Critters, creatures and all of the above

I resisted taking a nap this afternoon so I could clean out the car for our upcoming trip. Once upon a time I kept up with the inside and outside of my car so that it rarely got too messy or too dirty. You would think now that I have a toddler eating, drinking and throwing crumbs to and fro that I would keep up with it just as I did or even better than in my past days. Not so. I think it has something to do with the lack of time. Go figure. My dad was an expert at getting cars to look brand new, inside and out, although he got a little too happy with the Armor All. Let me tell you, it is not easy to drive a car when your foot keeps slipping off the gas pedal...

Our upcoming trip is a trip...HOME! On the agenda - my oldest nephew's high school graduation and the wedding of one of our girls from our church in Illinois. Sabian is taking part in the ceremony and we are happy to be a part of it. There are also a few other things we'll do while we are at home but if I must be honest, I'm just glad to be getting out of town.

Our weeks and weekends have been busy but some of that busyness has been punctuated by trips to the beach, park and having some opportunities to hang out, just the three Chaneys. Much of the busyness has been occupied with church activities, birthday parties, errands and the general hubub of life. It's not bad, it's just...busy.

I mentioned in this post that we'd had the pleasure of a visit from one of our youth members, Hayley, and her horse, Dallas. Sadly at the time I did not have my camera. When she brought her horse, Ruby, to church, I did.

Again, didn't strike me as unusual. Just a fun surprise as we pulled up for youth service one night.

I witnessed another "fun" surprise a week ago as we were heading back to Wewa from Addie's doctor's appointment. Addie had fallen asleep and I was enjoying a peaceful drive. As we neared Wewa I spotted something off in the distance, an animal of some sort, crossing the road. As I got closer it was clear I was going to have to swerve into the other lane to avoid flattening it and as I swerved, I really couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was an alligator. Not a very big one, but an alligator nonetheless. I drove on home in a bit of a daze, really wondering if I'd seen an alligator crossing the road, grinning a wiiiiide grin. Before last week I always joked with my Floridian friends that I doubted the existence of alligators in Florida, as I had never seen one. Well, now I've seen one. Not only have I seen an alligator, but I've also seen two bears since living here. I also can't forget about the rattlesnake my neighbor brought home, but at least he was dead. I'm not so sure about all of these critters.

The excitement of the week this week happened a couple of nights ago when Addie had a teenager moment and locked herself in her room at bedtime. Totally unintentional, but a not-so-fun experience for the three of us. While Addie was crying and asking for us on the other side of the door, Sabian and I were trying every key we could find in the house. When those didn't work (and when I realized her window was locked so there was no getting in that way), he tried to use his drill to get through the doorknob, which didn't work. It was either bust down the door (least desirable option) or get the doorknob off. Finally, thanks to a hammer and gentle encouragement to Addie to step away from the door, we got to her. She was fine, having taken refuge in her bed while Sabian hacked away. I'm almost in favor of just leaving the knob off for now but either way, she's slept fine the last couple of nights with seemingly no emotional scarring on her part :)

Today I am thankful, again, for this awesome weather we are having. The longer we can hold off the oppressive humidity, the better!