Fun with Daddy

We have been visiting our cousin Gloria as she recovers from her surgery. All is going great, read updates here. Thank you for your prayers!
I love taking pictures of family, but haven't grabbed the camera in a week. These were from last week, documenting this golf practice where Daddy was spending time with AA, getting her ready for her lesson. I just love the little expressions I get to catch on the camera.

Miscellaneous Stuff - May 2012

Today, we are awaiting some good news about Gloria's surgery and hoping to see her in the ICU recovering by afternoon.
This post will be more catching up from April/May: I had a wonderful Mother's Day including some really exotic tulips sent to my by my Mom. AA brought home some home made flowers in a green sand covered vase, a card and the form completed with everything she can think of about me! Ha! Next there are a few more pictures of AA's school work; I can't save everything so pictures are a great way to capture a variety of all the papers she brings home each day.

A note AA and her Auntie Carolyn wrote one day together:

AA and her Daddy went to the first day of the big, local golf tournament; AA seemed to be really thrilled to tell me all about their adventures that day, especially all the golfers who walked right by her. Next we will go tour the LPGA Headquarters near Daytona Beach, as a special day trip for her.

So many things going on, hope to catch up someday on our news. AA loves going through the books I order of this blog. We can tell stories for a long time with these great memories!

Memorial Day - Our World

Our Memorial Day weekend has been visiting with cousin Gloria who is awaiting open heart surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) and waiting to see how bad we will be hit with sub-tropical storm Beryl!

Below, is Gloria teaching me how to play Mah Jongg; what a fun game but so many new rules and terms to understand. Alyzabeth loved learning too so we will be playing while waiting for Gloria to get out of surgery on Tuesday. Please send your love, peace, prayers to Gloria! Updates will be on Facebook (acmaine) so join us there during this week.

Here's our weather forecast! I feel really sorry for anyone vacationing at any of the area beaches.... what a rainy week in the forecast!

Happy Memorial Day!

Maggie's Herb Farm - A Local Treat

Catching up from May 12th - We checked out a free local event, the Maggie's Herb Farm Annual Birthday Celebration. We enjoyed tasting the frozen popsicles, lunch turkey wraps and the herb rolls. All yummy! There were many vendors to buy from and we had to buy several basil plants for our patio garden. A great place to visit!

This was the first time I had seen an artichoke plant; loved the bright purple flower!

Lots of herbs to buy!

Grand #1 - Gymnastitcs Recital

Our lovely oldest granddaughter is really very impressive with her gymnastic skills. Her recital was on this past Sunday (20th) and Hubby was able to get a few pictures of her "not in motion" which is hard to do!

Golf Lesson - My Turn!

I don't usually take AA to her lesson, so on the 19th it was a treat for me while Hubby went off by himself for a fun activity at Maggie's Herb Farm (he made plant pots from hypertufa!). Hubby will not take the camera for the lessons, but I am not bashful and sneaked in a few before the lesson began. Chipping practice:

She is in a junior golf group class with her Golf instructor, Doug Cody, where she is the youngest student. The one closest to her age is Gentry and he is 6 years old. He is very sweet and we get to chat with his parents on the sidelines during the lesson. I keep telling AA to talk to him more, but she is still checking him out! His Mom is Chinese so we have talked about her home country. It was a wonderful surprise to meet them and will be an enjoyment to get to know this family!

Daily Dose of AA - Pool Fun!

Since we have a pool in our complex (the "Club"), we can swim anytime. Lately (as in 05/19/12), we have been going over late in the day to have a quick swim and then the evening bath time. So easy to let AA have some playtime in the pool. The Cabana opens this coming weekend so I am sure we will spend lots more time hanging around the pool!
After she gets out of the pool, her white beach shirt goes on and in 30 seconds we are home!

Happy Memorial Day!

Questions and more Questions - AA's Obsession with Harry Potter!

So... Any Harry Potter questions?
And so begins most of our meals with Alyzabeth either at home or in a restaurant.

Alyzabeth didn't just like the Potter movies, she inhaled them as she carefully studied the nuances and story progressions. The "mean lady" in the movie Tangled drove her to tears because she was scary. Dumbledore's death in Deathly Hallows Part One, drove her to tears because of love. Alyzabeth loved Dumbledore.
She makes (well, asks) us search on our iPhones for Harry Potter Trivia, constantly. How old is Harry in his first year at Hogwarts? What is Ron Weasley's work title? What are the names of Harry Potter's kids "19 years later"?  What wand was Voltemort seeking? What are the Deathly Hallows? Name all the Weasley kids. Who's vault did they break into? What is the name of the game Harry Potter played in? What make was his broom (both of them)? What position did Ron play in the same game? How many goals are there on a quidditch pitch? What was the name of the house elf that Harry freed? Who was his owner? What was the name of the Black household's elf? What animal can Professor McGonagall transform into? Who was Harry's Godfather? What was Harry's parents name? Where was Harry born? What was the three contests in the Tri-Wizard Tournament? What is the name of the family Harry grew up with? How do wizards receive their mail?

It goes on and on.....

Moving into the next size!

AA is now wearing a size five (5)! She is growing up! Thanks to Nana for the L.L. Bean bathing suit!

Love the last photo, you know she is hating having us take her picture; I do love the farmers tan! Maybe too much time on the golf course! We jumped in the pool and tested the new suit; worked great!

Boston - Chinatown Restaurants

We are planning our summer trip to Maine and are going to fly into Boston for two days first for some city fun, historical tours, Chinatown and of course, delicious food.
Last time we went to Boston, we asked the Piper's for the name of a good Chinese restaurant which was the Empire Garden. We went and really enjoyed the large, room that used to be a theater, the variety of dishes in the Dim Sum (even though we did not know half of what we selected). Not much English spoken but everyone friendly.We will go back again.
I have been searching to learn what are the best Chinese restaurants in Chinatown (or close by) to add to our first experience in Chinatown and have found these on line. Have you been to any of these; do you have an opinion? Are they still in business? Please share!

If you live nearby and want to meet us, we will be there in mid-July (send us an email from this blog or leave a comment with an email).

The New Shanghai is rated high on Urban Spoon with a 90% rating.
The Q Restaurant is also on the Top 10 Chinese list in Boston (Urban Spoon review). I found a blogger's review too.
And last: Jumbo Seafood was recommended for the fresh seafood (swimming around in tanks on display).

Artist

Alyzabeth's version of a Picasso painting. Love the school she goes to, the kids have fun while learning!

Since we can't save all the papers from her childhood; we take pictures of them so once they are on our blog, will be included in the book we make of our blog. I have used Blog2Print many times, very easy. This artwork is one exception, it is framed and hanging in her bedroom!

FIUMC Volunteers at FUMCH

My local church mission's team sent ten volunteers to the Florida United Methodist Children's Home to help with a Foster Family Appreciation picnic. There was lots of bouncy houses, water slides, a train ride, fair/festival type games and lots of crafts to make. In the gymnasium there was an inflatable bouncy sticky wall where kids could jump and throw themselves against it and stick like Velcro - very cool! Thank you to FIUMC!