January 29, 2014

the weekend. sunday

Claudia everyday life family, Miami, southpoint 8 Comments

when i moved to miami from new jersey in two thousand and one, i moved to southbeach

south of fifth in southbeach to be exact

a neighborhood that was made up of mostly people in their twenties, thirties and the retired folk

a bohemian neighborhood of surfers, artists, models, stylists, photographers

for the most part, buildings were old and rent was still cheap

cheaper than anywhere else on the beach it seemed

some people worked, some people didn’t work, but no matter what, everyone seemed to get together at third street beach every late afternoon

there were hardly any children around

in two thousand and six, with the help of my parents, i purchased an apartment on the opposite side of southbeach

i was now a bit older, my life had changed and i found myself in a very different neighborhood

there were young professionals and all of the sudden there were lots of young families

and children

the people in their twenties and thirties had gotten older, moved, some had gotten married and began to have children

parks started looking cleaner and cared after, the old buildings got knocked down and replaced by luxury condos, fancier restaurants started opening…

it was a whole new southbeach that was beginning to happen

in two thousand and nine, while still living in southbeach, Lily was born and Will and i began our own family

almost a decade later since i had moved to miami, southbeach was now a very different place

by this time there were lots of children and families around

and southbeach seemed cleaner than ever

for the first two and a half years of Lily’s life, we made the most out of the new kid friendly southbeach

we rode our bikes to different parks, we rode or walked to the beach…

everything we needed was within either a walk or a bike ride away and we tried to take advantage of that every day

southpoint, a place where people would take their dogs, fisherman would fish and surfers would surf went through one of the biggest transformations when it turned into an amazing park

a beautiful park right on the water with water features for kids (and adults) to play in, bike and walking trails, a playground and….. a hill. the only hill in miami as far as i am concerned

Lily and i would go at least once a week

sometimes on our own, sometimes we would plan playdates there (visit here and here)

since moving across the water (literally) from where we lived in southbeach, southpoint is a place that we had not been back to since this past sunday

sadly, it had been so long that Lily didn’t even remember it

going back to southpoint this past sunday not only brought great nostalgia of my younger days, made me feel like a stranger in a place i once called home but, it also was a great reminder that we (and all things for that matter) grow and change

most of the time for the better

it felt good to visit

ps- if you had not noticed yet, this is a very word and picture heavy post. happy wednesday!

she didn’t want to ride her bike. she rarely ever does

loves to climb

meow

obsessed with her and her turban

“help mama. help!” lol

she hides, we seek. it’s not that hard

there she is again with her friends. still on the phone

i told you, obsessed

we had lunch at monty’s. an old stomping ground

can you see them?

ocean tales

where the wild things are