lilly blog header REVISED

Friday, February 18, 2011

Family and Friends

I am one of 26 cousins....here I am with two of them.

This is Evelyn Mae. Her father is my cousin Justin. He is on my right in the above picture.


Uncle Bill (my Dad's brother), Aunt Mary and their first grandchild....Evelyn.

Grandma Lettie (Aunt Mary's mother) She is 90 years old and going strong.
Last January she lost her husband of 68 years.
Can you imagine???
I am proud of 21 years but apparently I have a ways to go!

This is Phyllis, she is dating my father and she is so kind and generous.
Exactly who I would pick for my father.
She loved Lilly and here she is being taught how to play Uno by a 4 year old.

It has been so wonderful to see my family while traveling.
We went out for Mexican food on Saturday night and it was delicious.
We were amazed that after fajitas for 8 people, two margaritas and 5 glasses of wine the bill was only  $69.00. With a tip it was just over $10.00 per person. That is a bargain in today's world!
Lilly mangaged to rope lots of people into playing Uno. She wins more often than not.
She even has her stuffed dog..."Frank" play too and then she plays two hands while everyone else plays one.
I am fearful that my 4 year old may be smarter than her mother.

On Sunday we were invited to Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary's house for a BBQ.
My cousins Justin and Matthew were there. Justin is married to Mandy and they have a little girl named Evelyn. She is so beautiful and so sweet. Justin is a wonderful father and of course it goes without saying that my Aunt and Uncle are over the top happy with their new grandaughter.
They are are a wonderful  family and being with them makes me miss them more.
I realized that if we lived closer we would spend more time together. Justin played Uno with Lilly and everyone taught her how to play Go Fish. These are relatives that I have only seen once a year (sometimes not even that) so we don't get chances to spend extended time together.
They were so good to us and so kind and gentle with Lilly it made me see that we would be even closer if the miles didn't seperate us. I really enjoyed our time.
Thanks Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary..I love you both.

We stayed those two nights with the woman my father is dating. Her name is Phyllis and she is so wonderful.
She is exactly who I would pick for my father if I could. She was wonderful with Lilly. She is a family oriented person and very easy to be around. I thought about how the upside of your parents being divorced is that there are more people who love you and more people for you to love.
More people who love my children is a blessing for all of us.

Stay Tuned !

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Beginning

Listening to Sugarland

This is always so  nice to see....who doesn't smile at a place called the Sunshine State???


Lilly picking her first orange

A little help from Dad Dad

I love how intent she is on what he is telling her

Our first orange eaten right from the tree....it doesn't get better than that!!!

So here we are at Day #6 since we left home. We have actually fit in quite a bit.
We drove all day Thursday and then spent the night in Fredricksburg, Virginia.
A very nice hotel with an Olive Garden right next door.
We had dinner there and turned in pretty early to get rested for another day of driving.
On Friday we made it to Florida and stayed overnight in Jacksonville. This time we ordered pizza in and just relaxed and again went to bed early. On Saturday we made our way to my Dad's friends house. They live in
Tavares which is just north of Orlando. They live on a lake with cypress trees and orange trees and grapefruit trees and of course the dreaded fire ants! I forgot to ask about alligators and look how close we are to that water. Do you ever get scared in retrospect??? Kind of a strange sensation isn't it???
Knowing my father the way that I do I can't imagine we would be in any danger, he is the King of Safety.
After our snack and a quick visit with my Dad's friend Helen we traveled on to Tarpon Springs.
I will post the pictures of that leg or our journey later today or tomorrow....but for now we are off to the library with Lisa and her sister Jody. Then some lunch and then some more relaxing. I am beginning to rest way down deep inside of myself. It feels very healing. 
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