Muy bueno

I'm still not the sporty person my doctors would like me to be, but I must admit: going outdoors to do some geocaching is a big hit. Looking forward to any occasion, I leave my hiking boots and thick socks in the car. The whippets are all hyper for they know they can come along. Lana loves to "prepare" them (read: make them crazy!) for their day out, so they are totally stressed out by the time we leave. They are too nervous to eat their breakfast and they don't like to eat in a different location, so when we get home late at night, they are starved..

Friday was a wonderful day. Although the rain washed us out numerous times, the sun warmed our heads and dried up the wet shirts. I think the five of us make a great combination to do this game of sports. I'm not of much use, since I still don't understand the rules (no I won't read the guidelines), but I love to observe the interaction between my friends. How they discuss coordinates, how they compare their mobile devices and GPS systems. I'm not clever enough to solve the mathematic formulas and it amazes me how good they are at it. Each one of us has its role in the game. Still trying to find out what mine is... LOL.

Canine Companions

A couple of months ago, I got a private message from the owner of Valerie. Valerie comes out of a nest of six whippet females. Happens to be the same nest Inthe came from. So they are sisters. And they had not yet met. Like their owners..

I heard about this pasture in Antwerp. A place where dogs can run freely, without their leash. Sounded like a plan to me, since Inthe and Rebba love to race around and enjoy nature. When Nicole - the owner of Valerie and Dee - invited us to go for a walk in Linkerwoefer, I didn't hesitate. It just took us longer than expected. To my surprise, she had invited some other whippet owners as well. We ended up with 7 whippets! Fun!

Valerie, sister of Inthe

We had a great time. The sun was out, the place wasn't too crowded and all dogs behaved well. Whippets tend to be a bit racist at times and ours are no different for that matter. Since all of these beauties are whippets, there was no problem. They chased their tennis balls, sniffed each other's rear ends and fooled around. There were meadows to race on, woods to explore and water to cool down. A wonderful place and only a half hour drive. Worth the effort! Although my blood sugars were a bit on the low side all afternoon, the jelly beans did the trick. So we kept going and our tan got more red by the hour.

I enjoyed this outing. Thank you Nicole and Bartje, for the invitation. It was fun meeting you and the whippies. Soon is never far away. That's when we will meet again.

Robijn

Gaffa

Dee

Inthe

Vito

Rebba

Take your time

Take your time to grow up... Life is full of excitement and challenges are peeking around the corner. What more could you wish for, than spend the last couple of days in London, UK? You were so excited about this school trip, that you have talked about it for months in a row. It felt kinda awkward though, to let you get on that bus to Calais, where you and your school mates would catch the train to the UK. A bus full of young children crashed in a tunnel in Switzerland, just this week. No less than 22 school children and 6 adults lost their lives. It's devastating and scary.. The whole country is mourning and the pain in our hearts is not even bearable. But life and love is about letting go. We must have faith that you will be okay. There's not going to be any accident or awful news. You will come home and tell us all about your journey abroad. That's what we promised ourselves..

Happy birthday sweetie. You turned 17 today. That seems like a very long time, but then again, it's like it was only yesterday when you entered this world. So pure, so innocent, so perfect. You have become a wonderful young lady. We love you honeybun. xx

A puuurrrrrfect moment

By now, we're almost in Trieste, Italy. That is, my friend and undersigned. This is the perfect moment to go visit our lovely friend, who is staying in Trieste for 6 months. We have missed her and her amazing stories and adventures. We hear her pretty often on the Internet and Skype is a good solution too, but it's not to be compared to seeing each other live, is it?

She has no idea we will show up at her doorstep today. She'll be thrilled and over the moon! I know she will jump up and down and so will we! We'll have a great time in Italy, trust me. Four days are short, but we'll make the most of it. It's my first visit to Italy and I don't speak any Italian, but that's part of the fun.

Babe, here we come! Be prepared for some hectic and awesome days!

School's out for summer

Just 2 months ago, school was out for summer. There hasn't been much of a summer though. Temperatures were too low to enjoy the sunbeams. Not warm enough for outside BBQ or puddling in the pool. Only 2 short trips to the beach in Holland..

Nevertheless, the girls had a good time. They enjoyed their time away in summer camp. It was a good opportunity to have fun with their friends, away from home. Mom and dad had a good time too. Top of the bill was our vacation in Florida, where the sun welcomed us and warmed our hearts.

The new books have arrived and school supplies will have to be bought this weekend. Bus routes are being checked, luncheons prepared and closets need to be reorganized and cleaned up. Three members of the family will be in the same school now, since Eva is joining Lana in school and so is one of their cousins. Time just flies by and before we'll know it.. autumn leaves will wave across the pavements..

It's too good to be true

It's still hard to believe all four of us are here, in Florida. We are so grateful that we could make this trip together and enjoy a wonderful time. Tomorrow is my 40th birthday. What a strange number.. Am I supposed to feel old now? Because I really don't. I feel younger than ever and life is awesome.

Yesterday, hubby had this bright idea! He wanted to see the other coast line of Florida. In January I had been to Daytona Beach with our friends and the four of us have seen Cocoa Beach this vacation, so the Eastern coast could be checked off of our to do list. But how about the West coast?   The beaches along the Gulf of Mexico must be totally different, right?

We packed some towels and beach wear, put cold drinks in the cooler bag, grabbed some snacks and told the GPS we wanted to go to Clearwater Beach. It was a 2 hour drive, but hey, we were not in a rush or anything. Lana wanted to take a lot of pictures, so wherever she wanted us to pull over the car to stretch our legs: we did.

We thought Cocoa Beach was pretty special. Well, I can tell you: Clearwater Beach is even better... Really! You'll agree once you see the pictures! We had an awesome day, although the weather forecast wasn't with us. They predicted 50% chance of showers and T-storms. All the way down there, the weather was great. But once we reached Clearwater, it was pouring so heavily, I thought we would have to turn around and go back. None of that happened. We parked the Jeep right by the beach, hopped into our little bikinis, spread our towels and ran into the ocean. What a great feeling to be here! The water was warm and so clear! That's probably where Clearwater Beach got its name! It's no lie! You can see your own legs through the sea water. That's so awesome! We saw fish swim around us and floating on our backs, we watched the pelicans dive into the ocean to catch their lunch.

On our way to Sand Key, we made several other stops. Parks, marina's, .. so many beautiful places to visit. The Columbia Restaurant at Sand Key was a superb place to have lunch. Right by the water, Spanish atmosphere and excellent cuisine. We were sitting there, amazed by the luxury of this vacation..

Around 5 PM, we went back to the shore. Near Pier 60, there were activities and people were selling craftwork. Every day, you can hear live music on the beach and on Fridays and Saturdays, you can watch a movie on the beach, on a huge screen, sitting in the sand. Isn't that romantic???

pirate boat at sunset - Clearwater Beach
all pictures taken by Lana Joos

We waited for the sun to set, so Lana could complete her album. We had a 2 hour drive back to Caribe Cove Resort, but it was definitely worth the ride. Worn out and aching from a horrible sun burn, we got back to the apartment, to get that shower we had longed for... I'm off to bed.
Night night..

Plunge in

We had a hard time figuring out which park we were going to visit, while being here in Florida. There are so many theme parks and several water parks, that we didn't know where to begin. The girls wanted roller coasters, but also a movie theme park and then again they also wanted to have fun in a water park.. We overlooked all of the parks on the Internet. Distance wasn't a problem, since all the parks are only half an hour from the Caribe Cove Resort where we're staying at. But we had to make up our minds and we decided Aquatica was the park we wanted to go to. And we had a blast!!!

There are several fantastic rides in the park. We particularly liked the Tassie's Twisters, Omaka Rocka, HooRoo Run and Walhalla Wave and Whanau Way and... I guess we liked them all!!!

After 4 PM, a voice announced that we were to get off the rides, because a serious thunderstorm was on its way. They didn't want to take any chances and everybody needed to seek shelter. So we did... Unfortunately, the sun didn't really come back to Aquatica... Even a temperature of 26°C was too cold to remain in the park. But hey: we did all the rides and we were satisfied, so no tears! It was another great day and we had tons of fun!

I was so happy with my Quiksilver waterproof pocket. It kept my insulin pump dry and safe throughout the water rides so I didn't have to miss out on the fun. The people at the first aid station were very helpful and they kept my glucose meter, strips and lancing device within reach, so every now and then I could go over there to have my blood glucose checked and/or corrected. It was good to know I didn't have to worry about my diabetes or my insulin pump getting wet or lost.

Gatorland

Florida is known as Gatorland, since the alligator  is so popular around here. You see them all over the place: lakes, rivers, swamps,.. you just can't miss them. There are some in the lake around the Caribe Cove Resort as well! Lana has spotted them from the pool!

Today we decided to go on an adventure and buy a ticket for an airboat ride. Since the apartment is located so near to everything (you can get like anywhere within an hour drive), we didn't hesitate to hop into the car and drive all the way up to Boggy Creek at Lake Toho. The website sounded promising and we were not disappointed!

On the way over there, we pulled over the car, to see a dozen of black vultures having dinner.. Their pray was laying in the ditch and all vultures were taking turns pulling of pieces of flesh. It was so weird and surreal to watch this! We were impressed and totally excited!

It was a beautiful wildlife tour through the wetlands of Florida. We first had a leisure idle down a natural canal  to watch the exotic birds (I truly enjoy the white and grey herons around here - they are so gracious when they descend), turtles and alligators in their own natural environment. We got headphones and trust me: you need them...  Once the captain speeds up, you fly like the wind into the swamp experiencing the awesome feel of the airboat ride.  We didn't choose to go down to the Southern Everglades as most people would do, but the Central Florida Everglades were pretty nice! Another wonderful day..

Sound of Silence

To be honest: it was awesome.. It was breathtaking. It was phenomenal..

We had been looking into visiting a State Park in the Kissimmee area. Lana wanted to take pictures and train her photographic skills. She's particularly fond of making nice sunset shots.

caterpillar on flower

In the afternoon, we headed towards Clermont, Florida, a half hour ride from the apartment. I had googled the Lake Louise State Park and it sounded promising.  At the cost of only 5 dollars, we spent a wonderful afternoon and evening in the park. It was like we had entered a completely different world. This is the real Florida. This is so different from Disney and the parks, although they have a charm of their own.

A gopher tortoise - the state turtle of both Georgia and Florida - tried to cross the road while we just entered the park. Okay, that was worth a first snapshot. We knew not all wildlife would be that slow..
We stopped at three lakes: Dixie Lake, Hammond Lake and Lake Louisa. At the first stop, we saw this prehistorical looking alligator in the lake. It was really creepy! We intended to rent canoes but we kinda chickened out after we realized there were actually real gators in the lake. What if our canoe tipped over and we fell in? Or what if an alligator came up to our canoe? Would we have to hit it with our paddle? I'm not scared that easily, but I wasn't sure about this idea anymore..

gopher tortoise

alligator in Dixie Lake

There was another alligator prepared to pose for the camera, in Hammond Lake. It was just so surreal but then again it was more real than the rest of Florida we have seen so far. The lake was full of beautiful waterlilies and numerous fish.

We decided to follow the signs so the next stop was a hiking trail. We thought it was going to be a brisk walk through the woods, but in the end, we must have walked for over an hour. Supposedly there were bobcats, rattlesnakes, wild turkey, raccoons, opossums and squirrels around, but we didn't see any - except for a troop of turkeys and 1 squirrel. The walk took a bit longer than expected and my pace was slowing down. Stupid me.. I had not taken my purse.. meaning no glucose meter nor dextrose within reach. I didn't want to hold up the rest, so I kept going and I couldn't do much more than hope we would reach the end of the trail pretty soon. We had followed the blue track, but all at once, there were no more blue signs to follow. We only saw red signs, so we changed tracks. My blood sugar kept dropping and I knew I had to get out of these woods somehow. After at least another 20 min we arrived at the parking lot, where I tested and corrected that 42 mg/dl with half a tin of lukewarm ginger ale and about 8 animal crackers. Man, that felt so good..

hiking trail in the woods to Lake Louisa

mating butterflies

Those are moments I truly despise diabetes. You always have to consider what you bring and how long you will be gone. I know that, but see: every now and then, the excitement wins from the brain and that's when you get in trouble. I'm glad I didn't pass out.. There was nobody to be seen in that forest and we had left the cell phones in the car. We did not even have a clue where we were.. I'm glad that hypoglycaemia got fixed in an instant, because we were ready to visit the third and biggest lake: Lake Louisa. That was too much... so serene, so pure, so untouched.  Lana was over the moon. She said it was her best day in Florida.  And yes: she made extraordinary pictures. We even came back later that night to watch the sunset. We were all quiet... for once, the radio was not turned on while driving back to the apartment. I believe we were all moved by the beauty of this scenery..

Eva and Lana in Lake Louisa

sunset Lake Dixie

Bicycle Race

I still can't believe I signed up for a bicycle ride with my diabetes friends... O lord.. You all know I hate bikes, but this time, the love for my friends is more important than the displeasure riding a bike gives me.
I'm not even going to try to put my bike in the trunk of the car. I'll rent one. That might be safer as well, since my bike is being used for spare parts for everybody else's bike.

There will be around 10 people I guess. It'll be good to see my friends and have a chitchat. That is, if I can still catch my breath.. Is there enough time left to reconsider my registration for this totally out of your mind bicycle race???

I don't want to do anything

What a great day we had yesterday! The weather forecast promised a good time, so in the afternoon we decided to go to the beach. The whippets were not invited. Too hot for them, so we gave them a special treat, a bowl of fresh water and the shadow of their outer kennel.

Since we live that close to Holland, we always go to their beaches. Only half an hour away, peanuts! We packed the car with beach seats, towels, goodies and drinks, new magazines and books to read. The girls were all set in their teeny bikinis and off we went.

We parked the car in a meadow near Palm Beach. That's the name of the beach we stranded on. As we had expected: it was a beach for people who like to run around naked.. Not our cup of tea. The girls protested so we kept on walking until we found a strip of sand where people were wearing tank tops and swimwear. It didn't take us long to fall down and get settled. Time flew by and I nearly finished my book on World War II. We left the kids by themselves to go for grown up coffee in the Beach House. That Jamaican coffee was really good and very relaxing.

It's great to be home and be able to go do things with the family whenever we feel like it. I'm sure the girls enjoyed their day out as well. Hubby planned on working in the garden, but he was glad he joined us after all.

Later that evening, we sat outside on the deck and we played cards. We had a blast! It had been too long since we last played a board game together. That glass of South African Chardonnay was refreshing, after a warm sunny day..

A match made in heaven

Photo by Lana Joos

The two of you are something different. Rebba turned 5 and Inthe will be 2 years old by the end of this year. Nevertheless, it's like you have always been together. You cling to one another so much and you're inseparable. Inthe knows Rebba is the leader and she has to listen to her. It's very interesting to see them communicate. How Rebba teaches her and scolds her when she's not behaving.

Inthe is still very playful. Rebba is more the observing type. But still, Rebba is the stronger one. Inthe cannot win during a race along the beach. Inthe is smart though.. I'll tell you why..

It always starts with a simple neck to neck walk.
Then, all of a sudden, they look at each other and I believe I see a little nod in their heads. That's when the race starts. Normally they race their hearts out, until Rebba signals it's time to race back. At least, that's how Rebba wants to run the race.
Inthe is not very good at losing though.. So she figured out her own plan. She races behind Rebba and right before Rebba signals to go back, Inthe silently turns around and starts to race the other way. It's so funny to watch! Once Rebba realizes little Inthe has gone back, she moves faster than lighting, leaving a crying Inthe behind. It's a neck to neck race, but on most occasions, it's still Rebba who wins. It upsets Inthe, because she wants to win every race. I'm sure Rebba wouldn't mind, but she wants to train Inthe to run faster I guess. She's smart, our Rebba. And she's a wonderful teacher. The two of them are a match made in heaven.

Crocodile tears

Florida is the state of the gators. We haven't seen any yet - stuffed ones not included - but we know they are out there. There are signs to warn us. There are puddles, ponds, lakes all over the place and they sure look like they have alligators in them. Crocodiles are not my favorite animals, but they are kinda cool, as long as they remain on their property.

Our vacation is coming to an end. I'm having mixed feelings about that. Kissimmee has been everything we expected and more. It's been a wonderful experience and we have seen so much.
The weather has been good and the locals were friendly. They treated us real well and we have no complaints whatsoever. It is a shame though that my family couldn't be here to enjoy the Florida sun and surroundings. I wanted to share it with them, but it wasn't possible this time. They'll get here, no doubt about that. And in the mean time, I'll tell them all about it and I'll show them the pictures. There are lots of presents in my suitcase for them to pick out. We'll have some special cuddle time I guess..

I might shed some tears. It's been good. It's been fun. I have some more memories to file in my archives. Some good moments to remember..

Let's cook!

I want to cook! Today I have bought 4 new cookbooks and I'm very reluctant to put them down. I started reading the recipes and my head is full of grocery lists and ideas. We're having a wonderful time over here and many would be happy to go out dining all the time. Most meals I've had here have pleased me too and none have given me a bloated tummy. But still, I miss my veggies and a home cooked meal.

Today we visited Epcot, one of the Disney Theme Parks. I had not visited one single Disney park before, so I was pretty excited about this event. Disney is huge! It has its own highways, parking lots, restaurants, .. and it's crowded, even out of season. It took us a while to get to the ticket booth, since every visitor has to hand over his backpacks to be checked. What a waste of time.. It gives people a fake feeling of safety and it makes me laugh. But oh well, if that makes them happy..

Disney tickets are expensive. Very expensive. I will never ever again complain about parking costs in Belgium or theme park tickets at home. Going to one of the Disney parks with a family of four, leaves a big gap in your wallet. Make sure to bring at least $ 550 if you want to grab a drink and a bite as well. Don't enter the souvenir shops and bring your own snacks. The prices are just outrageous.

Epcot is a nice theme park if you like to walk around and sniff the Disney atmosphere. The landscapers did a terrific job and there's plenty to see. Epcot is all about different countries, situated around a huge lake. Take your family along this journey to France, Italy, Morocco, China, Japan, Norway and of course the US. We had lunch at this authentic French restaurant where even the waiters were French. And yes, we ran in to some Disney characters and took their pictures. It was nice to hear Mary Poppins's British accent and The Beauty and the Beast were very charming. The best attraction was Soarin'. It is a multi-sensory attraction that simulates a peaceful hang-gliding flight over the Golden State of California.
The multi-passenger glider is lifted 40 feet into the air. An IMAX projection dome wraps 180° around you, so you're fully engulfed by the impressive scenery. It really feels like you're flying as you glide over such awesome vistas and landmarks.
Feel the wind in your hair, while the air fills with the scent of orange groves, evergreens and the sea breeze. You may think your feet will get wet when you dip down so close to the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean, before you return to the sky to continue your hang-glider ride.

We did some more shopping after our visit to Epcot. There are so many shops to discover and so many fun treats to lay our hands on. Today was a cold day and I got myself a pair of woolwarm boots to pamper my feet. I got some more presents for the people left behind in Belgium.

We crashed at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse to have a satisfying dinner. We thought being inside could warm us up a little, but air-conditioning thought differently. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our meals and the company, before we went back to the apartment to pack out our goodies and have another chat before we hit the hay..

Happy as a Hippo

Did you know that one can be ecstatic about experiencing a hypoglycaemia? Yesterday, my sugar levels were out of range for the whole day and I hate it when that happens. I felt like crap. My throat was so dry it was like having eaten a bag of marshmallows (not that I have any clue what that feels like, but I suppose it must be in that area) that got stuck halfway my throat. No water could quench my thirst (I didn't want to run to the restroom 10 times a day either) and my legs felt so heavy I didn't want to make one more step. Just imagine being in the mall and having no energy to enter a shop??
So in the middle of the night, I was cheering for that 52 mg/dl on my glucose meter. Yes! Back to normal! I enjoyed my little bag of Cinnamon Goldfish before I went back to bed.. to wake up a couple of hours later with more normal readings.

As I had said earlier: we went to Daytona Beach. Before our little conference we had to attend, we had breakfast at the local diner called Rossi's Diner. What a neat place! Friendly staff, wide range of choice and fast but home cooked meals. Did you ever have a fulfilling breakfast of corned beef hash, home baked fries, silver dollar pancakes, cheese omelette, Southern grits, sliced tomatoes, English buttered muffins, eggs sunny side up and toast? I didn't think so.. But it was darn Good with a capital G.

We were a little disappointed about our visit to the shore. It wasn't what we had expected. Maybe we have become too demanding? Of course it's out of season and it was windy and cloudy, but nevertheless, the streets were empty and deserted. We didn't sob too long over it and made a U-turn to head for new horizons.

We ended up in Orlando where we enjoyed a great All American lunch at Johnny Rockets. It was an item on our to do list and I'm happy we visited the place. This is fast food at its best: a good bowl of home made chili with melted cheese and diced onion, vanilla milkshake, toasted tuna sandwich, American fries and a ketchup happy face. Johnny Rockets rocks!

We have so many more outings planned and we're running out of time.. I would love to stay another week, but I don't think my family at home nor the budget would appreciate that. But like Arnold Schwarzenegger would say: I'll be back! it won't be too long before we come back. Now we have a reason to visit Florida more often!

I don't like Mondays

I honestly believe that many people dread Mondays. I'm not one of them. I like Mondays. I like the first day of the week to be a fresh start. When everyone is back on their way to school or work, I get to organize around the house, run some errands and relax.

Today is going to be a good and pleasant Monday as well, although I'm not home. We're going to Daytona Beach! Did you hear me? Daytona Beach!! Aaarrgghh! That's going to be fudging awesome! The weather forecast made us happy as well and there's lots to do around the area. We have some formalities to fill out while we're there, but for the rest of the day, we'll be strolling around town and digging our toes in the sand.

It's a one hour and a half drive from where we are staying, but over here, distance is no issue. Roads are pleasant to drive on, traffic is chill and we're together. We enjoy ourselves wherever we are, don't we? Maybe we should have a sing-a-long in the car? Our friend is driving and we have a GPS, so there's no real need to pay attention to the road. We're lucky to have a careful driver who is very happy to bring us wherever we want to be.

I'd better start looking for a summer outfit, to fit in on Daytona Beach!

La famiglia

The sun is out. It's warming our hearts and minds. Catching some warmth on the front deck, I'm thinking over the past days. We have done quite some outings by now and they were nothing but pleasant. Yesterday we strolled around a local flea market and that was fun! It's real life, not some tourist attraction. Just don't ask what we bought or must I say: what I bought. You really do not want to know..

This afternoon we're going to church. Yes, you heard me: to CHURCH! Not to attend some kind of service, but to have a gospel brunch in Downtown Disney. It's not really a church, it's called The House of Blues, but it's kinda like attending Sunday's Mass. Praise the Lord! Curious Georgette can't wait to find out what that's going to be like. I'm always open to new things and this sounds like a good plan to me.

Old Town is a must do if you are over here. It's not far from the apartment and there's a special atmosphere walking around the funfair. People were bungee jumping, eating cotton candy and candied apples or having a beer or two. There was a parade of old-timer cars and they were extraordinary. Don't be surprised to run into Elvis look-a-likes!

Being here, is like being with family. Enjoying each other and having a great time. There aren't any disputes or unhappy faces. Nothing but good times. It could be the sun or the time spent abroad, but maybe it's just because we bond well?

You ain't seen nothing yet

There's so much to see around here. We won't be here long enough to do whatever we would like to do. But so far I'm happy with every outing we do. We have so much fun! We are trying to get the most of everything, tasting a bit of this and that. This afternoon, we decided to pop in at Universal Studios. What a great idea that was! The place was not too packed but still crowded. It gave me a good idea of what to expect when I come back in August with my family.

Lunch at Cracker Barrel, Davenport was a joy! It's a fun place to go to and it's worth the visit. It's another restaurant on my list now. Staff was real friendly and helpful and they have a great store in front. Maybe we'll go back there some day to have breakfast. We took the menu home to check it out. Another restaurant on our list is Panda Express. They are all over the States and we have seen their logo everywhere. Now we only have to decide on the location we want to visit. We'll get there. I got the advise to try the Orange Chicken. Sounds like a plan to me!

Tomorrow, we're going to attend a flea market in the morning. I'm really looking forward to that. It'll be a fun pastime. Late afternoon is reserved for Old Town, near to Kissimmee.

We're going to have a gospel brunch on Sunday. I'd better hit the hay, so I'm rested for all these fun events!

I need a moment..

I'm sitting on my bed in my room in Kissimmee, Florida, indulging the sounds from my "new" household of friends. Mrs T is sitting on the deck at 10 AM, blowdrying her locks and enjoying the sunbeams. It's January!!! I mean, really, I'm wearing T-shirts and the sun is warming my face while typing this blog! One of the friends is relaxing in the living area, another one is rinsing off the fatigue of yesterday in the shower and the third friend is checking the schedule so we can enjoy another day.

I need a moment to think things over. To absorb all the new impressions and relive the memories of the previous days. I feel so blessed to be here. Never would I have thought this would happen to me. I have always had a good feeling about the US and it was my dream to come back here one day. I have gone back to Massachusetts before and to Oregon, but this time it's different. It's like coming home.. I really like Florida. People are friendly, the weather is good, there's so much to do. I can hear this man mow the lawn and the racoons have their parties at night, investigating leftovers in the bins and tasting whatever they feel like having. Getting our groceries at Super Target is like being at home. Opening our fridge and finding goodies to enjoy a little snack, is comforting.
I have this crazy feeling this place could become my second home..

Whippeteedooda

Photo by Lana Joos

Little miss Gorgeous has no idea what that white carpet is doing in the back yard, but she knows it's wet and cold. She has had some great moments in the snow so far. Throwing flecks of snow in the air, racing and sliding on the deck and eating snow cones!

Her ear has healed well. A little chip is missing, but her ears are large enough to have plenty of ear left. It doesn't bother her and it doesn't bother us. We love her anyway, even with a bit of ear missing.

Rebba is not that fond of snow. She goes out if there is no other option, but she prefers to look at the snow from the opposite side of the window. She loves her blanket and the heat of the fire place. Don't even think of taking her outside in the snow. She's not impressed at all. Neither am I..

Happy Birthday sweet Inthe. You have turned 1 today. Let's celebrate with a nice walk in the snow!