~Enjoyable times during Christmas Break~

We had such a lovely few weeks off over the Christmas season.  The park we stayed at was so lovely and there were SO many things to see and do.   We enjoyed swimming, fishing, pickleball and tennis, walking, "bowling", shuffleboard, ping pong, checkers, movies, games etc.....Here we are enjoying  the mini golf course.

 We had such a great spot (that is our trailer across the lake on the very left) just a short walk to the lodge, pool and activity area.

 The birds are incredible in the park.

The big, beautiful sandhill cranes come walking right through your sites each day!!!

 We have now moved from the Orlando/Clermont area to a new park in Tampa.   This is Indian Rocks Beach where we enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach and had a fun time collecting beautiful shells along the shore.

We are still waiting for the weather to warm up, but hey.....we are still in shorts most days - can't complain!!

Oh yes....this is the Gulf of Mexico!!

 This is the pool and sand volleyball area ( in the background) at our new park.  The "residents" complained that the water was too cool for them, so they turned it up to 32 degrees!!!!!   Oh my goodness.....I had to get out the water to "cool off"  - hilarious!!

 Yesterday the kids had a sandcastle building competition - they all did such a great job.   Here is the "cars" racetrack..............

 the St Louis Gateway Arch..............

and the volcano on one side and ski mountain on the other.  You really had to see them all up close to appreciate the detail the kids put into them - wow....what creativity from them all.

Who would have thought the sand volleyball court would have made such a great "beach"!!!!

~Disney Hotels and Fireworks~

The other night we decided to go and visit another bunch of Disney Hotels.  They are all SO spectacular and grand!   We began at the Wilderness Lodge.

We decided we would do the "Hidden Mickey Hunt".  So armed with our "clue list" the 14 of us marched through the hotel looking for the Mickeys!   We were stumped on the first one!!!!  Seriously.....is this for kids or what???   Anyhow.....after asking several employees we finally found them all - this took us over an hour!!!   We "had" to finish it as we had already been told that we would all get a prize!!!  This was our motivation.

They even had a "geyser" that erupted on the hour - very cool!

 Ok....so when we had finished our "hunt" we had to take our list to the concierge desk.  We tried to tell her where we had found each Mickey but she "made" us write is all down on a piece of paper!!!  It really was hilarious!   She was so strict.   Then she kept us waiting while she filled out something.  The kids were so excited for their prizes.   Then........out she came..........

 with a little certificate for each family and ONE pin!!!   We had such a chuckle - who gets the pin in each family???  How do we share 2 pins between 10 kids????

Next on to the Grand Floridian - WOW.....was it ever grand!!!

 This is the lobby area.

They had a live band playing Disney songs.

All very fancy!!

 Then on to the Polynesian Hotel - this one even smelled like Hawaii - so cool!!!

And finally .....Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Wow again!   It was late at night when we visited this one so we will for sure be going back to see it again in the day light, as they have animals and amazing decor!

 We were able to take the FREE monorail to the different hotels.   What a fun ride!   We were able to see the entrance to Magic Kingdom, the "castle" etc....

At 9pm we all gathered on the "beach" at the Polynesian Hotel where we were able to watch the "Wishes" firework show which they do every night above the "Castle" in Magic Kingdom.   Also, at the same time they had the Electrical Water Pageant.   The Pageant consists of 2 strings of 7 barges which each carry a 25 ft tall screen of lights. Little lights outlined the shapes and characters on each barge.   

 The weather was incredible and it was SUCH a fun evening!

~Campground Fun~

Another great day of fishing for the kids!!!   Such a fun park to be at.

We now have 3 fishing rods and gear that are ours - living in the trailer.   Now we don't have to keep borrowing rods from the lodge each time.  The kids LOVED going fishing and asked us every day if they could go to the lake!!!   Most of these fish were caught with "wiener" bait!

~Disney Boardwalk and Smores~

We had a fun evening at the Disney Boardwalk.   This area of Disney is free and has many beautiful hotels, restaurants etc....  

We took the ferry across to the Yacht Club Resort.

This is the hotel with its man made beach out front - so cool!   The hotel gives out marshmallows and sticks and we were able to roast them on the beach.   They also have a movie on the beach each night but unfortunately it was "too cold" (seriously.....in Florida!!!!) so they decided to do it inside!!!   We opted out as we were really wanting the "outdoor" experience.   We did however walk down to the entrance of Epcot and took a look - all so neat!

~Happy New Year~

December 31st, 2012.   We had another great evening with the Golden Family.   This time - New Years Eve.   We decided to have taco salads for dinner and then brownies, chocolate eclairs and ice-cream for dessert.  YUMMY!!!

As always lots of fun, laughter and "goofiness".

We gave all the kids glow sticks and they used them to welcome in the New Year.

After our dinner we watched the new Tim Hawkins DVD that we "caught" at the concert - SOOOOO HILARIOUS!!!

At 11pm we had some "sparkling grape juice" and called it a night!  Some of the kids were sick and were feeling tired.  (Altho' a few of the older kids stayed up until 12a and hung out in the lodge).

Another great evening.   I pray that you all have such a wonderful 2013.   As always we make some silly New Years Resolutions but this year I pray that  I may honour and love the Lord more...with all my heart, be kinder and loving, respectful, be more joyful,  have more compassion for others, have a listening ear, be more forgiving and as usual............lose weight and be healthy!!!   (Pls.  help me with that one!! - actually ALL of them!!)