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After working a year in his new job, Dale needed a holiday. He had one week of vacation saved up, and he wanted us to go to Florida. We love the beach. We miss the beach. We were off to the beach. Hurray!

But before the beach, he wanted us to go to Legoland. Gabe is lego mad crazy, and Dale knew Gabe would love Legoland. What surprised me was that we all loved Legoland, even Abby who nearly passed out standing in the line for the  Coastersaurus.

The lego creations throughout the park are astounding. I was amazed at the things they had built: An SUV, a giraffe, a city scape, elephants, a plumber carrying a toilet, a Florida grandma with curlers in her hair, a rocket, R2D2, foxes, monuments, a squid…

I could have taken photo after photo after photo and not captured it all. The attention to detail was amazing. The NY street scene complete with a mime war was hilarious. There was so much to look at and the surroundings were lovely. They plopped Legoland down into the old Cypress Gardens. The giant trees provided ample shade and there were many places to sit and eat granny apple fries.

The granny apple fries were the food of the day. They were delicious. To make them: Peel and core a granny smith apple, slice into fries, coat in cornstarch, deep fry for 3 minutes on 375, drain on paper towels, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and serve with whipped cream for dipping. I had read an online review where the woman recommended the apple fries and wrote “trust me on this.” I’m glad we trusted her.

Gabe and Josiah did Lego mindstorms where they maneuvered their lego robots. Gabe and Zeke went through lego driving school and drove lego cars. We all hopped on the giant lego fire trucks and raced each other to see who could put out the fire first.

Gabe, Zeke, and Abby had great fun trading mini figures. All the park employees had mini figures on their name tags and they would trade it for a mini figure of your own. Gabe had great fun with this and we were on constant watch for figures to trade for. Abby thought she had bested Gabe when she traded for the mad scientist minifig, but on the other side of the park, he had managed to trade for one as well. With the park closing, Gabe made one last mad dash around in the hopes of a final trade. Much to his delight, a park employee pulled out a clown minifig he had stowed away in a drawer. Gabe was thrilled. The minifig came with a tiny pie to smash in an unsuspecting face.

The Vinatieri family gave us a package for our trip to Florida. The instructions were to open it on the 9th hour of our trip.

So here are some photos of Gerund’s Spring Break with the Manry family:

My little nieces and nephews are often a hoot and a holler. They consistently do things which make me smile, chuckle, and laugh outright.

Little Aaralyn is a hair twirler. I watch her twirl her hair and just smile. I had a hair twirling baby as well: Josiah. His hair was blond too and I can remember him curling it around his fingers hour after hour after hour.

Little Gabby is full of spunk. The girl bounces wherever she goes. She bounced in her baby carrier and now she bounces on the couch cushions playing hot lava. Abby and Josiah played endless games of hot lava until I purposely bought a couch where the cushions could not be taken off.

Jadon and Ean are never just Jadon and Ean. They are dinosaurs, buzz lightyears, and cars. They have a new sound and new personality each day. They have an imagination like Gabe. I never know what they will think of next.

Marcus is an imp like Zeke. He knows how to make you laugh and comes up with some funny lines. He decided the hallway of my parents building was a good place to practice his combat roll. He told Jadon and Ean, “Watch this!” He set himself into a running pose and then took off. He ran five steps, did a combat roll, and came back to his feet and posed again. Jadon and Ean followed suit with varying degrees of success. Aaralyn watched them all and decided to give it a go as well. She ran a few steps, sat down on the floor, and rolled over. Instead of getting up, she decided the ceiling was quite fascinating and laid there and stared at it for awhile. Marcus looked down at her with irritation. “No, Aaralyn,” he said, “This is big boy stuff.”

“Don’t listen to him Aaralyn,” I said, “You can do it.” Then I laughed and laughed and laughed.

Every child begins asking the question “What is my mother doing?” at a young age. At first the emphasis in the sentence is on the “what,” and the child pursues the mother relentlessly to discover the answer. “What is my mother doing?” This is especially true when the child is two years old and her mother is in the bathroom. My mom saw us through this stage of life by never shutting the bathroom door.

Eventually, the emphasis moves to the “my mother” part of the question. When teenagers ask this question, they combine the emphasized phrase with an eye roll for dramatic effect. “What is my mother doing? Mom saw us through this stage of life by walking up the stairs, knocking on the slammed door, and telling us how much she loved us.

As the child reaches adulthood, the emphasis lands on the “doing” part of the question, for it is often a mystery. “What is my mother doing?” My siblings and I reside in this stage with Mom.

When Mom arrives for a visit, the piles of stuff arrive with her. We all experience the early morning wake ups filled with clanging pans, brewing coffee, opening but not shutting of drawers, and cutting things in half.

But sometimes, life throws us a curve and we can’t see our way through. After Dad’s stroke and Mom’s broken arm, Mom was tired and quiet and sad.

During this stage, Mom, my sister Marie, and I traveled together to a family wedding. The first day together, Mom was just not herself. So, I took action and decided if Mom wouldn’t be Mom, I would be Mom. I woke up early and unzipped and zipped my suitcase four times. I banged some dishes around, and I slammed the bathroom door.

Marie lay in bed, irritated at me and thought, “What is my sister doing? Soon after, I left for a run.

When I returned later, I discovered Mom sitting out in front of the cabin. She had dragged the cooler outside for a table and set it with a plate of cookies and three cups of tea. Standing with Mom were two Irishmen who had lost their way and had slept the night in their car. Mom had offered them a cuppa.

With a sigh of relief and gratitude in my heart, I thought, “What is my mother doing?

Some friends come in your life

and never lose their place.

Months and years go by

And you seldom see their face.

Then suddenly, there they are

And you smile and laugh again

A gift from God’s been given

To you, a forever friend.