Golf Balls and Jellyfish

 Very slow action on the free golf ball issue - most carts go up the fairway and not on the cart path.  And there is probably some shyness in picking up balls in front of a villa.

So, this morning I moved them back to the white tee area.  Three foursomes later all 15 balls were gone.  Kind of restores your faith in humanity, doesn't it?

--------------------------------------------

Speaking of humanity:

-------------------------------------------

We've started booking our 2024 trip to Florida.  The plan so far:

- December 30, 2023 - Grove City, Pennsylvania (shopping of             course).

- December 31, 2023 - Nashville, Tennessee (not sure what they          do for New Year's, but it should be fun).

- January 1 to 4, 2024 - New Orleans, Louisiana (hotel booked).

- January 4 - Biloxi, Mississippi (white sand beaches).

- January 5 through approximately end of February - Orange Lake      (can't book until April).

- March - the rental house with Matt and Maureen.

Whew!  Glad that's decided!  Pressure!

-------------------------------------------

As evening approached and the 7th hole had no golfers, Mardi went out on her regular search.

And came back with ten good balls.

Our 2023 supply is now assured!

---------------------------------------------

While she was busy doing that, I had a visitor.  This hawk landed on the wall about 10 feet from my head..........

...........and then started digging in the grass..........

.......but came up empty.

-------------------------------------------------

We enjoyed a pizza for dinner and then Sue, Ewen, Mardi and I played the dice game.  Following that, we wound down in preparation for our early drive to the airport in the morning.

Stay well.

Recycling

 We mailed Cinderella back to Ottawa early this morning.

She had been worried that she would have to dig out her car, but no problem.

------------------------------------------

A found golf ball that we left on the patio table disappeared when we weren't looking, so Mardi and I decided to have some fun this afternoon.  Many of the golf balls she has found are scuffed, so we laid them out by the golf cart path.  Soon had a taker.

A lot of people won't stop if we're sitting there.  But I'm sure that the rest of the balls will disappear when we're not around.

Also had a Disney Frozen balloon come over the roof and land on our patio.  Ewen gave it to a young girl on the trolley on the way to the pool.  Recycling is fun!

-------------------------------------------

That was our excitement for today.

Stay well.

Daytona Beach

 We started the day heading to Titusville to see the SpaceX launch.  At the last minute it was scrubbed, so all we got to see were a couple of guys fishing.

Actually, we also saw Dolphins fishing (likely more successfully than the humans) but they refused to pose for pictures.

So we then headed north to Daytona Beach to check off one of Sarah-Jean's Florida bucket list items.

Then, wash the sand and salt off so we can check off another item.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!

Back at the ranch we headed out to Tradewinds Restaurant for dinner.  A nice way to finish off our day!

Early to bed tonight.   We mail Sarah-Jean back to Ottawa early in the morning.

Stay well.

The Clan Gathers

 A tribute today to Dave Friesen, a man who worked with my dad at Dofasco.  Celebrating 101 years!

-----------------------------------------

Mardi drove Sue and Sarah-Jean over to the Lazy River and stayed long enough to get this picture.

S.J. climbed the wall twice!  Well done.

---------------------------------------

Jo-Ann and Kathryn have returned from their cruise.  Lots of good pictures, but the one I like best?  Jo-Ann asked for extra olives in her Virgin Ceasar.

-----------------------------------------------

We had dinner with Matt and Maureen and the seven of us.  Good food,  busy bar and grill, talkative waiter. 

Afterwards we joined them at the rental house for a nightcap.

Tomorrow we're heading for Daytona and, if the stars align, to Cape Canaveral to watch a rocket launch.

Stay well.

The Magic Kingdom

 Sue and I dropped the twins off at the Magic Kingdom this morning.

-------------------------------------------------

Had a sandwich outside for lunch.  Almost had to share it.

These two were pretty aggressive.  Finally had to wave the Sudoku book at them to get them to back off.

---------------------------------------------

Meanwhile our two heroes were spending their day at Disney.

Ewen, in particular, seemed to be really enjoying himself.....

.....and appears to have found his Cinderella.

As I said before, "Ah, youth!"

Stay well.

Space Centre

 Today we headed for the Kennedy Space Centre.  There was supposed to be a rocket launch by SpaceX at this launch pad.

But it was scrubbed and rescheduled for Sunday.  We may have to make another trip to the coast.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed our day.

They have a lot more attractions there now..........and an entrance price to match!  Thanks Sue!

Our arrival was enhanced by this guy.  He said that I made his day because I had a camera instead of a phone.

A long day, but on the way home we passed near Disney Springs, and it was Thursday, so we had to make another visit to see Jeff Howell.

One of the songs he played had a slow pace, so a couple of old people got up and danced.

And walked back to the car hand in hand.

Love is in the air.

Stay well.

Winter Park

 Happy Pink Shirt Day!

We had a busy day.  We started out with the boat ride in Winter Park to see all the multimillion dollar homes. 

 Always enjoy that one, and today our captain was very knowledgeable and entertaining.

Followed that up with a visit to the Morse Museum.  Every visit we see new exhibits and find out more about the genius Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Dinner at Bosphorous, a Turkish restaurant.  Then.......an emergency stop...

.........now we feel better!

From there we headed to a mini putt location, where being a mountain goat is a benefit.

And some shots are extra difficult.

By the time we got home, it was all that Mardi and I could do to pick up our drinks.  But the twins headed out for a swim.  Ah, youth!

Stay well.

Lazy Day

 A low key day today.  The ladies went shopping at Target.  Ewen and I vegetated. 

Then we headed to River Island so the kids could have a game of mini putt and enjoy the lazy river.

This course is pretty frustrating - the ball takes crazy turns and zig zags around.  

But the lazy river is lots of fun.

After they recovered from that we headed to Sakura Asian Fusion (the house of Orchids) for dinner.  

We like that place and adore Joy, the waitress.  So Sue left her some extra tip money.

Another great day in Paradise!

Stay well.

Reprise

 When I got home last night I was totally whipped and achy.  As a result I forgot to include three pictures that I had intended to add.  So I will bore you with them this morning.

The first: our arrival.

The second: a picture to demonstrate one of the reasons that Legoland is so great for young kids.  At each ride, there is a Lego corral for the kids to play in while their parents proceed through the line.  When the parents reach the last row they grab the kids and head on to the ride.  Brilliant!

I discarded my phone for this trip and brought my camera, which has 63X zoom.  But, as you can imagine, I was the only person in the park carrying a camera - until I met this guy.

Sorry to burden you with this extra edition this morning.  Today will be a quiet day so tonight's missive should be short.

Legoland

 I hope that you all enjoyed Family Day.  I certainly did!  Sue and the twins invited me to join them on a trip to Legoland.

I first visited it years ago when it was known as Cypress Gardens.  The gardens were spectacular and they put on impressive water ski shows.

The park closed in 1985 but it resurfaced in 2009 as Legoland.  They built their theme park, but have restored the gardens and still put on an impressive water ski show every third Saturday.

Actually, the water show is great all the other days as well.

It's a great place to take young kids.  For 21 year old twins it was a trip down memory lane.  We took them there when they were about 10 years old.  

We had a wonderful day!

The Banyan Tree is a bit older than me.  We're both in about the same shape.

The roots grow down from the tree.  It covers about an acre.

Two beautiful young people.  I love them to bits!

It was a tiring day for me, but one that I cherish.

Stay well.