A Little Getaway for Us

Ah.... There is nothing better than sipping on a margarita while sitting along the water.

While I was off work for Spring Break, we decided to take a drive.  We packed an overnight bag knowing that we would stay somewhere for a night or two, and we left......  We have done this before .....not knowing where we are headed.  This time we headed down south to find some warmer weather.  Marco Island seemed like a good spot!  But, when we arrived with no reservations (cause that's how we roll), we could not find any place to stay.  So, we headed north and ended up in Naples.  We found a nice little place on the bay called the Cove Inn and paid for the room.  The room was nice and had a nice view of the bay.  And as an added bonus.... the water taxi picked up right at the docks.  Our plan was to go get dinner and then take a water taxi.  While searching for things to do, I came upon a place called Tin City and it looked promising!  Many shops to look in and it was along the water!  Just our cup of tea!  

We ended up eating at a nice place right on the water and as you can see we enjoyed it!  Best grilled grouper sandwich around!   

Afterwards, we walked around the shops and the buildings.  Maybe it was the margarita that went to his head, but, Gary was looking at this boat like it was already his.......... 

When we returned to the room, we decided that it was a little too chilly for the water taxi and decided to get up in the morning and drive along the water and see where we ended up the next night.  

Fort Myers Beach looked promising but no vacancies..... After all it was Spring Break!  So, we kept driving......  of course sightseeing along the way!  Captiva Island was by far our favorite but not somewhere that you can just "pop in" and stay. 

We enjoyed our drive and stopped at some interesting places along the way.... but, decided to go on home and "plan" a trip back to that area at a later and warmer date!  All in all, it was just nice to get away and do some sightseeing!

3 Little Leprechauns

Mimi enjoyed a few hours at the park with her 3 little leprechauns. 

Mitch came over to work on the boat with Pop Pop.  As usual, the girls wanted to go over to Mason and Mia's house. I knew that Mike was busy getting his driveway ready for a major concrete pour so, I told them that we would surprise Mia and Mason and take them to the park with us. Excited, we drove over and found out that Joanne and Mia were not at home.  So, Mason hopped in the car and went with us.


Mason has no fear and climbs to the top!  Haylee is happier with one foot on the ground and with a little coaxing.... Rylee climbed half way up!

"Spiderman Mason" at the rock wall

throwing his web.....

and here.... I am sure that he was pretending to swing from the rooftops!  Rylee and Haylee just look at him and laugh.....

The girls enjoyed the time with their cousin, but were disappointed that Mia wasn't there to push in the swings....

Although, I didn't get a picture of it......... When we got ready to leave, Mason wanted to throw his gum away.  So, I told him to run throw it in the garbage can while I put the girls in their car seats.  As he was running back, his boot hit a stump and he went flying down in the dirt.  He quickly jumped up (as not to be embarressed) and I yelled over to him, asking if he was trying to be a superhero?  He laughed and said, No, Mimi..... I flew like a bird!  The girls laughed and said that he was crazy!  I loved spending time with my three little munchkins....err...  Leprechauns.

Fun in the Park

Mimi, Pop Pop, Mason and Mia gave Mommy and Daddy a night out. So, the four of us went to dinner and had a play date at the park. A fun time was had by all!

 

This one about gave Pop Pop a heart attack because he was concerned about Mia getting germs. Please Pop Pop...... a little dirt never hurt anyone!

Mia loves her big brother so much and just laughs at anything he does.  We couldn't resist getting a video of her little laugh!  She had everyone laughing at her.

Our little kids were so good.  We had only one little mishap.....  that was when Mason quickly had to go poop.  I left Mia in the tunnel with Pop Pop watching her and took off running with Mason to find the bathroom.  When we came out, Pop Pop was a little frazzled because Mia decided she wanted out and he had to go in after her!  I would have liked a video of that!

An "Annigrocery" to Remember

It is amazing how technology is changing our children! My 3 & 4 year old granddaughters can work an iphone or an ipad with such ease. Here lately, every time I see them with the ipad, they are watching Betty Crocker tutorials on decorating cakes. They take turns choosing the cake and both sit and watch together as another creation is made. They would sit for hours if you let them.

I have always enjoyed creating "dream cakes" for my grandchildren and they love being able to tell me what cake they want for their next birthday. So, now you can just imagine how that changes from one day to another.

Pop Pop and Mimi are celebrating their 35th anniversary this weekend and the girls wanted to come over and bake a cake to celebrate. After looking at all of the cake pans to choose from, they decided that a "princess cake" would do the trick. Really, it is a barbie cake, but, I guess Barbie can be a princess too!

After baking the cake together and letting it cool. I prepared the icing bags and let them each have one. What a great time they had!

It is a good thing that we were the only ones eating this cake! Because fingers and licks were all over it! But, that just made it sweeter to me!



I think that we have finally finished the icing.....


But, we are not finished yet..... Everybody knows that a cake is just not a cake without some SPRINKLES.

When finished, their daddy, Mitch asked them why they made the cake and Haylee (the youngest) said..... Happy Annigrocery! And, as far as I am concerned.... the cake along with these flowers from Mason and Mia....

made it the best one yet! It is such fun to be Mimi & Pop Pop!

Girls Pajama Party

Friday afternoon, I was walking in the door after work and Pop Pop handed me the phone. It was Rylee calling me.

Here is how the conversation went....

Mimi: Hi, what are your doing?

Rylee: Nothing.... Do you have plans?

Mimi: No

Rylee: Well, you do now!

Mimi: I do.....doing what?

Rylee: We're bored..... we want to spend the night.

Mimi: It's okay.... when can daddy bring you?

Rylee: Now

So, let the pajama party begin.......

We rolled our hair in socks to see if it would work. Mimi saw it on http://www.cutegirlhairstyles.com/ under sock rollers. It worked, but, the curls did not stay long because we did not use any curl enhancers like the website said. But, it was still fun!

We popped popcorn, watched Mr. Popper's Penguins and woke up and made heart pancakes for breakfast. Time went by so fast that we forgot to take pictures of our hair!

Oh well, that just means that we will have to do it all over again!

Don't let life pass you by!

Surprise..... I am back! Life has been and continues to be crazy! But, as crazy as it is, you never know what is coming your way. One thing after another is always being thrown your way and if you are not careful..... hours, days, weeks, months or even years pass you by. That is what happened to me and now I realize that I need to get back to my blog. So much has happened and I have captured pictures along the way, but, never have taken the time to post them. I have a new grandaughter and have not posted the first picture of her. What kind of Mimi is that? My grandkids are growing up before my eyes and I want to have this blog be my scrapbook of events in our lives. So, I vow to go back to my pictures and start posting my past items! But, from this day forward, I will post current items in a more timely manner. Keep checking back!

Mason, Pop-Pop, Mimi & some Cool Cars!

Pop-Pop and I got to spend the day with our #1 “little man”, Mason. His dad and mom were going to a wedding so we told them that he could come with us to Old Town in Kissimmee. Every Saturday they have classic cars come from all over and park. It’s a lot of fun to just walk around and look at the cars, eat dinner and then watch all the cars parade down the main street. So, we went prepared with a stroller and lots of goodies to keep him entertained. Pop-Pop had bought Mason a shirt at another car show that we had gone to. The shirt has Dirty, Loud and Fast printed on it. The minute Pop-Pop saw the shirt he told me that we had to buy that for Mason. Fittingly enough, Joanne had him wearing that shirt today.
There were lots of nice cars to see.....









And then some not so nice "Rat Rods" to see. I truly enjoy seeing the Rat Rods the most. It is neat to see what unique ideas people come up with in their designs.











One thing is for sure.....Mason is truly going to have Pop-Pop's love of cars as he would point to some of the cars and say whoa….. And it didn't hurt if the car just so happened to have Elmo as a passenger!





Even in the heat, he was a trooper. But Pop Pop helped out with that.... well...... Pop Pop's way! At one point I went into the bathroom and when I came out Mason was really enjoying his sippy cup and I found out why. Pop Pop had filled it up with ice cold Pepsi. Mason smiled and said "Um mm"........







I guess that was better than Bud Light!








While sitting in our chairs as the cars passed by, he just watched in amazement. But in the end, it wasn’t because he was so intent on the cars passing us by. It was because Mimi was letting him do what he loves most. Play with a stick!





So, what’s wrong with that? Isn’t that what Mimi’s and Pop Pops are for? What is the harm with a stick and a little Pepsi?