The Rest of the Story

Our time in Jacksonville is coming to an end. We will be on the road Friday and are looking forward to being back in Rochester Sunday. We have loved the weather but will definitely not miss apartment living! We've had enough car alarms and cockroaches for awhile.
In April a few other families from Rochester came down for rotations too. Having these gals here has made a huge difference in my quality of life! Most mornings we meet up at a park, or better yet the beach! 

The beach has become our destination of choice. Scarlett was initially scared of the waves, but after seeing how much fun her 3 year old friend was having jumping in them she let me hold her in the water. By the end of the morning I couldn't pull her out of the waves! Unfortunately, a day at the beach is no longer "a day at the beach" because I am constantly holding her hand in the waves, running after her, apologetically giving the toys back to the kids playing near us, asking every dog walker if we can pet their dog and removing washed-up jellyfish from our path. But we're on the beach, so I can't complain!

Hard to believe by her body language, but this picture
was taken just moments before she said
"I love you" to me for the first time :)

St Augustine is a touristy town 30 minutes south of Jacksonville that we've enjoyed going to a few times. It has a Spanish feel to it and is actually "the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States" (thanks Wikipedia).  There is an old fort, narrow cobblestone streets, tons of shops and always a party going on. We were in town for the Rhythm 'n Ribs Festival. Scarlett was appeased by an ear of corn for a solid 20 minutes, so we bought her a second one. I can't help but shudder at spending $6 on two ears of corn. I used to sell it out of the back end of my grandpa's truck for $2 a dozen! Uffda! 

That smile is worth the $3 ear!

One of my birthday presents from Ben was tickets to Diana Krall (No, I did not turn 50. Yes, I am an old soul). It was the perfect night out! We had dinner at Benny's Steak and Seafood downtown at Jacksonville Landing. The Florida Theatre was the perfect venue for jazz music. I enjoyed her live even more than the countless nights I've listened to her Pandora station cooking in my kitchen with a glass of wine.

The silver lining in Ben spending 20 hours a the hospital one day is that he gets the next day off.  We took the free weekday to explore the Jacksonville Zoo thinking it would be quiet. There were a few classes on field trips with some overwhelmed looking chaperons but once we managed to get in front of them it was quite bearable. Scarlett loved the giraffes, elephants and carousel. 

Taming the wild zebra, Scarlett Aakre...or is it the other way around?

We enjoyed an evening at Bargan Stadium watching Jacksonville's AA team. The Jax Suns played the Memphis Biscuits. Needless to say, the Suns won. Who names a team the Biscuits? My toddler eats those for breakfast. I know my husband was a Concordia Cobber, but at least you can "fear the ear". There is no intimidation factor with the Biscuits. Anyway, the stadium was very family friendly. An usher gave Scarlett a ball, there was plenty of open space for her to run and even a playground in the outfield. 

Bragan Stadium home of the Jacksonville Suns

Last weekend we enjoyed not only being in a home but a really nice home! Dr & Dr Rodriguez invited us and another anesthesia family from Rochester over for a wonderful afternoon. They were both doctors in Brazil before moving to the states and trained as anesthesiologists at Mayo in Rochester. They now work at Mayo in Jacksonville. The kids had to practically be drug out of the pool for lunch. They grilled us Brazilian steaks and chicken hearts. Scarlett really liked the chicken hearts :)

The farmer's daughter report (aka weather): Last month most days hung in the 60s- low 70s. April has been a different story with sunny days in the 80s. Sunday it reached 92!  It has been very humid with frequent rains. A day after I made the comment that they don't get 'midwest' thunderstorms with a chance for tornadoes I got a notification on my phone of a tornado warning. Turns out I was wrong! We had torrential downpours and strong winds Saturday that broke off three maple trees in front of our apartment.

Storm damage

Savannah

Easter weekend was spent in Savannah with my parents. They were on their way back to Iowa from their winter in Naples, so they stayed with us Thursday and we headed to Savannah Friday afternoon. Ben had to work Friday so his plan was to meet us there for our dinner reservation at Alure to celebrate my birthday. On his lunch break he let me know that it didn't look like he would get out of the OR until 6 and still need to drive ~3 hours. Normally I don't get bent out of shape when the hospital holds my husband hostage. It's part of the territory. But didn't Mayo know it was my birthday?! Turns out the doctor Ben was working with (who decides when he can leave) goes to the church we've been going to Jacksonville and is in a Bible study with the friends we've made in our apartment complex. He let Ben out early so he was able to make our dinner reservation- God is good!

Alure was delicious! Not frequented by toddlers, they didn't even have a highchair. Scarlett sat nicely watching Elmo on her Kindle while my parents, Ben and I enjoyed a bottle of Malbec and seafood.

Saturday we took Scarlett to historic (everything is historic in Savannah) Grayson Stadium for an Easter egg hunt. There was live music and several age-specific egg hunts with 15,000 eggs. Scarlett loves egg hunts. I have been setting one up for her almost daily over the last several weeks. Even with all her practice she has "toddler technique", opening up an egg and eating the candy before finding another egg. Next year we will be more aggressive.

Egg hunt in T-5

Dress rehearsal egg hunt in the hotel room

Saturday afternoon we boarded a harbor cruise. We were surprised to learn Savannah is the 4th busiest harbor in the nation. My dad and Ben were like little boys watching the huge cargo ships go in and out of the river.

Cruisin' the river

Easter Sunday we walked to a branch of Savannah Christian Church that is held downtown at historic Lucas Theater. The theater was recently went under a $14 million restoration that took 14 years. It was beautiful! The community uses it for performances various nights of the week but Sunday mornings it's used for church.
We enjoyed brunch sitting out in a courtyard of the City Market district. Scarlett didn't sit so well for this meal. One of us was always up chasing dogs with her. We saw the city on a trolley tour, getting out for a break at Forsyth Park. Hundreds of people were enjoying the sunny, Sunday afternoon at the 22 acre park. The best meal of the weekend was enjoyed at the Pink House. We had received many recommendations for the Pink House and it did not disappoint. The large, home was built in 1771 and can seat 400 guests for classic southern comfort food. Our waiter assured me we were his favorite guests :)

He is Risen!
Off to church

On Easter dinner at the Pink House

Monday morning my parents hit the road for Iowa while we toured the train museum, had breakfast at Clarey's (which was in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"- not that we've seen it) and took turns reading the paper and watching Scarlett on the playground at Forsyth Park. After a long weekend we were ready to call it an early night but we had to stay up to watch the NCAA tournament. My crazy love for basketball had led me to the educated picks of Wisconsin and Duke to be in the championship. Actually, I could not tell you one college basketball player and got extremely lucky with my picks. Either way, I was heartbroken when Wisconsin lost because I could have made some pretty good money winning the bracket.

Scarlett left the train museum so filthy she looked like an engineer

South Carolina

Last weekend Ben had a four days off so we seized the opportunity to cross another state off our list. We drove 5 1/2 hours to Myrtle Beach. We stayed at Dunes Village right on the beach. The hotel had an indoor water park, outdoor pools, playground, Starbucks and tiki bar. What more could you want?  It was so kid friendly there was even milk in the vending machine. We checked out the shops and microbreweries at Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach. Friday morning we went to Alligator Adventure Park. We loved seeing all the animals, especially those we've seen in their natural habitats in Africa, Australia and Asia. Sharing the experience with Scarlett was so fun. We hope she never outgrows her love for discovery.

After not having enough time in Myrtle Beach we went and spent not enough time in Charleston. We learned a lot about the history of Charleston, Fort Sumter and the Civil War on a harbor tour Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning we had a horse drawn tour of the historic district. Scarlett just thought we were looking for babies and puppies, so when we were in areas that didn't amass them she got a little restless. We gave our apologies and a good tip. After checking out the old City Market we headed to James Island County Park for the Lowcountry Cajun Festival. I found a food truck that's menu had nothing familiar to me and jumped in line. We ordered jambalya, muffaletta and pecan beignets. All amazing. All too small. Scarlett was a trooper with all the new sights and sounds, lack of schedule and fragmented naps. Needless to say she was exhausted and slapped almost all of the 3 1/2 hours back to Jacksonville fro Charleston.

Taking a little break at the Georgia/ South Carolina line

Sitting on a turtle statue at the alligator park

Up to no good- licking all the powdered sugar off the donut holes in our hotel

Saying "hi" to our tour guide Cash the mule

No complaints about SC from the backseat 

Jax

We've been in Jacksonville for a month now and are not the least bit homesick! Ben spent the month of March doing a pediatric rotation at Wolfson Children's Hospital. He enjoyed his experience and I enjoyed his hours. :)

The first week Scarlett and I were self-quarantined to our apartment since we felt so miserable. I don't recall feeling that sick before- and I get sick a lot! One night I was up coughing for hours and wondered if I had contracted tuberculosis in Vietnam. We may not have had tuberculosis but it may have been influenza. I have named it The Superbug of 2015. Ben even felt sick- which never happens. He doesn't have any sick days here and had to work 11 of the first 12 days. So when my parents had planned to drive up from Naples, I didn't have the heart to warn them that this was no ordinary illness. I needed them. They arrived with Scarlett's toys and clothes and with an enthusiasm for life that I simply did not have. It was so nice sleeping in and recovering while they watched Scarlett. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, they ended up getting sick too.

Sunday brunch at Metro Diner. Instant favorite!

Fashionistas wearing matching pants

Not sure who's having more fun- Scarlett or Grandpa

Once we finally got our feet on the ground we started exploring. We've made day trips to Amelia Island, Daytona Beach and St Augustine. Jacksonville may never feel like home but it has a lot to offer. Our apartment is halfway between the beach and downtown so it takes us 15 minutes to get to either. We are a mile away from the most amazing outdoor shopping complex I've ever seen. Scarlett & I have the perfect morning plan of Starbucks, watching the turtles in the pond, checking out a couple stores, playing in the playzone, then going to story time at Barnes & Noble. A gal is our apartment complex invited us to check out her church. Turns out she and her husband went to college at Bethel the same time we were in the Cities and we only lived a mile apart. Such a small world! We love the church and hope we can find one similar to it next year when we move to Mankato. 

Scarlett is learning so much! It's fun to spend everyday with her and encourage her. She just turned 18 months and says >100 words (yep, I counted). She also is an expert in animal sounds and will have no problems acing anatomy in med school. Scarski loves Elmo, babies, puppies and snacks and can be redirected by mentioning any of them. She also enjoys...

long walks on the beach,

the nice lady at the farmer's market who gave her an
Oreo sucker 

swinging at the park