two weeks

We've been Florida residents for two weeks. I was commenting to Hans and to a friend that my life here isn't obvious, at least not yet. When we first moved to Philadelphia we lived without a car for the first 18 months. We explored the city via foot and public transit.

Jacksonville and surrounding area, on the other hand, is so big and so car-centric that it's hard to know where to go and what to do. The marina where we are staying is close to the beach but also on a busy 3-lane road lined with strip malls and box stores. The neighborhoods are big and appear to be mile after mile of houses. Yep. We're in the suburbs. I can't exactly take the girls out in the 90 degree heat and go aimlessly biking or walking. I've been spending a lot of time on google maps and searching Jacksonville blogs looking for things to do and places to go.

Our second car. Let's go exploring!

Of course the beach is obvious. And fun.

lunchtime

Freja calls this her surf suit.
And this is how she walks from the beach blanket to the shower when it's time to go home.
One cool kid.

Today I found a park with a playground just one mile away. The girls both ran straight for the swings. I'd love to think of them as such hippy kids that they'd shun the playground in favor of wild nature but, nope. They love the playground.

And we've been taking advantage of the public spaces at the marina.

Freja loves the idea of going to school. So the other day we packed her backpack with her school supplies and found a little desk for her at the marina lounge. And she diligently wrote letters and numbers.

We all ate lunch in the "cafeteria."

There's a little wooden ramp that Matilda loves. We call it the ramp game and we have to play every time we walk home from the pool. Up and down the ramp. Yelling and screaming in delight.

And the pool. I think today was the first day we didn't go to the pool.

This kind of unknown and exploration is good for me. I'd gotten into such a routine in Philly with planned activities every day of the week that I often wondered why I was a stay-at-home mom if I was constantly rushing off to go places. On the other hand, I'm a social person, not at all an introvert, and I need that stimulation to keep me energized. I'm excited to see how I can bridge the gap of getting a healthy dose of social interaction while still having a flexible, free-wheeling schedule.