Christmas is upon us....

Well we made it through Thanksgiving with some weight gain and hoping that it ends there.. We went to Tim and Lisa's for Thanksgiving this year and hope to return to see my Dad and mom next year. We have been keeping ourselves busy with wine festivals, art festivals and other assorted activities. I haven't been taking any pictures but will try to improve on that. I see that all my blogger friends have not updated in a while as well. We still have an upcoming camping trip for New Years and the beer fest this weekend. I promise to bring the camera along and capture all the drunk people. I will exclude myself of course... lol Jesse's mom is doing well and back at work since last week. We will see the whole family soon for the wedding in January. Well I am off for now but will try to do a better job..

A lot has happened...

Well since the last post we did go on another vacation to Mammoth Caves and soon after Pam was really sick and in serious condition in the hospital. The boys went out to stay with her and lots of other relatives came out as well. I am actually writing from Pam's house.. I'm here for a few weeks to look after her while working remotely. She is improving by leaps and bounds with each passing day. It looks as though she will make a full recovery...

Our trip to Mammoth Caves was great even though Pam was in the beginning stages of Pneumonia. My dad came to meet us in Nashville and the 4 of us stayed with aunt Sherry.











Our cabins were very quaint and very rustic. The first day we took a 2 hour tour and relaxed in the cabin with lots of beer.









Our second day we took a 4 hour trip and stopped for lunch in the cold cavern. It was something to see and we enjoyed the experience.








There were deer right outside the cabin every morning.









On our last day we did several hikes above ground and saw the Green River and of course more deer.It was a great time.. I am looking forward to returning to Florida next Sat and seeing Jesse finally after 3 weeks. Miss you!!!!

Vacation 2009 all over the place...

Ok I know it's been a while. Of course my cousin Steve reminds me of this so I must not disappoint.

Our trip started in Albuquerque where we stayed with Jesse's mom and drove out the next day to Colorado. On our way we stopped at the Aztec Ruins and had a picnic lunch.Back on the road we stopped in Durango and had some coffee while we checked out the town. Finally we made it Ouray around 4:30 to see my friends Lora and Steve at their Chalet. We had enough time to hike to Box Springs before dinner.







Thank you Steve for the great tour!! Dinner at Papillon which was some of the best Cajun cooking around.The next day was the jeep ride to the top of The Alpine Loop. I could be wrong about this. We saw several mining sights and went over the 12,000 foot mark. Thank god Lora was driving because I had to keep my eyes closed since the road was narrow with a steep drop off. That night we ate at the Beaumont hotel. Great appetisers and drinks. We then went to this great hamburger place and had the best burger and fries. The name of the place complete slips my mind.

Next day we head back to Albuquerque for some rest. On the 4th day we make our way to Jemez Springs. We stopped at a place on the side of the road for lunch where the women were making taco's. I can tell you that I didn't feel so good the rest of the day but good enough to drink wine.. lol Jesse went for a swim at the waterfall.. We also stopped at the Ponderosa Winery. We had a bit of wine tasting and I helped with the owners computer and scored myself a free bottle of wine. The wine was very good and I think I'll order some soon. On the porch there were hummingbirds every where.




Day 5 was back on the plane traveling to Seattle where Jesse's friend Steve picked us up and took us to Vancouver. I'm just realizing that I have mentioned 3 Steve's in this blog so far. LOL

Day 6 we hung out in the city, visited parks and walked around China Town for the day.

Next day we headed to Bowen Island for some bike riding and Kayaking.












Well the boys did a lot of drinking while Michelle and I did the Kayaking. We caught up and did a bunch of drinking after our kayaking.








Day 8 was early to rise to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island. We camped for 3 days in Little Qualicum Falls. Great place!!! As soon as everyone arrived everyone went to the river for a swim and of course crayfish hunting. They caught enough for everyone to have a taste.

Next day was a early morning hike to Qualicum Falls and various trails.




More swimming in the river. More trails for Rinah and I plus a group trip to Spider Lake. It was interesting but still not warm enough for me to swim.



Day 10 was a group trip to Cathedral Grove in the morning. It's a beautiful old growth forest. Once we finished the trails there we headed to Cameron Lake. It was amazing and yes you guessed it!! I did not swim... It looked inviting but I just could not do it. I think if I lived there I would eventually toughen up. After the Lake we went back to camp for some R&R. Later in the afternoon it was back in the car and out to Englishman Falls. The place was great and the water was so crystal clear. On our way back to camp we stopped in Coombs and stopped at the market called goats on the roof. They really had goats on the roof which was so weird and cool.Our last day we packed up and stopped in Coombs again for one more look at the goats. We headed to Victoria to finally catch a shower at Rinah's apartment of which I was eternally grateful.. lolol After Nadia arrived we all went out for dinner and then an evening walk on the water for sunset.









Day 12 was awesome. Nadia scored the 3 of us a free whale watching adventure. The best ever!! We saw Humpback whales, Sea Lions and Killer whales on our trip. We met Jeff (Jesse's Dad) for lunch afterward and walked around the town.


We stopped at Beacon Hill Park which of course is my absolute favorite. Later we had dinner at a great brewery called the Canoe. Great beer and I am craving more...

Our last day in Victoria we drove in the AM to East Sooke and did the coast trail.



We found some interesting sea life once we hiked to the water. Afterward we ate at the Cafe of which I don't remember the name once again. After a little swimming and hot tubing at the rec center we ate fish and chips at the house and had beer while we played Cranium.

Day 13 was sad because we had to start heading home and back to reality.. I'm ready to retire damn it!!!

Long time coming..

It's been a while since I wrote in the blog.. Sorry everyone!! Since Rinah's visit Karen and Joaquin have come back home from a long 4 years in the Philippines.

Jesse had his back surgery, which was successful and he is doing great!!

Jesse and I have hit several wine tastings along with a really lame trip to the Miami Museum of Modern Art. The only good thing about it was the picture Carolyn and I took with Obama.. lolol
We went to the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art with Karen and I was able to get a picture before Jesse could protest..

July 4th was great.


The night before we hung out at the beach with Joaquin and Karen and listened to a blues band, went to a few cook outs on the 4th and watched the fireworks on Deerfield Beach. Most of the pictures are crappy but hopefully you will enjoy the videos..

A visit from Rinah..

Rinah came to visit us after a week in Honduras. We were pleasantly surprised and I can't wait to visit her, Skyler and Nadia in August. Rinah's first day was at the pool hanging out with Jesse after he left a little early from work.
I had a half a day on Friday and already planned to go to the Delray Affair with my Dad. It worked out perfect to have Rinah and my Dad to hang out and shop all day with.. We tasted all the free food and drank a beer for lunch. After getting home Jesse cooked us a kick ass steak dinner and then we headed out for happy hour at the Cove. We took our drink and walked to the beach.

Saturday was beach day at Spanish River along with a Pickle Barrell sub. After getting home we showered and dressed.
A few snacks later and then we were off to a wine tasting. I came home with 3 bottles of wine. Sunday we hung out in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and walked along the river. We ran into a Turkish Festival so we stopped to enjoy the music and ate a pizza looking burrito which I think is called Alanazik. I'm not really sure about the name but I'm sure Rinah remembers. Dinner was had at a new place we found called Lime. The fish tacos were to die for...

We met Karen and the fam for dinner Tue night at Five Guys. Jesse took off of work to spend with Rinah on her last day and they spent it at the beach. Oh and we did get Rinah to try the best Cuban food around. We were all sad to see her go... See you soon Rinah and Sky!!

Morikami Museum and Japanese gardens

It's that time of month again we we investigate a new Museum. This time we visited the Japanese Gardens with my dad.






Jesse sitting in the Bamboo
Grove.













The 3 Amigo's...













There were several rock gardens. The first one pictured with Jesse is the Early Rock Garden from the 14th century. It's created in a dry area where your imagination creates the water.
The second one is the Karesansui Late Rock Garden from the 16th to 17th century this was used in the Buddhist temples.












The third garden is called the Hiraniwa Flat Garden from the 17th to 18th century. This is a flat garden that makes use of plants material and has a stone pagoda.













There was also several water gardens along the way. The first is called the Modern Romantic Garden in the late 19th to 20th century.

The Koi like to gather at the Memorial Fall.
Over on this little island are several Bonsai Trees on exhibit. No make that about 40 bonsai trees. Jesse went a little overboard with the pictures so I will only pick one.



















There was also a beautiful bridge. At the end of the walking tour which was about 1 to 2 miles of walking was the Morikami Falls.




















After the walking tour there was an art exhibit that we were not able to take pictures of but I did sneak one of the Authentic Tea House.