Sunset sail

Yesterday, we were invited on a sailing cruise sponsored by one of Heather’s fellow teachers, whose husband and her operate a charter sailing vessel-the Nathaniel Bowditch. It was a great evening when we boarded for a sunset cruise. The wind was blowing 10 to 15 knots with the opportunity for some great sailing. There was a number of staff from the school onboard along with a few lucky invited extras, like us and our daughter Katie, visiting for the weekend.

After getting underway, we first headed out into the Gulf of Mexico, but the seas were quite rough, so we turned and headed for the bay. Capt Rex went thru the choices of wine for the voyage along with the selection of cheeses. He noted that this was not a wine tasting cruise but a wine drinking cruise. This turned out to be a very accurate statement. Every time your glass started to get low, a crew member was there to offer a refill.

The evening was just about perfect with great weather, good conversation and lots of sailing and great views. On our own sailboat, I never had any alcohol while sailing. I did find out on this trip, that it is a bit difficult to move around a heeling sailboat while holding a glass of wine and taking pictures at the same time. The good news is the only casualty of this experiment was a large wine stain on my shirt. I missed the camera and did not drop the glass!

I could do this every week.

Fire Drill

Like many communities around the country, volunteer fire depts. provide the primary fire protection for smaller communities. Every year the local volunteers stage a fund raiser. Here this includes a donation for a sponsored family portrait session. Since this event is held at the fire station, this is also an opportunity to visit with the firefighters and check out their equipment.

There was quite a line for the pictures since they had gotten a lot of walk ins for the event. The photographer picked up the pace and kept everyone on schedule. While waiting we took a tour of the place and talked with the firefighters.

As an added bonus, while we were there they had a call and we were able to observe their scramble to get under way. Victoria did not seem impressed with the activity, so clearly we will be back in a few years when she really can enjoy all the hats, hoses and fire equipment.

Happy Mother's Day

We hope that you all have the opportunity to spend time with family on Mother's day.

Birthday party

Last weekend we traveled to northern Georgia for our grandson Aleister’s 4th birthday. We traveled through some of the areas hit by the recent storms with such violent tornadoes. Lots of snapped trees and some foundations of homes with scattered debris. Those areas hardest hit remained closed to traffic.

Luckily, our daughter’s home was not damaged. The party was set up in the garage and he and his friend really enjoyed the day. He did go with us to pick up his cake and some balloons. The balloons were quite a hit in the car.

There were the usual gifts and food and lots of conversation. Since Aleister is the owner of a small fleet of battery operated vehicles, he and his friend topped of the event with a lot of driving around the backyard.

His father, Bo, is deeply involved in building a new gazebo and upper level play area for Aleister. This is a big undertaking and I can only say better him than me. It is looking pretty good. If I was doing it, I doubt it would be quite so straight and solid.

Our last evening we headed out to dinner and Aleister really enjoyed the staff singing happy birthday to him.

Photo shoot

Saturday we took advantage of the great weather and took Victoria for her first beach visit and photo shoot. We went to our campground Emerald Beach RV in Navarre, FL. This is a great place to be with friendly staff and good facilities including a private beach on the intercoastal waterway. Since our daughter Katie was also in town for Easter weekend, this was a great opportunity to get her involved in the pictures, especially since this was her first chance to see Victoria.

We had a lot of fun taking the pictures and Victoria could well become a beach person!