Vacation part 2

We are still here at the beautiful Portafino Bay Resort. The rest of my crowd is still tramping their legs off over at the park but I decided to come back here for some quiet time. There is so much to see and do that you just can't do it all in one day. Of course I just happened to go by the Fossil's handbag store on my way back and Fresh Produce one of my favorite resort wear shops.............



Yesterday we went to Sea World's new water park called Aquatica and it is amazing. From the visual effects to the landscaping flowers it is just beautiful. For children it is the most kid friendly park that we have ever been to with everything available for them to do, I can't wait to show you the pictures.


he first thing we did was go in the lazy river which isn't so lazy as there is a strong current that carries you along quite speedily. Everyone wears a flotation jacket even the adults so you can just put your feet up and float along in the warm water. One piece of advice that I would give anyone doing a water park is to take off your earrings before going in. DIL lost one of her hoops and her sister lost one of her diamond studs! The life jacket kind of comes up and hits your ears as you float along and pushes the earrings right out. The management put some divers in to look for the diamond stud earring but to no avail. It's gone to the great filtration system in the sky!

Thank goodness she has it insured.



Hubby and I stayed about half the day then came back to the hotel with D who was a bit tired from the sun. He didn't nap but played quietly and it was restful. We took T and D back over to the park for an early dinner at Bubba's Gumps Shrimp Restaurant and then came back here and they fed the ducks that hang out in the little lake here. Son and DIL met up with her sister and BIL and went out to dinner as their kiddoes were back at their hotel with the grandparents too. I just love this special time of being with my grandchildren with so much one on one time. I love how they get ready for bed and come in and get in bed with me and we talk or read or watch tv until they nod off. Just very precious times and it's not just the parks or water parks but time spent in the suite or just feeding the ducks that mean so much.



One evening we went to an outlet mall that we go to every year and it is TO DIE FOR. As you know from reading this I do like Chico's and there was an outlet store there. I added to the assortment of things that I got at the other one and this time at a much better price! Yea! DIL has a shop where she likes the jeans and got some there as well. We also like to go to Shepler's while we are in Florida as we don't have one in Maine. You will see pics of us riding the fake bull when I get home. Also got Christmas gifts for the kids that I can't get in Maine.

Tonight we are going to the Arabian Nights dinner show. We usually go to the Dixie Stampede while here but that one closed so we are going to try this one. The parks close at 5 this time of year so it leaves the evenings free for other things.

I have been talking with Mom several times each day and my sisters have been staying at my house and spending the days with her. She sounds so much stronger and is doing more for herself all the time. She is having therapy 3-4 times per day and doing very well. I don't think she will be home by the time we go home on Saturday but would guess that it would be shortly thereafter. It has been hard being away but I know she has been in good hands with all of the family pitching in to help out.

Guess that's it for today. I think I might sneak in a little nap before the rest of the crowd gets back. :o) I'm sooooooo glad that you all are still checking in with me!!!!!!! xoxox

Vacation Part 1

We arrived in the sunny south on our direct flight (yeah!) about 4 Saturday afternoon. These no frill flights are just what they are, no frills. No pillows, no blankets, no free snacks or soda and the seats don't recline! It was a direct flight and that made up for everything. I am not an airport person. I HATE long layovers. Plus living on the edge of nowhere we don't get a lot to pick from as far as flights are concerned so when this airline came to our little airport with a direct flight to
Florida we were happy campers.



It was a delightful trip down, the grands are seasoned flyers so are happy to draw, watch a movie on an Ipod or snooze. I like to put my Ipod on, close my eyes and just relax, if I sleep I would probably snore or drool or both so I try not to. :o( It never ceases to amaze me how the pilot can land such a huge plane with hardly a bump but this one did so and we all applauded.



We picked up our van and headed towards Orlando to our hotel, the Portafino Bay. It is like an old Italian village and if you want to see how beautifully they have created this illusion just google it. I'll have pictures to post when I get home but can't download them on the laptop. Well, probably can but I don't know how.



We had dinner at one of the Italian restaurants here that is kid friendly and there was a wonderful buffet where we all ate too much and felt such remorse as we waddled to our rooms.....



We hit Universal Studio the next day where we were pounded, thrashed, twirled and spun in all directions on the various rides. I do NOT do roller coasters and am totally content to sit on the sidelines while the rest do their thing. The crowds weren't bad at all, which is one of the reasons that we like to come here in October.

Last evening we had a nice dinner at Johnny Bahamas. We are making a real effort to eat good meals while we are here and not all the theme park junk and it is paying off as we feel much better for it. We did some shopping and they had a Chico's so I was in hog heaven. We have to come back down here in two weeks for a convention so I picked up some dress clothes. That trip will be much harder to pack for with functions to attend every night. I much prefer this type of trip where you just pack casual things.

We spent today at the pool. I can't wait to show you the pictures of the pool area as it is amazing. It's like an Italian grotto with waterfalls and a water slide. I brought my Miracle suit, you know the suits that are supposed to take ten pounds off you. Well the miracle is that I could fit into it........ahem........there will be no pictures. Enough said.

There were lots of activities for T and D to participate in at the pool which was nice. Hoola hoop contests, treasure hunts, marco polo and then a cannon ball competition. Even though this is not a Disney resort it's very kid friendly. They also made sand castles while DIL and I soaked up some sun plus we had a nice lunch. Salads and turkey sandwiches.

Guess that's it for now. Will add more in a day or so and will put pictures in when I get home. I am going through graphics withdrawal as I can't access them on this computer. :o(

Vacation here we come!

Just a quick post as we are leaving tomorrow for Florida for our family vacation. We have a lovely direct flight which makes us very happy. Just don't like hanging around airports for long layovers. A friend of mine told me yesterday that she has a nine hour layover in NY on her way to Africa on Sunday! Yikes! Nine hours! Just give me a rope and let me end it all! I suggested that they go into the city and walk around but they all have carry on baggage and there aren't any lockers in the airport any more due to the possibility of a ter*rorist putting bombs in one.

Funsize and I have to move the ponies up to the stable this afternoon. Waaaaaaa! I don't like this one bit, but go through it every year. I miss looking out there and seeing them grazing in the pasture and coming over to the fence for a carrot or apple when I go out. T has a hard time with it every year too. She doesn't understand why the town won't let us keep them here all year long. I don't either but we are contracted with the city for just a certain amount of days per year as we are part of a development even though we are on the very back and have 400 acres of land. Go figure!

Mom continues to improve even though she doesn't think she is. She gets discouraged and wants to come home but has a way to go before she can walk independently. Her roommate that we all like so well is being moved to a permanent facility so we feel badly about that. They get along so well and have fun chatting and complaining about the food, which is really rather good actually. But, it's not from home and nothing tastes as good as home.

My sisters are coming to town to take care of things while I am gone. Everyone has pitched in over these last few weeks and it has really helped. It is very emotionally draining to have a loved one where they don't want to be and wanting to come home but can't. We are having a meeting to day with the staff to go over things and discuss ways that could help Mom be more content.

Well I've got tons to do so better get at it. See you all next week!

Fall, foliage and fun!

Yesterday started off with a bang. Or should I say a snap, crackle and pop! No, I wasn't eating Rice Krispies I ran over the extension cord running to my tree on the front lawn with the lawn mower! I have a tree that is perfect for decorating with Christmas lights in the winter and little orange lights during October. I knew the cord was there but thought it was laying flat enough to go over but WRONG! There were pieces of cord flying everywhere and I'm lucky I didn't light up like a light bulb! So much for my nice 50 foot outdoor extension cord.......

Mom had a better day yesterday. They have started her therapy again as the blood clots are dissolving. It is very tiring for her but so good to speed up her recovery and to come home! She can move around more by herself on the bed and even sit on the edge of the bed unassisted which is a big step forward! Today is her birthday so we are going to try to make it special for her!

We had 51 here on Sunday night for the second hay ride! There were kids everywhere! We had pizza and smores plus I made a triple batch of spiced cider for everyone.

The horses thought we put all that hay out on the trailer just for them so spent the afternoon chowing down!

Oh smores are sooooooooo good!

My niece Ana played the guitar for some praise and worship songs out by the campfire.

We love having all the kids come over as some of them live in the city and never get a chance to see horses up close or go on a hayride. I'm going to try to find a real hay wagon before next year, I think that would be more fun then using the beaver tail trailer.

Hubby and I decided to go for a little ride out on the carriage trails one afternoon. I'm the gate opener and picture taker.

The road is blanketed with pine spills that have dropped from the trees.

We still have some pretty good foliage color but it's going fast and with rain predicted for tomorrow it won't last long.

I especially love this burnt orange color.

We were hoping to see the doe with her twin lambs so that I could get a picture for you but they weren't around. Just got these hoof prints that are everywhere out there.

Don't know what kind of berries these are but I think I will try making a wreath out of them for the front door at Christmas time.

We love our carriage roads through the woods. There's usually some kind of wildlife to see along the way.

Guess that's it for today. Headed up to the stable this morning to ride Little Bud. The ponies will be headed up on Friday as we leave on Saturday for vacation for a week. It will be hard coming home and not having them here but they are only 5 minutes away and I know I have to do this every winter so I should get used to it. (But I don't!)

Paws On Parade

Yea! We had a glorious day for our Paws On Parade fund raiser. The sun was shining, some different from the pouring rain of two weeks ago when we were supposed to have it. We had the largest turnout ever with every breed of dog you can imagine, some dressed up, some weighing about two pounds, big dogs, little dogs, you name it!

This is Dr. Hanks, he is one of our local vets. He contacted all of his clients via e-mail and put together a team and raised $7,000.00!

We had little dogs.

We had big dogs.

There were prissy dogs,

We had drooly dogs.

We had old dogs.

We had young dogs. Newman is 4 months old here with my little niece.

We had bug eyed dogs.

We had matching dogs.

We had blue eyed dogs.

We had howling dogs.

We had dogs that had just gotten out of jail!

AND WE RAISED $37,000.00!!!!!!!!!