Tales of a Shoebox Princess

 We spent most of Sunday relaxing on the dock at the resort. I read, Jim read, I sunburned, Jim didn't.  This hat kept my face from frying. This view is SOOOOOOOOO relaxing... So is this view. Look at that blue sky. We opted for take out dinner, and found a pavilion on Anne's Beach that had a table and scenery It also had beach access. The thing about this beach was it wasn't normal sand. To walk on it was like walking on dried clay. Guess what clay is like when it's wet (i.e. under water)? VERY SLIPPERY. I did not go in very far nor for very long. It was like trying to walk on a slippery bouncy house floor. This tree is very gothic looking and I liked it very much. It was on our little pavilion beach access. How does one manage with a beak that long? After dinner, we found a nearby bridge to hang out on and watch the sunset. I was chilly, luckily I had a beach towel to wrap up in.  I like converging images The sunsets are so nice and yellowy orange in Florida long view...

Backtracking a little bit, Jim and I had a layover in New York in between Minneapolis and Miami. Neither of us as ever been to NY, and Jim was really excited to see the city from the sky.  The green circle is highlighting the statue of Liberty Manhattan island comes into view under the plane's wing It's kinda cool to look at all the tall buildings from above. One of these days we'll have to go to the city. We had planned a vacation to the northeast for last fall, but COVID nixed those plans. Someday. 

The pandemic has us all feeling punchy. Jim may not show his feelings much, but he's mentioned more than a few times this past fall that he was particularly missing a Keys vacation. He wanted some sun and sand. So I looked up plane tickets and holy Hannah, they were cheap. We talked about it and decided that we would brave the outside world, the pandemic, the criticism (both expressed and unsaid) and we would be very careful. We would take masks, avoid crowds, eat in our accommodations for breakfast/lunch, and wash hands a lot.  We left on January 22, Friday and stayed in Miami. On Saturday, we drove through the Everglades,  which has been on our to-see list ever since we went to the Keys the first time but didn't get to it because one of us had to pass out and spend 48 hours in bed at the motel.  I get unreasonably excited whenever I go to a new park, state or national fishy in super clear water This is the Everglades I liked the boardwalk on the Anhinga trail this is an...

 Otherwise known as how to make a whole lot of work for oneself and then overeat.  I watched an episode of Great Mythical Morning where Rhett and Link were subjected to a blind taste test of local Mexican food of varying price ranges. (Side note, I think my brother looks like Rhett with less hair) I decided I wanted to do the same thing for Jim, Katie and Christian, and one of the options would be homemade. So we would have storebought/frozen, fast food, homemade, and sit down restaurant. Four courses would be guacamole, steak tacos, chicken enchiladas, and tres leches cake.  It was a lot of work, but I planned it out and it wasn't overwhelming. I sent Jim out to pick up the take out food, and he also helped by cleaning the entryway and vacuuming. I set up the food in my sewing room so I could keep the information of food source a secret.  I had stickers and a key sheet for each category and I only brought out one category at a time. Each person got a bite or two of ...

 Matt came home and the rest of the children wanted to say hello. So they all came for a visit. Katie of course has her own house close by so she didn't need to stay with us, but the others all had to share space in our little house. Matt has his own room, Jimmy and Jimmy used the family/tv room (Blair couldn't come), Hayley (Austin couldn't come either) slept upstairs on the couch, and Paul and Bethany used the little room/Jim's office. We all squooshed in together and had a good time. Friday night, Katie came over and the kids all stayed up much later than Jim and I did; we fell asleep to the sound of them all laughing downstairs. It was a pleasant sound. Hayley was first to arrive. She immediately set to playing Mario Kart with Matt. Then the Jimmys showed up. Little Jimmy found a tiny plastic pumpkin and put his nuggets in it. Then Katie brought her kids over and Caroline and Little Jimmy played in the same area. They didn't play together so much as they were in...