Florida Trip~photos~long

Florida

January 19-30, 2012

Dan, Kelly, Dad, Mom and I had a great time, went way to fast.

This is a diary of sorts, itis of each day, so beware it is quite long. :-) I took many photos, this is just a sample.

Jan. 19~Dan, Dad, Mom and I flew out of Detroit about 12:30 pm. On our flight, the lady sitting next to Dan had a medical emergency, Dan had to vacate his seat immediately and stand at the back of the plane for most of the flight. Thankfully there was a doctor and a nurse on our plane and they helped her. She seemed to be okay after we landed.


We rented a car at the airport and drove to Safety Harbor, Florida to our vacation rental! We were very pleased with the house. Here a few pics.

After we checked out the house and partially unpacked our suitcases, we headed to Whistlestop Bar and Grill for an early dinner. YUM!
Next was grocery shopping at Publix, Mom's favorite grocery store. LOL (private joke). Back to the house to relax for the evening.

Jan. 20~Dan and I pick up Kelly from the airport, she had an early flight, so she got in about 9:30am. We headed to the house to relax a bit.

Later it was lunch at The Cheesecake Factory per Kelly's request!

 Delicious can't even describe how good their food is!

Fried Macaroni & Cheese~one of Kelly's fav's!

We all brought home dessert..cheesecake of course!

This is what I chose...  Pina Colada Cake Cheesecake..fab!!

photo via www.thecheesecakefactory.com

This cake was rich and a very generous portion. I could not eat it all at one time!

That evening Jeremy, Sabrina, Colton and Braedon come over for the evening and we have a cookout, hamburgers and hotdogs. SO happy to see our Florida kids and grandkids!!!! I took so many photos. Oh dear. Speaking as a mother, it is very hard to have your children and grandchildren live to far away.
Here are the boys playing. We got them both remote control trucks. Fun!

Aunt Kelly and boys getting ready to play some games. :-)

Jan. 21~Jeremy&Sabrina had plans for a Monster Truck show that day, so the rest of us headed out for some shopping and some sight seeing.

For our first stop, we went to Ellenton Outlet.

Kelly and I both bought a purse in the Coach store! After shopping we headed to Tarpon Springs, it was a fun day.

Ate lunch at a nice Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs, Hellas Restaurant.

 Our waiter was very charming and paid extra special attention to Kelly calling her "Angelina" and paying her all sorts of compliments. I had to take a pic of them before we left.

Jan.22~DisneyWorld Magic Kingdom! Need I say more? It was fun day, gorgeous weather and lots of memories made. We were all exhausted by the time we dragged ourselves out of there about 9:30pm.

I have a TON of Disney pics!!!

Jan.23~ Well, Kelly had to leave the afternoon of the 23rd, she could only come for the long weekend. So, we tried to make the best of our time with her. Colton and Braedon were with us now spending a few days! YAY, grandma time! So, Dan, Kelly, the boys and I went to an aquarium and then out for lunch.

Then we had to take Kelly to the airport. BOO HOO! I hated to see her leave, it was so nice hanging out with her. After we got her safely to the airport we headed back to the rental house. Our rental was about 20 minutes from airport. Dan is stopped to turn left into our driveway, turn signal on. The second car behind us hits the car behind us, that car gets pushed to the side of the road and then that same car hits us in the rear!!! Oh my gosh, we couldn't believe it! The boys didn't even realize what was happening and we did not get hurt, THANK GOD! The woman who hit both cars totaled her car..a Mercedes, she was not hurt. The guy that got hit behind us hurt his neck and back and was taken by ambulance. Apparently she wasn't paying attention. Oh boy. Dad and Mom were in the house, came out, helped kids kids and all our stuff out of the car and into the house. One of the fire rescue guys came to the house and talked the boys to make sure they were ok. What excitement! Dan and I drove the banged up rental back to the rental agent at the airport and got a new car.

Jan. 24 -25~Hung out with Dad and Mom and the grandboys at the house. Lots of fishing, sitting by the pool, playing games, just hanging out time.

Jan.25~Enjoyed time with Colton and Braedon all day. I love being a Grandma!

Jeremy came that evening after work for dinner. He took the boys home later that evening.

Jan. 26~Dan and I drove to Webster, Florida to see Dan's Uncle Don & Aunt Jewell then we drove to Clermont to meet up with my friend Diane and bring her back with us to house for a couple of days.

Jan.27~All of us went to visit a friend, who lives in Clearwater,for a couple hours on  it was a nice visit, sitting outside enjoying the nice weather. We ate at Joes Crab Shack for lunch, love their coconut shrimp!

When we got back to Safey Harbor, we walked on the pier and in the downtown area.

We found the cutest cupcake place..
Pick Your Poison Cupcake Cafe

Yes..cupcakes, beer and wine.

I chose the Key Lime Cupcake.

:-)

We had a relaxing evening at the house, Jeremy and the boys came over and hung out with us for a couple hours after he got off work.

 

Jan. 28~ Spent the day in Johns Pass What a great place!

We had dinner at PJ's Oyster Bar in Indian Rocks Beach. Best Seafood ever!!!

I had crab cakes and fried oysters, Dad had steak and lobster, Dad had grouper, Mom had lobster and Diane had crab cakes and fried oysters.

My plate..

Here is Mom's...

We had another relaxing evening at the house.

We finished a puzzle we had been working in the evenings.

Mom & Diane

Jan. 29~We took Diane back to Clermont. This time Dad and Mom came with us. After we left Diane, we went back over to visit Uncle Don and Aunt Jewell and have a cook out. Two of their daughters were visiting from back home in Michigan. We had a great time!!

Jeremy, Sabrina and the boys came over in the evening to hang out. We ordered pizza, just had a laid back evening. Took more pics! It was very SAD seeing them leave that night. I wish they lived near us. It is very hard having them so far away. All I can say is that the Lord has given me the grace to accept it, God is my comfort.

Jan. 30~Packed up and left our vacation rental home. Flew out of Tampa about 12:10 pm. And thankfully it was an uneventful flight!  My brother in law Bill picked us up from the airport in Detroit. He also took us to the airport, thank you Bill!

We are now Home Sweet Home. It seems like the whole time away went so quickly. wow.

 ~blessings~

Pam