No, Really!

We are here!  On January 2nd, we woke up and.....

....... and looked out the hotel room window to see what the weather was like.  Naturally, on the same day we are moving into the villa - where we have a private pool - the weather had turned cool and cloudy - the highs only in the 60's.  Oh well - it was below zero in Canada, so we still felt lucky.  We turned on the TV .....

.... to check the weather channel and decided to .......

.... put warm clothes on the bears, went down to check-out....

.... stopped in at McDonalds for a bite to eat - then headed to the villa, where we spent a while unpacking and putting our stuff away, and threw a load of travelling clothes into the laundry.  The day flew by and soon......

.... we were all ready for bed and looking forward to a good night's sleep in familiar surroundings!  What have we been doing since?  Well here's a clue....

Yep...that's Liz welcoming Squeegie to her home in Florida (you can tell by her hair that she just got out of the pool - more on that soon!  But, you see, we really are here!  I love Florida!

We're Here!

Okay - it's time to play catch up!  I apologize for the long delay - but we've been rather busy.  Our trip down was great - the weather was fine and the temperatures comfortable.   When we arrived in Florida on December 27th it was in the nineties.  We spent two days in St. Augustine - and we had a wonderful time exploring the historic district.  We walked there and then to the shopping area and then back to the hotel - so I didn't carry the camera with me.  It is a great place to visit and if you are ever there during the Christmas season - take the lights tour on the trolley - it is well worth the low cost of a ticket.  On the 29th we arrived ...........

...... at the Comfort Inn close to the villa, where we would spend the next three nights.

We were all content to snuggle into bed that night, knowing that soon we would be in our winter beds at the villa.  The next day...

....... we stopped in at the villa to visit with little Ollie and his parents, Joe & Clare.  He is really cute and reminded me of Munchie at that age with his big, blue eyes!  I did get an opportunity....

....... to have a chat with him.  His Uncle Bobbie took this picture...

....... and then he spent some time introducing me to his new toy.  He just got this beautiful new HP laptop with a touch screen - I'm jealous!  Oh well - my next laptop.  Bob is a charming young man and I always enjoy visiting with him.  Later that same day, Joe, Clare and little Oliver left for the airport to return to the UK.  On New Years' Eve, we met up with David, Allison and Bob to head over to Disney World to watch the fireworks.  When we arrived at the villa....

... we were enchanted by all the Christmas lights at the front of the house - my night-time shots are not so great with the little camera - but you can see why we were intrigued with "our" villa.  It looked quite amazing.  We were also invited for dinner with our owners before they left.  It was delicious and we enjoyed the time to just visit....

.... get a picture of Bob filming me on the movie gizmo he took to the fireworks to film, and chat before they too headed back to the UK - which meant that we could move into the villa!  We stopped by....

.... "our" Publix to pick up some staples and a lottery ticket.

We had some really good fish and chips at a new restaurant Allison and David recommended - thanks!

A couple of days after they arrived safely back home in the UK, I received this adorable photo of little Oliver dressed in the outfit I had knit and given him while we visited in Florida - where it was far too hot for him to try it on!  Isn't he a cutie?!?  More news in the next post, to fill you in on what we've been doing since.

Before We Left...

...... there was a lot happening!  Mommy came for a visit....

.... all by herself!  The boys stayed home with Daddy - and Mommy & I went shopping.  Then I went to their house for a day - and Poppa picked me up at the big store where we meet to pick up and drop off the boys.  I got quite a bit of my Christmas shopping done in those couple of days!  Next item....

....... the first weekend in December Munchie and his family came to have Christmas with us.  Our present to Mommy and Daddy was a night at the hotel just up the street, while the little boys stayed with us.  Munchie posed for this picture and then.........

............ burst out laughing!  We all went to Swiss Chalet for their Christmas feast - which saved a lot of mess and fuss!  The following day....

.............. we had a mini-Christmas and everyone got to open presents.  Munchie can read quite well now, so he handed out the gifts.  Then....

........ Curtie put on his coat and went outside with his bug-catching equipment to see if he could find any bugs!  Daddy and Poppa....

........... fixed some wires on the sound system while........

...... the boys created some more artwork for my fridge!  A couple of days later .......

....... we received this beautiful Christmas arrangement from Gramma, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Russ, Taylor and Reese, and Uncle Craig.  That is Daddy's family.  How nice and how thoughtful of them.  Thank You to all!  Next on the agenda was dinner with...........

....... my old gang from work!  This is Sue with me.  That is her husband in the background - he was busy talking to..........

...... Kev-Inn and Lucy!  We had a good time... it is always nice to chat about work - good times and bad!  Poppa was there too of course - but you already know what he looks like!  We had a few quiet days while...........

.......... Squeegie complained about Canadian winters and whined about going to Florida, even though the weather was very mild for December and there was no snow on the ground.  As usual...

... Taffy was much more patient and waited patiently while contemplating..........

...... the pieces of the blanket I was working on before we left.  I didn't get it finished and it was too large to transport - so it will be waiting for me when I get back in the spring.  On Christmas Eve, after church, we went....

.... to Aunt Denise's for dinner with Auntie Pauline, Tracy and Aunt Jeannie.  Supper was very good and we went home to finish packing.  Christmas morning we opened some presents.  Thank you to Auntie Cecile (she send her amazing homemade Christmas cake and cookies!), Uncle Mark, Auntie Colleen, Uncle Shaun (he made cake from Auntie Cecile's recipe!), and of course Auntie Denise and Auntie Pauline!  At suppertime we went to the Atrium for a last visit with Aunt Peggy.  We had supper with her and then......

....... we went back to her room where she opened her presents and put on the new nightgown she found in one of her parcels.  She hadn't been feeling too well and I'm quite sure she climbed under the covers as soon as we left.  Kev-Inn stopped in to see her a couple of time in the last few days and says she seems to be feeling better.  The next day we left our cozy condo and headed south!  Hurray!