Granddaughters are here!

Last Monday, July 23, Arne and I drove to Orlando where we picked up Kadin and Gracie. Because I booked them on a nonstop from Albuquerque which didn't arrive until 11:40 PM, we didn't get home until 1:30 AM. Needless to say, I was dragging a little on Tuesday. The girls spent several hours at the pool while I read a book.

Wednesday, we took them to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. This was our second visit to the park which is 40 miles from here. There are lots of big shade trees, large variety of animals and it's very clean. The park's main attraction is the manatees which are brought to the springs because they are orphaned or injured. Hard to believe these large creatures eat romaine lettuce!

Thursday was swimming mid-day. Around 5, the girls and I picked up my friend, Ginny, and we headed to Spanish Springs Market Square for "Girls Night Out." This was a fund raiser for breast cancer. While it was very hot the first 30-40 minutes, we had a fun time, visiting all the stores and businesses on the list. These were turned in for a chance at 12 gift baskets, but we never received a call saying we were a winner. :-( It was a beautiful evening, nice for traveling in a 4-seater golf cart, which I had borrowed from a neighbor for the girls' visit.

Friday afternoon, Arne and I took the girls to see the Spiderman movie. Kadin said it was her favorite movie. (She must not see many movies.) Late afternoon, the girls swam for a couple hours.

Saturday was more swimming and then dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. The girls loved it and wanted to go back on Sunday.

Sunday, the girls went with me to basketball practice. I couldn't get over how much they've improved in a year, especially Kadin. Late Sunday afternoon...yes, you guessed it...swimming. Gracie probably shouldn't have gone as she'd been complaining off and on of sinus headache. That night she had a 101 fever so Monday morning I took her to Urgent Care. She's now on antibiotic for ten days.

This week, I had signed the girls up for several activities in Camp Villages. Monday afternoon, they had a craft project at She Scrapbooks. I didn't think this "mystery/school box" was worth the $17 I'd paid for each girl.

Tuesday morning was Kickball. The girls liked "batting" but Kadin mostly kicked dirt while "fielding." She did find a small, shiney rock, of which she was very proud. The afternoon activity was art with Grandpa.

Today, the four of us learned two hula dances. It was fun. Arne said it was the most fun of any of the activities we've done with the girls in the three years they've participated in Camp Villages. During the segment where the adults had to dance for the kids, Arne slipped on a red nose. The kids loved it. At 4, I took the girls back to She Scrapbooks and this activity was much better than the one on Monday. They were given a journal and materials with which to decorate it. They decorated some of the inside pages as well as the cover.

The girls' visit is now at mid-point...

Celebrating Our 49th

To celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary, Arne and I drove to Siesta Key, just south of Sarasota, on the Gulf side of Florida. Siesta Key claims to have the #1 beach in the USA. I didn't think it was better than others I've seen but maybe it's the fine, white sand which makes it #1. While the weather wasn't great, thanks to Tropical Storm Debby, we were able to walk on the beach Wednesday evening, as well as Thursday and Friday mornings.

On Thursday, we went to the Ringling Museums where we spent almost six hours. We spent a couple hours in the John and Mable Ringling Art Museum. It is a beautiful legacy which John left to the state of Florida after Mable died and they had no children. The 66 acre grounds consists of their art museum, two circus museums, Mable's rose garden and Ca' d'Zan, House of John, the mansion they completed just three years before Mable died at age 54. John Ringling was born in McGregor, Iowa but grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin. I thoroughly enjoyed the history of the circus and John Ringling, the second youngest of six brothers. Only thing to ruin the day was a downpour around 3 PM which lasted for a couple hours.

On Friday, we stopped at an art store and then the Ringling College of Art bookstore, where Arne looked for art supplies and I ended up buying 9 books off the 75% off shelf. We then took a driving tour of Lido Key and Longboat Key, two more islands off the coast of Sarasota. We had our anniversary dinner at the Chart House on Longboat Key with a view of Sarasota Bay. I had fresh swordfish which was delicious.

We checked out of our resort before 10 Saturday morning and were home around 12:15 with no rain. Today, we have had rain ALL DAY! Right now there are tornado warnings not far from us. We are ready to head to our closet if necessary.

The Big 7-0!

On Thursday, June 14, Flag Day, yours truly celebrated a milestone. It was a memorable day, thanks to my wonderful husband. The day started with a few games of pickleball, a trip to the fitness center, with a manicure and pedicure finishing out the morning. The afternoon consisted of a massage and refreshing facial. The evening included dinner at Outback with Arne, my dear Villages friend, Ginny, and her husband, David. We came back to our house for cake, coffee and Amaretto.

Sister Marla sent me a lovely book with pictures of my trip to New Mexico and Arizona in early April where I did an early celebration with family and friends. I'm told the stars and arrows were chosen by Marla's 4-year-old granddaughter and Marla couldn't change it to a leather cover. Should I believe that story??

 Arne's latest orchid acquisition. Isn't it beautiful? And it has a scent!

Corvette Road Trip

The Corvette was in the "hospital" two weeks ago getting a new rear end. (I'm next) Last week, Arne had new tires put on so we decided to take a road trip and test out the new ride. Much smoother than before!

We drove to Orlando for a short visit with our niece Marla, nephew Stan, and their families. They are spending the week in a time share and visiting DisneyWorld and Sea World. Today was their day to just hang so a few hours with the old folks was on the docket. It was great to see them all...first time seeing Liam and Serena, the two youngest.

We left just as a storm was moving in so drove in rain and lightning for the first half hour getting out of Orlando. Other than that, it was a great afternoon.

California Cousins Visit

May 22, Marge and Eileen, cousins from Northern California, made the long trek to The Villages. For five days, we showed them our "town" as well as central Florida. They seemed to enjoy it and hopefully will come back one day.

We experienced our first tropical storm this past week. Fortunately, we had very little wind and much needed rain. Our ponds and lakes are once again filled to the brim.

 Marge and Eileen as we entered Homosassa Springs Nature Park

 Looks like a rock but actually a manatee.

 Manatees grow to over 1000 lbs. eating romaine??? They are vegetarians.

 Two of Arne's latest watercolors. Above is based on photo from Sedona.

Today was the end of the year for my ESL classes. The Hispanic ladies prepared lunch for us as a thank you. One of my students, Adaly, presented me with a dozen roses. With tears in her eyes, she said she was going to miss me...five months. We don't start the new year until the end of September. I got her phone number and told her I'd call her during the summer so we could practice her English. That seemed to make her happy.

Adaly has a heartbreaking story. She came to the US from Guatemala, leaving behind three children under the age of 10. She has three children here and a good husband who doesn't beat her. She completed twelve years of school in Guatemala and would like to get a job. Her husband wants her to stay home with the children. I told her if she continues to work hard on her English, I'd help her get a job in a school when her youngest is in school full-time. Annie is now two years old so I figure we've got at least three years to perfect Adaly's English.

I'm back...AGAIN!

I quit posting as I felt I was being redundant...same activities week after week. But some of my "fans" missed reading about our happenings, so I'll give it another try. Since my last post, I did make a trip to the Southwest. I spent the first week in April with Erik, Kadin, Gracie and Jeffrey. Had a wonderful time as we got some quality time with Jeffrey. The second week in April, I went to Arizona. Sister Jan and I stayed with Marla in her Phoenix winter home. We did a four day girls' hiking trip to Northern Arizona and Havasu Falls. Our adopted sister, Marilyn, drove up with us. We stopped in Jerome for lunch with Aaron and his girlfriend, Emily. He then showed us his "shabin." He seems very happy and we ladies were in agreement that Jerome was a good place for Aaron/Moondog.

I have been playing team pickleball on Mondays, piano lesson on Tuesdays, golf on Wednesdays and Fridays, and teaching ESL on Thursdays. I started donating blood platelets, which takes me three hours. They tell me I give enough to help two people so I'm happy about that. You can donate platelets every week, unlike whole blood which is every eight weeks. I hope all who are able will help their local blood bank. It costs us nothing but a brief stick of a needle and our time.

Wishing all the mothers a Happy Mother's Day. Erik, Lisa and Aaron all called today. Arne took me out for dinner on behalf of our children. I chose Olive Garden and had ravioli...delicious!!