On the road again!!

Well, last Monday my friend Melody decided (with maybe a little arm twisting) to fly down to Florida with me to help me close up the house (we left in a bit of a hurry to be home for the new baby and I thought I wanted some more time in FL) and drive the car home with me.  We left Grand Rapids Monday at 7 and arrived in Ft. Myers about midnight so we had two nice days to goof around a little but also get the cupboards and refrigerator cleaned out.  Then Thurs. morning we got to work and got things done around the house that needed to be taken care of and headed out about 10 am.  We stopped in Orlando at Epcot for the "flower show" that goes on there for a couple months.  There were lots of very neat topiaries and lots of beautiful flowers on the grounds. 

 We were there about 4 hrs then headed north. We only got as far as Gainsville for the night and then made it to Murfreesboro TN last night.  We'll head out soon and make it to Holland!!

Scarlet Grace Hilldore

She's here!!  Scarlet arrived at 12:28 AM Wed. "morning" and is 7 lbs. and 20 inches long.  She's a real cutie with quite a bit of hair even.  It looked pretty dark at first but now is looking a little lighter.  We are having fun visiting with her and her mom and dad (Allison and Travis) at the hospital the past couple days and they will go home tomorrow.

Ashlyn and Jacob get acquainted with their new cousin.
With Grandpa
Sleepy Girl
Happy Family!!

Spring Break at our house

We had lots of fun having the kids here for their spring break.  Lots of swimming, an afternoon at the beach and lots more just "hanging out."  Jacob liked playing the PS3 when he wasn't swimming or going for a boat ride.





Ben and Amanda joined us on Friday afternoon and they got to stay until Tues.
"Rough Life"

It was nice to have them all here and we all had lots of fun.

Back in Florida

Got back LATE Friday night after some airline delays that could have been a lot worse.  Only an hour late but that meant we got to Ft. Myers at 1 AM Sat. morning actually.

The kids have been having fun in the pool and we went for a boat ride Sat. to Parrot Key for lunch.  Otherwise they have been spending lots of time in the pool and hot tub and Jacob on the NASCAR game on the PS3.

A bit more cloudy, muggy and windy today but still beats that cold and snow in Michigan!!

Up North

I arrived "Up North" last night.  Back in Holland for a week to have a baby shower for Allison and then I will fly back next Friday with Jamie and the kids for their spring break.  Jamie picked me up at the airport last night and then we played a game at my house with Jacob.  Chutes and Ladders, while Ashlyn explored the toys she hasn't played with for a while.  It was great to see them and I will see them again this afternoon for a while and then Jamie and I will finish getting things ready for the shower that is at her house tomorrow morning.

Also while I'm here I'll also catch up the Dr., my hairdresser, the "kids" who are here, my mother-in-law and my friends (looking forward to lunch Wed. with Melody!!).  I'm sure the week will go fast but could someone change the weather for Sunday?? I"m hearing something about snow and I'm pretty spoiled now................   :-)

Fun with Mark and Shelley

We are having a fun week with our friends and the weather is cooperating for the most part.  It was rainy the first day they were here but we got out in the boat Thursday to Green Flash for lunch, Friday to Boca Grande for lunch at the Pink Elephant and Sat. to Ft Myers Beach to Parrot Key for lunch.  Notice any pattern here?  :-)

Today we took a "Sunday Drive" out to Pine Island and the Tarpon Lodge.  A pretty spot on the water in Pineland.  Janna and Charlie Winn met us there.  Then we rode up to the north end of the island and then back into Cape Coral and up Burnt Store Road to Punta Gorda where there is a new car museum.  It is mostly Chevy cars with a large collection of Corvettes.  About 170 cars there - all a private collection on one owner.  Interesting to look at.  There was also an air show going in in Punta Gorda so we saw the Blue Angels fly over quite a few time.  Pretty cool.

Is it March already?

Where does the time go???  We have stayed busy so that makes the time go fast I guess.

We spent a part of the week last week on the boat down in the Keys.  We met our friends Karl and Linda Lohre at Hawks Cay at Duck Key on Wed. and spent a couple nights there.  It's a real nice place and very family friendly so there were lots of kids there but also lots of room to "spread out" so there were quiet spots to be found.  We boated over to Marathon one day then back to Hawks Cay and then on Sat. went up to Islamorada and spent a night.  We had great weather and made it back home on Sunday by mid afternoon.

Mark and Shelley Hawks are here now for a week but the weather has not been quite as good so far.  Cloudy and rainy yesterday and today so we drove down to Marco Island yesterday to visit some friends there.

We were up to Longboat Key two weekends ago with the WPO group.  They came here on Friday, had dinner out and breakfast here then 10 of us got on the boat and went up to Longboat Key.  Gary and Pam were our hosts there and 2 of the couples had to leave out on Sunday and so there were only 4 of us on the boat home on Monday.  It was a nice time with them all.