US Visit, Fall 2019

I'd thought once a year would be enough, visiting the USofA.  But I was wrong.  A year is too long, but twice a year is too much, so I'm trying to find a middle ground but that is sometimes elusive.

Anyway, here we are, about 7 months out from the last visit. OK, that might work.

As usual for the last several years, we landed in Orlando, relatively rested having done our little trick of reserving the A and C seats hoping the plane wasn't packed and that no one wanted the middle seat. It worked! Seating has become smaller and narrower every year it seems and just a little bit of space to stretch makes a world of difference.

We came through the front door and could look right into the back yard at this. The multi-citrus tree  is so full with lemons!

It's fun to catch up in person, especially since neither Michelle nor Lee are great communicators.   How is that possible??? So, to kinda make up for that, there's lots of catch up when we arrive - and that's good.

The major catch up was catching up on Lee's not-minor accident, falling through the ceiling onto the living room floor resulting in a broken collar bone, three broken ribs, surgery, two nights in the hospital, lots of worry that he was unwilling to share with Mom or Sis until days later!!!!!!  Recovery is slower as we get older and it'll be weeks and weeks before it's back to normal.  But thank goodness it wasn't worse - he didn't land on his head or his face and all that new metal in his body will get him special treatment at the airport. LOL.  But I am not laughing.

No pictures of the hole in the ceiling, no pics of the very new and strange zips used these days instead of stitches.

Anyway, less than 48 hours later, we're on the road again, heading to the Syracuse-FSU game.  This was planned a while ago since Hayden was interested, then, sadly, his interest waned. Oh, too bad, but the die had been cast, so off we go to Tallahassee.  We headed out Saturday morning, following Crissy who attacked the roads like a Formula 1 driver.  Wow.  Werner asked about 2 hours in, "Are they going to stop?"  I knew the answer - we'll stop when we get there!

Ah, a Tailgate Party!

Does anyone else think Lee looks a bit like Tom Hanks?  Fun times with the kids and their friends and then on to the game.

Michelle and Joey got to sit in the 4-star seats with the big guys but we were happy to be in the stands.  Sort of.

Half-time with the Alum band and the Homecoming Court was fun.  Add to that, a WIN, not something that's been taken for granted this season.

The stadium was loud and at least 1/3 empty and frankly for me a bit too loud and too distracting what with all the announcements and the videos and the live photos of the fans. Just watching the game seems to be passé.  And passé may be what games are for me...

On to Lynn Haven! Along the way, we didn't get to look at how things have changed, landscape-wise, since it was very dark and very, very wet.  But the next day, it was just a bit depressing (sorry) that there hasn't been more change and more rebuilding and more green return since last year.  The trees are still struggling, mostly looking like topiaries, many houses are still waiting for repairs or demolition.

But that didn't dampen our spirits.  It was a birthday - mine!  We celebrated a day early at a really upscale place Hunter recommended (really - Emeril's !!!).  It was classy and tasty and oh so special. Thank you all!

Next day, we went to the beach, and

had 5 Guys lunch. That's a birthday for sure.

And just one short day later, more wonderful food - the whole Fondue meal at home.  What a treat!

The next day we had lunch with the "little" kids and did some shopping at the Nike store where Hunter pointed us to good shoes and great deals.  Thanks, Hunter! LOVE my new shoes.

And we got to do Halloween!  That's such fun.  Last year Halloween didn't happen because of Hurricane Michael, so this year was especially special. More than a few kids showed up at the door and they wore such fun costumes.  Halloween has such fun memories for me - hope that's true for all of these kids, big and little.

Leaving Lynn Haven was kinda strange - Saturday morning the crew left for the Miami game in Tallahassee. Hunter had left the day before for a guys' trip to Orlando.

Then we left a bit later for the beach and Apalach where the seafood festival was in full swing - food (FRIED!), crafts and shuckin' contests.

A couple of nights at the beach is a tonic you just can't buy. How we love St. George, the sound of the surf and visiting with Nancy.

And before we know it, we're on the road again!  Up to ATL and the sisters.  Talk and food and talk and food and more of all of that.  We did get a brief visit with Tim and lunch with Dana and Dave, but no "events."  Everyone is busy...but sister visits are the best. Frankly, I think we're looking sassy. Don't you?

And then back to Orlando. The drive is a hard one - a good 7 - 8 hours on the road, traffic and traffic and interstate boredom.  But we had a great lunch break with steak sandwiches from the leftovers of the night before, and sunny skies.  Can't beat the south.  The north was in the middle of a severe cold snap, but we just enjoyed the cool.

The last few days in Orlando were fun. We'd wanted to have another fried chicken lunch with Crissy's mom and L+C, but the restaurant had closed!!  We found an alternate restaurant for lunch that day, but the fried chicken bit stuck in our heads, so we made that at home the next day. Huge success!  Hayden literally sucked on the bones, and everyone declared it yummy.  Me, too.

There are so many lakes in the area, and this one is a nice walk from Lee and Crissy's house. You're never far from nature here, even with the tons of homes and people.

While the kids were in school and the parents at work, Werner and I cleared the weeds from around the pool, put some new herbs in the planter, weeded from the front bed.  Things looked pretty good when we pulled out Thursday afternoon, and I was happy to have had some garden exercise.

Strangely again there was only one kid to see us off.  Crissy and Lee were at work,  Dylan was heading to baton practice, but before Dylan left us, she did her single performance from last summer.  It's not without errors, but I am very impressed!

And Hayden, hero that he is, did a fantastic stand-in for everyone sending us off. We got hugs and kisses and lots of "I love you, too" 's and smiles and waved as we headed off to the airport.

Funny, our visits are just routine these days.  And that's just fine.