Have a holly jolly Christmas...

Merry Christmas! Today I was able to Skype with lots of family, which is wonderful! I met my newest cousin, Rory, and she's just beautiful. Then I went to Clearwater Beach with Katy and her kiddos. And ended my Christmas Day festivities by Skype-ing with Scott, Margo, Olivia, Ethan, and my mom! Yay!! They showed me some of their new toys, and opened up the gifts that I sent them as well.

So here are the pics from my day...

More holiday and skype fun!

We went to Disney yesterday to have lunch at Trail's End (Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground). Then off to Hollywood Studios for Tower of Terror and Rockin' Rollercoaster and some Christmas shopping!!

Today I got to skype with the kiddos! Yay! Gotta love Skype. Oliva told me about her pre-school Christmas party, and decorating cookies. Ethan and Olivia showed me their art projects...lots of Rudolph and so cute!! Olivia also wanted a picture of her toes. :)

Christmas Lights!

I went with Katy and the kiddos tonight to see Christmas lights!!



Here is Sean lip-syncing to the music...and saying he's a girl...lol...



And some pictures...they really are quite amazing!





If you'd like to check out their website:
Huseman Family Lights

High Tide and Candy Canes

Yesterday, I drove down to Anna Maria Island to visit Bernadette and to be her photographer. She wanted to send out some holiday personalized postcards! They turned out great! We brought Flat Olivia with us, so she got a chance to visit the Gulf of Mexico.

If you don't know about Flat Olivia: My niece, Olivia, has a pre-school project based on the books "Flat Stanley". So, all the kids sent their flat person out somewhere to experience something or somewhere. Then we send her teacher the pictures, and she puts them on this big map in the hallway at her school. It's pretty neat! I took Flat Olivia to Disney last month, and took her picture with Disney characters too. :)

ANYWAY...back to the "photo shoot"... We went out in the afternoon, so as we were walking down the beach, there were some places that we had wade in the water to get around the trees and rocks. This last hurricane season took a large amount of the beach away, and there are many places where the water comes right up to the tree/brush line. When we found our place, we saw that we weren't the only ones who thought it was a good day for a photo shoot. A little further up the beach, there was a photo shoot going on with very little clothing...we'll just leave it at that.

After we had some great shots, we decided to head back...and noticed the tide was coming in...higher and higher. All the places we had to wade in ankle deep water on our way out, was now knee deep water...and each time the waves came in - which was about every second - I was soaked to my waist!! Bernadette is lucky because of her 6 feet, about 5 feet of her is leg...so she was only soaked to her thighs.

We finally made it back, after scaling a retaining wall, and headed to dinner. Soaked. We went to Banana Cabana, and no one seemed to care - or notice - that my pants were soaking wet. After dinner, we stopped at a beachy tourist store so I could buy some lovely purple capri sweats for the ride home. ;)

All in all, a fabulous day! We had lots of fun.

Close Encounters!

Cody and I took a walk at Lettuce Lake Park today, which has become one of our typical outings for my days off. We usually see wildlife on our walks there, since this is a Nature Preserve and all. ;) Well TODAY, we had up close and personal encounter with an armadillo!! I've seen a flash of one at the park before, but this time was different. We were walking along, minding our own business, when I heard some scuffling in the leaves!! I though - oh God, please don't let it be a gator. And as we got -cautiously - closer on the path, I was relieved, and amazed, to see that it was an armadillo! We watched that darn thing for about 5 minutes, and it kept digging for food. Cody was very good, and watched patiently without startling it. Then we finished our loop, and on our way back past - that little bugger was still there doing the same thing!! There must've been something good hiding in that leaf pile.

Oh - and just so you know, the current weather is about 70 degrees, sunny and clear.
xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving!

I skyped with my brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, and mom tonight. I'm still sick and feel crappy, so I'm not going to blog much. I just had to share these shots I took while on skype with them.

Ethan was washing the dishes...which I found hilarious. Oh - and the greatest holiday gift - my brother surprised his family with a trip to Disney World!! Which means they're coming down to visit me in March!! YAY!!! This is the best gift ever for me...and it wasn't even for me! :)

so...it snowed...

I just got back from spending a week in Michigan. Below, you will see the kid-version of my trip! I decided not to include pictures from the nights I spent at Sazerac with friends. :)

My visit home was wonderful with the exception of the snow and the good-bye. Those two things, I could do without. On the excellent side, I was able to spend every single day with Olivia & Ethan, which is what I wanted to do more than anything else! I'm still hoping that teleporter will be invented so I can pop up and visit them whenever I want...however, until then, I will stick with Allegiant Air. Which - in case some of you didn't know - will be flying between Tampa Bay/St. Pete and Grand Rapids beginning in February!! I'm so excited! This time, I flew American - and yuck.

So anyway, it was great to be able to hug and kiss my niece and nephew. My next visit home will probably be mid-to-late April...just to see my family and those few who matter most.

Now - here in Florida - it is a sunny, clear, blue sky day...about 60 degrees...and fabulous. I'm happy to be away from the snow. It would just happen to dump 6 inches on Grand Haven while I was there. ;)
xoxo