Arrrgh!!!

Hi, all! We're back. Actually, we returned Monday, and this is the first time I've been able to blog. I've worked through a mountain of laundry, and am back in the office. I'm back on schedule as Elegante Mother's chauffeur, too.

We took off a week ago, on Thursday afternoon for Florida. We left O'Hare about the time a warm front was coming in. I was disgusted. At the very least, the weather could have stayed cold while we were away! *G*

We had a good flight, landed at Orlando International, picked up a rental car and made it to our motel in good time. Dear Husband's daughter, son-in-law and our not-quite-three-year-old granddaughter all stayed at the same motel, and Friday morning we had breakfast and headed off to the Magic Kingdom. It's always wonderful to see a child's first visit with Mickey and the gang. As always, the people at Disney made our experience move smoothly. We arrived some time between 10 and 11:00 and stayed well into the evening. The fireworks went off at 7:00 and we were still going strong. Our granddaughter was frightened by the fireworks so her parents took her on "It's A Small World." DH and I, who have been on that ride, chose to watch the last of the fireworks! *G*

Saturday, the guys participated in the golf tournament named in memory of Dear Husband's oldest son. DH doesn't golf, but he was game to join the tour. He got off several good shots, I'm delighted to announce. One of the tournament organizers assumed that my step-daughter and I were there to drive the carts with water and beer. We were rather surprised that he was insistent that we take on the chore. I have never met a man as sexist as this one. We acquiesced, but my step-daughter was really offended.

Saturday was a little cool, and very windy. The serious golfers were not happy campers. It was too cold and too early for beer, so for the most part we handed over bottles of water. We were on the course for about five hours. Lunch and awards followed at the sports bar that hosted the tournament, followed by naps for our entire group. (All that fresh air....)

Dinner Saturday night was Greek food. It was excellent! I had pastitsio, and a Greek salad, and I may have had the best meal at the table. I was even complimented on my pronunciation of "pastitsio," which took me by surprise.

Sunday, the kids went back to Disney, and DH and I drove east to the Atlantic. One of my all-time favorite Florida activities is walking at the edge of the Atlantic. We found a lovely public beach at Smyrna Beach and walked for an hour or so.

We were trying to find Turtle Mound, but our map wasn't adequate. Ultimately, we began winding our way back to the motel on a little two lane highway through a marshy area. Like Elegante Mother, I really enjoy seeing the wildlife, and egrets are among my favorites. It was a nice trip. A storm was beginning to come in. The clouds were as fascinating to watch as the ocean had been. We made it back to our room and napped a bit more. By 7:30 I assumed that the kids had eaten at the Magic Kingdom, but DH said to wait, and he was right. At 8:00 they called and asked us to order pizza.

The baby was out for the night, but the four of us shared pizza and watched the first half of the Oscars. That was about all we had the patience for, given that we needed to be up at a reasonable time on Monday to make the plane.

Our flight home left 15 minutes late and got in 3 minutes early. If I have the time I'll tell you more about that. We had a tiny bit of turbulence over Indiana, otherwise it was a smooth flight. Too bad we came back to four or more inches of snow!

It's nice to be back. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I'm happy to be back. I hope you all had a good weekend!