Aren't Grandchildren The Best!? (Posted 1/23/2013)

The day after Christmas Amy, Mark, Olivia and Laura arrived for a visit. It was their first visit since we bought the condo so this year we had a place for them to stay instead of having to rent them a condo. They loved the new condo and will hopefully be visiting more often now! GRIN

We had a great Christmas with them. Linda got to really decorate for Christmas for the first time, Christmas tree and everything. She had made lots of clothing for their American Girl Dolls and sleeping bags for the dolls. Lots of other presents for the girls. Mark and I each got a toy to play with, me a helicopter and he got a combo helicopter/all terrain vehicle. Boys will be boys and we terrorized the condo, knocking ornaments off the tree, crashing into walls, everyone ducking for cover, etc.!

We went to the beach, toured Ding Darling Nature Preserve on Sanibel Island, swam in the pool, ate too much, and generally just enjoyed having them here. We went up to Kissimmee for a couple of days to visit the girls' great-grandmother. More Christmas there, more presents, more food, etc.

Here are a few photos taken during their visit.

Olivia at the beach;

Laura and Linda looking for shells for the "shell contest" that Laura organized:

Family swimming in our condo pool. You will note the absense of the "winter wimps", Linda and me:

 

Linda and I with the girls at their great-grandmother's condo:





Amy, Mark, Olivia and Laura with Phyllis and John (great-grandmother and her husband):

They left on January 2nd and it was tough to see them leave.  We will go up to visit them during their school spring break in April and we will be taking them to Hawaii for a family vacation at the end of July. We are all really looking forward to that!!

Our harbor has been busy this winter, averaging about 10 boats at anchor at any given time and right now we have 18 which is a record since we have been here! We meet some of the cruisers and enjoy the ever changing scenery with new boats coming in and others leaving.

We have had the condo for almost six months now but still live on the boat. We spent 3 nights in the condo during the kids visit and a coupleof nights another time we had a visitor.  All together we have only slept in the condo 6 nights in 6 months. But we are enjoying it, using the showers, Linda baking now that she has an oven, etc.

Hope everyone has a great 2013.  Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing and what you have been up to!