December 2018...

My sisters first visit to our new temp pad in Florida…  We are out for the night with cutest Uber driver ever!   

We took a short road trip to the West side of the state to surprise my Mom for her birthday.   We brought the grand pups with us.   

The rain isn’t going to stop us from cheering on our New England Pats!    

Final score a bit of a bummer thought…. Miami stole it from us at the very end.  

It was a great game!

We are living in temporary housing about a mile from our new house being built.  It is so fun watching it get built and planning for our next round of adventures in Parkland, Florida.   

Love being back in the sun!!

My Dad has gotten so much better cooking…   Christmas cooking

Christmas crack for the holidays! 

This year we took our crew to the Keys to celebrate Christmas.   The kids have been working hard at getting SCUBA certified and will do their check out dives in the Keys while there. 

Ayden here testing out her mask in the pool.   

Enjoying a Christmas Eve out in Key west! 

Love my crew!

Meanwhile back at the condo… Bella was not disappointed we were going out.   Peace and quiet with her bone.  

The visibility was not the best but we all had two full days of diving and the kids were able to get their certification.   

It will be a lot of fun taking them our adventures now…   

Can’t say we had as much luck breaking out of the escape room though...  but it was the perfect way to celebrate Christmas.   

Great way to wrap up 2018 and kick off 2019 in our new home

November Update 2018 - Drove through 11 States!

Moving three teenagers and one big dog is an ADVENTURE!

We arrived in Florida on a Saturday and the kids started school that Monday. It was a bit of a whirlwind but proud doesn’t even cover the feeling I have for all three of my kids for taking the move in stride. Ayden spent the drive down staying connected with her friends from MA and sharing a lot of tearful anecdotes of each and every friend and special moment she had over the course of the four years we were there. The dramamine came in handy when we hit New York! All in all she was excited for the new adventure and tentatively yet optimistically looked forward to being launched into middle school. Jordan is always up for and adventure and was eager to start school and check out the sports available. She was disappointed to find out she missed tryouts by a couple of weeks for soccer, but managed to get a late tryout and was put on the JV team! MSD is a large school and it was so helpful for her to have enormity of it carved down with the quick friendships she made through soccer and being a part of a team. Garrett was very nervous about stating at a new school and tends to take things very very slowly… He chatted the entire way down so he seemed to not be affected by the transition, but was disappointed to not miss but one day of school in the transition.

We do have have one little big lady in the house that gave up her Boxford perch for some tight quarters, no yard and new smells and different textured grass. We are looking forward to getting into our new house in February. Until then, she is taking up a new residence on Garrett’s bed during the days… slowly processing her transition.

New weather… makes new adventures. We put up our skies this year and traded them in for paddle boards and snorkeling gear!

Getting up early brings new fun for us! Sunrise - kids still sleeping, we paddle board a couple of miles either on the intracoastal or on the ocean… Home before the kids even get up!

Love this weather!

Moving back to Florida brought me closer to my parents.

It has been a long time since we have had a holiday with them and this year we were lucky enough to spend a few days with them over Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful dinner at a country club. It was nice being served for a change and the clean up for me was a peace of cake. It was a great time to be together with my parents and I love living closer to them to celebrate many more holidays!!

The Carey girls!

Love this girl… she is always up for Mom time - even if that means sharing me with Bella.

Nothing like a little girl time!

Starting back with our Friday night Beach nights. Loving our access to the beach year around!

So proud of this girl… the moment we arrived, she reached out to Parkland Buddy sports and started volunteering that weekend playing sports with children with special needs.

October Update! Stuffing a lot into the month! 2018

It feels like we have been living in transition for way too long. With Chris living in Florida and the kids and I up in New England, the weekends we aren’t together as a family seem to be the hardest. There are a few places that I count as my favorite all time spots, and Maine is one of them! My morning run view… This is as peaceful as it gets!

Sunday River, Maine

For not getting the foliage timing just right, we certainly were close enough to it that nature put on a spectacular show! We hiked the trails of Sunday River Ski Mountain

Hard to believe in a couple short months this will be covered in several feet of snow!

What a gorgeous spot for an afternoon wedding. You couldn’t pay for a nicer back drop!

Afternoons in Newburyport never get old… Fresh haircut with my girl…

… and lunch out with my crew! Love Agave!

Well the bandaid was ripped off and we are out celebrating! Final countdown to our family finally coming together and living under one roof!!

The news was not received well by all family members! We are going into temporary housing until our new home is finished being built and the confined space will be an issue for Bella who has had large yard to range in and unlimited trails to run off leash…

So I spent the last couple of weeks frequently hitting all of her favorite spots…

From the trails behind our house …

To some of our favorite resting stops.

A few minutes of donkey gazing… and waiting for the dogs that live here to show up.

and last but not least… the lake near our house that we walk to at least once a day.

So many spots to miss!

Bella passed out at the hotel… after the movers arrived. The kids thankfully haven’t missed their routine much with school and sports.

Movers arrived and things just got real!!!

While we are sad to leave New England… I will not miss mowing this lawn and keeping up the landscaping!!! Good Bye’s are HARD!

But adventures are FUN!!! Even packed like sardines in the car for the three day journey!

11 States later we arrived!!! From 30 degree weather to 70 degree sun!

Our temp housing for a few months… walking distance to school, library, shopping and the dog park!

And close enough to checking on our new house… Welcoming us on our first look see with this gorgeous sunset over the lake we have at the entrance to our community.

And yet … another first day of High School this year for Jordan! She is always up and organized and ready to go… I was not able to capture the chaos of the other two as they went off to their first day of Middle School.

Just want to add… my new love! My beautiful dog niece Scout!

Jennifer’s newest addition

September 2018 Back to School

A summer homework assignment for Jordan turned into a great family day in Rockport!  Love this small town at the tip of Cape Ann in Massachusetts.

A pre-birthday celebration for Ayden.

Dad & Daughter necklace beading

First Day of school!

Jordan is going into 10th grade at Masconomet High School

Garrett is going into 8th grade at Masconomet Middle School

Second piercing for Ayden for her 12th birthday!

… and a very special surprise from her friend Nolan coming off the bus.

As the temperatures get cooler FAST… we spent this afternoon at an apple orchard cheering Garrett on in his Cross Country race.

This boy can run!

The best part of fall is the cooler walks and the increase rain. This makes for the perfect mud concoction on our walks in the woods. The actual video that goes with this photo has Bella spinning around and around ecstatic. This particular mud hole is her all time favorite. It doesn’t look like much on the outside but boy is it deep and full of fun!

#lovemybellalab