Wordless Wednesday

 

Easter eggs and Peeps

On Saturday, all 3 of our granddaughters came over for a day of fun. 

We started the day coloring Easter Eggs.

We mixed baking soda with water and food coloring.

Then we used q-tips to paint designs on hard boiled eggs.

The designs varied - stripes, dots, flowers and a mix of colors.

Hands needed washing after this step!

Next, we poured white vinegar over each egg.  It was fun to watch the colored baking soda fizz and bubble.

After the eggs dried, we put them in cartons with some fake grass. The girls were happy with their creations!

I have to add in this picture of Cassie to show you how cute she looks with her missing bottom teeth.  She was in her glory on this day - her best thing to do is spend time with her cousins and she was so excited!

Our next activity was making Rice Krispie Peeps. I made Rice Krispie bars and spread them out thin. I found Peep cookie cutters and cut them out. Then the girls added eyes and noses to some, and to others, they added a marshmallow tail.

Look at all the finished Peeps!

We bagged them up individually so they could each take some home.

We had to stop at Chik-fil-A for a late lunch before going home. Everyone had a fun day, including Grandma.  Grandpa missed the fun this day because he was busy working on a project that I'll tell you about later.

It's all about Cassie!

We had a few Cassie events that I have to share with you. The first one happened right before we left for Florida.  Cassie's preschool had a Spring program that we got to go to.

Here they all are looking for and waving at their families.

Hooray!  She found us.

All the kids, lined up and performing.  Well - not all of them.  There's an empty spot on the right side where one little girl had been.  She started crying, her Dad even tried to sit next to her, but she wanted nothing to do with it. There was also a little boy in the middle that cried almost through the whole thing. They tried to have him just get down and sit with his family, but he wanted to stay. Thankfully there was no crying from Cassie.  She stayed up there, didn't sing much but did make some motions. And of course, some kids just love it and sing their hearts out.  Kids are all different and it's hard for some of them. It's always fun to watch these little ones, and of course, we told Cassie we were very proud of her!

Connor was there too and made it through the whole program without a hitch.  Here he is, looking cute in Grandpa's cap.

The Monday after we returned from our trip, we had another Cassie event.   We got to be mystery readers at her school.
The kids know that someone is coming, but not who. Cassie was so excited to see it was her people when Bob and I walked through the door.

We had to have two books to read.

We took these two. Audrey Bunny is the story of a stuffed bunny who sits in a barrel in the store and isn't chosen because she has a smudge on her heart. But then along comes Caroline, who takes her home. Audrey bunny tries to hide her smudge, but soon finds that Caroline knew about it all along. She learns that everyone is special and wonderfully made by God.
The Book with no pictures is a silly book that Cassie loves.  It has no pictures!  But it has lots of funny and crazy words that the kids love.

Cassie got to sit with us while we read the books.

The kids sat quietly and paid close attention during the Audrey Bunny book. Then they laughed so hard for the Book with no Pictures and asked that it be read again!

We brought along bunny erasers and pens that Cassie got to hand out to the kids in her class.

 

And then it was time to go.  Here's Cassie with her teachers.

She has a half day, so she thought it would be a good idea to go to Chik-fil-A for lunch when we left. We were already planning on that!  We had a fun morning and a good lunch and enjoyed this special day.

All good things must come to an end

What a wonderful time we had in Florida.  Terri is the sweetest hostess and also a great tour guide. We enjoyed every moment, but it was time to go home.

We had a very early morning, and had to be at the airport at 5am. We hugged Terri good bye (See you later...) and headed in to the airport. We were thankful for no long lines through TSA either coming or going, but I did get tagged in Lakeland and had to be patted down. They decided I was safe and sent me on my way.  :)

Taking off with the sun rising!

Look at this gorgeous sight!

As we got closer to home, more clouds showed up. Bob and I were admiring them and remarked on how beautiful they were from above.  Michigan has so much cloud cover throughout the winter, and from below the clouds look so gray. This was a reminder to us, that the sun is always shining above those clouds and that we don't see the whole picture but God does!

Here we're getting close to landing.  Michigan had a big storm while we were gone, but it had melted. However, you can see the ice on the ponds below.

When we landed in Grand Rapids, it was 31 degrees! We weren't in Florida anymore...

It was good to be home after such a lovely time away. Thanks Terri!

Blogging friends are the best!

Wednesday was a day I was really looking forward to. Terri had set up a lunch date with several mutual blog friends. We had a 2 hour drive to get to the Cracker Barrel in Ocala where we were meeting. Terri took the back roads instead of the highway which was nice because we avoided crazy traffic, but it also gave us a chance to see the real Florida.  I was surprised by all the cows we saw. When I think of Florida, I think of oceans and beaches, but Florida is one of the top producers of beef. I grew up on a farm, and always appreciate seeing cows and farms!

Here's a few photos from our drive.

I was once again in awe of the beauty of the Live Oak trees.

We ran into a little construction and laughed because these barrels all say Bob's barricades.  My Bob said he got no money for the use of his name.

When we got close to Ocala, we started seeing horse farms.

Ocala is horse country and these places were beautiful!

Here's our happy group! We've all been mutual friends on blogger for some time and we're so thankful to Terri for setting this up.  Bob and I greatly appreciated Terri making the 2 hour drive with us.

From left to right:
Bob and I,
Terri from Your Friend from Florida
Barbara and husband Gary from Journal Memories and in the back - 
Pamela and husband John from Closed Doors, Open Windows

We had a such a nice time talking in person. I've met several blog friends in person and always find that they are exactly as I know them from their blogs, and these friends were no exception.  The husbands laughed at Gary's talk of the men being "blog fodder". We missed Linda of Just Linda, who lives in Ocala but was unable to come this time. It was a delightful afternoon and soon time to begin the drive home.

Pamela brought a gift for us that she ordered from her son Benton who is a talented woodworker.  It's something I'll display with pride and good memories!

It's this Easter display of the tomb with the cross behind it. On the bottom, the stone is in it's place and on the top photo, I've shown how it will look at Easter when the stone is rolled away.  Thank you Pamela - this is a treasure.

We got back to Terri's and had pizza for supper.  I told her I needed a photo of this spot where we shared such lovely meals and times together.

I have to share this photo of one of Terri's cats.  This is Casper. She also has Vinnie, who wasn't hanging around for a photo op.  We enjoyed them and Bob tried unsuccessfully to get them to sit with him!

We had to get to bed on time this night, because we were heading home the next morning and had to be up early to get to the airport. It had been another wonderful day!

Museum, Gardens and an Air Boat Ride

On Tuesday morning, we were scheduled to go on an air boat ride at 9:30.  However, we woke up to temps in the low 40's and a cold wind!  We bundled up (Terri loaned me a sweatshirt to wear as I wasn't prepared for that cold in Florida!) and were ready to tough it out, but the air boat people called just as we were ready to go and asked if we could reschedule for 3:30 in the hopes of it being a little warmer. That sounded like a great plan to us.

We headed into Lakeland to see some things that had been closed the day before. We started at the Museum of Art, where Terri worked for many years. I was excited to see it in person as I remembered Terri's posts about it through the years.

There was a special exhibit happening with items from Florence Italy.  The guard explained to us what went into this display, with people coming over from Italy, just to make sure everything was set up and lit correctly.

An old suit of armor, velvet fabric from the 1500's, incredible paintings and on the bottom right are pieces of a Prince's carriage doors from the 1700's.

Art from an African exhibit, with incredible weaving.

There was even art from Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso.  There was so much more and we greatly enjoyed this stop.

Next, we went back to Hollis Gardens. They were closed the day before, but on this day we were able to wander around these beautiful grounds.

Bob and I at a grotto at the gardens.

After a nice lunch, it was time to head out to the air boat.  We went to Lake Kissimmee, which is the 3rd largest lake in Florida.

We got on the air boat and headed out onto the lake.  We were excited to see the wildlife in the area.

Here's the first thing we saw.  A cow in the lake!  We saw a lot of them on the shore and quite a few more in the lake.

We saw several types of deer.

And we saw several bald eagles - so majestic!

There were lots of alligators!  We were hoping to see at least one, but because it was so cold out, they were out sunning themselves and we were able to see many of them.

There were so many varieties of birds. It was awe inspiring to see birds of many types and sizes, flying out in front of us as we went around the lake.

Here's our airboat.  Bob and I were in the front, Terri and her neighbor Susan who came with us were behind us, and a man and his grandson were in the back.  If you ever get the chance to do this, we highly recommend it.  It was a great reminder of God's intricate design in creation; all these different types of wildlife living in this ecosystem.  

We had supper at an Asian restaurant that Terri recommended, and it was delicious. This beautiful sunset at Terri's place was a lovely end to a very enjoyable day.

Enjoying Lakeland

As I told you yesterday, I'm sharing this Florida vacation in pieces, so I don't overwhelm you all with photos.  Today I'm sharing about Lakeland, Florida.  Terri lives in Lakeland and often talks about her love for her city.  It was so fun for us to see places in person that she has talked about!  After spending time there, we totally understand her love for the city and the area where she lives.  Here's some photos of her beautiful surroundings!

I'm a fan of murals and we saw quite a few as we drove around.  Here's some I was able to get photos of.

Michigan's own Detroit Tigers have their Spring training camp in Lakeland.   We drove past and a game was scheduled. There was so much traffic!

It's such a beautiful city - look at those Palm trees!  We were also impressed with how clean everything was. We also noted that everyone was kind and friendly.

Check out some of the beautiful homes we drove by as we toured the city.

We drove around Florida Southern College where many of the buildings are designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  This is the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel.

We did a little shopping and then went back to Terri's place. 

When Terri visited us last Summer, she helped me snip beans for supper and teased me about making her work. I told her, she could have some jobs ready for us.  She didn't have anything for me to do, but Bob did a couple of simple things and now we're even!  :)

It was a fun day and there is more to come!