A day at the Beach!

We recently had a short visit from Aunt Kim. During that visit we spent a day at Jacksonville Beach. It had been raining in the morning so we left a little later, but the afternoon turned out to be sunny and beautiful. The water was warm, the surf was calm, and the day was really nice. We found a little seafood joint to try for dinner. The Beachside Restaurant had fresh, affordable, and delicious seafood. I would definitely go there again. I hope to be able to visit again soon since it was only about an hour and a half away.

A visit to central FL

Hanging out at Universal is always a good time. Low crowds, short wait times, and Butterbeer. I ask you, what can be better than that? We also visited our favorite pizza place in the area, Giordano's, and had our anniversary dinner at one of our favorite Disney restaurants, 'Ohana. We also made time to visit Downtown Disney so I could get a little Disney fix. We had some work mixed in there as well, but we made plenty of time for fun. Next on to Bradenton, FL for one last junior golf event, then home for a bit. I am ready for summer to begin!

Happy Birthday Tim!

We recently celebrated our son's 17th birthday. Where does the time go? We had two celebrations, one with family in GA and one at home. Tim enjoyed 2 cakes, ice cream, and his main gift...a remote control helicopter. We will be celebrating a little more next week with a visit to Universal Studios and the Orlando area. We are very proud of the young man our son has become.

4-H Car Wash

Today we held a car wash to raise money for a camping trip with our 4-H group. We had a great time, raised a good bit of money, and cleaned about a dozen cars. We love doing things with this group as they are really a great group of kids.

Gulf Shores, AL

We recently took a short trip to Gulf Shores with our good friends the Shermans. We stayed at Gulf State Park where they had nice, big, RV sites, inexpensive rates, a pool, an activity center, a nature center, trails, planned activities, and the beach. We had a really great week despite the fact that both the dogs were pretty sick. We did a lot of eating, lots of relaxing, and plenty of fun times and good company.

The County Fair.

We had a small, county fair here last week. We participated in a booth competition where we decorated a booth according to a theme chosen by the fair committee with our 4-H group. We won second place. Also, they had a decorated egg contest that Kelsey entered, she won 1st place, a blue ribbon, and a cash prize. The fair was small and the rides were old, be enjoyed ourselves and had fun participating. We have lot of ideas for next year.

Happy Birthday Kelsey!

We recently celebrated our daughter's 14th birthday. We had a small celebration at home with our good friends Patti and Ed. Pizza and mint Oreo ice cream cake were on the menu. She got a new compound bow for her main gift and was really excited. We are so proud of the lovely young lady she has become.

YAY, We have neighbors!

Our good friends are visiting us from Illinois. It has been a year since we saw them last, so we are really excited that they are here. We love hangin' with the kids, but some good adult fun is appreciated. We are looking forward to a nice, long visit with them.

Battle of Olustee

We recently attended a historic reenactment of a civil war battle held here, in N. FL, in 1864. This year marked the 147th anniversary of The Battle of Olustee. It was fun to see all the reenactors in their period dress and the battle itself. The kids enjoyed it and it was a nice afternoon out with the family.

Happy Birthday Sasha!

On Jan. 25, 2011 our fur-baby turned one year old. We were excited to celebrate her first birthday. I made chicken-flavored cupcakes for the dogs and they ate them very quickly. The celebration was small and quick, but special just the same. We are so happy to have her in our lives.

Happy New Year!

2011 is under way and things are going well so far. We have been busy with work and enjoying a mild winter in FL so far except for one really cold week. We have had our land in FL for a little over a year now and this month we celebrate Sasha's (our new dog) first birthday. I hope 2011 find everyone happy and healthy and brings much joy, happiness, and prosperity to all.

Christmas Parade

We recently took part in our local community Christmas parade. Our kids participated with the 4-H club they belong to. We had fun decorating the trailer and the kids enjoyed riding in the parade.

Kasey's Birthday

We were thrilled to celebrate our dog, Kasey's, 15th birthday. We are so happy to have had her in our family for this long and for the fact that she is still relatively healthy for her age. We celebrated with a beef-flavored cake for the dogs (I made brownies for the humans). We showed her the cake and let her sniff it, then we cut each dog a small piece. It was pretty uneventful, but fun. I hope to do it again next year.

Happy Halloween

We recently carved our Halloween pumpkins and displayed them. We all had a great time even though the job can be messy. We tried to roast the seeds and ended up burning them (UGH). I followed microwave directions and cooked them for too long. I can still smell burnt seeds.

A silly side story, our son had carved his pumpkin to look like a symbol from a favorite video game (you can see it in the pic above). Our new dog, Sasha, must have gotten the munchies because when we weren't paying attention she ate the middle of his design causing him to have to alter his pumpkin. So lesson learned, puppies like pumpkins.

Fall Fun with 4-H

The kids recently stuffed some scarecrows with their 4-H group. The scarecrows were placed in town and will be judged. There may be prize money in their future. They had a fun afternoon and, as always, enjoyed the company of their friends at 4-H.

Islands of Adventure

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Kelsey enjoyed her Butter Beer!

Universal Studios

For the first time ever we decided to visit Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. All of the times we have visited the Orlando area, we have never done these parks, I am so glad we did this time. The kids really enjoyed the thrill rides and there was something for everyone. At IoA the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was magnificent! The atmosphere was fantastic. It really felt like we were in Hogsmeade village. All the shops were so cool and the butter beer was delicious. Pumpkin juice was really good too although, both were very sweet. The rides in the Harry Potter area were great and the castle was so realistic. There was a lot to see and do. We spent a lot of time in this area. The kids also enjoyed the Hulk roller coaster and a Jurassic Park water ride.

At Universal Studios we enjoyed the Jaws, the Revenge of the Mummy, Men In Black rides. We also enjoyed several shows and met a character or two. Both parks closed early this time of year due to a special Halloween party they have. We managed to see everything in both parks in 3 days (except for one coaster that was closed). We had a great time and will definitely be returning.

Hanging out in Central FL

After our work was done we decided a stop in the Orlando area was in order. We always enjoy our favorite campground in Clermont and, of course, all there is to do. Our first night we went to the Magic Kingdom in WDW to see the Main Street Electrical parade. It was really great and there were some new characters to see. Magic Kindogm is my favorite park.

Moving On

We left the Hollywood area and made our way across Alligator Alley to the west coast of the state and Naples. We didn't see much of Naples as we were there for work, but we did enjoy a pizza party on the beach one evening and got to enjoy a glorious sunset.
We hope to return to the area next year and do a bit more exploring and visiting come of the local tourism spots and beaches.