While we were back in the US, and Alex’s school here in China was going online due to the pandemic there, we tried to keep him on track with online school. The main problem with that is with a 12 hour time difference, Alex couldn’t watch the lessons so he was only doing homework, and that makes it hard to keep up. So for the first couple of weeks it was a little bit of homework and a lot of freetime. And since I still thought this was going to be temporary, I didn’t push too hard on it either. Instead we took advantage of the pool, seeing the sights around town, and even a party boat fishing trip.
Just me and Alex went fishing this time, I was so excited to have some one on one time with my son- so we packed a cooler and headed out. Since the last time we were on a party boat I got really seasick, my stepmom got me set up with a “quease ease” pen and I took dramine before and brought ginger tablets too- this was also part of the reason Alex and I went alone- Mark was sick last time as well. We get to the boat and start our adventure-we met a nice couple from Minnesota sitting next to us, and Alex basically got one or two tries at a fish and then started to feel bad. He had never been seasick before, but the boat was bobbing all over the place.
Such a nice view leaving the harbor– and I know for Florida folks (my stepmom included) it was chilly, but to me and Alex it was perfect weather for a boat!
He also had on this fishing shirt he had bought to match my dad, and he was so disappointed he didn’t catch anything because he felt like he didn’t deserve his shirt. Poor kid ended up throwing up for most of the ride back to shore and had to sit with all the other people who were sick. Next time we’ll give him some dramamine too, just to be on the safe side. No fish were caught by anyone that day so it was a bit of a bummer in general. The fishing party boat that my parents took us out on, right before we left for China, was a much better experience.
My dad and stepmom had tickets to go to Italy not long after we arrived, but due to the spreading pandemic and not knowing what would happen or if they would be able to get back if they left- they decided to cancel the trip. Instead they took a trip to Hawaii that mirrored our Hong Kong trip, ok in the beginning and by the end lots of things were closed due to Covid. They were able to get there and back ok though, and while they were gone we watched the dogs. Alex loved walking them, me a little less so. I’m not sure if I’ve shared this on here before but mosquitos love me, like really love me. So in Florida, everytime I stepped outside I would get eaten up. I still have scars all over my legs and arms (although not as bad as some of Mark’s!) And Alex had maybe 5 bites total the whole time we lived there.
The dogs are good dogs and aside from having a thing against anything with wheels, aren’t bad to walk with. Alex misses his dog friends, and honestly his dock friends too. The pictures above were taken at a dock not far from my parents’ house, and when he walked with the dogs and my stepmom down to the docks, he made tons of friends– none within 40 years of his age, but tons of friends!
I took Alex, after researching it quite a bit, to San Marco island to find seashells. Collecting seashells at the beach has always been a favorite of mine, and despite being on many beaches, he’s never really been anywhere with good shells. We drove through the Everglades to get to the Gulf side of Florida, and had to time it right with the tides coming in or you can get stuck going the really long way to get off the island.
We had a good day, brought a picnic lunch, we didn’t find too many shells though. This is an island for serious shellers and by the time we got there it was already picked clean– and Alex wanted to play in the water more than shell with me.
I didn’t get a picture, but the seagulls were crazy aggressive at this beach, we had a bag of cheetos that wasn’t opened yet and they manged to rip it open and steal our chips. That was enough to get Alex out of the water!
As a complete foil to me and the beach, Alex and Mark went ice skating. While I was in Uganda, the boys went to Shanghai and one of the things they did together was go ice skating, so Alex wanted to try again. We found a rink not too far from my parents’ house and gave it a go.
His favorite thing is to sit on the seal and have Mark push him around the rink.
A boy and not really his dog. My parents’ got Clancy a couple months before we got there, and Alex really took to him. My stepmom has had collies for Alex’s whole life and both sets of dogs made a big impression on him. Clancy would sometimes come in while we were reading books at bedtime and snuggle up with Alex.
You would think we posed them, but this was just a regular Tuesday Night.
Traveling Expat Family 