Orlando - Thanksgiving 2009

From Destin we drove to Orlando and spent two great weeks. The first was at Wyndham Bonnet Creek which is actually on Disney property.

I can’t wait to stay here another time. It was Thanksgiving week so we decided not to join the throngs in the park. Debby arrived on Wednesday night and Thanksgiving morning we participated in a Turkey Trot at the resort. It was still a stretch for me to do but it was fun.

We went to the resort hotels to see the gingerbread house displays. They were unbelievable. The list of ingredients was in pounds.



We spent part of a day with Jim Goodwin and Karen McKinney. It was great to see Karen and meet Jim who proposed to her while they were there. How exciting.

The second week we stayed at Marriott Cypress Harbour which is our home resort.

And we went to Disney World.

We did Magic Kingdom



and Epcot staying for the fireworks.



We spent a day at Hollywood Studios which used to be MGM. It was great as we went to most of the shows. One evening we did a special event that was Mickey’s Special Christmas Party and we were in the park until midnight with many special Christmas shows.


We had always wanted to see Disney at Christmas and it was awesome as well as fun. We went to a Christmas Presentation one evening in Epcot by area choirs and the Christmas story was read by Steven Curtis Chapman. Each song followed the Biblical account. It was very beautiful and uplifting and we were thrilled that it was even allowed to be presented.


We shopped at Disney Marketplace and stopped for Ghirardelli chocolate. Yum!!

November 2009

Yes, I know that this is over a year ago but I decided I still wanted to post what we did so I will try to finally get it up to date. I am making an effort to post at least one week each day. Enjoy!

We stayed in a Bluegreen timeshare Club La Pension in the French Quarter.

It was very small with a living room, walk through kitchen and bedroom and a balcony. It was cool most of the time and we had some rain. We took a cooking class at New Orleans School of Cooking and learned how to make gumbo and pralines.



The instructor cooked and then we got to eat what she made. We toured the World War II Museum. This is one of the best we have been to. We had been before but I didn’t get to see the Pacific part. Of course we had to eat beignets at Café du Monde and have oyster po boys from Mother’s Restaurant.

We learned about this restaurant from Donna and Chris when we were here a few years ago. We went to Chalmette Battlefield which is part of the Jean Lafitte National Park.
They were having a ground breaking ceremony to begin a new visitor center.


We drove east toward Florida and stopped at a rest area as we entered Mississippi. To our surprise there was a tour bus leaving in 5 minutes to go to the Stennis Space Center for a tour. We didn’t even realize that it was in the area. What an interesting tour. This was where the Saturn V was tested. We saw the test sights and then toured the exhibits in the visitor center.



The next stop was the Jefferson Davis home, Beauvoir, in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was damaged by Hurricane Katrina but had just reopened after refurbishing.


Many items were lost but the house was preserved. Then of course we stopped at the lighthouse in Biloxi.


Our next stay was a week at the Wyndham Majestic Sun in Destin, Florida. This week in Destin was very uneventful and we really didn’t do much except walk each day.

Illinois and Wisconsin 2010

We left Indiana on August 7th and spent a week in Foxriver, Illinois. It was hot and humid and we had stayed here before so we worked on cross stitch and reading. We took a trip to Ronald Reagan’s boyhood home in Dixon, Illinois. We had never studied anything about his boyhood so we learned a lot. His family lived in a number of homes as they always rented but he graduated from high school here.


We also saw the movie Tooth Fairy one afternoon at the resort.

We went to Door County, Wisconsin on the 14th, driving right by the PGA tournament and along the edge of the city of Green Bay. This time we stayed in Fish Creek which was out the peninsula. We had a beautiful condo in the woods. It was furnished very nicely and had a wonderful kitchen and living area.



During the week we traveled around through the county stopping at the many farm markets and wineries, a candle store and a coffee store.

We saw the Sherwood Lighthouse in Sturgeon Bay

and from a distance the old Bailey’s Harbor Lighthouse which is now privately owned. The area is noted for cherries and also fish boils. We went to a fish boil one evening and found it fun with delicious food. It takes ½ hour for the meal to cook. It is boiled in a very large pot over a fire.


First the baby red potatoes are cooked for about 15 minutes and then the onions are added.

The white fish pieces from Lake Michigan are added the last 10 minutes.


The fish oil rises to the top and diesel fuel is thrown on the fire to make it extra hot so that the water boils over and the oil comes off.


The pot is then removed and the food is served.

They also added bread, coleslaw and cherry pie.

One morning we left early and drove to the north end of the peninsula and took the car ferry to Washington Island.


We saw the Plum Island Lighthouse

and Pilot Island Lighthouse from the ferry. When we landed we drove across Washington Island to another ferry (passenger only) and went across to Rock Island State Park where we hiked 1 ¼ miles each way to the Pottawatomie Lighthouse.





We have now finished the lighthouses that we can easily get to in this area. The week was great and the weather was warm and comfortable.

June and July 2010

June 2010

June was a busy month. We continued to organize and get adjusted to our house. We bought a TV, signed up for cable (and got connected and had a service call all within 15 minutes). We bought a router and now have wireless internet in the house. I had minor surgery on the 11th to remove a lipoma on my left back shoulder blade. There were no complications and my recovery has been quick. We spoke at our church on June 13th about our call to missions and our three years in Thailand. We drove to suburban Chicago to spend 3 days with friends and watch their daughters play softball. Both Holly and Amber pitch and we were able to watch 7 games.




While we were gone they put in some plants and shrubbery around our house. We bought some additional perennials and just a few annuals. The lawn will not be done until sometime in August.

July 2010

Debby came to visit us for the holiday weekend.

We watched the Warren parade, went to the library book sale and wandered the streets looking at the booths. Then we had a week of Bible school at church. Bob & I were the mission teachers for Saddle Ridge Ranch and we had a great time. It was challenging but very rewarding. I was able to get some mending done and started working on some sewing projects. I began a quilt that I make one block each month. In sorting through all of our boxes I found quite a few that we have labeled “quilting” but they were not organized. I have started ironing, strip cutting and then cutting squares using each box. This way I can begin to make quilts that will be scrap quilts. Since we have had time to unpack and arrange I now have the most organized house I have ever had. I have all of the containers in the pantry labeled and a list of DVD’s posted in the storage cabinet. We drove to Ohio for a few days to see Mavis & DeVon and also had wiring put in the van so we can pull a trailer. We drove to Indianapolis to see part of Lloyd’s family and spent a couple of hours on the lake water skiing.
Nick


Alec


Bob


Coleen



Now Bob did ski but I was just pulled on a tube for a little bit. At least I got cooled off in the water.

We drove back to Ohio on August 1 taking my dad with us to celebrate Eden Franklin's 2nd birthday.