Visit from the Grandkids

 On June 26, Arne and I spent the night on Amelia Island, off the coast of Florida near Jacksonville. The following day we drove to Georgetown, SC to spend the night as our granddaughters, Kadin and Gracie, would be joining us on Saturday for our drive back to The Villages.

Here's an outline of our time together:

Sun June 29 - Church, Sam's Club and swimming

Mon June 30 - Swimming

Tues July 1 - Camp Villages Air Guns. The girls did well  and Kadin shot her rifle standing up, which Arne said is much more difficult, hit the bulls eye 7 out of 10 tries.

Afternoon phone call with a Medium, who connected with my dad and Lisa. Tuesday night, I took the girls to see "Heaven is for Real."

Wed July 2 - Girls painted T shirts and decorated frames with Lisa's jewelry. Swimming

Thurs July 3 - Gracie complained of pains in her stomach and ate next to nothing. After dinner we all went to Lake Sumter Landing for Scooter the DJ. Market night canceled due to rain so we didn't stay long.

Fri July 4 - Gracie still not eating. Went to Brownwood to watch special music and entertainment for Fourth. Went shopping. Kadin bought two wood blocks for her room "Queen Police"

Sat July 5 - Gracie still in pain so I took her to Urgent Care. Doctor said not appendix or gall bladder. Possibly gastritis...or homesickness?

Sun July 6 - Gracie and I went to church. Took girls to BB practice. Gracie still not feeling well.

Mon July 7 - Gracie and I spent afternoon at Urgent Care. They did blood work, ultrasound and another test but found nothing. The girls were supposed to make pizza at a pizzeria but we had to cancel. We did go to Lake Sumter that evening to watch Petrina perform. She is a favorite of the girls.

Tues July 8 - Took Gracie for another test. Picked up a rental van. Gracie's pains seemed to be subsiding. Daddy will be here soon. :-)

Drove to Orlando where we picked up Erik and Jeffrey. There plane was 40 minutes late and we waited almost 1 1/2 hours for luggage due to lightning. We drove to Daytona Beach where I had rented a two room unit at Sun Viking Lodge. We didn't get checked in until 11:30 PM. Arne had decided to stay home. He gets nervous with the kids around the ocean.

Wed July 9 - Kadin woke up early and climbed in bed with Gracie and Jeffrey. I was pleasantly surprised when they all fell back to sleep so I took a long walk on the beach. Afternoon consisted of swimming in the pool, boogie boards in the ocean and playing in the sand. At night, Gracie found us this delicious Chinese buffet. Jeffrey wanted to play miniature golf, which we did, and for the next five days he said he wanted to play dinosaur golf.

 

Thurs July 10 -  Another long walk on Daytona Beach. More swimming and boogie boards. In the evening, we went on a boat ride which included dinner before hand. The kids saw many dolphins.

Kadin thought she was on the Titanic.

This is what Jeffrey thought of Titanic.

Fri July 11 - Checked out of hotel and went to Ponce de Leon lighthouse. This is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and second highest in the USA.

 

Jeffrey made it all the way to the top and here is on way down.

Sat July 12 - Swimming at the Villages. Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.

Sun July 13 - The girls went with me to BB. Arne, Erik and Jeffrey came about 30 mins later and stayed for 1 1/2 hours. Must be fun watching old ladies play ball. :-) For dinner, we went to a Japanese Steak House in celebration of Gracie's upcoming birthday. She turned 12 on the 18th.

Waiting for the chef.

Mon July 14 - Arne took Erik and the kids to a model train show. Then I took the girls to their favorite bling store and to Sam's Club for a frozen yogurt. Evening was spent packing. I gave Gracie one of my suitcases as she had so much stuff that her suitcase was coming apart and couldn't take the strain.

Tues July 15 - Took Erik and family to Orlando for their 11 AM flight. Returned the rental van and then headed to the nail salon for mani and pedi. Sheets and towels can wait to be laundered. :-)