January 2019

January in Florida is a pretty nice time to be outside so we took advantage and enjoyed the beauty of our own backyard, time at Disney (one of its least busy months), and a race weekend in Daytona. But the biggest happening of that month was a potential job opportunity in Burlington, Vermont…
Happy girl in her swing.
Ellie’s awesome big brother takes her for a spin in her wagon. 
Love that golden hour glow. 😍
James’ Christmas gift from us was some go-kart time at K1 Speed so he and Chris enjoyed a few hours tearing up the track. 
Chris didn’t tell him where they were going until they parked outside. Love that happy face! 
James loves all things mechanical and/or motorized, so naturally he thought this was AMAZING.
Ellie has her own form of fun transportation–elephant rocker–
and hair finally long enough for a tiny fountain ponytail on top of her head.
Having decided to grow out his hair, James now has enough for two tiny fountain pigtails.
James asked if he could read to Ellie and be the one to put her to bed. Melt my heart.
James loves to get creative with her toys while she’s napping.
She’s always so surprised to find what’s waiting for her. 
Spent a fun day at Epcot with my dear friend, Stacy. 
Family day at Disney!
As his milestone 10th birthday was just around the corner, James was deemed old enough to spend the whole weekend with the race-fan Shenks at the 24 Hours of Daytona. He had waited a long time to be able to go for more than just a few daytime hours and he was thrilled! I’m pretty sure the experience did not disappoint. He’s still talking about it…
Making a sign for his favorite driver, Jordan Taylor.
Catching a glimpse of Jordan Taylor’s teammate for the race, F1 champion driver Fernando Alonso.
Shenk family on the track!
James gets the chance to sign his name at the Start/Finish line. 
I happily stayed home with this little fashionista.
Being that adorable is clearly exhausting and yet she remains so stinking cute even while she sleeps.
After a few years in his role at Maestro, Chris was feeling the time was right to move on and make a change. In the spirit of adventure, and because we are The Traveling Shenks, we decided to open the job search up nationwide. After a series of successful phone interviews, a company in Burlington, Vermont requested an in-person interview for him, so we went up together to determine whether it was a move we would want to make if the opportunity was presented to us. The kids enjoyed a fun-filled weekend with Mimi & Papa Shenk. Our outdoor activities were decidedly different…
Based on the last-minute flight options, we flew into Manchester, NH and drove 3 hours northeast to Burlington. 
Taking in the view of the very frozen water of Lake Champlain.
Back in Florida, James enjoys the sunset view on the water from a kayak.
Chris and I actually walked on water… well, technically it was ice at that point, but we are standing on Lake Champlain.
James and Ellie walking towards decidedly less solid water. Unlikely they will walk on it.
Stay tuned for February’s post to see if we move to Burlington… 😆