Christmas and the weeks leading up to it were great. There was a lot of time with family and friends which is really what it's all about. I was so appreciative of being able to spend a bit of time with both of my brothers down on AMI. Although I wasn't able to see Jan we did talk for a while on Christmas morning which is a tradition and always very special. I also really enjoyed a trip to Tampa to spend the afternoon with a very special Aunt and Uncle (Pat and Thomas) and cousins (Darlene and Tommy). Unlike Beth's family which is huge, my side of the family is pretty small. We spent a lot of time with the Ball family growing up, camping at Vogel State Park, visiting their house in Ocala or them coming to the big city of Mulberry. Darlene is close to my age and Tommy is close behind so even though we lived a few hours apart we kind of grew up together and had some great times. I look forward to seeing them again soon!
Beth and some of her friends have had a Christmas eve luncheon every year for the past 30 years. It's organized by her best friend from the "Mulberry" years, Lori. This year there was another fella attending so I tagged along. Growing up in Mulberry everyone knew everyone (and knew their business) so I knew all the attendees and it was great seeing them.
Christmas day was the traditional. Waking up at the Eason's in Plant City, presents exchanged, a big breakfast by Cindy and then lunch with her extended family. "Extended family" is the beach house gang that is on AMI for two weeks every summer. The main difference is instead of two weeks to enjoy everyone it's condensed into a few hours. I guess it's similar to speed dating only it's speed visiting. Thanks to the Henson family for hosting it at their beautiful house on the Manatee River.
Of course the highlight of the day was the kids. Beth and I started it with Ben in Florida and ended the day at Sarah, Joey and SBJ's house in San Rafael which is just north of San Francisco. It was a long but great day!
Today is our 6th day here and we've enjoyed visiting with them and taking care of SBJ. A couple of days we took Sarah to work in Sonoma and did a couple of great hikes on some trails just outside of town. Yesterday morning we enjoyed a great hike with Sarah along the San Francisco bay. It was a "strenuous" trail with a few pretty steep climbs but the views from the top were magnificent. Looking out over three bridges, including the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge with the city of San Francisco in the background was worth the effort. Not only were we rewarded with great views from the top but the way back was mostly flat and along the waterfront which was really appreciated. The afternoon was spent at the Oakland Zoo. James loves the animals and really got a kick out of all of them.
Now about that SBJ. He's around 18 months old now. He's as cute as he can be and is continuing to develop a fun and funny personality. He smiles 99.9% of the time and makes some of the funniest expressions you can imagine.
One other thing about him, he can flat out wear out his Mimi and Poppy! He's the human version of the Energizer Bunny and we love it!
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| At the Oakland Zoo |
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| Look Ma, it's San Francisco in the distance |
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| In the leaves at Sonoma Plaza |
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| Mimi showing James the ducks.....and keeping him from jumping in the water |
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| He fumbled a few times but he shows some potential |
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| Loving his Ice Cream Cone |
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| Hiking above the clouds in Sonoma.......actually it was just low lying fog |
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| Trick riding his cool bike he got from Uncle Ben |
