” over the holidays.  To do what?  Frolic in the Florida sun.  Just about every four years we spend Christmas with my family in Florida.  There is a lot of celebrating involved because it’s my grandmother’s birthday, Christmas, their anniversary and then my grandfather’s birthday- who is turning 90 on Friday!  But I will get to that later.

So while we were heading down to the sunshine state to celebrate these things, there was one more thing we had to do- hit up Disney World.  We had planned this four years ago last time we were down in FL, so we were really looking forward to it.  My husband and I hadn’t been there for 10 years, when a friend of mine who works in the park got us in for the day and it was 30 degrees out- so I was really nervous about the weather we’d get- New Englanders don’t go to FL in the winter for 30 degree weather!- but it was perfect.  While the environment of Disney World is not wholly considered “natural”- we spent a lot of time outside and there were many, varied things to do as well.  Too much!  Next time we’ll need twice as much time there to relax and enjoy everything.

We had a great time swimming and exploring our resort, Port Orleans French Quarter.  The first night we were there we took a lovely evening stroll along the river over to French Quarter’s sister resort, Port Orleans Riverside where you can rent bikes and go on horse and buggy rides.

And, of course, we had a great time at the parks.  I was still plagued with a cough and cold which had the added side affect of waking me up in the wee hours of the morning just in time to grab breakfast for everyone and get to the parks when they opened, which is why it’s so nice and empty in front of the castle!

I was afraid our two year old would have to do a lot of waiting while his older brother was on a ride, but the park was scattered with little play areas and even a splash pad with a mister in Epcot.  Most other kids just walked through the mister, but I let my son have at it in the water- we always have extra clothes with us!  Places like Tom Sawyer’s Island in the Magic Kingdom are a lot of fun to explore as well.

After Disney we journeyed down to my grandparents’ house for Christmas.  My family integrated some natural elements into Christmas with my brother and his girlfriend using palm fronds as part of their wrapping decorations or in lieu of tissue paper- you can spot a few of these below (and Whole Foods bags recycled as gift bags!).  My youngest brother, who will be graduating in May with his degree in Environmental Education made my sons an instrument out of bamboo harvested from his campus and a bamboo cup.

And after Christmas, we took advantage of my grandparents’ pool and the beach.  We went to Macarthur State Park, which is a fabulous place.  You park in a nice jungle like area and then walk across a very long footbridge over a channel to reach the ocean on the other side.  They also have a nature center.  We found lots and lots of shells- love it when you find the ones with holes already in them for necklaces!  The water was so warm we actually wanted to spend an extended amount of time swimming in it- can’t say that for New England beaches, even in the summer.

We also visited a marinelife center where they rescue loggerhead turtles who need medical attention.  This is a big one, but the hatchlings were so cute!  They do such great work here and it’s free to visit.

Now, if we’re going to talk about being outside every day, then we need to talk about my grandfather.  As I said, he is turning 90 in a few days.  The key to living healthy at 90?  Playing golf, walking several miles and swimming- all the time.  Yes, he still does all these things.  I hope I can be like my grandparents are at their age!  When I was 19 I was trying to keep up with him while hiking up a mountain.  Raised on a farm in Norway, a carpenter, avid skier and golfer- I think it’s safe to say that my grandfather has spent some of every day of his life outside.

And that was just our trip- wait until you see what we’ve been up to since we got home!  Happy New Year.