Flashback Friday: 2011

2011 was a year filled with events both sad and amazing. We've witnessed everything from the final space shuttle mission and the death of Steve Jobs to the "Arab Spring" and a tsunami in Japan.  There was a royal wedding, a debt crisis in Europe and the death of Osama Bin Laden.


A busy year. As I looked back on 2011 through this blog, it was clear that things were busy here as well - although perhaps not quite so dramatic.

There were some breathtaking sunrises...

We enjoyed hosting Maria from Spain over the summer...

The kids had a great time at camp!

The Princess was...well...

And The Boy...

Right...well, the kids were just themselves.

Silly, crazy, wonderful.

I did notice that there always seem to be girls around The Boy.

Jack and Lucy made a few appearances in the blog...

And so did Mr. Wonderful.

Plus, of course, there was the usual assortment of wildlife. 

Well, truthfully, some of it was rather unusual.

There were super soaker fights in the pool, waterskiing, pumpkin carving and stingray stings.

And I even managed to capture some moments of sibling bonding which made Mommie Dearest very happy indeed.

And there were a lot of "firsts." The Boy was allowed to take the boat out by himself and started driving. By himself. All alone. Without Mom or Dad to keep a wary eye on the other drivers. (Yikes!) The Princess got highlights to begin her first day of (gulp!) high school. 

All in all, it was just life as usual.

A mom, a dad, two teenagers, a few hairy, shedding pets and a lot of laundry. We veer from the ridiculous to the sublime...and I wouldn't have it any other way. Well, possibly I could live without the laundry...

Happy New Year to all of you. I wish for you a year filled with peace, love and happiness...here's to 2012!

See ya' next year!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig...

We had a wonderful Christmas and a delightful time visiting family in Michigan. 

Although, to be honest, the fact that Mother Nature decided to wait until the day we left to grace the area with a nice, big snowfall rather than indulging the Florida folks and allowing us to enjoy our yearly exposure to a bit of snow and sledding is pretty lame. Also, driving home in snow and then rain and sleet the first day was...well...also pretty lame. And a bit challenging. 

Mr. Wonderful and I both saw the building from WKRP in Cincinnati at the same time and yelled out, "WKRP!!" The kids looked at us blankly and then looked at each other and shrugged. Which kind of made us feel old. I know of two teenagers who will be watching WKRP on YouTube in the very near future.

Kids these days. They just don't know anything!

This is pretty much what our drive was like. 

And this....

and this.

I won't name any names, but someone might have periodically gotten a bit bored and whipped out the camera and taken pictures of nothing much at all. 

The random photography didn't bother the family at all.

Really.

Anyway, after about a gazillion hours in the car we made it safely home and it is great to be here. For one thing, sleeping in our own beds is awesome. The pets were happy to see us. It's warm...and green.  I savored my fabulous cup of coffee made in our Keurig. 


It's great to get away once in a while...but it's also great to be home!


Before we left for our adventure in snowless Michigan, I downloaded Season One of The Tudors onto my i-phone. I confess that I am now addicted. I will shortly be loading Season Two and watching it as well. I LOVE this show. 

I'm also in love with the book I am reading right now. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it and I cannot put it down.

Seriously, it's good.

If you don't believe me, just ask my friend Gigi. She read the whole thing and she loved it too.

That's all I've got for today. I'm signing off now...I'll either be watching the end of episode 8 of The Tudors, or reading more of my book. I'm completely ignoring the huge pile of laundry in the laundry room. 

I have better things to do!

The one about a big horse, old friends and a Christmas Miracle...

Yesterday was a fun and busy day. We visited Meijer Gardens to see the Christmas tree and holiday traditions exhibit. It was beautiful...

The trees representing each country were beautiful and it was fun to read how traditions vary around the world and how different cultures celebrate. The ornaments were exquisite...

and were from Russia, The Netherlands, China, Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Ireland, France...and many other countries which I can't remember.

There were also beautiful nativities and we walked through tropical gardens and strolled past indoor waterfalls surrounded by fabulous orchids and Staghorn Ferns...

We saw the largest Christmas Cactus I've ever seen...

and a wreath created from succulent plants...

Then we walked outside into the brisk and snowless day to gaze upon the lovely sculptures in the sculpture gardens...

We saw "Mad Mom"...

And a big bear...

The Princess was really getting into the spirit of things...

And she let her inner child have free reign!

While Gramma relaxed and enjoyed having The Boy push her all around!

We saw a giant, towering neuron and then we turned a corner and saw...

The Big Horse!

I believe the actual title of the piece is "Homage to Leonardo" but everyone just calls it the big horse.

Probably because it is a very, very BIG horse...

After the tour of Meijer Gardens, we went to a favorite establishment of Mr. Wonderful's and had one (The Princess and I) or two (Mr. Wonderful) or three (The Boy!) of these delicacies...

The Princess even found the spot where Mr. Wonderful had carved his name a long, long time ago when he was just a young, almost wonderful, whippersnapper...

And then we drove past the hospital where The Boy and The Princess were born...

Finally, the kids spent the evening with their cousin making cookies, playing games and watching movies while Mr. Wonderful and I went to a Christmas party and caught up with old friends...most of whom Mr. Wonderful has known since he was a wee little boy...

It was a fun evening!

But that's not all that happened yesterday.

The Princess has been praying and praying for snow. She has kept her fingers crossed and tried to do a "snow dance."

And last night...

her wish came true!

It SNOWED!!

May the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with peace and love.

Merry Christmas!