The last two days of our Orlando mini trip were fun and filled with love and laughter. Saturday we spent by the pool of our condo building. A 3 story water slide kept the kids busy for hours while I read by the pool soaking up the last bits of sun before Fall sets it's chilly face upon the US.
Sunday morning we woke up relatively early and drove for an hour to spend time with my cousin April. Love her to death... We are sisters from another mother and have been since we were 16. Our lives have separated and returned on a 5 year basis for many years now... ships passing in the night... she's an animal trainer, and my job is never in the same town... To find each other in the same state, let alone the same town is a minor miracle worthy of a lotto ticket purchase... 
April is the dare devil... the one that reaches for all life offers.... She hang glides, flies ultra lights, zip lines across whatever mountain ridge you give her a chance... 
When she found out the kids and I were in Florida, she invited us to the airfield where her ultralight "dragon fly" is kept. The kids and I drove to the air strip, not realizing the adventure coming upon us... We turn onto the street that heads us to the airport and I stop as I see the pavement end. "Um April, I hear violins, where do I go?" I text..."I'm in the white plane. I see you, stay where you are."
"What plane? What airfield?" As the plane lands and pulls up on the grass. That takes 'airFIELD' to a new level for me. I'm used to long PAVED runways... not large fields of mowed grass.
She talks me into flying with her... Katie does an immediate HELL NO and CJ balks an hour later... Its a beautiful day for flying and I'm loving the view the ultra light affords... As we land she laughs and says "I only heard one 'OH SHIT!' out of you... well done!"
We wander with the dogs to the lake/pond. The kids spend an hour or so playing on the rope swing as April and I catch up. CJ braves the swing for a bit before Katie decides to share and join him. The dogs bark and chew pine cones and periodically dip in the lake.
I tease April about her friends retriever show dog looking like a hot mess after the lake. The greyhound, which you can see in the next Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie, never looks wet or tired... A happy dog that's full of energy and affection.
Energy and affection is our family history... that and bellies full of laughter... CJ decided he wanted to take the paddle boat out into the lake... April told him to go ahead... Look carefully at the picture of Katie swinging above... Do you see an issue beginning to unfold...? April notices it and, of course, tells me to pull out my camera as she's starting to laugh hysterically.
Apparently there's a leak in the paddle boat that she thought was a slow filling one. Next thing we know his boat is playing the final scenes of the Titanic... April is laughing, I'm singing "My Heart Will Go On"... and a friend of April's valiantly hops into a canoe to save CJ. The friend capsizes his canoe about 5' away from shore and we both fall over laughing as the guy rights the canoe and says 'That's never happened to me before"...
"My knight in shining armor! You rush to save my son! I'm so SECURE in your ability to bring him back to safety... NOT! CJ start SWIMMING!" and I fall over in another fit of laughter with April by my side guffawing...
CJ is rescued, the paddle boat is upright and dragged back to shore. 
Katie gives up on the rope swing and her new buddy teaches her how to drive an ATV... this she does with abandon all over the edges of the airfield.... We head out an hour later... With promises to visit April again in 5 years... Hopefully we'll see her sooner... If we don't... April, I love you... Thanks for the memories and for being the coolest cousin EVER.
