Triple G

The boys' Great Grandma Gaile paid us a visit a couple of weeks ago. She and her husband, Jim, made the drive to Orlando from Sarasota, and it turned out to be a much longer drive than usual. A tanker truck carrying fuel had overturned on the interstate and spilled its load which had traffic snarled for most of the day.

We changed our plans once Gaile and Jim arrived and instead of visiting the Science Center, we enjoyed a visit at our place followed by a quick trip to get ice cream.

Ben and Zach love their visits with Great Grandma Gaile and Jim. Ben was quite the host and showed GGG his room, the bathroom, the shower curtain, and the toilet. Important stuff. Zach talked Jim into looking at Star Wars books and playing trains with him, and they very much enjoyed the little gifts GGG brought for them.

We appreciate how thoughtful Gaile has always been with all of us. It's nice to have a little extra family in FL, and we always enjoy our visits with her.

Great People

When Darius was in the restaurant business he had the opportunity to meet a lot of people over the years. Some of those people have turned into good friends, and naturally most of them live in Florida. After our time with Gaile and Jim in Sarasota, we met up with some such friends that evening for dinner. Jim and Claire and their daughters Emily and Elizabeth are great people. They are always so welcoming, and we love our visits with them.

They treated us to an awesome dinner and great conversation. Elizabeth is close in age to the boys and generously shared all her toys with them. Emily entertained us with a couple of her Irish Step Dances (so awesome!), and made red velvet cake for dessert, which the boys loved. I can't say enough nice things about this family. We look forward to our visits with them whenever we're able to make it to Florida.



Sarasota

On Friday we got an early start and drove south to visit the boys' great grandma, Gaile, in Sarasota. She and her husband Jim met us at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, which is a zoo-type park with 10 acres of beautiful gardens housing rescued/donated birds and reptiles.

 The park was the perfect size for the boys and we had fun mingling with the free-roaming flamingos. There was a great playground within the park that the boys gravitated to, and we ended our visit to the park after watching the Birds of the Rainforest bird show.

After the park, Gaile and Jim treated us to lunch at Lee Roy Selmon's and gifted the boys with some new books, little stuffed Curious Georges, and birthday presents to take home with us. Grandma Gaile has always been so generous with us, especially Ben and Zach, and we enjoy our visits with her. Thanks Gaile and Jim for taking the time to meet up with us! We enjoyed our visit!