More February Celebrations

Yes - we continued to celebrate....

But first -  Dennis left on Monday to spend a few days with his step-dad, Jack and the family. We enjoyed the pictures of all of them out for dinner at Outback, and another day at the horse track in Tampa.  But if you remember, we had just go back from Dania, where on our trip home we rode through thousands and thousands of bugs.........So the first thing we needed to do was to wash and get those bugs off the car!  And dryer sheets work great!  Before and after photo:

And Tuesday was pick-up day for yard waste - so we cleaned up the palm trees and swept up all the leaves in the driveway from the neighbors large oak tree!

Laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning house, and doing some planning for our summer trips kept us busy for the next few days.    Saturday we celebrated our 45th Wedding Anniversary!  Together for 49, married for 45!  And many thanks for the cards and well wishes, and face book messages from friends and family!  Pictures below are from our wedding day in 1974!

No presents this year - but we had a good time and an absolutely awesome dinner at Red Lobster!  Next time you go there, and especially for a special occasion, ask for Sony!  He waited on us a couple of years ago on our wedding anniversary, and so we requested him this year!  He is the absolute best!
We both had the Lobster Lovers Dream: Roasted Rock Lobster tail, Poached Maine Lobster tail and Lobster & Shrimp Linguine Alfredo, Salad, and those delicious biscuits!  I had the green bean side, and Rich had the mashed potatoes with lobster gravy!  And the white chardonnay with fruit garnish was excellent! And Sony surprised us with dessert  to celebrate 45 years...Cheesecake with strawberries and whip cream with chocolate drizzle for two.......

And  Sunday - we celebrated our son Dennis' 50th Birthday.  We don't usually do birthday gifts - but we sent him home with a new T-Shirt (350 dog years old) and a new koozie that said  This Old One Needs a Cold One!!  Can't believe he is turning 50......time sure does fly.

 Unfortunately - Dennis had to travel on his birthday.....for work, to Alabama, where he will be for the next couple of weeks.  Sent a picture.. one of him celebrating his birthday.... and one wearing his new shirt!

Rich's 70th Birthday Weekend Celebration!!

It as a long weekend.........or should I say a lot of fun, that lasted all weekend!  Mid morning on Friday, we headed for Orlando, where we would pick up our son Dennis at the Shades of Green Hotel, where he'd been staying since Monday.  This is a military facility - so he was there for work.

We arrived just after noon, and he was checked out and waiting for us.  It is an absolutely beautiful facility...

And so we set off for Dania Beach.........which was about a three hour ride. About $14 in tolls along the way between Orlando and the Turnpike.  We stopped almost mid way for a quick lunch at one of the service stops along the Fl Turnpike........grabbed a sandwich... and back on the road.

First stop was at the Hotel Morrison, on Federal Highway in Dania Beach.  Computers were not working too well, so check in took a bit longer.... actually quite a bit longer.........probably 35-40 minutes, after which time they had successfully checked in ONE room and gave us our key.  We said we'd be back, probably before midnight - to check in the second room. So the three of us went to our room and got ready for dinner and then off to PLAY!

The hotel itself is excellent.  The rooms are very spacious, very clean, and the beds were the most comfortable I've ever slept in.  HUGE are for breakfast in the morning which was free ( waffles, scrambled eggs, cheese omelets, sausage, toast muffins etc......) Raised pool area in the back........4 Stars for sure!!

Headed out for dinner and found an excellent restaurant withing walking distance, Grandpa's Bakery and Restaurant.  Rich ordered the 1/2 pound burger with fries and slaw, Dennis, the Join the Club triple decker Turkey Club which came with fries and slaw...........and which was HUGE, and I just ordered the French Onion soup, which was the best I've ever had!  The bakery was filled with goodies, but the Cheesecake portion we saw at the nearby table was HUGE....We did not have room for dessert!

After dinner we headed over to the Casino and Jai-Alai Fronton.  We were trying to figure out when it was that Dennis went with us to Jai- Alai ...... remembering that it was many years ago.......and thinking that it was in the 90's when we lived in Connecticut.  Twelve games tonight starting at 7:00 PM... It was well after 11:00PM when we headed back to the hotel.  A fun night, a few adult beverages, AND Dennis had the biggest win of the night with a win, quinella and trifecta in the same game!!!

So, we got Dennis checked in to his room and called it a day!  The hot buffet in the morning was until 10:00AM - so even Rich joined us for breakfast on Saturday.  Everything was excellent.   We headed back to the Jai-Alai Fronton
around noon to get our programs and get ready for the games to begin at 1:00 PM.  Another cup of coffee - and Dennis went for the cheesecake!  No big losers again today!!!

 It was after 5:00 - and we all agreed that we should eat first - before we started our trip back to Lake Placid.... so we returned to Grandpa's Bakery and Restaurant......for one more chance to check out what's good for dessert!

We all ordered pasta!!  Dennis had the linguini with broccoli, Rich the linguini with meat balls, and I had the stuffed shells.  Talk about HUGE portions!!!!! Rich's dish came with FIVE meatballs, Only Three shells, but they too were HUGE.......And we also filled up on the salad, bread and sticky buns that came with the meal!!!

Next destination - HOME!  We had a couple hour drive to get home.  We needed to get GAS!    But before we knew it, we were going north on US 27...... most of which runs through the everglades with NO towns for several miles.  We were very very close to empty when we found the first small town with gas!!!  What was worse .... the BUGS -  The windshield was just covered..... and turning the washers on definitely was not a good idea.  No water or wands to clean the windows where we got gas - so found a pilot up the road and the two guys started cleaning!!

And then we were home - not long after 8:00 PM. We were all in bed early Saturday night.........

Sunday we celebrated Rich's 70th Birthday! I had ordered a whip cream cake for him at Publix before we had left for Dania Beach - so Dennis and I made a trip to the store, got the cake, a balloon and some ice cream. He opened his cards. We don't do big gifts for birthdays - but I gave him a box of Chocolate covered cherries (to make up for the ones that were melted at Christmas!) and a couple of koozies for his beer cans.....one of which has an icepack sleeve that can be kept in the freezer!

And Rich wanted to go to Dock 633 for his Birthday Dinner.......to have the Dock Onion!  Food was excellent!  Rich did the Caribbean Burger with fries, Dennis did the Seafood Combo with Mahi, Gator, Shrimp and Clams and I had the fish and chips.  Good time... great end to a great birthday celebration.

Dennis left Monday morning...........we'll sure miss him.  Safe travels back to Iowa!

Bird Watching, Dinner w/Friends, Celebrating Birthdays

Well - it's actually been pretty quiet around here, the weather has been quite pleasant - until today.  100% chance of rain today..... and the temperatures are dropping.

We have really enjoyed watching the Blue Herons.  They are nesting again in the pine tree just the other side of our neighbor to the east.... Not sure if there is another nest in the pine tree near one of the houses across the canal..........but there is a third Blue Heron.  And this third one is being a big pest.  He/she (?) often flies and perches on a branch not too far from the nest on our side...... and you can hear the squawking, and see the two of them battling!!!  Here's a couple shots we got this week

You can see the third one in the top two photos, below.

Last night we made plans to meet up with friends, Nathan and Krystal ..... where else????  Yes at the Hibachi Buffet in Sebring!!!   It's flu season - so Diane is being exceptionally cautious so as not to get sick..... so she and Buddy decided to
skip this month.   Krystal has been having some pretty bad days as well..... but continues to keep very busy with the horses.  It was nice to sit and catch up with them.   As usual the food was excellent and the company even better

And thank you Nathan and Krystal for the "Thank You" card and for Rich's Birthday card.  You make the most beautiful cards.......whatever the occasion!
 

Today is our grandson's 21st Birthday...

🎂🎈🎉HHappy Birthday to our Handsome, Intelligent, Fabulous, simply Awesome Grandson, Dalton Donald. We are so blessed and so proud.... just know that the sky is the limit for you today and beyond..... We love you to the moon and back.... Forever in our hearts!❤️

Dennis had to leave for Orlando on Sunday - so he celebrated with their first toast, and Dalton's first "adult beverage". So very proud, and love both these guys so much!!!

Just the beginning....... Valentines Day, Rich's Birthday, Trip to Orlando and Dania, Our Anniversary,  and Dennis' Birthday all yet to come this month... Whew!

Arts and Crafts Country Fair - DeVane Park

Well it was a pretty good weekend.  The weather was a little warmer with lots of sunshine, and it went by pretty quickly. Neighbors, Jim and Patty were in town for a few days, and stopped by with freshly picked grapefruit and oranges.  A little housework, laundry,  sprayed the yard for weeds, visited the country fair... watched the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet!!!    got our timeshare rented for our week in May, did a little cooking and baking............

Made some oven baked barbecue home-style ribs, and Rich peeled and cut up potatoes for home fries. A cold beer and a glass of wine.... and dinner was complete.  Saturday afternoon I made a Cherry Pie ( well, it was a Mrs. Smith's) add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it was delicious!! 

Saturday and Sunday was the Lake Placid Arts and Crafts Country Fair right here in town at DeVane Park.  Sounded like a good idea - they always have a booth set up for Rich to have his funnel  cake! 

It was a beautiful day so we wandered around.  Lots of stuff to see from multiple food vendors, ( love the one with all the candy and fudge!) handmade gifts for pets, fresh vegetables, beautiful crafts,  wine, the outdoor water fountains and furniture.  We stopped for a burger, and then went looking for the funnel cakes......only to find they did not make it to the fair this year............so Rich was quite disappointed!

Always enjoy seeing the animals.  Humane Society was there with the dogs and cats up for adoption...... and then we went on to see the snakes, and turtles as so on....

 
They had a very good country band playing, so we sat and listened while we had our lunch.  That's were we ran into our neighbors Phil and Dorene.......and Rich snapped a picture of me and Phil, as Dorene went off to get them a barbecue!.  And shortly after that we made our way to the Clowns tent where we  met up with friends Bob and Lavern ( aka Silly Willy and Fluffy) and got some pictures with them and a few of the other clowns.

Birthdays and a little travel coming up in a couple of weeks and we anxiously await the visit from our son Dennis.   We hope to be able to meet up with some of my family who are in Florida for a month or so - over near Hudson, and then we'll start planning our trip north.  And it's about time for us to get together for dinner again with the Showalters and the Douglas'.