Christmas Celebrations & Cookies

After a busy week of work, and a little bit of Christmas shopping, we were ready for a break this weekend.  Saturday night was the resort’s Christmas Party, with a catered dinner and live entertainment.

Tom, Bryce and I helped with the setup and then stayed to enjoy the dinner & entertainment (at least Tom & I did, Bryce left after he helped clean up after dinner . . . he was afraid some of those ladies would try to make him dance! lol)  Dinner could have been better, but the entertainment was really good, and some of the folks at this resort are pretty rowdy!  We had a good time, and I even sampled some blackberry moonshine, from the Old Smokey Distillery in Gatlinburg.  It was really good, and so smooth!  I may have to get some of that!

On Sunday after mass, Bryce and I made gingerbread cookies while Tom found some people to visit with.

After an early dinner, we drove up to Punta Gorda for their Lighted Holiday Boat Parade.  Bryce checked out the parade route online, and determined that the closest of the best viewing points was Fisherman’s Village in downtown Punta Gorda.  It was about a 30 minute drive up I75, and we joined the crowds parking at Fisherman’s Village.

We’ve never been there before, and found Punta Gorda to be a cute little town.  Fisherman’s Village is a collection of shops and restaurants along a pier, surrounded by a Marina.

 

The Grinch arrived just as we did, and stopped for a photo with Bryce.

Tom had to settle for a big fish!

We had plenty of time until the boats would start passing by, so we browsed through a few of the shops.  Bryce found a couple of clocks that he liked!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Punta Gorda High School Band was playing a Christmas Concert, so we found a spot overlooking the water where we could listen to them.

Not long after the concert ended, we could see the boats coming into the harbor alongside Fisherman’s Village.  Unfortunately, the spot we had picked out for viewing (along with a bunch of other people) was not far enough out on the pier, and the boats were turning around and heading back out into the harbor before they got to us! 

We quickly moved to a spot further out on the pier, but it wasn’t as good a spot, and there were lots of people in front of us.  We could still see the boats as they went by, but I couldn’t get very good pictures.

 

I did manage to get a picture of one of the boats parked along the pier after the parade ended.

 

 

 

On top of all that chaos, Nicolas was trying to call me, and my phone wouldn’t let me answer!  I missed his call three times, but as we were walking out, he called one more time and I was able to answer it!  I’m so glad that boy is persistent!

 

We had a great conversation!  He’s still doing well, and passing all of his tests and inspections.  He’s at the halfway point now (I can hardly believe it!), and starting to practice drills for their graduation ceremony.  This week they get measured for their dress uniforms and get their graduation portraits taken.  His training group is not eligible to be adopted out for Christmas, but he said that they’ve already seen the menu for their Christmas dinner, and it looks pretty good!  He’s doing amazing well, and we’re so proud of him!  We can’t wait to see him soon!

A VERY Happy St. Nicholas Day

Christmas, 1999

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For the last two years, we’ve set up our Christmas tree outside on the patio, but this year I decided I wanted to put it inside.  We have a little more room in the garage now, and if we went with a smaller tree, we figured it wouldn’t be a problem.

 

After walking through a dozen or so motorhomes all morning, we were tired and didn’t feel much like tree shopping.  Since we were going with a little tree anyway, we just picked one up at Walmart.

Not quite the adventure of traipsing through the snow to find the perfect tree and cut it down . . . but it’ll work!

 

 

 

We put it in the trunk of the car for the ride home (THAT was a first!!), and when we got there, Bryce gave it a fresh cut and got it set up in the stand . . . then he went to watch football! 

I guess I’m decorating the tree!! 

For a little Walmart tree, it didn’t look too bad!

I actually can’t remember the last time I decorated the tree myself . . . Nicolas has been doing it for quite a few years!  But, without him here to help me, I got busy with the lights . . .

OK, not a bad start . . . next came the ornaments . . .

It turned out really pretty!

I guess the garage is going to be my Christmas room . . . I used Nicolas’ desk as a display table.

Just watching me wore Casey out, I guess!

So, that was a nice way to spend St. Nicholas Day . . . but the highlight of the day was a phone call from Nicolas! 

I knew that Saturday is usually the day they get to make calls when they earn them, and on facebook I was seeing that lots of recruits in Nicolas’ training group were getting to make calls this afternoon, so I was anxiously waiting for my phone to ring . . . and then it did!

It was SO wonderful to hear his voice!  He sounded good, and he says things are going OK.  His RDCs aren’t too bad, although they’ve had quite a bit of extra PT this week.  He’s a section leader in his division, so he hears about it when somebody does something they’re not supposed to!  I asked how the food is, and he said it’s actually really good . . . today he had french toast, eggs and bacon for breakfast, and fajitas for lunch.  On Thanksgiving they had turkey AND prime rib!

He’s got a little bit of a cold, but he passed both his PT test and his swim test on the first try.  He sounded very confident and comfortable, and that’s a huge relief to us!  He was mostly concerned that we had gotten his phone (which arrived here very quickly) and his letter with his address (which took over 2 weeks to get to us!), and he was wondering why he hadn’t received any letters yet.  I told him that we just got his address, but now that we have it, we’ll be sending lots of letters – I sent 4 this weekend!

This conversation with my boy was the best St. Nicholas present ever!!

It was wonderful to talk to him, and we’re looking forward to his graduation on January 16th!

American Sand Sculpting Championship

 

The 28th Annual apparently . . .

After mass on Sunday, we got a quick lunch at Subway and then walked across the street to the Wyndam Hotel, where the Sand Sculpture Championship was being held on the beach.

It was a beautiful morning, warm and sunny, and a great day to wander among the sculptures on the beach.

 

Sunday was the last day of the championship, which has been going on for the last two weeks.

The individual sculptures were judged early in the week, and a big rainstorm Tuesday night wreaked havoc with the beach.

Amazingly, only one sculpture was destroyed by the rain, but it was the 1st Place Winner.

 

Some of the others were beginning to show the effects of time and weather.

 

But for the most part, they were holding up pretty well.

The detail in many of these sculptures was simply incredible, and I couldn’t believe some of the structures they were able to build . . . like these arches . . . they were amazing!

Others were more simple, but still very cool.

The Doubles competition was still ongoing, with the judging on Sunday.  All of the teams were still diligently working on their masterpieces.

These guys were really intent on their work . . .

but the detail that they put into their sculpture was really incredible!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce thought the Hippie Bus was pretty cool . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and my favorite was this Christmas-themed elf!

He had a great message, too . . . “’Tis the season to be in Florida!”