Just can't get enough family time

There's a steep price I pay for living in what I call Paradise. While I have plenty of glorious sunshine, what I don't have is plenty of family time.

Even thought there were a lot of tears at first, my two daughters both agree that I did the right thing by moving to Florida. They say it's rewarding for them to see how happy I am with my Florida lifestyle.

When they get the chance to fly here and share in that Florida lifestyle, we are all like little kids in a new playground - just happy to be playing together.

This was an incredibly wonderful month for me because not one, but both daughters flew in at separate times to spend time with me.

My husband David and I were excited for weeks before they came, planning how we would share our active lifestyle with them, especially biking and kayaking.

Fortunately, my daughters have come to love kayaking as much as we do. We try to make their kayaking experience different each time by going to a new location for each visit. That's easy because there are dozens of places to kayak around here, including scenic rivers and the places along the Gulf of Mexico.

Since they have a relatively short stay, we pack as many fun things into their vacation as we possibly can.

When daughter Andrea and her daughter Sophie came to visit, we managed to visit four different beaches during their four-day stay, in addition to a day when we kayaked to a beach accessible only by boat. They loved looking for seashells on that private beach.

We were also able to give them a great day biking the Legacy Trail in Venice. It's a smooth, 10-mile scenic bike trail that runs along a waterway where you can watch boats pass while you bike.

Anyone planning to visit southwest Florida would be rewarded with a spectacular day if they included a day "riding the trail."

I guess I sound like I work for the tourist Promotion Bureau when I start talking about Florida attractions. That's only because I like to have others share in the joys our area has to offer. That's especially true when family comes to visit.

While my family loves the outdoor adventures in our part of the woods, there is one part of nature here that they could do without - alligators.

As you no doubt know, alligator attacks in Florida have been in the news. When that big monster of a gator jumped up from a pond at a Disney resort to grab a child, people understood there is a dark side to Florida wildlife.

Andrea saw that ugly side of nature when she saw an alligator across from my house grab a big gopher tortoise and devour it. After that she stayed away from that pond.

When Maria came for her first visit in three years, she too loved kayaking in the Gulf, biking in Venice and also going to Yoga on the Beach. I think she was won over to our active lifestyle.

One part of her trip that she won't forget is the pontoon boat ride through the 26 miles of canals that run through our community. My friend Andy took us on an evening ride on his pontoon boat to show Maria the local wildlife.

As we rode through the darkened canals, Andy shined a light on the water to reveal "gator eyes." He was disappointed we only saw a few smaller gators.

"To tell the truth, I was hoping for some big buggers," Andy said. But he got more than he bargained for when we tried to dock back at his house.

We couldn't get out of the pontoon boat because a 12-foot-alligator was on the bank where we needed to alight. Shining a spotlight on the gator should have made it leave. It didn't. Not a good sign.

Maria took some photos for her Facebook page, but I don't think she'll need photos to remember that part of her vacation.

My favorite part of having my daughters with me was just doing simple, everyday things with them - having our morning coffee together, cooking a meal and, most of all, just talking, talking, talking. Mother and daughter talk. Precious talk. The kind one doesn't get on the telephone when conversation is filled mainly with talking about activities.

Little things make up the mosaic of family life. Perhaps there was a time when we took those things for granted. But when the family scatters across the country we miss those simple times.

When the girls were still living at home, Andrea would play the Depeche Mode song, "Just Can't Get Enough" and we would dance around the house together, doing our happy mother-daughter dance.

I think about that a lot because I know I'm the one who just can't get enough.

I can't get enough of being with my family.

There were years when family time was an everyday happening. Those days go by too fast, and now vacations go by too fast, too.

If you still have your kids at home, I hope you know how blessed you are. I hope you hold every simple moment close to your heart and treasure it for the gift that it is.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.