My Third Act: Time Flies!

My last post was two months ago and so much happened in the past month, I decided to finally post it...better late than never! I seem to say that often.

My granddaughter, Gracie, had her 11th birthday on Thursday, July 18, and I sent a belated birthday card via Priority Mail. :-(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRACIE!!

June 19, Arne and I drove up to Savannah, Georgia. There had been lots of pieces of rubber on the highway. I know why some trucks have 16 wheels! We were about to turn off I-95 onto I-16, which goes to the city, when a truck in the left lane threw up a chunk of rubber. Arne pulled over to the side of the road and we saw damage to our left front bumper and hazard light. This trip had just cost us an additional $500, which is our deductible. I just had the bumper recoated the week before after we hit a dog crossing the highway the year before...another $500. Needless to say, I lowered our deductible so now we'll probably have no more comprehensive damage.

We spent two nights in Savannah and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a fabulous dining experience at The Old Pink House. Service, food, ambiance...it was perfect!

On the 21st, we drove to Jekyll Island, Georgia, for some time by the ocean. The weather wasn't cooperative as it rained both days. We enjoyed visiting the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and learning all about sea turtles.

June 22 was our 50th wedding anniversary and I had made reservations in the Grand Dining Room of the Jekyll Island Club. This was a huge disappointment, especially after our experience in Savannah.

Arne grew this flower and had it sitting by my sink when we returned home.

June 23, we drove to Orlando to pick up Kadin and Gracie. Since we had some time before their flight, we went to the Apple store where I dreamed about a new Macbook. The girls' flight was 20 minutes late because Southwest had overbooked and noone wanted to get off the flight. Since Kadin is 12, I didn't have to pay the $50 per child for unaccompanied minors. She was to look after Gracie. :-)

Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes

I had signed up for the Camp Villages activities they requested. On Tuesday, they "starred" in a movie which was themed Rock Party. Wednesday, they made a cute Memory Keeper. Thursday, I took them on a golf cart scavenger hunt. We thought we came in first but another cart beat us and we decided they must have left before we were told to. :-) Friday was Water Relays in the AM and Bingo in PM.


In their "Rock" Movie

Saturday the four of us went to the Gypsy Gold Farm near Ocala. We heard an interesting history of Gypsy Vanner horses and then got a tour of the farm. These horses are beautiful! While poor Gracie wasn't feeling well and sat in the car for part of the morning, Kadin loved seeing the horses.

Sunday was church, lunch at Brooklyn Bagels and then basketball practice. Monday, the girls went to art class with Arne. He said they worked intently for a solid three hours.

Tuesday we had to pick up a rental van as there were going to be six of us. We dropped our car off at a collision center for repair and then drove to Orlando where we picked up Erik and Jeffrey.

Jeffrey was so much fun! We couldn't get over how well he spoke, in long sentences...and knew what he was talking about. He loves the water, so swimming every day. Late Friday afternoon, Gracie noticed poop in the pool. Seems Jeffrey had filled his diaper and it was floating away. I told the manager of the rec center and the pool was closed for 24 hours. Fortunately, there are other pools to which they could go on Saturday.

For the Fourth of July, I had a short program about the history of Independence Day and a dinner of hot dogs, sweet corn and watermelon. We then went to Sumter Landing hoping to see the gator we had seen the week before. No luck, just turtles. We took a boat ride on Lake Sumter and then headed for the car just as it started to rain. At home, the girls had sparklers and some other "fireworks" which they set off on our driveway. We saw a fireworks display in the distance but nothing like their cousins experienced in Peoria, IL.

Sunday, we got everything packed so we could head for Cocoa Beach directly from church. We got to CB around 3, checked in and soon headed for the beach. Jeffrey had no fear of the ocean. I watched him while Erik took the girls out to ride the waves.

On Monday, we went to Kennedy Space Center. A week before, the outstanding display for the space shuttle Atlantis had opened. Atlantis was moved into this building in November and eight months later they had a building which not only showed off Atlantis but had dozens of displays and simulators related to the history of the shuttle program. We didn't get to see it all as the kids were getting antsy to go back to the beach. Arne and I added on to our tickets so we could go back another time and enjoy all the exhibits at a "grandparents" pace.

Tuesday, July 9, Erik and children flew back to New Mexico. He said it was a long flight since Jeffrey couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to sit by his dad or his sisters. These 2-year-olds!

Some pictures from the grandkids visit...