Today was our last full day here in Florida, and we had to say good-bye to our friends. We are so thankful to our great friends Ricardo and Flavia for having us with them for some many days, for hosting us at their home, and making us feel like we were never apart. They are like family to us. Our kids played so happily together, they bonded even more than before, and we made new stronger bonds with the younger ones too. I’m glad we were all able to enjoy Vi, Henrique and Charlie. It was sad to say good-bye again, lots of emotions, we love you guys.
So, now here’s how our day went. I had slept in Bia’s bed because last night she thought she saw a spider there and was afraid to sleep there. She had the top bunk this time, so I slept up there again, second time this week. Bella seemed to have a bad dream again at night, called out and Carol came and turned lights on. Later Carol told me she was just thirsty and was asking for water.
After I woke up, I got my coffee going and focused on getting my writing done and caught up. I wanted to go run and still had some work calls, so not a ton of time free. I was able to finish all my writing and left for a run around 7:30. Just as I was leaving, some hot air balloons were flying around, which was pretty cool.
I just ran around the campground again. This time, I didn’t do the usual entire loop because each day when I do the area by the lake, at least one bug keeps flying around me for a while, trying to land on my head. hahahahah… today, there were more bugs out, and one followed me even before I got to the lake area, so I decided to skip it. The lake area has a lot of trees and is more shaded and more “jungle like” so naturally more bugs around. I just turned right before getting there, and then made up the extra distance by running around the area we are in one more time. All good, and got my 4 miles in, and even saw some cool birds out.
I waited a bit outside in front of the fan so I could stop sweating, then went inside to make sure everyone was up. Bia had just woken up and was getting breakfast. Carol was up but laying in bed on her phone, so I got Bella up. The girls got their breakfast and started school. They were on a mission to finish as soon as possible, so we could go to Calinas and spend as much time with them as we could, since today was our last day there. I got another pot of coffee going and got ready for a consulting call I had at 9.
I was still wet from the run, so I got the coffee and went outside. I pulled a camping chair behind the truck, where there was shade, and did my call from there. The spot was actually good, there was a light breeze, it was not too hot, there was shade, it was quiet, and the truck running boards worked great to hold my coffee mug. Hahahaha. The call was scheduled for just 30 minutes, but as we got close to the end of the 30 minutes the person asked if we could go longer, so we did a full hour. Yeah. I love those calls, they are easy, and it’s cash in hand in a few days, for a very nice per hour rate.
After that call, I went back inside and showered to be ready for my next call. The girls were doing good with school at that point. Carol did some more laundry, took care of Maggie, giving her a bath and a trim. Carol also started lunch soon after that. I was done with my call around noon, and had lunch. The girls had their food while working on school. I did a bit more work, and wrapped it all up around 1:30. Carol had just finished the dishes and we were ready to load the truck and leave.
Just as we were leaving, I got a call from a client and needed to take it. So Carol closed up the trailer, put a garbage bag on the truck, on top of the tonneau cover, and we left with her driving while I was on the call. When we got out to the road, passed the entrance of the campground, she pokes me and points to the garbage bag still on top of the cover. Yikes! Hahahahah. She drove off the campground with the bag still there. Then, her reaction was to continue driving onto the freeway, rather than turn around into the campground. hahahahahah. Fortunately, there’s a strip mall a block away, which is where the Publix is, so she turned in there, parked, tied the bag to the truck, and drove back into the campground to take the bag to the proper dumpster. Hahahahah…. And, when I thought the adventure was over…. So when we got to the dumpster in the campground, I had finished my call, so I took the bag. When I got back to the truck, Carol backed up a bit, and started driving off. I caught a glimpse of the reverse camera and it didn’t look right, so I told her to stop and put it in reverse again. Sure enough, it was pointing to the ground, which meant the truck bed was open! hahahahahaI. I went to check and it was, so I closed it. Hahahaha. At that point I asked her if she wanted me to drive… hahahah… She didn’t notice the door open, she didn’t notice the camera was weird. Yikes. Kidding aside, she drove to Calinas from there and we were fine.
As soon as we arrived, the kids were all hugging each other and happy, and went off and started playing. The kids played non stop, all day. Later in the day they also rehearsed a show, and the only non playing break they had was when Ricardo had the TV on and they were watching a bit with us until we turned the TV off.
When we arrived, all the adults were busy, so I did some research on crypto coins, and setup an Instagram account to try to market my NFTs. Carol was doing some sewing and finishing laundry. Flavia took her mom to a chiropractor and Isac went along, so they were out for a while. Ricardo eventually finished what he was doing and joined us in the living room. We watched some TV, specific videos on flying boats, or funny stuff from “the office”, etc, and just hung out and chatted. Brazilian pizza was ordered and arrived around 6, and Flavia arrived soon after. The kids had all eaten their pizzas already, so the adults finished together and were at the table together. We had a nice time chatting from there, and that’s when the kids started prepping for their show. Bella had this whole fashion show prepared. She had a book with the checklist of all the things they needed to do. She had drawn a picture of how the model (Vi) would look like, etc and it was all planned ahead, perfectly.
First they had Flavia go upstairs and record something in Vi’s room, which she said she will edit later and share. Then, they decided to do it live. Bia and Bella did the setup and Vi and Henrique were the models. The details they put in on this were amazing. Vi came out looking amazing, and when we looked at the drawing Bella had done, it was spot on. WOW! They then had lights off, music on, and had an introduction by Flavia, then Bella and Bia. They each had a job and loved it. Henrique’s modeling was pretty funny too, it was really cute and he did an amazing job dancing to the song he chose while modeling his look. The kids did that for a while, so we watched their show for probably an hour or so. There was even an autograph signing session, where they each came around the table and signed for each of the adults, it was adorable. And just as they were done with their show, it was already 9pm and time to go.
As we started getting ready, reality started sinking in, a tightness in our hearts started growing, and tears were coming out. We said good bye, and thanked our friends for being such great hosts, and letting us be with them all these days. We will greatly miss them all. As we made it to the truck, they all came out to say bye. As each of us got in the truck, some tears were coming down. Vi and Flavia were ready to follow the truck on the sidewalk for a bit, so they did. Vi running on the sidewalk saying bye, until the sidewalk ended, and we really waved the last goodbye to them, and that’s when it all hit everyone and there was lots of crying. Heavy hearts from missing our friends already, and knowing they won’t be just a few miles away. We were so happy to have spent these weeks with them, and heavy hearted to leave now. We love you guys!
It was a great day, with an emotional end of day, happy to have this family here, and feeling the tightness in our hearts. Til next time.