Meanwhile Back at the Farm

Hi all,
The vacation with the kids is over and we are happy to get back to a more normal routine. Although it was fun we were pretty wore out and took a couple days to recoup.

 We have our RV septic all planned out and as soon as we can get the backhoe we will tackle that. That will complete our full hook up sites so anyone passing by or looking to just hang out on the farm is welcome.

gravel pad

 So back to normal is doing some odd jobs around the place. Usually Amanda plans one weekend day as a work day and really get in to some projects. Wendy and her were cleaning the flower beds and adding new mulch. Patrick was pruning the fast growing crepe myrtles. I was floating between helping where I could.

 During the week Wendy and I got back on our long term fence painting job. We made good progress but I think when we get done it will be time to start on it again. Joking.
 Wendy has tried to get back into making some new baskets, with so much other stuff going on she has not done as much as she would have liked.

 Wendy put finishing touches on a bathroom remodel. Pat picked a nautical theme and though a small bathroom they had fun with the change.
 We have been discussing summer travel plans but it has been hard as we don't fully know if I will need more follow up pulmonary care. We have a couple appointments in March and will see how things go.

Saw this little guy along the road

Lots of family time

Hi all,
 Holy cow, it's been a while since our last post so time to catch up.
 Our son Nate and grandson Alex came down from Wisconsin for a few days. Alex is Amanda's son and has been here a few times but it was the first trip here for Nate so we planned a busy few days for them.
 We took one day to relax out by the beach by Jacksonville, the boys enjoying the warm weather and cold ocean temp really showed they were northerners.

 Wendy and Amanda took the boys on a kayak ride on the Ichetucknee River. They got a special surprise as manatee were cruising the river and they got some nice close up views.

We saw 12 manatee

 

We took a new venture to check out Cedar Key, a gulf coast town that had taken a good hit from hurricane Hermine September 2nd. They suffered a lot of damage but are working extremely hard to get things in order for the spring tourist they so rely on. The area is most noted for the abundance of clams although not in season at this time.

Watched a few dolphins

Backside of stores on the main street

Alex and Nate

 We rented a pontoon boat and cruised around some of the nearby islands. We beached at Atsena Otie Key for a short walk, this small island is noted as a birthing site for horseshoe crabs.
 Amanda said the boys needed a work day on the farm, have to earn your keep here you know.)
We had them dig and install the water line to the RV. A mere 200 feet, they did a great job and no leaks!

a cool day, good for working

 Amanda had made the plan that they would fly out of Orlando early Wednesday, and as we were headed that way to meet up with our other daughter Colleen we would just go down early and enjoy some pool time at the hotel.
 So the boys left out Wednesday and Amanda and Pat drove down that evening, Colleen, her hubby Goyo, and sons Lukas, and Isaiah arrived after midnight.
 Amanda had laid out plans for four full days at Disney. Amanda takes after her mother in planning vacations, it is go, go, and go. But really she did a great job getting things figured out.
 Day one had us touring Animal Kingdom, that was a good plan as we didn't have to arrive to early and that park closes early. I will let Wendy's pics tell about the parks.

 Day two we got going early and hit Magic Kingdom. With the entry passes we had we were allowed to schedule 3 fast track passes allowing you to bypass some long waits. But you also had to schedule these in a one hour time frame so again the planning part was key.

 That day we headed out of the park for supper, Wendy and I headed back to the hotel to relax but the kids returned to the park for more rides and the night closing show.
 Up again early day 3 had at Epcot, we had planned on hitting one of the popular rides early before long lines formed. Bad luck as the ride was having issues and would not open til after 10.

 We enjoyed Epcot and most notably the Soaring ride, although we learned you might not want to do this on a Saturday. Pre wedding parties and groups seemed to make drinking around the park quite the game.
 Last day!! we still had Hollywood Park left. This day Amanda switched a early fast pass to allow a little sleep in. We had a nice time there and really enjoyed the Fantasmic closing ceremony there.

Trading Disney pins

Jedi training

 

Fantasmic show

 One other nice feature we took in while at the parks was a Disney photo pass service, they have photographers placed at entrances and various locations. We could walk and easily get our whole group shots plus they had features for some fun shots adding images.

 We were so happy to be able to spend this time with the kids, what great fun and the memories we will have.