Meanwhile....

....back in Canada - Munchie and his family were getting ready for Christmas.  Little Smiley carefully swept the dining room floor....

...then Mommy washed the kitchen floor, but she forgot to ask Daddy and the boys to go to another room first.....

...and they all had to perch on the kitchen counter while it dried!  Then Daddy had a serious conversation with the little boys.  He told them if they were really good, then.....

..they could help him decorate the tree.  They had a wonderful time doing that and....

...they did an excellent job.  Later that week Little Smiley got his own booster seat....

...and Munchie showed him how to sit at the big table and have a snack.  He caught on quickly and on the weekend before Christmas, Gramma and her gang....

....arrived to have Christmas dinner with Mommy and her boys.  The report I got, said that the dinner was a success.  It was Mommy's first time cooking a turkey without any help from - well - her mother and she was a tad apprehensive, but the turkey and the stuffing were both declared a success!  These two....

appear to be enjoying breakfast together at the little table - they look so cute in their jammies!  Little Smiley (and the other two little boys) had a great time....

....opening presents and discovering what amazing....

...things were hiding in the packages. They wore themselves out....

...and even though Munchie and Reese are sleeping peacefully and looking sooooo angelic, I heard that they chatted until almost 10:30 that night before they finally gave up for the night!

More Catch-Up

I have been looking through my photos to see what I've missed telling you, and I discovered this....

...the photo of Poppa's china cabinet/toy drawers with the doors on - isn't it lovely?  When we return to Canada I'll put some nice stuff in there to show it off to its best advantage.  Meanwhile, you're wondering what else we did last week - right?  Well - I'll try to cover some of it.  The weather was perfect - in the 80's and sunny, so.....

...Squeegie and Taffy put their bathing suits on, and.....

....discovered a new pool toy out in the lanai.  That alligator kept them occupied for a long time, while Poppa and I played in the pool.  On our way out to the book store, I stopped briefly to get a picture of the hibiscus bush at the front of the villa........

...it looks lovely this year!  When we stopped the car in the parking lot at the shopping center, we espied this bird in the tree directly in front of us....

...in the process of eating lunch.  There seem to be a lot of birds this year - perhaps because we arrived a couple of weeks early.  Sometimes we can barely hear each other speaking due to the loud twittering of small birds - it is so nice.  We spent one afternoon at the beach on the Gulf side of Florida....

...when we arrived, the parking lot was already quite full, but we lucked out and found a spot.  We stopped at the concession stand.....

...to get a drink, and found it quite busy as well.  However, once we sauntered onto the beach....

....there was lots of open space to stroll.  We spent about three hours there and enjoyed every minute of it - I even managed to get some colour - so I looked less like a snowbird from Canada!  We went for a few long drives to re-acquaint ourselves with the area - and discovered this huge cactus plant just budding out.....

....we're hoping we can find it again and get a picture with all the flowers open.  And we had a fun evening after we had dinner with Poppa's cousins, Denis & Liz.....

....they joined us here at the villa, since usually we seem to end up eating at their place.  Since the table was full.....

...Squeegie and Taffy had their supper on the counter.  It turns out that the rest of Denis and Liz's family are not arriving until after Christmas, so we made plans to get together at their place for Christmas dinner!

Catch Up!

I'm way behind in my posts...and must get caught up!  On Saturday, December 17th we arrived in Florida early in the day.  Since we had lots of time, we decided to stop at Daytona Beach Shores and walk in the surf for a while.  The temperature was about 82F and the tide was out.  The beach was wonderful and we walked for about an hour and a half.  We stopped to chat with some folks who had retired to Florida and were basking in the sunshine.  I didn't take my camera, so I used my phone and snapped a couple of pictures - but discovered that I had not brought the wire to connect the phone to the computer.......so I can't show you the pictures.  About 4:30pm we arrived at the villa to find everything as welcoming and pleasant as usual.  For those of you who have visited us here....

....there is a brand new coffee table with matching end tables.  It is lovely!  After unpacking the car we headed to the grocery store to stock up the fridge and cupboards.  The week following seemed to fly past.  Our friends who own the villa suggested we drive around and look at the Christmas lights.  You just would not believe.....

....how much Christmas decorating is done here in hot, sunny Florida!  Some of them....

...have a Disney theme, and some of them....

are more traditional.  Some of them......

......are whimsical....and some of them.....

........have a message.  We even found one.....

 that moved!  But.....they are all..........

.....beautiful!

From Florida

Merry Christmas From Florida!!!!!!!!!!

One Day Later...

We had more pleasant weather during our drive on Friday.  Although it was usually overcast, occasionally the sun would peek through.  The scenery was....

....often breath-taking and always beautiful.  Our ears were popping in and out as we toured up and down the mountainous terrain.  Unfortunately I couldn't capture the height or the depth of those mountains from my seat in the car - but it was a treat to drive through.  Supper-time found us in Darien, Georgia....

.....where the hotel had Christmas decorations shining brightly next to the palm trees!  I used their computer....

....to check my e-mail.  I took this picture from our window....

....this is what fall looks like in Georgia!  About 8am on Saturday morning we pulled out...

...of the parking lot...

....stopped for gas (where soda pop was on sale!)....and, with the TomTom saying we had 2 hours and 38 minutes to the villa, we pointed the car in a south direction and once more headed down the highway.

On Down the Road

We drove until about 5:30 on Thursday, which brought us to Flatwoods, West Virginia.  We stopped here....

.....to this huge hotel.  The end closest in the picture was called the North Tower and our room was at the back on the fourth floor.  I took this picture out our window....

..........we were about half way up a mountain and the city of Flatwoods was spread out below us, and.....

.....directly under us was a huge Muskoka chair....but in West Virginia they are called Adirondack chairs.  Before we left Poppa stopped for me to snap this one so you could see....

...just how high up we were.  About 8am we were back on the road again, still heading south.

And When I Said.....

...the car was packed, I wasn't kidding....

....Poppa's golf clubs and cart went into the back seat....

....then all of this stuff - plus our suitcases.....

........went into the trunk.  Our carry-on bags were added to the back seat, then the bears got in and we went to Aunt Peggy's

for the last time before we headed for Florida the next morning.  I popped in to see Gramma Grace for a few minutes and then we went home for a good night's sleep before our journey began.  We were up bright and early the next morning and on the road.  As we were heading down the highway we saw this building....

.........so we stopped in to have a quick visit with.....

....Mommy - that is where she works.  Thank you to Cat.........

..........a co-worker who took the picture for us.  As you can see, she is expecting her first baby in March.  She is quite proud of her little bump!  It was windy and raining when we left Mommy's workplace and it stayed that way all day while we travelled.....which meant I didn't get any pictures along the way.  We did decide, since the weather was unseasonably warm, that we would cross the border at Niagara Falls and take that route since it is about 6 hours shorter.

The Car is Packed....

....and we're ready to go.  I took a lot of pictures to share with you before we leave....and just realized that I already packed the cord to download the pictures from the camera!  Oh Dear!  I have a few to show you though.

Here is one of the new outfits Taffy got when I went on my shopping trip with Mommy.....

........she has been wanting a winter jacket for quite some time now, and she really likes the ear-ribbons that match the sparkly fur...........

......on the hood - which has ear-holes!  She loves it!  Meanwhile - here is the finished shelving unit that Poppa was working on.  He put casters on the feet and rolled it over to the sliding glass doors.....

.....and now all my plants have a place in the light.....and I can roll them out to water them!  Poppa is a genius!  Last weekend, Mommy, Daddy and our little boys came for their last visit before we leave for Florida.  We had such a good time.  We gathered around the supper table....

..........oh my gosh - Little Smiley is hidden....

.............there he is - right between Mommy and Daddy - so he can get chocolate cake from both of them..........and eat his chocolate chip cookie in between!  Munchie always sits on Poppa's lap for dessert......

....and this time was no different.  After supper they got all bundled up..........

........and went over to see the light display in the park.  By all reports they really liked it..........I stayed home and cleaned up the supper dishes - so no pictures!  Early next morning, we bundled them up again and headed to MacDonald's for breakfast....

.........after we ate.......

.......every bit of our hash browns..........

..........as promised, we went to the playground....

...Munchie is used to it, and was soon away up high....but..........

..Little Smiley was more cautious and played at the lowest level.  He was soon tired of playing and was ready to go home....

...so Mommy and Daddy left with him...and after playing a while longer.....

....Munchie was ready to go home too.  When we got back to the house, Little Smiley had a nap, while Poppa and Munchie read a story...

...with Squeegie.   While they were reading their story, Mommy and Daddy packed the car...and next thing you know, we were waving Good-Bye to our little boys.  Au revoir little ones.....see you in the Spring.  Monday we went to the city to have a visit with Poppa's cousin in the nursing home, and then we stopped in to see another cousin - the folks who we always get together with in Florida...we saw them at their office.........

........we chatted with Liz, while Andre and little Matthew had their lunch....

....we exchanged Florida phone numbers, and made plans to call each other when we arrive.  We are leaving tomorrow, and they are leaving on Friday.  So, this morning we went for our last walk to the donut shop....

.........which as you can see - wasn't very busy this morning.  This afternoon, Poppa loaded the car.  We stopped in to say good-bye to Aunt Peggy and Gramma Grace and Great-Gramma.  Tomorrow, bright and early, we will be heading to Florida!  It is supposed to rain and be quite mild, so it should be good driving.  The aim is to get to Kentucky by supper-time.  I won't blog again until we arrive in Florida - so - Au revoir to everyone until then!