The trip started out better than expected because my sister and her adorable baby, Morgan, arrived in Naples three days early. I wasn't expecting to see her for several days when I woke up at my parent's house after my first night there to the sound of her little dog Bogie running up the wooden staircase. I was so excited I flew downstairs at six in the morning wide awake! Hooray! Kate and Morgan were in Naples!
This beautiful picture of the two of them was taken at good old Fleshman Park.
Normy LOVED LOVED LOVED my old wagon. He enjoyed riding in it, pushing it, and filling it with sticks, pine cones, and coconuts.
He also enjoyed the trip to the park we made in it.
This next picture is of the Booth Family.
So sweet!
Ahh yes. The coconut escapades. My Aunt Em and Uncle Henry came for a visit while I was at my folks. After collecting coconuts throughout the neighborhood with Normy they went to work shucking and mixing rum in one of them. This began a wild plan of starting a coconut drink business on the beach. The big kids went on about this for days, fleshing out quite the elaborate scheme. So, next time you're in Naples if you come across a crazy man and his sister selling coconut drinks for $85 a pop you'll know who they are.
My parent's house was quite the party zone while Em and Henry were visiting. Between the three kids two years-old and younger; my eccentric and vivacious Aunt and Uncle; My sister and her husband; my folks; and of course little old me there was quite a bit of hilarity the last weekend I spent at my moms. We celebrated my Aunt's birthday; had a special visit from our family friends Ray and Pat; and just generally ate, drank, and were merry. The cacophony of crazy reached it's crescendo as my sister and I were trying to pack up our little ones and get on the road my last day in Naples. You should have seen the zoo! The parents trying to pack and the grandparents trying to wrangle the exhausted children. We were trying to keep the kids awake so they would nap on the two and a half hour drive North to Tampa. Wow. I can only imagine those that remained in Naples heaved a sigh of complete relief as soon as we were out the door.
The real treat in Tampa was a visit with our cousin Sara who lives in Ripley, NY. Just like my Aunt and Uncle who were visiting with my parents, Sara had come to Florida for my brother's wedding. But, it was Kate and I who really reaped the benefit of her visit!
Sara truly is a sister to Kate and I. We don't have the chance to all be together enough, and we had such a blast hanging out for a week in Tampa.
Sara and Normy at a playground in Tampa.
Sara making centerpieces for Zach and Cathy's wedding.
OK, so the whole time Georgia and Morgan were together, you could tell they were destined to be great friends... but we had to highly supervise their every interaction. Undoubtedly Georgia loves her cousin, but if left unchecked, the first thing she would do is try and claw Morgan's face off. I'm not exactly sure what that was about, but poor baby Morgan wore many Georgia inflicted scratches the three weeks they were together.
The other couple we had to keep a close eye on were Normy and Bogie. Normy just doesn't know his own strength. It is a testament to Bogie's awesome temperament how kindly he handled all of the ear and tail pulling.
The party really got going once Smoochy flew into town. That was a real close call. He had been keeping an eye on the weather the morning before his flight and things were looking grim. A snow storm was predicted and Southwest was already calling for people to reschedule. By that point Smoochy was already at work for the day. Well, not to be deterred, he did some major finagling and hopped on a plane an hour later with noting but the clothes on his back! Thank god he made it! The flight he was supposed to take was indeed canceled the next day! We were all overjoyed that he made it to the wedding of the year!
Zach and Cathy December 20th, 2008
The Clan
One of my favorite parts of the wedding was getting to see all of our family, Charlie and Sharon, and Pat and Ray!
The antlers were one of my other favorite parts!
And just like that we had come to the end of our Florida adventure and we were off to start a new chapter of our lives in Wheaton, IL.
5 comments:
So glad you are having fun. It's great to hear some news from you. You should check out my new blog when you get the chance.
I'm so glad to see a new entry to your blog!! I know that you have had a very exciting month or two, but I have been missing my smoochie blog fix! Can't wait to see where the winds have blown you now!
Once again you have captured the months events with professional quality and made it clear that you are missing your calling as a writer. It was a treat to relive the moments and I am looking forward to the rest of the story covering the first week in your new location. You and your family are sorely missed in Fl and we are counting the days until our next time together.
All our love,
Grandpa & Grandma
Awesome adventures and memories. When we are with friends or family the fun is doubled because we can share it. So tell me how do you like IL? I can't wait for you to go on the train, that is if you have train stations where you are. I think the kids will love it! Wheaton sounds familiar, but I can't picture exactly where that is. That is a neat picture of Jacob looking at the airplane, and I can't believe how big Georgia is now! Time flies. Call if you have time, I can't wait to talk and really catch up. Love you all!
Wow, I love your blog entries! I love all the photos you have, especially of the wedding and pre wedding preparation events... would you be able to perhaps send me some photos that I could use in my gigantic yet hopefully to be finished one day scrapbook?
Love you and miss you!!!
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