Serious Card Playing

We seldom get rain here in Orlando, but even when we do, John and Pat are determined to get to our house to get those games of Hand and Foot played--there's no stopping them. However, notice John's new necklace--a gift to Mitch from thoughtful Charlotte (she made this foot holder to make card playing easier for Mitch). But we thought maybe John could borrow it because he has been known to sit on his "foot" and forget to count it at the end of the game.

The "ins" and "outs" of a broken wrist

The doctor said the wrist is looking great. Easy for him to say, I thought it was kind of gross. I think he was proud of the nice job he did screwing the plate onto the bone with those long screws. We forgot to ask him if Mitch would set off the airport metal detectors!

So the doc cleaned the wrist up a bit, put on a new dressing, wrapped it with a small ace bandage, put on a removable brace, and told Mitch to come back next week to get the stitches out.

Guess we'll be on the move soon!

Mitch update

Mitch had the surgery on his wrist yesterday. The surgery went well, the doctor used a titanium plate and screws to fix the broken wrist and then did the carpel tunnel fix to get rid of the bone fragments. Today he is a little under the weather--a lot of pain and not much sleep last night, but we've upped the drugs so we'll see if things improve!

Parting Shots

It's about time to leave Orlando for the season. Ken and Faye will be leaving Wednesday, our departure is soon, and Pat and John are off to Ocala for a short visit with their son. So Mitch whipped up his homemade pizza, Ken made tomato-basil soup, and the six of us enjoyed "the last supper".

Ken's shirt displayed some thoughts on aging.

TT Orlando Wildlife

Just across the street from our campsite is a pond, field, and woods. Earlier this year a pair of sandhill cranes nested in the pond, had two babies, and now frolic in the field. The babies have really grown.


There is also a herd of cattle that come out for a little grazing. Cows look so peaceful! Notice all the "cow birds" following the cows around.

TT Orlando Portraits

Pat and John -- pickle ball players, dinner makers, Hand and Foot players









And here we are!

TT Orlando Portraits

Ken and Faye -- pickle ball players, Shuttle watchers, and 5 cent beer drinkers!










Stan and Sally -- pickle ball players, 5 cent beer drinkers!

Pickle Ball Statistics

Mitch says his foot feels a lot better now that his broken wrist is causing so much pain!

Yup, he was doing a little dancing backward to get a ball and caught himself going down. After a trip to the ER where they indeed confirmed his diagnosis of a broken wrist, they just wrapped it up (in some special quick hardening fiberglass stuff), gave him some pain pills, and said he needed to find someone else to fix it later. So he has an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday who will set the bone and recast it after the swelling has gone down. Poor Mitch!

How to ease the pain

Pat and John figured one way to beat the pain was to keep Mitch's mind off it. After a great dinner at their place we played a mean game of Hand and Foot. Since Mitch couldn't use his left hand, he found his sling became a convenient card holder. (I think he stashed wild cards!)

Cheyenne Saloon and Opera House

Faye and Ken suggested a field trip to the Cheyenne Saloon and Opera House in Orlando (on Wednesday nights they have five cent beer from 5:00 - 7:00!), so here we are with Ken, Faye, Stan, and Sally. Then along came the dancing girls...

More Cheyenne

...and the guys thought that the jeans those gals wore were quite the sight!

How to Blog

The weather has changed, its about 70 degrees so I decided on an indoor activity! Here's my friend Faye with an e and I'm teaching her how to blog.

TT Orlando

Here we are in Orlando. Oh yes, the Thousand Trails Preserve is great, but we are spending time at Disney--a lot of time. We discovered the "kid" is us again. However this time we are not running from ride to ride, we found out how to use the "Fast Pass." Disney has changed since we were there almost 20 years ago!

Disney by night

We kept right on playing after the sun went down--more Splash Mountain! The evening activities are spectacular. We found a nice place to watch the night/light parade and the fireworks.

Peace River TT

It was fun to get together with friends Lee and Judy (and Nick), Pat and John, and Ken and Faye showed up. We met Stan and Sally, Barb and Dennis, and saw just a little bit of Jane and Jim Pickle ball was good, Mitch played a lot more (his foot is feeling better if he doesn't overdo it). We enjoyed our stay at Peace River, but it is time to mosey on.

The Story of Jesus

Last night we went to the stage production of "The Story of Jesus" in Wauchula. It was a great representation of Jesus' life from His birth in Bethlehem to His death on Mt. Calvary, His resurrection and ascension, and the Second Coming. The play featured about 200 actors, live camels, donkeys, horses, sheep, and even chickens. For more information click on this link: www.storyofjesus.com.

The best toy yet!

We have a basket of toys for little girls and boys! But given the toys or "stuff", Brayden usually chooses stuff. He loves turning on all the lights, the under counter rope lights especially (then he lays down on the floor to look and see if they are on), and the fans (they make noise when the vent opens and the fan comes on). Of course, when everything is on, he leaves to find something else to do. He loves throwing garbage away for us, and when he opens the cabinet door he says "B-U!" It wasn't until the last day that he got into the pots and pans drawer. I hope you can open the movie because to hear him laugh is the best there is!

A Little Vacation for the Smiths

Jason finally was able to take some time away from the restaurant and the kids came to Peace River to spend the "weekend". We played a lot, from fossil hunting in the river (Brayden loved walking in the water!), to playing pickle ball, and of course, eating. I think we wore them out.

More Smith Vacation

We had a lot of fun with Brayden. He is a little guy with a lot of personality!