March 2011 - part one

I was able to spend the first week this of this month in Florida visiting Mary, Stuart, Gracie and Zach; I don't need to tell ya, I had a great time! New pillowcases for them too!

I watched Gracie's dance class, attend the beautiful Orlando Temple with Mary and just hung out. Unfortunately our trip to the strawberry festival was rained out so we went to the movies: Gnomeo and Juliet - very cute. The highlight of my trip was being there to celebrate

Gracie's 4th and Zachary's 2nd birthdays!

Of course you can't visit

Orlando and not do something Disney so this time we

went to the Wild Animal Kingdom, which I've never been too. Thank you Emily, a Disney employee friend of Mary's, for checking me in! :) I still cannot believe I rode the Everest Expedition roller coaster with Mary; how she talked me into it is still a mystery to me.In all truthfulness, I think it was my idea; maybe just to prove to myself that although I may be over 50, I still have a bit "wild and crazy" left in me! LOL!!! The up and down wasn't too bad, it was the backwards in the dark that got to me, I think. Never again.

Ok, I had a picture but I've loaded it several times and just can't get it where I want it, so you will have to trust me that I truly did it!!!

On my last day we took a day trip to Blue Springs State Park to see where some manatee's spend their winter in a natural warm springs creek there. The water was so unbelievably clear; we were able see several kinds of fish and even a manatee that apparently prefers to hang around rather than migrate into the nearby St. John's River. It was great to see one in the wild, even at a distance! They are huge!