Florida was fantastic!
But first we had to get out of Maine...and before we could do that, Matt had to go to the bathroom 2 times...before we even got out of Maine! So...this is as close to the highway as it looks...honestly. Some things never change. :)
We arrived in Florida, with no issues. We had a straight flight from Boston to Fort Lauderdale. And this was the view from our hotel room!! Gorgeous!!
Since we were mainly there for Matt's swimming, we spent quite a few hours sitting in hot, hot bleachers, in the blaring sun. No shade. We did that 3 mornings in a row, starting around 8am, but we never had to stay later than 10:30 or 11am, which was so nice. So it was 3 hours of sitting in order to watch a minute or less of Matt swimming. But it was well worth the wait.
This is Janna, Alex, Mom and Dad...waiting in the hot sun on the bleachers...
And this is myself and Jennifer...more of the same. Waiting...hot, hot sun, bleachers...you know the drill. And if you know me at all, then you know how I feel about being hot and in the sun. I hate it...but I did manage to keep from burning, believe it or not. I burned just a little one of the first days there, but nothing major at all. I did get sun poisoning on my hands and neck--which happens to me a lot. So that is irritating, literally. Because it itches like crazy, but I can't itch it because it hurts to itch it. But now that I'm home...it is going away thankfully.
So...here are Matt's swimming events.
Day 1: He did the 100 yard Backstroke, which is his best event. He ended up in 25th place overall (nation-wide!)
Click on this picture to see the video of Matt swimming his backstroke. (This is the only video I have of Matt swimming, the rest is in pictures. To see all of the pictures from the trip, go to my photo album, linked on this page-the first item in the blue section on the right) He is in the middle lane in this video.
Day 2:
Matt swam the 100 yard Fly (he ended up in 86th place overall)
And he swam the 200 yard Free (he came in 79th overall) - he is in the first lane in this picture.
Day 3:
Matt swam the 100 yard Freestyle (he came in 72nd overall) - he is in the second to last lane in this picture (from the right)
To see all of the results for the entire 4 days, or to find Matt's name for yourself on the lists, click here to see the official results.
So, when we weren't sitting in the bleachers watching Matt swim, we were able to spend a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful Florida weather!
The beautiful moon...
and sun...
And we spent just about every afternoon on the beach. These are the boys, putting sunscreen on. They might have enjoyed this process just a little too much. :)
Janna fought with her towel for about 10 minutes, it was so windy that she couldn't get it to stay down. She finally got it down (the picture below) and then it promptly blew away again...lol
We spent a lot of time in the water...it felt like bath water. It was amazing, especially since on Matinicus, we have to wear wetsuits even in the summer because the water is so cold. What a difference! There were some awesome waves going on, great for body surfing. But everytime we got out to the sandbar, where the waves were the best, the lifeguard would blow his whistle and call us back...so we couldn't bodysurf! Apparently the rip tides were strong...but it was annoying to not be able to bodysurf the way we wanted to.
We did go snorkeling one day too, but didn't get any pictures because we couldn't risk taking our cameras out with us. We didn't get to keep our boat! They dropped us off with our life jackets, snorkels, and flippers...left the boat for a short time, but then came back and took it away. We were out in the ocean without a boat, just swimming around. But it was so much fun. There were quite a few colorful fish to see, and we promplty removed our life jackets in order to swim more freely around.
We even spent time at the beach at night (the 4 of us did) We would lay on our backs and just look up at the stars. Matt is trying to convince us that the big dipper was someplace that it wasn't. lol. It was fun though, it was so great to be able to spend time together. It was a great bonding time for us all!
Alex and I were also able to see an old friend of ours, Loni. She was on our Panama Teen Missions Team, 10 years ago! It was so much fun to see her!
Our last full day in Florida, the boys really wanted to go on a rollercoaster. So with some research we found a small amusement park nearby with a rollercoaster. It is called Boomers!, and for those of you from Maine, it is smaller than Funtown, USA. They did find the rollercoaster there, and Dad, Alex, Matt and Janna went on it. I have nothing against rides, but they don't excite me or motivate me, so I didn't plan to go on the ride. After one ride, they all came off saying that it was great, and that Mom and I should come too. Mom however, is terrified of rollercoasters, but they convinced her that it wasn't so bad. So all 6 of us went on...and mom screamed the whole way. They had tricked her! It really wasn't awful...I mean it doesn't go upside down or anything, but there were more drops than she would have liked.
So after the rollercoaster, we went to the other side of the park, and found this ride called The Blender. This picture is of Alex and Matt...upside down and backwards. Its a crazy ride. I went on it once, and screamed the whole way, and had my eyes shut 80% of the time. Its a good thing I'm not usually scared of a ride, otherwise I think I would have passed out. My legs were jello when I got off.
Click on the picture below to see a video of this ride. Alex and Matt are on the ride in my video, even though you can't tell who it is.
When we got back from the amusement park, we spent some time at the pool, and I had the best Pina Colada I think I've ever had. And just before we left our hotel room for dinner, we saw a great big rainbow on the beach!!
After dinner, Janna and I decided that we need a little more excitement in our lives, so we both went and got Tatoo's! Honestly! This is mine.
And this is Janna's...
actually...as I'm sure you guessed, they aren't real. They are Henna, but they will last up to about 3 weeks! And it is fun to have them for a short time.
These are our last pictures taken in our hotel room the morning we left. All a little more tan, refreshed, not sure we're ready to go home to the cold...but going home none-the-less.
We made it home safely...to find one foot of snow on the ground. It was a bit of a shock to say the least. But we had the best time in Florida, and Matt has already qualified for next year! So we are looking forward to next year's trip!
Janna fought with her towel for about 10 minutes, it was so windy that she couldn't get it to stay down. She finally got it down (the picture below) and then it promptly blew away again...lol
We spent a lot of time in the water...it felt like bath water. It was amazing, especially since on Matinicus, we have to wear wetsuits even in the summer because the water is so cold. What a difference! There were some awesome waves going on, great for body surfing. But everytime we got out to the sandbar, where the waves were the best, the lifeguard would blow his whistle and call us back...so we couldn't bodysurf! Apparently the rip tides were strong...but it was annoying to not be able to bodysurf the way we wanted to. We did go snorkeling one day too, but didn't get any pictures because we couldn't risk taking our cameras out with us. We didn't get to keep our boat! They dropped us off with our life jackets, snorkels, and flippers...left the boat for a short time, but then came back and took it away. We were out in the ocean without a boat, just swimming around. But it was so much fun. There were quite a few colorful fish to see, and we promplty removed our life jackets in order to swim more freely around. And of course...Janna and I wanted a beach picture together.
We even spent time at the beach at night (the 4 of us did) We would lay on our backs and just look up at the stars. Matt is trying to convince us that the big dipper was someplace that it wasn't. lol. It was fun though, it was so great to be able to spend time together. It was a great bonding time for us all!
Alex and I were also able to see an old friend of ours, Loni. She was on our Panama Teen Missions Team, 10 years ago! It was so much fun to see her!
Our last full day in Florida, the boys really wanted to go on a rollercoaster. So with some research we found a small amusement park nearby with a rollercoaster. It is called Boomers!, and for those of you from Maine, it is smaller than Funtown, USA. They did find the rollercoaster there, and Dad, Alex, Matt and Janna went on it. I have nothing against rides, but they don't excite me or motivate me, so I didn't plan to go on the ride. After one ride, they all came off saying that it was great, and that Mom and I should come too. Mom however, is terrified of rollercoasters, but they convinced her that it wasn't so bad. So all 6 of us went on...and mom screamed the whole way. They had tricked her! It really wasn't awful...I mean it doesn't go upside down or anything, but there were more drops than she would have liked.
So after the rollercoaster, we went to the other side of the park, and found this ride called The Blender. This picture is of Alex and Matt...upside down and backwards. Its a crazy ride. I went on it once, and screamed the whole way, and had my eyes shut 80% of the time. Its a good thing I'm not usually scared of a ride, otherwise I think I would have passed out. My legs were jello when I got off.
Click on the picture below to see a video of this ride. Alex and Matt are on the ride in my video, even though you can't tell who it is.
When we got back from the amusement park, we spent some time at the pool, and I had the best Pina Colada I think I've ever had. And just before we left our hotel room for dinner, we saw a great big rainbow on the beach!!
After dinner, Janna and I decided that we need a little more excitement in our lives, so we both went and got Tatoo's! Honestly! This is mine.
And this is Janna's...
actually...as I'm sure you guessed, they aren't real. They are Henna, but they will last up to about 3 weeks! And it is fun to have them for a short time.
These are our last pictures taken in our hotel room the morning we left. All a little more tan, refreshed, not sure we're ready to go home to the cold...but going home none-the-less.
We made it home safely...to find one foot of snow on the ground. It was a bit of a shock to say the least. But we had the best time in Florida, and Matt has already qualified for next year! So we are looking forward to next year's trip!
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