It's Christmas Time

We have finally gotten to southern Florida, and because we are taking off on a Panama Canal cruise on December 2, we had to get "stuff" done. We had to bake some Christmas cookies with Brayden--he likes the rolling out part and of course the frosting and sprinkles part...
















and of course, the eating. We had to make kringla and he thought they were even better when he dunked them in frosting!









Rylan didn't care much about the cookies, but he was fascinated with the tree and the presents underneath--just his height!! And he can get to that Christmas tree in short order from where ever you put his down.

Happy Thanksgiving

We are still in Wauchula, so we invited Francine and Gilles to share a traditional Thanksgiving meal with us. We had a great day--we taught them how to play pickleball, went for a walk along the river and saw a resident alligator, ate (but not too much), enjoyed our pie with a cup of coffee and a chocolate spoon, then played more pickleball (I think we have some new players!), then ended the evening with part of a live concert by Mike Thomas of TT. A very good day!

Florida at last!

We drove into Florida and 80 degree temperatures (and no snow!) and quickly changed into appropriate attire--no not swimsuits yet. However, we met our Quebecqois friends Francine and Gilles and spent the day at Bradenton Beach. Welcome to Florida!!!

Pickleball and Eating at Peace River

One of the things I like best about Thousand Trails is making friends and then running into them somewhere down the road. It was fun to see Stan and Sally again (we even went bowling with a group of them), and we hadn't seen Janet and Bob for a couple of years, Rich and Donna were there, and it was fun to see Cal and Diane again.

Deer Hunting in Minnesota

So we left the coach in Tennessee and took a leisurely drive to MN. As usual we celebrated the three birthdays (Mitch's, Carol's, and Mark's--all born on November 6th!) with a bash "Up North". When we all get together we are busy as you can tell from the picture, but what a way to celebrate!

The weather was warm and the deer must have decided to go on vacation because there were no deer to be shot this year.





I figured we had gone "dear" hunting because I found a couple of those. Addy and Macy kept us quite entertained--here they were collecting all the pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals to make a "nest".

One day we picked Addy up from preschool and the four of us went on a date for lunch at DQ. Macy says it's a "Gampa date"!

I think I like two legged dear really a lot!!




We knew it was time to go home when the snow fell--six inches "Up North" and the deer still didn't come out to play.

It was gorgeous, however, and the "dear" played in the snow and had a great time.

Even though Eden Prairie had gotten eleven inches of snow, by the time we left the highways were clean and dry and the drive back to Tennessee was just fine.

Halloween--Scene 1

Brayden loves air transportation and was excited to be a pilot for Halloween.














Rylan got to be a mummy with his mommy.

Happy 35th Anniversay, Nancy and Gary!

We planned to leave our motorhome in Tennesse at Jackie and Jerry's while we went to Minnesota to deer hunt. Nancy had called and wanted Mitch to cook dinner for all their Tennessee relatives as a surprise anniversary party. The meal began with Red Pepper on Herbed Goat Cheese on Toasted Bagettes and Stuffed Mushrooms, then Mitch fixed a wonderful beef tenderloin with twice baked truffle buttered potatoes and grilled asparagus. To end the meal I had made Chocolate Cheesecake. We all had a great time!