After the insane whirlwind of our time in Philadelphia/New York (our story about NYC is here), we went back to where it all began for us. We spent a month back in Gainesville, FL. This post will definitely be substantially shorter than the previous two. We had some laughs, learned more about how to enjoy the simple things in life, and reconnected with many old friends! Also, in spite of living in Gainesville for five years, there were still several things I hadn’t ever experienced. So, I felt pretty thrilled to finally see and do some exciting bucket list items with our beloved family!

Catching Up with Old Friends

Shortly after we arrived in Gainesville, I took Dominic to daily Mass. I wanted to practice getting him used to being quiet and behaving in church. I also wanted to see if I still recognized anyone in the area. We are old now, after all. Dominic did remarkably well, though I did have to allow him some space to roam a little. Afterwards, I did end up running into a few people I remembered!

We were then invited to a Family Night the following evening, where we had the pleasure and privilege of catching up with several families we still knew in town! That was such a lovely evening. Towards the end of our stay, I again met up with one of the families to have a playdate and picnic at a park. We are so grateful for the gift of picking up where we left off as if no time at all has passed!

UF v Vanderbilt Homecoming Game

Frank knows how much I have missed attending live sporting events. I especially loved going to football games while I was a student at the University of Florida. Therefore, Frank bought me a ticket to attend the UF vs Vanderbilt Homecoming Game! I was also lucky enough to tailgate with even more old friends, where I found out that I was going to sit with some of them too! Attending the game was so much fun, being able to share it with other football fans. I think my absolute favorite part was being present to take part in one of my favorite college football traditions – singing “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty after the third quarter with the entire stadium!

Thankfully, UF actually won that game. Their overall record for the season was 5-7, so this was a somewhat rare win. “In all kinds of weather, we all stick together, for F-L-O-R-I-D-A!”

The Gems of Domestic Life

Our clean and cozy AirBnb had a comfortable couch, a nice kitchen, and the bedrooms upstairs. Most importantly for us, we enjoyed an awesome fire pit outside in the fully fenced backyard! Lounging on the Adirondack chairs and watching the fire crackle and spark provided many warm, intimate nights with just us. It was something small, but it was one of the highlights of our stay that month.

Also, Frank had to travel for work for a week within that month, so I held down the fort at home with the kids. We had found an awesome playground the week or so before. While Frank was gone, I took the kids there almost every day. Beforehand, I had wondered and worried about whether I could manage both kids by myself. In the end, we have wonderful kids who listen very well, and we had a blast and made the most of our time to ourselves until Frank could come back.

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (✅)

I had known of the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens back when I lived in Gainesville for school, yet I never visited somehow. Frank had gone with his family at one point, and he knew how lovely it was. One fine weekend day, we made our way over to the Gardens. I had seen photos of the giant water lilies when I looked them up on Google, so I was determined to find those and get my own shots. We wandered all over many trails and parts of the Gardens, parts we might not have seen had we found the lilies first. There was an area of plants native to central Florida, such as palms, cacti, and aloe plants. The flowers throughout were also gorgeous.

The Bamboo Forest

We LOVE bamboo, so much. Slowly meandering through this lush, intensely green and peaceful landscape was one of the main highlights of our visit here. I loved the red bridge we walked over, and Victoria found this beautiful hollow piece of bamboo that filled and spilled water. I was content to linger in there for ages, yet I was also very excited to keep moving on to find the other treasures within.

Giant Victoria Water Lilies

The crown jewel of the Kanapaha Gardens, the Giant Victoria Water Lilies! I was so excited to find these and marvel at how huge they are in person. Allegedly, they can hold the weight of a grown adult, though we nor anyone else attempted to try. We were especially amused to find that Victoria is part of their name, which made them even more special to us. Somewhat sadly, we had already been walking for so long that we were exhausted by the time we found these. We did somewhat linger for a little while, but we also had another stop we wanted to make for our adventuring that day.

Butterfly Rainforest (✅)

The Florida Museum of Natural History lies on the University of Florida’s campus. It contains a magical Butterfly Rainforest, and we hurried there after the Gardens. While we didn’t necessarily see a massive cloud of butterflies (I’m not sure what I was expecting, and we had technically been here before for a wedding reception, so I don’t know), it was still very lovely. The kids enjoyed seeing the butterflies float around us. There were also small waterfalls and more lush greenery. Between the two places and Mass that evening, it was another perfect day of our family adventures!

Final Thoughts

I know this is a much, much shorter post than normal, and personally, I’m really okay with that. During our month here, we ate food from some of our old favorite restaurants, we drove by old places of work, and we explored new nooks and crannies previously unknown in Gainesville. I spent a great deal of time driving the kids around to give them naps. I would typically spend that time with my two favorite podcasts at the time, “The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz” or “Ologies with Allie Ward.” This month was intended as a breather month, a slower, calmer break after the frenetic whirlwind of Philadelphia and New York. It did its job, and I for one very much enjoyed myself! I think the rest of the family did too.

Up Next

We are back at it with another month of nomad life! We explore a decent stretch of the Gulf Coast, and get up to our usual mischief. Adios for now!