Abby was invited to go to the beach house for her spring break (which is ridiculously early, first week of March) and here's the recap from Grandma Judy:
well...it was almost a week!
tuesday afternoon g'ma, g'pa, abby and josh boarded a small jet and headed to amelia island with 2 pilots, plenty of electronic devices and enough candy in the "snack drawer" to propel us to the moon and back....m&m's (plain and peanut), milano cookies, pretzels, granola bars, licorice, and other assorted sweets to tempt even the most skeptical snacker. "could be a bit bumpy as we take off"...truer words were never spoken. but as we headed for the beach we leveled out and snacked our way to landing. cricket was sure glad to see all his cousins arrive...tasty treats under the table for sure. abby and g'ma took a long walk down the beach with cricket to explore the sea shelling possibilities for the next day. while amelia has a very nice beach...it is no shelling mecca. fancy sushi for dinner...bed (later than you might think)!
good morning...a little chilly today so we decided to pass on swimming and head for town...and lunch and shopping. first stop...cats angels (a safe place for cats and kittens waiting for the perfect person to take them home). what a fun place. sit on the floor and a cat magically walks into your lap, brushes by your back or just comes by for a sniff. on to downtown... in and out of a few stores resulted in 2 very cool t-shirts, gifts for siblings at home and a few souvenirs for best friends at school. on to tasty for lunch. one of my favorite places. burgers and fries and milkshakes/root beer floats for the kids...world's best turkey burger and sweet potato fries for g'ma. complete yumminess. off we go to the local dog shelter. nothing like trying to walk a dog, when just the opposite starts to happen. these little guys are strong, friendly and eager to show you how hard they can pull on the leash...while extremely cute...no dog is cuter than the one we have at home nestled up in a chair. did you know there are 2 shelters here in amelia...neither did i, but we do. the second one across from target (how convenient!)..they are the home to many cute cats and dogs and as a side note...the place is cleaner than most homes. still, no heartbreakers so home we go. that night, steaks on the grill and an amazing monopoly game between g'pa, g'ma, abby and josh. sadly, g'ma was the first to fold...abby next.. g'pa with hotels everywhere was the winner. thank goodness...we have been at this for 3 hours! rectangle treats and bed. oh, there may have been chocolate cake involved too.
thursday...pool 90 degrees, hot tub 94...what's not to like? these little kids were in the pool all day. lunch was al fresco..or should i say al hot tub. why not eat and sauna at the same time? every toy we own was floating with the kids in the pool. science experiments with floating plastic balls and inverted sand buckets made for a really fun afternoon. at 5:45 an executive decision was made...all prunes in from the pool. the loop for a very nice dinner. abby's dad, uncle jumbo is here to join us for a few days...really lucky for us. don't worry abs...i'm still the boss and you can be on beach rules...which actually...means not many rules. spot it and bananagrams kept us up until 11:00.
friday..those kids were upstairs playing monopoly until noon...at least. miss denise brought over the fixings for home made ice cream...the height of deliciousness. everyone needs ice cream before lunch. after a lazy afternoon..off to see the movie, oz, great and powerful. we liked it a lot. the 3 witches were the stars...actually...the make up team were the stars of that show. after popcorn, soda, and plenty of candy...1/2 through the movie and abby needs to head to the ladies room because her tooth is hanging by a thread. we emerge victorious! we have a tooth and only managed to miss a few moments of the movie. the vote was back to fancy sushi for a 2nd visit. back home to laugh and joke over apples to apples. laughter is even better when it comes from 2 young grandchildren having a great time.
saturday...the kids are back in the pool! but the day started with cricket walks, and a ride to the plantation to rent a golf cart. off we go to the nature center and to walkers landing for some driving lessons. abby and sam take their illegal driving pretty seriously...sometimes you just have to practice your driving. home to made individual pizzas...which were extremely yummy. they must have been... because there was scarcely a crumb for our furry pal. he gave me that,"don't they share?" look. todd and grandpa went to the concourse d'elegance at the ritz. it is a yearly homage to the cars we never see...except in movies. the place is a flurry of excitement and brings plenty of tourists and $$ to our little island.
the day is not over, but that is as far as we are. thanks for sharing your precious little girl with one of her biggest fans. she is a joy, and i love her.
