EMPTY BOWLS LUNCHEON

Jane and I went to the Tom Thumb Empty Bowls luncheon, an artful luncheon to fight hunger.  For an admission fee you were allowed to pick a bowl, handcrafted by artists from around the country, and receive a free lunch put on by the culinary schools and several restaurants. The soup, bread, and dessert lunch was good and the luncheon was attended by over 2000 people.  The proceeds went to the Tarrant County Food Bank.

A fun lunch with a good friend. And a new bowl to boot!

ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE

We enjoyed a wonderful night out at a Valentines Dinner-Dance at the church. Our friend Stacy (whose's a wonderful caterer) put the dinner on with a group of friends who pitched in to help.  Jim and I jumped in to help hang white string lights and wall decorations the night before. Stacy really outdid herself. This dinner was so good. Who could resist going back for seconds. And should I even mention the cupcakes (red velvet, boston creme and lemon filled).



There she is in the dark pink. And look at those desserts!         

Is that grandpa dancing the night away? I don't think so. As they headed to the dance floor I heard grandpa say he hadn't danced in 20 years, but he didn't have to worry about it Jane took the lead anyway.

We had a great evening. Thanks so much to the activity committee for a wonderful night with good friends and great food. Now its home to the treadmill.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE 5 YEAR OLD

We joined Presley  for dinner at Chucky Cheese for dinner on her 5th birthday.  We were going to be out of town for her party at the dance studio, so we joined them for a family dinner before we left.  Sam was more interested in the pizza, but Presley ran from one game to another and those tickets kept adding up to a great little plastic toy. OBoy! Happy Birthday Presley!

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.