Girls trip to Florida
I’m finally back to blogging, after a wonderful week in Florida visiting Lesley & Giovanni. Here are some of the highlights from the trip.
Here is Bailey on her first flight.
Giovanni missed Bailey! He wouldn’t let her hand go on the drive home.
The next morning, we quickly got in the pool. Man, do I miss having a pool.
Imagine our surprise when Giovanni points to the corner of the screen and yells, Iguana! Yep, an iguana has decided to spend it’s days in the screened in pool.
You know me and spiders. I am facinated by them. I was so happy to see what we, as kids, called crab spiders. Tell me these aren’t cool.
Then, we headed to the beach.
That night, we went to the local Elks lodge to play BINGO. I said to our table, “I just need an I-19.” Within a few seconds the caller said, “I-19″ and our table errupted in screams! Here I am with my winning ticket and my $50.
The next evening we took the kids to Clematis by Night, a really cool thing they do on Clematis St. in West Palm Beach. There is a live band, food vendors and fountains.
That night, I hear all this noise in the kitchen- I thought it was Lesley. Nope, it was Howie, the dog getting into trouble. Yep, that’s a garbage can lid around his neck.
The next day we send Giovanni to daycare and we walked around Delray Beach. Here are some pics of Bailey in front of some cool trees.
That night, we went to sit by the water, play in a park and eat at my favorite pub.
Here is Bay being silly with her yummy pub food.
Bailey & Giovanni had to pose in front of the funny statue in the pub.
Next was the fabulous Lion Country Safari. It was hot, but it was fun!
First, you go on a drive through safari. We saw all kinds of animals, from elephants, to ostriches, zebra and monkeys. Then, you walk through a zoo like area and then a small water world.
Our favorite thing was to feed the giraffes and the birds.
Bailey also enjoyed playing with Matilda the snake at Lesley’s house.
Back to the beach it is. There were sea turtle nests everywhere. They were huge areas with signs posted warning you not to disturb them. Very cool stuff.
There’s nothing like a sunset at the beach.
Our last night there, we went and had dinner at Lesley’s parents house. First, we had to drive by the house I grew up in. It was strange because they had made the whole left side of the lot into a nursery, so it looked so small.
Bailey’s looking for tadpoles in the pond.
Lesley, Giovanni & Annie in the pool.
We had a fabulous time!
A taste of Maine
I thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures that my mom sent me from their trip in Maine. I am so jealous!!
This is my mom’s best friend, Pirjo.
This is my mom and Pirjo being crazy!
Here is my Dad in front of Pirjo’s son, Dan’s house. Wow.
My parents- aren’t they great?!
A little more BFF craziness!
Isn’t it great to have a BFF- one of those best friends where no matter how long it’s been, it’s so easy to pick right back up again? Yep, I got me one of those- Lesley. Tomorrow, I’ll be boarding a plane to visit her. So, at the same time my mom is with her BFF, I’ll be with mine. 
Weird and sometimes awful things that happened during our vacation…
1. We leave early Christmas morning for the long drive to New Mexico. Our truck took forever to start. The battery seemed a little low. Hmmm. That worried us. Luckily, it was ok.
2. Because it is Christmas, no restaurants are open, except Waffle House, which we had for breakfast and for dinner. LOL
3. The next morning, we pull out of our hotel in Arkansas and hear a ka-thud-thud-thud. I think we blew a tire, but noooo, the tail gate of the truck opened up. Thank GOD that it didn’t happen on the highway! But, it won’t stay shut. I don’t know what is wrong with it and the truck is only 2 years old! So, Dave finally manually moves some pieces in the latch and gets it to stay shut. We lock it and put bungee cords across it to be sure.
4. Because of said problems with the tailgate, we refuse to open it until we get to Jason’s house…we left our jackets in the bed of the truck…and it’s about 20 degrees. Ha ha
5. We drove through 100 miles of a strong snow storm, and lived to tell about it!
6. A few days before we left for NM, I caught that awful virus that’s going around- massive sinus issues- cold, cough, nose, sneezing, etc. Well, I passed it to my parents, my brother, his kids, Dave, and maybe more people!
7. Because of said virus, I was often dizzy- the high altitude didn’t help. So, one morning, I’m in the shower at the hotel and I blow my nose. I get dizzy and fall out of the shower. Yes, I fell out.of.the.shower…and onto the floor, taking the whole shower curtain with me. Thank GOD I didn’t hurt myself. LOL
8. On the way home, the last day of traveling, we wake up and head out. About a half hour into the trip, Bailey starts puking everywhere. Again, thank GOD that we hadn’t eaten breakfast yet and all she had drank was water. There was no odor or any other unpleasantness.
9. Due to Bailey throwing up all over herself and the blanket by her feet, I had to get her out of the car and strip her down naked on the side of the highway…and it was 22 degrees. I found a nightgown in the back of the truck which had sat there all night, so it was 22 degrees too. Poor, poor Bailey. She only threw up one more time, but she had a fever all day and couldn’t eat or drink until nighttime when she nibbled on some crackers and sipped water. We honestly weren’t sure that we would make it home!
I hope you’ve enjoyed our drama!
The wedding pics
Jason and Jenny had a traditional Jewish wedding, but I don’t have any pics of the ceremony. We weren’t allowed to use flash. I do have a lot of pics of the party though! We had such a great time.
First, here are some pics of us doing the flowers the day before the wedding. The arrangements came out gorgeous!
This is Jenny and her sister, Mary.
Here are two of Jenny’s close friends. I loved them!
The bouquets.
Here are the flower arrangements I did for the tables, boxed up and ready to go to the temple.
Now for the wedding. We had a lot of time to spare while waiting to have our pictures done, so we took some pictures of our own!
Here is my mom with Jason’s step-dad, John. It’s the two step-parents!
The kids
just the girls…
Jenny and I…
Mom and I…
This is Bailey with Jackson, who is my brother’s sister Jen’s son. He loved her and danced with her all night. He cried when she danced with other people!
Can you tell he loves her?
The beautiful bride and groom with their beautiful cake.
The dads.
My boys…
Me and my little lady.
We danced the night away.
Bailey loves that she now has an aunt. Here’s Bailey with her Aunt Jenny.
As soon as I get a hold of some more pics, I’ll post them!
We’re home!
These are the states we went through. I’m missing Alabama and Oklahoma. It was hard to take the picture while driving!
On the way out, we went through a 100 mile wide snowstorm. The kids loved it, but Dave, not so much. It doesn’t look heavy here, but it was.
This is in Texas. It was very cold, but the jackets were locked in the back of the truck. That’s a long story, but we couldn’t get them out because we were afraid we couldn’t shut it again!
Our little man chillin’ in the truck.
We had some beautiful views while driving.
We saw the largest cross in the Northern hemisphere.
We passed through cattle country and smelled some stanky cows.
Finally, after 21 hours in the truck, we arrived. This is my brother’s cute house.
And this is his view!
The cousins are so excited to see each other!
And the pre-teens head straight for the computer!
Maria & Sierra loved seeing their Papa.
We just loved the scenery!
Just kidding! We loved spending time with the family.
Here is Dave with Jenny, my brother’s new wife!
My boys hanging out at the rehearsal dinner.
My mom and I eating her famous chicken and yellow rice. They cooked it for 45 people!!
Here I am with John, my brother’s step-dad, and Everett, who is my brother’s brother-in-law, but not mine. It’s confusing! Jason actually has a sister, Jen, who is a month younger than me. Ha ha! I don’t have any pics of the two of us- I need to get some.
Here’s my mom with Jenny.
Uncle Tim was being the king of the world with his nieces!
We went out to eat a lot.
And we did a lot of sight seeing, both in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
Did I mention that it was cold out there? This was the typical morning temp. It rarely got above freezing and the wind was sometimes up to 30 mph!
Next up- the wedding!
Thanksgiving in The Villages
I thought I’d share a few photos that I like from our trip to Florida.
We saw the most amazing rainbow when we took the golf cart out to get the mail. By the time we got back to the house to grab a camera, it had faded some. When it was at it’s peak, it was so bright and you could see every shade of color in it. We just couldn’t belive it!
Kathy & Bob’s neighborhood has it’s own resident birds! Look at the color on their heads!
The Villages’ mascot is the buffalo. They actually have a few herds that live on property. We never miss a chance to feed the buffalo carrots. Here’s Jake, up close and personal with a buffalo.
Here’s the baby that was born this year. Check out his tiny horns!
Here is the view from the boardwalk behind our hotel.
This picture came out pretty cool. I was just experimenting with the camera angles.
Our last night out to dinner, at RJ Gators.
Da cruise!
Here are a few pics to wet your appetite! More soon…
So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!
I’m off in a few hours to go on my cruise with my Sisterchicks: Mandi, Mandy, Amanda, Staci & Kristen. We are driving to Lady Lake, Fl, and staying in a hotel, thanks to my generous in-laws! Thanks, guys! Then we leave in the morning to go to Port Canaveral and we’re off! Four days in the Bahamas. I can’t wait! Goodbye!
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