Day One - Part II-

Transportation to and from wherever we were going was the next issue to resolve. A trip to the park was planned for the next day and we really wanted to find a way to travel in one vehicle. Which vehicle would best hold four of us in the back seat?

Next on the agenda was eating - so we did a trial run with seating arrangements, using Denny's SUV, with Rich and I and the two kids in the back seat. And we headed out to Steak and Shake for dinner. After the meal there was some discussion about getting dessert, which somehow we were able to get out of. What kids don't ask for dessert? I had forgotten to tell the kids that we had cake and ice cream at home for later - but it was for a special occassion that we could not discuss at the dinner table!!

The four of us in the back seat worked well - so after dinner we decided to head for the town center at Sumter Landing, just to get out for a few minutes and enjoy the walk and scenery and whatever else might be going on there. Now, the major mode of transportation here at The Villages is the golf cart, and I think Crystal more than anyone else was thoroughly entertained by watching them travel along the paths and looking for the most interesting models! "Did you see that one?" was a phrase we all got used to hearing. "That one has doors!" was one of my favorites.

As we walked along the streets of the town center, there was one large building where the entire outside walls were stone. Rich and Denny had walked ahead, and the two kids and I had stopped to wait for Crystal.

And nestled between the stones we found this nest of very busy bees. I even managed to catch this picture without disturbing one of them!! The Sumter Landing tour boat appeared to be running tonight, so we stopped by to see what time the next boat was leaving. A nice casual, relaxing ride around the lake would be great. But once again Mother Nature sent us the threat of a storm. We were informed that if there was no more thunder (or lightening) for the next 1/2 hour that the boat would go out. So we decided to walk along the board walk while we were waiting.

Love this sign - but it definately did NOT apply to the two angels that were with us!!! But we all noticed the sign as we looked over the edge of the dock into the water. We watched the fish, and the turtles put on a pretty good show for us.

The stormy weather persisted, and the thunder continued, so the family smiled for the camera quickly before we headed back to the house.

Crystal will be celebrating her birthday this week, and since she would not be with us on her special day - we decided we should celebrate anyway. I had gotten so caught up enjoying my time with the family that I had forgotten to take the cake out of the freezer. So we needed better than an hour to allow it to defrost. The kids wanted to play cards, so Crystal and I joined them at the table, while the guys took off to the living room, turned on the baseball game. ( Denny and the family are Braves fanS - YUK! But we let him watch the game as long as he switched it back to the Rays periodically to catch the score). But the guys can do more than one think at a time, so Rich was doing his Killer Suduko and Denny was on his Blackberry!

Chauna convinced her mom they should go for a walk, to give Gramma- Do time to get the cake and ice cream ready. By now I think that Crystal had figured out that something was going on - but was not sure just what. We managed to keep the candles from dripping on the cake until they returned - and Crystal smiled in surprise as she came through the door. She blew out the candles and began to cut the cake. SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY - DEAR DAUGHTER-IN-LAW.

After cake and ice cream, it was back to the table for some more games. Here we are playing 21, but the rest of the night was Spite and Malice! Hearing our laughter - Pa Pa grabbed the camera. And we played and we laughed and switched seats for luck and we giggled at times so hard we almost cried.

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter"

E.E. Cummings