Donuts and gators

So we had a family afternoon today and decided to start out the activities with a trip to Krispy Kreme.  Next to birthday cake, this is probably my favorite sweet treat.  I always have the same experience when I eat a KK donut.  First, is the heavenly flavor that just doesn't compare to anything else in the world.  The donut always disappears too fast and before I know it, my hands are empty and my belly is feeling sugary and in need of some kind of protein to balance the extremeness.  Then, the doubt sets in.  Should I have gotten the plain, classic, glazed?  What about the raspberry filled?  Did I justify consuming these calories and artificial ingredients with the perfect snacking experience?  Did my hips just expand by 5lbs.??  I usually get over that line of thought quickly enough, but it always pops up and darkens my KK experience just a little.  Today, the three of us sat at an old-fashioned counter happily munching our donuts, sipping milk and trying to get a glimpse of donut-making action in the back factory.  Natty always goes for sprinkles and did a much better job of nursing hers along to "rest" in between bites.  We reminded her that as soon as she finished, we would head over to the lake on campus to look for alligators.  We wrapped it up and drove to my alma mater- a beautiful, Florida campus filled with brick buildings and big oak trees and thin, tan girls running in short shorts.  Today was the perfect winter day- blue skies empty of clouds and cool enough to warrant a long-sleeved shirt.

 Scotty dropped me and Natty off by the lake and we sat down on a park bench to wait for him to park and to scope out potential alligator spots.  I think that I've never not seen a gator when walking around this lake, but today we were out of luck.  We enjoyed throwing things in the water to attract fish, walking the dirt paths, scuffling in the dead leaves, calling the gators and snapping photos.  This kind of day is what I dreamed of while sitting on my tush in La Paz, hoping that I could participate in these types of activities with Natty and Scotty.  Scotty and I reminisced about the day we went to the lake and had a friend take engagement pictures of us shortly before we were married.  It felt a little odd to be walking on the same campus, 10 years after graduating (no way!) as a young, naive girl to current day me with my husband, daughter and baby-to-be.  But, it was just the kind of thing we love to do and as much of a bummer as it was to not see any gators, it sure was another fulfillment of so many hopes and dreams I had before coming back.