This is the sunset at our Campsite at Fort Desoto.

This is my husband trying to help my daughter set up her sun shade on the edge of the bay.

View from campsite at Fort Desoto.

My boys on the monorail at Disney.

Super cool golf cart at Fort Wilderness.

our first view of Disney.

REALITY Bites.....................

So they say. We are home from a wonderful six day vacation. Three days at Fort Wilderness and three days at the beautiful, under rated Fort Desoto State park.

Wow, I never knew you could cram so much into such a small period of time. We spent minimal time at the camper at Fort Wilderness. There is so much stuff to do, you don't have time to relax. We bought the after 2pm water park passes and did Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach and then Typhoon Lagaoon again. What a great time. In addition, we saw the settlement at Fort Wilderness, swam in the pool, slid slides and used the wonderfully delicious hot tub. Man, what great times. I hope my children were paying attention.

Then on to Fort DeSoto. What a gorgeous place. Peaceful, beautiful, did I mention beautiful. I could live there (if not for the fact that I had to use someone else's shower all the time). I am including some pics of our little vacay. I hope you enjoy them.

Beautiful things.......

Beautiful things are all around us, each day. However, when someone puts their time and love into a project it just makes it even more special.

We are blessed to have someone with an incredible talent in this family. My MIL is an incredible wood worksperson (trying to be politically correct).

A few of the things she has lovingly made us over the years include a solid cherry full size bed frame. No pic of that. A beautiful table for my living room. A set of bunk beds for my boys. Recently, she made me a cover for my mail box post and it is so gorgeous. Pics to follow. And she made my daughter a one of kind doll house. It is so awesome. It has wallpaper and wood floors and lights and furniture and it really is an incredible piece of craftsmanship. Check out these photos.

If you're reading Granny Judy, thanks for the beautiful, hand crafted furniture. We love it all and we love you too.
Everyone have a safe and blessed weekend.

Forty-four years ago today........

In a small, really small town in NE Fla, 44 years ago this morning, my mother was having the time of her life (yeah, right). Today is my birthday. And I'm having a ball. DH got me a blackberry for my birthday. Now, I won't say that I'm an idiot, but I'm not sure I have the vocabulary to operate this particular piece of technology. He wants me to Ping something. Uh, not allowed to do that in public, am I?
Anyway, I'm trying to get my Ping on, so you all keep your fingers crossed.

I had visitors............







My neice, my SIL, and my neice's little girl came for an overnight visit yesterday. I haven't seen the little girl in about two months. Talk about growing, my stars.



Look...

She is such a sports model. And then, she opened her mouth and spoke. I almost freaked out. (She wasn't talking last time I saw her). Clear as a bell, too. I cannot begin to tell you what joy this little one brought to my heart.

Aunt Shelley (me) took her out on a ride to see the cows. A big hit, by the way. And she helped me drive the kubota. And we saw tractors and hay barns, and all sorts of grasshoppers, oh my.

What a lovely girl, and what a lovely visit.

Hello.....is this thing on......

Just kidding. It has been a roller coaster around here for the past several weeks. And I just realized that I haven't posted since Saturday. Oh well, what's a mother to do?

I know this sounds crazy, but my children's social schedule is keeping me hopping. It's summer for goodness sake. Aren't I supposed to be sleeping late EVERY day. Not the best four out of seven?

Anyway, I hope you all had a great 4th. Back to my taxi schedule now.

Happy 4th of July.....America.....

I hope everyone has a safe and fun-filled 4th of July and all the activities that go with it. My DH is working today, so my family decided to wait until tomorrow night for the cookout. Isn't that sweet of us? We want him with us to celebrate....my SIL and BIL are talking about going to a small town near us to watch a parade and fireworks. Since I don't like to be hot or to sweat, I have opted to stay at home and watch the Firecracker 400 on television. And I can see some awesome fireworks on the telly also. I realize it is not the same.....no bug bites, not sweating through my clothes, feeling icky because I'm so hot, but I guess it's a sacrifice I'll have to make. They did offer to take my kids with them.....are they angels or what????? A few hours to myself? I can dig that, I can totally dig that.

Let's not forget this day to remember those who are serving in our military branches. All of them. Let's remember that our freedom wasn't free.

Let's remember that only two people have offered to die for our freedom. One was Jesus and the other is the American soldier.

Enjoy your 4th celebrations..

Am I really a dinosaur.....or how old I really am......

In this techno-savvy world, I have to admit that using new devices and services is not always the easiest thing for me. I have to have my children school me in the use of the DVD player and such. Really, I just don't have the time or the spare brain cells to take this stuff on by myself. Once, I learn a new machine or skill or application, I can ride like the wind with it. That being said.......

I am learning to text on my cell phone. It is a strange and foreign concept to me. And one that I think is redundant. Why take all that time to text, when you can simply dial and talk about it? That's the question. In case you hadn't figured it out, I'm a talker, a communicator. Someone who apparently loves to hear their own voice, cause I have to say, this texting thing is not coming easy to me.

In fact, it goes against the grain of everything all my typing and office management and VOE instructors ever taught me. Fingers on the home row keys, girls. ASDF JKL:. Use correct form and do not look at your keys. All those many years of training and work ethic......down the tubes. All the years that it took me to be able to type 85 words per minute......not important. Gone. Now, I'm hunting and pecking with my THUMBS. Can you believe that? I can hardly stand it. Every time I text I have a montage of old typing and business education teachers mumbling in my ears. It's really a sad thing to see. Me typing with my thumbs talking to old women who really aren't there anymore. I should be on TV I think.

So, with that all important information conveyed to you. I bid you adieu and hope you have a great rest of the week.