The water is five feet high and rising

(Befores and afters)

In my whole life I never wished that it would stop raining. I don't think Utah has seen, in a whole season, as much water as Florida sees in a day. It is crazy how much water there is...it is almost enough to makes us kinda nervous. I think we probally have only a couple more feet left before the water is sloshing at our front door. An older local guy said in all his life he has only seen it like this twice before. I only have one picture of Lake Monroe before the rising water. I took a few picture to show you how much the water has risen.

Hopefully this is not a sign of what is to come...

We went flying while we were in SLC. Ben knew a guy who knew a guy that had an old SMALL plane that we could take flying. Max took a little snooze on the way down to the Provo airport where the SMALL plane was parked. When we walked out of the FBO to see the planes his eyes just lit up. There were so many! And they were so close!! He was so excited. He was a little stunned at first but then an airplane took off and he totally got the big picture. 'these are the one that I see flying in the sky!' At the little po-dunk airports everything is in close proximity that the plane taking off wasn't very far away. Then a helicopter came in to land. At one point he had both hands pointing at two different planes. He was obviously pulled in two directions and couldn't decide which one to watch.

We got to the SMALL plane and while Ben checked out the plane I let Max climb in the plane. His little mind was going a million miles an hour. He was all over the place. Touching the dials, pulling and turning the yoke so the flight controls would move up and down, opening and closing the door and windows. He was so excited he just kept signing airplane over and over. He would hold his hand up for extra emphasis too.

We started the plane, taxied out and took off and flew around for while. Max played musical laps with Ben and I. He would climb onto Ben's lap and fly the plane. Ben did zero g's (where you pitch the plane up and then pitch down so you get the feeling of being weightless) and Max was a little scared. That's when he came back to me, for the comfort hug. Then he would go back to Ben for more.

Cute friends!

Since I have been MIA for the last few weeks not only haven't I posted but I haven't looked at anyones blog. So I took time out last night and checked up on all of you! And can I just say that I have some of the cutest friends ever! I went down my whole list of people and instead of commenting on every blogs posts (since they were all so fun to look at) I thought that I would just tell you all that I think you all are so cute and looks like everyone is having so much fun. I know that most of you count on getting a comment from me every day (right!?!) so I just wanted to tell you sorry also. I really do love you! All of you! Thanks for not blocking me from your blog either since I haven't been around to make comments.

Fay a drop of golden sun...

Wow, I have missed all of August! I have so much to post about our exciting month...where do I start? We have been in SLC for most of the month attending a family reunion and a wedding. (And I have been totally OCD about the new Stephanie Meyers book, Breaking Dawn) Which were all a lot of fun. While we were there enjoying the crisp mountain air and dry valley heat we missed tropical storm Fay in Florida. She sounded like a pretty bad storm. As soon as we landed I could tell that the ground was just completely saturated with standing water. Ponds and lake were filled to capacity and in lots of cases overflowing. This storm gave me a glimpse of what a swamp/wetland habitat looks like. If you close your eyes and think of the Everglades or pictures of a swamp it is not hard to pictue what Florida looks like right now. The once muddy and grassy ground now looks like a smooth reflecting glass with trees sticking out of it. We live right across the street from St. Johns river which eventually flows into the ocean. The water is normally 6 to 7 feet below the dock but now after all that rain it is 2 inches away from over flowing. In the next couple of days it is predicted to cress and overflow as the storm heads north and as more storms come. Luckily Ben and I had minimal water damage. Other people in our apartment complex where not so lucky. They have big blue tarps hanging over their roof and windows. Hopefully the next big storm will not turn towards Florida. I think it needs to dry out here a little before Gustav comes closer or else we might have a swimming pool in our living room. Remind me why we got ground level/lake view apartment again?

Just my luck...

Ben was feeling really generous the other day and offered to wake up with Max that following morning, on his day off, so that I could sleep in AS LATE AS I WANT. I wish I could stretch it out all day long but somehow my sleeping in habits have vanished since Max came along. Anyway, what a nice guy. We stayed up a little later than usual watching a movie because hey I get to sleep in right! I think I slept a little more soundly that night because I knew that I didn't have to wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning to make eggs. Like clock work Max started talking away at 5:55am and I woke up and thought to myself 'Ha he's awake and I get to go back to sleep'! I look over at my other sleeping baby and he was SOUND asleep, not even a hint of 'I think I heard the baby'. It was ok, Max was not crying yet so I just rolled over and figured when Max started to cry I would nudge Ben and then he could go get him. I must have fallen back asleep cause I woke up at 7:05 and Ben was still asleep and everything was quiet. Why was everything so quiet? Is Max ok? Did he fall back asleep? Something by the way he never does. I went to go check on him and lo and behold he had FALLEN BACK ASLEEP!! WHAT! On my morning off he falls back asleep! He slept until 8:30...so did Ben..and so did I. It all worked out great but why can't that ever happen to me! Just once!

Blue Springs with Ted and Sarah

On Thursday we all went to Blue Springs Park. We bought some tubes and put our sunscreen on and hiked up river to float down the river. We bought Max a special bodysuit (seen below) for the occasion. I have always been really against these little suits because they look so dorky, but my imagination kept getting the better of me and I kept picturing Max jumping out of my arms while we were floating down river and sinking to the bottom. Then me being the vertically challenged person that I am, I could see myself not being able to touch the bottom to save him and you can guess the rest. Anyway, I gave in and got the dork suit so it would be harder for him to possibly drown. It was so much fun to float down the river. Max loved it he totally just chilled in my arms which was a nice surprise for me cause I thought he would be all over the place hence the dork suit. He just sat back and was so excited to be on the 'boat'. The trees were so tall and covered with moss and it was just green every where. It was super hot again so the water felt so nice and it was so clear. It wasn't to crowed either. Ben and Ted attacked each other and Sarah and I just relaxed and floated down the river. It was so fun that when we got to the end we had to go again. It was a lot of fun and we left just in time for the afternoon thunderstorms.

Beach Day

On the top of Sarah and Teds to do list was the beach. Yesterday we drove down to New Smyrna to spend the day surfing, boogie boarding and playing in the water. We had a lot of fun and it was such a nice day. The sun was out and there was a nice sea breeze. First thing was first, we rented a surf board and hit the waves. They were perfect for beginners (and me). Max loved running around in the sand and coming out in the waves with me. After an hour of playing Max and I went back out in the waves to cool off and he fell asleep on my shoulder while we were standing in the waves. He was one tired little guy. I was offered some shade under someones umbrella and I sat there while Max took a hour long nap. It was so nice of those ladies to share their shade. We would have roasted other wise. Sarah and Ted were pros on the surf board. They got up a ton. We took our small grill and grilled some hot dogs for lunch. In Hawaii we could always spot a tourist because their skin was the color of a tomato. Well the same goes for Florida. Even though it is summer, and Ted and Sarah did put on sunscreen, they still got burned. It was lots of fun and I am happy to report that the shark attack that happened yesterday did not affect any of us. Phew!!