Alexander Springs

Thursday we waited for Izzy to wake up; that happened between 10 and 11! But that doesn't matter when there's no schedule to keep. We all donned swimsuits and went to Alexander Springs. The water there stays a cool 72 degrees, which is too cool for me so I stayed on solid ground, taking photos.

But Randy and Aaron got right in and went swimming. Izzy tried it, came back to the picnic tables and played awhile, then decided that getting some shells would be worth getting in the water. 

She collected several before we packed up and drove back home. Then we got cleaned up and headed to the airport to pick up her parents, who will be able to spend a long weekend with us. We were almost late getting to the airport because of an accident on the road, but we made it just a few minutes after they landed. Because it was late and we were tired, we all went to Ichiban Buffet for dinner.

Visiting the Magic Kingdom with a 7 year old

Aaron came to visit us for a few days and brought his granddaughter Izzy - yea! Fortunately there is something nearby that 7-year-olds love - Disney! Aaron and Izzy came prepared with tickets in hand, so we got there before 9 and took the ferry from the parking lot to the Magic Kingdom. Once we were inside we looked around just a little while heading over to Pete's Silly Circus, where we met Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. They all signed Izzy's autography book, although Donald had to really focus on the task.

Next we went on Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster. Then we got on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which is a combination ride and aracade game. Izzy and I sat in one cart and Randy and Aaron were in the next cart. I think we would have beat them if the ride hadn't stalled in a section where they could keep shooting for points, but left us with only them as a target. That was fun, but it didn't get us many points. Next was the Carousel of Progress, and I blush to admit I dozed off for a few seconds on that ride. Then we walked across the park to get to the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. While we were still on this ride, the rain started coming down for real. So when we got off, we walked (quickly) over to the Country Bear Jamboree, which is an inside show. And by the time the show ended, so had the rain. Next we got a Dole Whip, which was yummy, then went on Ariel's Under the Sea ride. That left us just enough time to go on the Tea Cup ride before we went to the front of Cinderella's castle for the Festival of Fantasy parade. The parade was delayed because of the weather, but 30 minutes later it started. It's amazingly beautiful, although I miss the dragon, who had a malfunction recently and is out of commission. 

The big stars of the parade, of course, are Mickey and Minnie.

Afterwards we went to the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, where screen characters interact with the live audience. Then Izzy and I took on to a ride on the big Carousel. 

We got to meet Princess Ariel, before heading back to the center of the park for the Street Faire Dance Festival. Minnie was there, although she couldn't get down off the float to party with us.

Next we went to meet Princess Rapunzel, who told us quite a tale about the goings on in her neighborhood, 

 before posing for us.

Princess Tiana was there too, looking absolutely beautiful. She and Izzy traded cooking tips.

We were starting to get tired, but we still found time to go on Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride. This ride gives the riders some control over the up-and-down motion of the cart; with Izzy at the controls, we were always up! Then we walked back to the front of the park, where a huge full rainbow arched over the Theater.

Finally we took the monorail back to the parking lot, then had a long, tired ride home.

Weather

Florida rainy season has started. Last week we had a spell of rain that made a lake in our yard. 

Remembering the dry spell last year, I am trying to be glad the water reservoirs are filling up. But we need some sunshine!

Today we finally got some, and one of the mid-sized alligators who patrol our canal took full advantage of it, climbing up the bank behind our house and stretching out. I love the beautiful markings on this guy!

I don't think I've seen an alligator enjoying the sun so much. He did his best "pelican" imitation . . .

then laid down, tucked his front legs back and laid his cheek down on the grass, totally enjoying the moment.

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

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The International Flower and Garden Festival is going on now at Epcot. As expected, it's beautiful.
The butterfly house is home to several types of butterflies. Earlier they brought in some small wooden pieces, a little bigger than a piece of paper, with rows of caterpillar pupa attached, and hung them inside little box-like shelters so the pupa could grow and develop. Now almost all of them are butterflies and according to the docent, a lot of them have made it outside the protective "house". The remaining ones are feasting on the array of flowers that blooming there just for them.

The ones outside are feasting, too, because there are beautiful flowers all around Epcot. They don't have to be in a special place or arrangement, sometimes you just glance over and there they are.

Florida Blueberries

Abshier Farms in nearby Belleview grows delicious blueberries. During one part of the season they set aside rows of several kinds of blueberries and let guests in there to pick their own. The berries grow so thick on the branches that it's impossible to pick them all.

Erin came with us - she was here last weekend but came back for more.

It's understood that we will eat berries as we go along. They actually encourage it - you have to find out which type of berry you like the best! I settled on one I really liked and picked only those but Randy, as usual, decided variety was a better option and filled his bucket with several different types.

It was a perfect day for berry-picking! Sunny but not too hot, good company, and lots of berries!

Mom 5/4/18

Another visit with Mom!  We have a routine when I visit and this was no exception; we went to Walmart, Goodwill, Etcetera, and yard sales in Washington, Sunnyland and Germantown Hills. I also tried to take her to visit a nearby Mennonite museum, but it spite of the Open sign, nobody was there to let us in - maybe next time. Kathy went with us on some of these trips, and we had a pretty funny moment in the car. Mom bought some Christian romance paperbacks and accidentally got a couple of 'super' romance books too, not knowing what that meant. On the ride home as a joke Kathy started reading the " good parts" out loud from the back seat. Mom's hearing isn't what it should be so she carried on an entirely different a conversation in the front seat. It made for an entertaining ride home!

I also ask her to make a list of things that I can do for her while I'm here. This time it included painting and covering a darling little rocking footstool that she found at a sale somewhere. I also painted a small dog statue she fell in love with at one of the yard sales we went to. I put up the small windmill on her driveway and raked leaves from the neighbors' trees that blew into her fence. I ran the vacuum in the living room, changed her furnace filter, and drained her hot water tank (per her insistence .  She shouldn't do these things herself but is likely to try, so my sisters and I try to keep up on them. 

Our meals throughout the week were our usual list of things Mom and I can agree on: lunchmeat, Mom's bbq, mac & cheese, and beef tips. 

Mom talked to me a little bit about her youth. She gave me a ribbon from a picnic she went to with Erma and Nellie in Fairmont Park in California. She also talked about her time with Jack in Illinois, before he became a plumber  Jobs were not easy to come by for a jack-of-all-trades laborer like my dad was at the time. Mom told me that he used to go to a place where workers waited for jobs, sort of like they do around Home Depot in some areas now.  At one time he worked as a fireman on the railroad for awhile, and Mom also said that Dad was a taxi driver in East Peoria for a few months. I didn't know any of this before now. We both recalled the time when Dad work one Valentine's day in the bitter cold, and used the money to buy 4 cameo necklaces - one for each of us. 

I was able to visit with Ruth, Becky and Kathy this time - it's difficult to get together with Ruth, so that was nice. We all had lunch together at DQ, and back at Mom's house I got to visit with Becky and Kathy while Ruth napped.  

Mom keeps a tidy house but doesn't mention it when I leave my bed unmade.  Her guest room is very small and there is no dresser, nor room for a piece of luggage on the floor. Not much fits on the tiny round lamp table, so my luggage and other stuff ends up on the bed. Making or unmaking the bed involves moving my stuff and the bedding between the bedroom to the living room, just to get maneuvering room. It's just not worth it to me. This goes against Mom's DNA but bless her heart, she just asks me to keep the door closed during the day. She would have never let me get by with that when I was a teenager, but she doesn't get to see me as often now so she doesn't care about the same things as she did then!

Her friend Lisa came to visit one day. When Mom volunteered at the library, Lisa was the person who most often provided Mom with a ride to and from the library. Mom hasn't been at the library for awhile but Lisa comes to visit every couple of weeks, bringing some paperback books for Mom. This time she called to say she would be late because she had to drop her dog off first. I was the one who answered the phone and I was missing my dog so I asked her to please bring the dog with her. I know Mom doesn't love dogs but she isn't afraid of them. It turns out Lisa's dog is a Doberman Pincher. Big. But very well behaved and quite friendly. She wanted to be friends with Mom, but Mom doesn't pet dogs. 

Jade wasn't taking "no" for an answer. She got close enough that Mom had to pet her, just to keep her from crowding closer. 

The day I was scheduled to leave I got a shock. I heard a loud moaning yell from the living room, where I found Mom lying on the living room floor. She had tripped on something unknown and went right down. But she wasn't hurt, just shaken. So everything continued as planned, and I will see her again soon. In the meanwhile she has her paperbacks and her little rocking footstool.