COCOA BEACH 2008 - Part I

It was so great to be back in Cocoa Beach, Florida for another vacation! We had wonderful weather the whole twelve days that we were there. It was sunny and in the eighties, sometimes nineties. Being by the ocean is one of my favorite things, and we have found a very nice resort that we get to use once a year and enjoy just relaxing and walking on the beautiful beach by the ocean, picking up seashells, eating in the great restaurants in the area, playing games, reading a lot and just enjoying ourselves. This year Bob and Shelley and Matthew joined us from Sunday to Sunday of the first week. They had a frustrating day with the airlines in getting to Florida, but after they finally got there on Sunday night, we had a great time. We stayed on the sixth floor this year and had a double balcony with a great view of the ocean. Here are Shelley and Bob on the balcony that goes along the inside of all of the condos and overlooks the pool area.

Here is Matthew playing on the beach with his sand toys. The water was warm this year so we spent a bit more time playing in the waves, which were rolling nicely every day. We also got to see lots of different birds, some jellyfish, and some crabs.

This is a picture of Terry. As usual, he is multi-tasking! He was trying to fly a kite and talk on the phone at the same time. We thought that Matthew would enjoy the kite, but he was too busy doing other things to bother looking at it much. He's probably too young yet.

This is the view from the inside balcony overlooking the pool area. It is a beautiful view and is usually very busy with people. We spent a lot of time there in the water, reading, eating at the food bar and talking. One day in the second week, I actually played BINGO! Most days there is either live entertainment in the afternoon at the pool or organized games or trivia for those who want to participate. We did the trivia one day and I did Bingo one day. Lost both.

Matthew got to be quite a little surfer while we were there! Here he is on a big wave. Isn't he talented? Oh no! He forgot to remove his shoes! What kind of surfer surfs in sandals? He just isn't up on all of that stuff yet.

The ocean was warm and we really didn't have to get used to it before walking in. I never really swam in it, but Bob, Shelley, and Terry did a bit, and Matthew went into the waves while someone was holding him. Beautiful water!

Here is Matthew playing in the sand. He loved to make rivers and fill up the bucket with sand and then pour water into it so it would overflow into his river.

Here we are walking along the beach one day. I am the one taking the pictures, so I am not in the pictures! I have to figure out how to fix that one of these days. I find that it is easier to just take the pictures myself most of the time. 

We had a wonderful time at the Resort on Cocoa Beach! We also did some other things with our time which I will tell about

 in Part II.

Anticipation!!

Saturday Terry and I are leaving for Cocoa Beach, Florida, for TWO WEEKS!! I have tried several times this morning to upload a few pictures of the resort where we are owners (one week a year), but to no avail. This is the only picture that I could get to come up. We have gone to this time share for about seven years now - and no, we don't get bored. This beautiful pool is in the front of the huge building and the ocean is on the backside. Who could get bored living right on the ocean? I love it and so does Terry. It is like a home away from home to us. We know all of the cool restaurants to go to and many other wonderful things to do. Orlando is just 45 minutes away also. 

This year Shelley, Bob, and Matthew are meeting us there like they did last year. This year Shari won't be with us because she wants to take her vacation when the baby is born at the end of August or early September. Matthew is eagerly awaiting Saturday - he actually remembers the ocean and beach there!

On the way to Florida (we are driving) we will stop in Charlotte and have dinner with Shari and Mark and then head on to Savannah where we have reservations for a short night. Then we will get up early and drive on to Cocoa Beach. On the way home we will spend a day and night with Shari and Mark.

We are looking forward to having Matthew with us again this year because he is a little older and will enjoy everything just a little more. I can't wait. (We are also very happy to have his parents there, too.) More pictures to follow!

The second week we are in Florida we are staying by ourselves (Shelley, Bob, and Matthew will be flying home) at a beautiful condo owned by a friend. It is also in Cocoa Beach, so we just change places. This condo is on the Banana River which is an inter coastal waterway. We are only a 10 minute walk from the ocean on the other side of the condo. The Banana River is beautiful and has lots of dolphins, fish, and manatees. We also have the use of a small rowboat while we are there, so it is nice to go out on the water - beautiful! 

THE OL' BALLGAME!!

Tonight was Matthew's first experience at a real Tiger ballgame! He was excited about it, and we were excited about taking him. Just like his daddy, he is liking all kinds of sports and already knows the Detroit teams and some others. (Boston is one of Bob's favorites and it just happened that the Tigers were playing them tonight. So Matthew wore a Tiger shirt and a Boston hat of Bob's.)

Here we are starting out from home all exuberant about going to the game. It was a beautiful night for a ballgame - just comfortable, sunny weather!

We started out eating in the restaurant inside the ballpark. Matthew had already eaten at home, so he just had some french fries - he was really wanting to get inside the actual ballpark and it seemed a long wait.

 

Matthew is going to wonder in years to come where his grandma was at all of these events. I am always the one TAKING the pictures! Matthew wanted his own seat and is very comfortable here watching the ballgame! Fortunately there was always an extra seat nearby for one of us to sit, so Matthew had his own seat for at least part of the game. But, like any two and a half year old, he didn't stay seated for long. It was more fun to climb up and down and play with Grandpa.

Daddy and Grandpa would run down to the front with him between innings hoping that one of the nice players would throw him a ball. No luck! Here are Matthew, his dad and mom. I think that Matthew was really having a great time!

My blogging skills are lacking because this picture got out of order. While we were waiting for the check at the restaurant, Bob took Matthew outside to see the ferris wheel. He decided he didn't want to go on it. I think it was still a bit scary for him. He was very intrigued here by the huge blimp flying overhead.

What is a ballgame without food? Matthew is munching on a hot pretzel while intently watching the field. We also had Cracker Jacks!

This picture got in twice!! I'm losing it!

So did this one!

AND THIS ONE! The preview didn't show them, so I added them again! Honestly, not my fault! I've tried to delete them, to no avail.

What good is a grandpa if you can't get him to buy you something? The vendor went by very close to Matthew with all this great stuff. He saw Terry - he knew a sucker when he saw one! Matthew liked his very cute tiger.

We were lucky enough to be able to meet the real "PAWS". Matthew thought that he was a real tiger! He wasn't afraid and went right up to him, but did not want to sit on his lap for a picture. You have to draw the line somewhere!

It was a long, but fun game and little Matthew is beginnning to tucker out. The eyes are getting sleepy and the exciting evening is taking its toll - besides not having had a nap!

As the game wound down, and the Tigers lost to Boston :( , Matthew was out like a light! He didn't even know that the Tigers lost and we were on our way home! It was a wonderful night - a LONG game (over three hours), and Matthew's first experience with A REAL BALL GAME!

Busy Time!

The past couple of weeks have been very busy for me! Actually I am having fun, though. I am heading up our committee to produce a new church pictorial directory. It is a very involved job and you really can't know how much work until being involved in it! I have a very good committee helping me, though. One thing that I am having a ball with, is actually being able to do the front and back cover and all of the activity pages myself. I just learned a new program on my Mac called Pages. It is wonderfully easy to use and does everything I could want. I have the front and back covers done and have started all of the activity pages.

I am just waiting to receive some pictures on CD from people. So far I have used all of my own. I have been really pleased with the quality of pictures that I can take with my digital camera. I love taking pictures and working with them on the computer! Lately I have wished that I could have taken photography and/or graphic art when I was in college. I really enjoy working with pictures, colors, and layout. Oh, well, at least I can do this directory and have fun with it.

A CHALLENGE

Our book table at the Women's Conference - it was fun to set it up and to sell the books, but it was not fun taking it down! 

Our Women's Conference took place at Cornerstone on Friday night and Saturday of this past weekend. Janet Pope was our speaker. I really enjoyed her - she was challenging to me. She has memorized fourteen BOOKS of the Bible in the past sixteen years along with many other chapters in between. She recommended that we read, meditate, and memorize God's Word. She also recommended that we memorize whole passages so that we don't take verses out of the context and so that we get the whole picture of what God is saying. What I thought was so good was when she said that it doesn't really do any good to just memorize the scripture unless in doing it we are seeking to know the HEART of God. She mentioned that many Christians feel a "disconnect" with the Lord because they don't really know his heart. She gave the example of our relationships with friends. Some people are our friends but we don't "connect" with some the way we do others. It usually takes knowing something of the person's heart for us to connect with them. She also said that just KNOWING God's heart is not enough. We have to HAVE God's heart and then DO the things that God has planned for us to do in the world.

The speaker recommended that we start with Psalm 1 to memorize and ask God to show us what he wants us to learn from it as we learn a verse a day and then take about a week to review it every day. Here it is:  

"Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

This was challenging to me - when Janet recited scripture, she just made it so alive - she knew it well, and it was obvious that she knew the Lord well, too! 

A TIME TO RELAX AND HAVE FUN!

Saturday night was a much needed relaxing night after a week of crazy busyness! It was a week filled with obligations as well as a lot of other things that made my week very stressful. After our Women's Conference on Saturday (very good!), Terry and I had the pleasure of taking Shelley, Matthew, and Bob out for Shelley's birthday. (which was Friday) We went to a new place for us - Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was a good place to get a burger and lots of other things as well. It is decorated in tropical decor and was a fun place. Matthew is usually very congenial about getting his picture taken and pleasantly says, "Cheese!"

Somehow my pictures got out of order, so after eating we all went back to Shelley and Bob's and just relaxed and played outside for a while with Matthew. I love this picture of Matthew lying in the grass!

It was a beautiful week - couldn't help but enjoy the green grass, the trees, tulips, and this nice evening. We are very blessed!  "He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them." Daniel 2.21

Terry decided Shelley and Bob's door could use a little fixing, so he got right to it and was pretty successful in making it close better. What would we do without Terry?

And here Terry is with our sweetie! They are great buddies! Terry loves being with Matthew! I suspect it is the same for Matthew.

Here we are back at the restaurant with Shelley opening her present from us and Matthew helping!

We played with Matthew for about an hour outside back at their house. He showed me how he makes a basket. I was trying to teach him to dribble first, but I think he is too little yet.

One thing that we did that was fun this past week was take Matthew to Toys 'R Us to buy a tricycle. He got to pick out the one he wanted (within reason!) and this is the one he chose. He really can't ride it very far yet. He can make the pedals go around, but it is still hard for him to do it by himself.

Here is our slugger - or slugger to be. He's very protective of that ball! We all played a little baseball and Matthew pretended to be running the bases. We kidded him that he hits the baseball just like he plays hockey and golf! (with the bat on the ground!)

I love this picture of Matthew and his daddy! They make a great pair. Matthew likes to copy everything his dad does! Two sports fans!  :)

By the way, check out my March 28 post! That was only four weeks ago. We had about six inches of snow the night before! Only four weeks later - what a change! That is why I love Michigan and the change of seasons.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A WONDERFUL DAUGHTER!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHELLEY!

You are the age that your dad and I FEEL like we are! The thirties are a wonderful time and I don't know what happened to the years in between!

You are a very nice daughter to have. I love it when you just call in the morning or whenever to talk or tell me something funny or SMART that Matthew has said or done. I know that I can call you anytime and you will put up with me and love me. Thank you for that! You are truly a friend besides being my daughter.

I also think that you are a wonderful mom. You and Bob have given us a very sweet grandson. He means the world to us. I can't remember not having him here. He is so loving and such a nice boy and I know that he gets it from being with you and Bob. You are so kind to him - who wouldn't respond to that?

I respect the kind of person you are and all the things that you are good at and all the things that you accomplish! You are a wonderful artist. I love your books. You are also a good businesswoman. It takes drive and determination to accomplish all that you do with your work and still have time to play with Matthew! We love you so much and we couldn't begin to tell you how much! Hope your birthday is the best ever!

A FUN DAY WITH OUR GRANDSON!

I did a terrible job with my camera today! I kept forgetting to use it or just not having time. The pictures that I did take are terrible. Matthew always seems to be moving too fast and I miss getting his face. Terry was working at home today and I took Matthew for the day at our house. We always have a great time with him - he is just so sweet and easy to entertain. We played with our treehouse and plastic Australian animals and we played with our small plastic train and I read Matthew quite a few books. He listens and responds so intently to books!

He ran around Grandpa who was doing our income tax at our round table in the family room. Grandpa also let him use his big exercise ball and he loved that. He and Terry have so much fun together. Then Matthew and I went for a walk down to the school playground. We swung on the swings, went down the slide, and Matthew climbed on the bridge between slides. He got to see the school buses, touch one, and talk to some people going in to the school. We had a fun walk and I only carried him a little of the way! He loves to walk by himself now. No stroller! When we got home, he watched a little of Dora, the Explorer and sipped juice from my big Weight Watcher cup. (We couldn't find his in his bag) But he loved my cup and it worked just fine. After we watched Dora, we went upstairs to lie on Grandma's BIG bed. We laid there for awhile and Matthew ALMOST fell asleep and so did I, but then he just sat right up and was raring to go! So we went outside and blew some bubbles on the front porch. At dinner time we took Matthew with us to go get Great-grandpa from the nursing home to take him to dinner. Shelley and Bob met us at guess where? - LOGANS! Surprised?

CELEBRATING TERRY'S BIRTHDAY!

Friday was Terry's birthday. Even though we had already celebrated last week on his sister Barb's birthday, we celebrated again on Friday night with Shelley, Bob, and Matthew. Shelley and Matthew were in Arizona all last week and we were in NC the week before that, so we haven't seen them much lately. It was great to get together with them again. We went to Brann's Steakhouse and had a long, leisurely dinner together. Matthew had fun playing with his grandpa's pens, ipod, and helping open his presents. He got an exercise ball, a golf shirt, and some good golf balls. Matthew especially enjoyed it when the waitresses and waiters came to the table to clap and sing to Terry. It was a fun night spent with people we love. Interesting pictures will follow later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TERRY!

I just want to say "Happy Birthday!" to my wonderful husband. I hope this birthday is the best one ever - you deserve it. You are always doing things for other people and you love doing that. You love people more than anyone else I know - you put me to shame that way. I love living with you and doing things with you. You are my best friend ever!! You always love me unconditionally and that has been very freeing for me over the years - almost 37 now. You are the BEST!