Up, Up and Away

Ohio weather has a way of making one yearn for sunny skies and balmy breezes, ocean scenery and toes in the sand. January yielded just that! For the last 3 (counting this one) years, Corrie and I have done a getaway for my birthday. This year was to warmer climate - Orlando, Florida.

What a wonderful time we had, walking on the beach kissing Jack Sparrow (or a very good likeness anyway), seeing shows, getting into Disney FREE because it was my birthday, and the very best part was being there with my wonderful daughter. What a blessing and what a gift!

We drove to Clearwater and walked on the beach, shopped booths on the boardwalk, and collected shells. After returning to the hotel room, we realized that three of the shells we collected still had creatures in them, poor things! They made it through to the next day, so we put them in a dixie cup and through them into a pond. (I won't say where, perhaps this will turn out to be another zebra mussel incident).

We saw Arabian Nights, a dinner theatre show with lots of horse acts. Have been to Medieval Times three times and decided I like this much better - more horse acts and acrobatics; also had a choice of 5 different entres for dinner!

The Disney park we chose was Animal Kingdom. Here are beautiful habitats with amazing animals. Since it was my birthday, I had to wear a button with my name on it. 18 complete strangers called me by name and wished me happy birthday that day! Kinda hokey, but kinda fun too. Here are some pics of that wonderful day.

Last day was spent shopping. I think the most fun Corrie and I had was picking out Legos for Tyler. In this store was a wall full of bins with an amazing choice of legos. You just picked out your size of container and then set out to fill it up. We put small pieces in the bottom, tapped it down to settle them and make more room. Couldn't wait to get back home and give Ty his surprise. The displays outside the store were made of legos - remarkable!

I'll close with this amazing picture of a crane, my favorite bird. I understand that some cultures believe that the crane is a messenger of God. Perhaps that's why I love them so much. Seeing one just blesses my day.

Thank you, my precious daughter, for taking time with your mom, and for making this a wonderful memorable time together. I love you dearly.