Days 20-25 Florida Part 2
Day 20 (6/16/05)
We finally arrived at Dad’s place. Dad and Tess live in a corner penthouse right on the beach. Unfortunately, they have to move come August because their apartment went condo and sold for a whole lotta moula. Chelle had to make the best of her time at one of her favorite places in the world. There was a huge storm and she got to sit out on the porch and watch it. Tons of lightning, thunder, rain, warm wind…it was wonderful!
And they are rebuilding the beach, so the night crew was hard at work.
Day 21 (6/17/05)
Jacob was in a pretty good mood this morning.
We watched the beach crew hard at work. It’s amazing how they do that.
Then we went out to Panera for lunch. Oooooh, they have the yummiest bread. Good thing there isn’t one in Oregon! That would throw a low-carb diet right out the window! Right after we parked the RV, a rainstorm hit with a vengeance. We were in the middle of the parking lot when the clouds started throwing buckets of water on us. We got stuck under an awning until it could let up enough for us to get to Panera. It would have been no problem if we had this guy’s umbrella!
Jacob slept with his Grandpop on the la-z-boy that Phil was rocked in by his dad when he was a baby.
Momma T (Tess) spent the day in rehearsals for tomorrows dance recital. She is a teacher and choreographer. We can’t wait to see her work!
Day 22 (6/18/05)
We went to the dance recital today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures because the flash could blind the dancers. But there were some amazing dances done. One of the dances choreographed by Tess was called Freedom. It was incredible!
Grandpop stayed out in the RV with Jacob. Chelle came out during intermission to feed him. Both times we came out to the RV, Jacob was sound asleep! It looks like they got to bond pretty well though.
We had a good day! Tomorrow we go to the Keys. Yes, Chelle and Jacob are still sick. It’s been at least 11 days for Jacob…
Day 23 (6/19/05)
Happy Father’s Day!
We got down to the Keys, but by the time we got there, it was getting late. The RV parks are expensive there! Since it’s late, we’ll go look at the water tomorrow. Chelle’s always wanted to see the clear blue water at the Keys.
Beware of mosquitoes! They are huge and hungry little monsters!
Chelle didn’t take any pictures today. The weather wasn’t cooperating, and there wasn’t a whole lot to see. But we got these done a yesterday:
And Jacob’s 4 month picture…
He’s growing up so fast! And he’s a big cutie patootie…(Mommy just had to throw that in there)
Day 24 (6/20/05)
This morning, we walked over to the beach so Chelle could see the water. She was disappointed. The clouds made the water green. The seaweed washed up and was rotting on the beach (peeeew). And the mosquitoes were out to get Chelle. We decided it was time to move on (but not before we got a picture of Phil in the water).
We went to the southernmost point of the United States.
And we had lunch at Crabby Dicks. Yes…that’s right…
Oh and it was…
This was kinda crazy…but to each his own.
And we’re sorry, but we wouldn’t take one of these…
On our drive, Chelle got a picture when the sun came out for a peek.
And granny finally got to spend some time with Jacob.
We spent the night at another RV park. A huge storm rumbled passed late in the night. Phil kept telling Chelle that it’s not usually like this at the Keys, the water had to potential to be really blue. Chelle remained unconvinced and decided that the Keys weren’t a priority on her “must come back to visit” list.
Day 25 (6/21/05)
Granny spent some more time with Jacob before we headed back to Dad’s place.
Tonight is a full moon…which would explain some things… Chelle went out on the balcony and took a bunch of pictures of the full moon rising over the ocean. With all the different settings, it was difficult to get a picture she was happy with. After some manipulation, she liked this one (most of them came out looking like a sunset instead).
We also took pictures of our eyes to see whose eyes Jacob has. It’s most definitely daddy! They look brown, but are actually only brown in the middle and green on the outside, just like Gramom Kathy. They also change colors depending on mood and what they are wearing. Chelle wishes she had mood eyes!
Tomorrow, we are going back to Mom’s to pick up stuff we forgot and we will spend the night there. Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to stop at the Salvador Dali museum on our way to Louisiana. We will have to make that trip when we come back to Florida (in a plane next time) for Christmas this year.
Days 14-19 Florida part 1
Since we spent 2 weeks in Florida, we thought we’d make the posts in 2 parts, 1 for each week. Here is the first week:
Day 14 (6/10/05)
We did as little as possible today. Chelle is coming down with whatever Jacob has. Now they can be sick together…oh fun…
Jacob got to visit with Gramom & Poppy and Great-Gramom Rose. Phil’s sister Laura, and her husband Mark came to visit. Their daughter, Brooke, is exactly 18 months older than Jacob.
Here’s Laura and Brooke, who just loves to dress up!
Mark met his nephew for the first time.
And Brooke said hello too.
Day 15 (6/11/05)
Phil’s Uncle Peter and Aunt Terry came to meet Jacob.
Mark, Phil, and cousin PJ played in the pool.
Dave and Gramom Rose hung out.
And Gramom played with Brooke.
And with Jacob.
And we watched the outer edges of Tropical Storm Arlene pass by with wind gusts and rain.
Day 16 (6/12/05)
Jacob met his Great-Great Aunt Eleanor (Phil’s dad’s father’s sister).
Chelle is confused about this “great” vs. “grand” business. If your parents’ parents are your grandparents and their parents are your great grandparents, then why is your great aunt/uncle your parents’ aunt/uncle? Wouldn’t they be grand aunt/uncle (being on the same level as your grandparents)? Chelle researched it, and technically they would be “grand” not “great”, according to the genealogy purists. Once again, yea for the internet!
Okay, so then he met his Great-Grandma Mary (Phil’s father’s mom)
Jacob ate rice cereal for the first time. You’d think that he already knew what he was doing by the way he gulped it down! He didn’t even spit any out.
We thought that maybe feeding him something of substance before bed would help him sleep longer than 3 hours, but so far it’s a no go.
Day 17 (6/13/05)
Jacob met Grand-Uncle Gordon and Grand-Aunt Helen (yeah, see…that just doesn’t sound right).
And his first cousins once removed (http://www.genealogy.com/16_cousn.html) Krystal & Nick.
Uncle Gordon gave Phil a toy chest that was Phil’s when he was a child. You know, since we have room and all…
We all went out to dinner and had a wonderful time. It sure was nice to see them again.
Chelle and Jacob are still sick. Chelle feels like she’s been swallowing sharp rocks and her head is getting increasingly clogged.
Day 18 (6/14/05)
We had one last day at Mom’s with Gramom Rose and Laura. Great-Gramom Rose played with her great-grand kids.
And Jacob helped Aunt Laura look for something really important. (Or at least as far as he knows.)
We had a good last day at Mom’s and got ready to move on. Unfortunately, Chelle and Jacob are still sick. If this keeps up, a trip to the doctor is in their future.
Day 19 (6/15/05)
We left Mom’s house this morning and spent the afternoon with Laura. We went to Sears and got family pictures done.
Looks like we’re gonna start a band…starring Brooke as the lead singer.
Our little family…
Laura’s little family…
Baby cousins…awww, aren’t they cute???
There was quite a storm when we left Sears and when we got back to Laura’s, Chelle spent time out on the porch watching the lightning (she loves that about Florida). We’ll spend the night here and then be off to Phil’s dad’s (Lou) place tomorrow.
Jacob still isn’t sleeping through the night…maybe rice cereal won’t do the trick after all. We can only hope…
Day 13
We arrived in Florida.
Got to Phil’s mom’s (Kathy, aka Gramom) house. Kathy and Dave (her husband, aka Poppy) we so thrilled to see Jacob again. Phil’s Gramom Rose (aka Great-Gramom Rose) was also there to see Jacob for the first time.
We gave them the grand tour of the RV and Chelle realized that she didn’t give you, the readers, a tour yet. Here goes…
The RV cab and overhead storage (really a bed, but we put Jacobs big stuff up there along with a few necessities…oh who are we kidding, it’s all necessary)
Here is the kitchen. There is plenty of counter space and lots of storage. The gas oven has about 4 inches of baking space, so no turkeys or anything bigger than a pizza. We also have a microwave, TV, DVD player (didn’t come with it), refrigerator and freezer.
Here is the livingroom. The couch pulls flat for a small (child size) bed. And we keep the dining table in its bed position for Jacob’s port-a-nursery. It’s also a slide out, so you can see that it gives an extra 20 square feet of space when it’s out.
The bathroom is small, but functional. We do the best we can with the abundant storage space. Across from the bathroom is the shower, but we couldn’t get a good picture of it.
And at last, the bedroom. We didn’t know this, but there is a huge storage compartment under the bed. There is also plenty of space above the bed and in the closet. The bed isn’t the most comfortable, but we’ve slept on worse.
So that’s the grand tour. What do you think? Phil’s favorite part of the RV is the grill. It attaches to the side of the RV (called an RVQ). He says it’s not the biggest, but he can take it with him everywhere he goes. Chelle’s favorite part is the storage under the bed. She thinks that’s pretty clever. (Apparently everyone knew about that except her!)
