O'Briens Going For Broke... A Mini-Update From Florida!

Well the whole blogging two times a week thing... That was a novel idea. I mean I can't even believe I've managed to get three posts up. In order to actually get a post up it seriously has to be the perfect storm... And I don't mean thunderstorm. We have to have wifi, not be tired, not be visiting with friends we haven't seen in years, have a worth while topic or story... And did I mention not be tired and have wifi?

Right now we're in a Chick-Fil-A and wouldn't you know it we stumbled in here on flipping National Cow Appreciation Day. Lord help me. We were desperate for food and wifi and the only place around is having a freaking dress-like-a-cow contest? I mean normally I'd be moo'ing with the crowd for a free sandwich but this is not the day I wanted to stumble in to a group of heifers... Birdie on the other hand is thrilled and yelling, "Hey Cow, Hey!". The one thing we are thrilled about is the indoor play structure. Thank you God for the play structure!

Yesterday marked the beginning of our journey home and it's bittersweet as there are moments I miss having a schedule and knowing what day of the week we're on and what time zone we're in, and there are moments I can't imagine going back to that sort of structure.

Overall the trip has been going really well. No big car problems... Decent travel days, etc. Traveling the country I've learned so much it's unbelievable. I feel like every day is a new day in Merica 101. I'm not really the "learning type" but when you're stopping in places like St. Augustine, FL and reading about the history, touring old caves in Kentucky, camping in rural places like Hotter Than Hell, FL (or something close to that) and you have to figure out the weather for the day, decipher people's accents, look for fun things to entertain the family... It is seriously like taking one big class on America!

The kids have been swapping roles on who's going to be the "mellow" one for the day. First it was Birdie and Cormac was freaking out... Then Birdie started the screaming thing I talked about in the last blog and Cormac chilled out. It's a toss up on who's going to have a "well-behaved day" because they both have great days and bad days- and never each at the same time... Which is like a blessing and a curse in one. Birdie and I had a heart-to-heart the other day where she told me she was ready to not be on the road and go home and sleep in her bed. She was fighting back tears and it actually kind of killed me. But then we got to a friend's house who had an 8 year old girl who wanted to adopt her and all was right with the world again and Birdie was just as happy in Aubrey's bed as she'd have been in her own... It's like forced flexibility and it's either going to make them amazing with changes or hate us for the rest of their lives and chalk every problem up to the summer of 2015 with no AC and way too much car time... It's a toss up!

I'm going to try and blog a couple of funny stories and lots of photos from Disney World and Gatorland (the wifi I'm on will not allow me to upload photos!) in the next few days but I wanted to get something up while I had the chance and let you know we're still going... On Day 33! This is our last day in Florida, we spent the day at Pensacola Beach and I got burnt as heck... So I've decided the only thing worse than 100 degrees and humid is 100 degrees, humid and sun burnt. We head to New Orleans tomorrow and then up to Missouri and then on to Kansas for a car show we're in... Stay tuned!

xoxo

Kenna