AIRBOATING THRU THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES

We went on an incredible airboat ride thru the Florida everglades on Lake Trafford south of Naples. We nabbed the best airboat tour guide, Fred.  He took us on a one hour tour where we saw at least 100 alligators of all sizes from tiny to at least 12 feet long. We wondered when he slowed to a crawl if one of those giants ever jumped into the boat. Fred assured us only is you lingered to long. We cruised thru the swamps around the perimeters of the lake.  They had a menegerie of animals near the store which included 2 boas (very long and big around). Wondered what they had just eaten and several types of talking parrots.

WONDERFULLY WARM WEEK IN NAPLES, FLORIDA

LET THE PINEWOOD DERBY BEGIN

                        LET THE RACES BEGIN!

The cheering section is in place and the races begin. The raccs were close, but ours obviously needed a little fine tuning.  We came in second. Spencer hung in there, but found his car to do a little better in the fun runs after the races. Whats with that??  It was a fun night of games planned by his scout leader with the other boys and was followed up by the best cookies ever.  I'm glad we made it to Tampa in time to join in the fun.  Good job Spencer!

FIRST POST RETIREMENT VACATION

We left Granbury with dad in tow to visit friends in Florida and see Richard and his family. We had decided to travel along the coast line on our way.  The view along the way is so much better than traveling the expressway.  Once on the way, I asked about taking a little detour and having lunch in New Orleans. Hey, since we're on a retirement schedule now, time is not an issue.  Off we went. We arrived on Bourbon Street right at lunch time, so Pat O'Brian's was our first choice. Their gumbo soup was out of this world.   

New Orleans has lots of color and variety of shops.The shopping looks fantastic, but unfortunely we wanted to reach Destin by tonight so we only looked in a few shops.
     

We did come across some interesting scenery as you can see. A piano player in the middle of the street. Luckily he had orange cones around him so I guess he's safe. 

We left New Orleans and continued our trip along the coast. The scenery was great.  We started looking for a hotel near Pascagoula, Mississippi. How were we to know that the Pentacostal Church was having their yearly convention and there wasn't a hotel in a 100 mile radius. We decided to push on to Destin even thouogh it would be late. Driving over the bayou's was fun and it was shocking to see how families found space in the swamps to put up a house with only boat access.  We are not having the warmest weather (low 40's) so the following morning after a quick trip to stand on the white sands of Destin's beaches we were on our way to Florida, where we are hoping the weather gets warmer. Its been fun having my dad along.  

A SPRINKLE OF PIXIE DUST AND ... POOF!

Brooklyn, our very own princess and her court, celebrate her 3rd birthday. The attire for the evening was tutu's, crowns, pirate eye patches and swords, plus a pinch of pixie dust to transform even a normal home into a princess hideaway.


What would a princess party be without a treasure hunt  for jewels in purple sand and cupcake decorating. (Can you only imagine purple sand in your dining room and many little princess's and princes decorating capcakes with sprinkles in your kitchen).   Fun was had by all.
Mom outdid herself on the Tinkerbell cake covered in pixie dust. There's even a spot on top where Tinkerbell found a place to land.

Grampa, is that you??? And mom don't fly away!

A FINAL TRIBUTE

 

My dad and I flew to Michigan to visit with his brother, Earl, who is quite sick. We flew out on Tuesday morning and landed in a very cold and snowy Michigan. We spent the next 4 days with Earl and his children.  We enjoyed our time telling stories and sharing family times with them.  Its rare that we are able to get together and so we enjoyed getting to know each other again. Thanks Dave, Dan and Rick for sharing dinner with us every night while we were there. Peggy and Karen are great cooks.  Earl rallied and we were able to spend some quiet time with him. We,also, took a drive out to the cemetary where mom was to see the granite bench that my dad had placed at her site. It was beautiful.  On Saturday we were headed back to warmer Texas. My dad said his knees never got warm for the 5 days we were there. Next time we'll be taking long johns.

FIRST DAY OF RETIREMENT!

Mark had the day off so, Mark, Jim and I spent the afternoon playing 18 holes of golf at Harborlakes Golf. It wasn't great golf, but sure was fun. Well, so far we're liking this retirement thing.