Monday Morning

Well after a whirlwind weekend in beautiful Miami, yes you heard me correctly the Kendall area of Miami is absolutely gorgeous. The vegetation is undeniably unique and adds so much to the scenery along with the sweet smells in the air. I was so apprehensive about spending the week end there because of all the crime associated with big cities but I must say the area we were in seemed very sedate, relaxed and I never saw one person who gave me the beware look. The traffic is unreal with 6 and 8 lanes on some of the roads as well as toll roads everywhere.

Well Sunday started out once again with the internal alarm clock going off at a little after 6. I did manage to roll over and stay in the sack until nearly 7 before rising. I spent a few minutes working on Saturday's post before heading down to bring hot drinks back to the room from the dining area. I found the Cuban people to be very warm and helpful despite not speaking much English, especially the lady who worked the food area at the hotel. We met up later with Amy and her family to head down for breakfast around 8. After eating Tyler and I took Ava and Sam to the pool once again for about an hour before checking out at 11. Ava is finally starting to master some forms of swimming now that she is getting over her fear of the water. Sam is still frighten of the water but did do well with his floaties on.

We headed over to the reception house where most all of the Everett's from out of town  stayed. This house which was offered up by Arianne's good friend Lisa was just huge and beautiful despite its aging façade. We were there on Friday night for a huge get together then all day Saturday with hundreds of people for the reception and then on Sunday we all pitched in and gave it a good cleaning. I did the vacuuming which kept me busy for over an hour while others scrubbed floors, moved furniture, cleaned windows, bathrooms etc. We did a general house cleaning while Lisa and her daughter and son were at church. Afterwards we ate left overs from the reception and then headed out around 2:30 for home.

Arriane and Errol came by before we left  and it was great to see all of the Everett Family once again while just missing one son Austin whose wife is expecting in a few weeks with their first child a boy. We hope to see them this summer as they now live in Charlotte, N.C. Wow what a large group when all of the kids, cousins and spouses get together. Ava and Sam got to bond with many of their cousins who live in Miami and in Michigan and the kids spent most of Saturday as well as Sunday morning in the pool while we cleaned the big house. It was sad to head out and we don't know when we will get together again as we will miss the next big wedding in September when Alexandria gets married in Michigan.

We got back to Pinellas around 6:30 and stopped at BJ's restaurant in Pinellas Park for supper. Today was our beautiful daughter Amy's 30th birthday so we celebrated over pizzas and what looked like a yummy dessert that Ava was crazy about. It was a fun time had by all. It was good to get home after what seemed like a week and I noticed the garden was dried up so I hand watered quickly and then I noticed several of the plants were eaten down. Yikes I found at least one huge green tomato worm that was as big as a cigar munching away. So I picked him and squashed it but it was getting so dark I couldn't check the rest of the plants. That will be on the agenda tomorrow during the daylight hours, LATER...

Here are a few pictures of the Everett clan and the group picture is of all the family that were at the wedding. I was holding the youngest of 7 in one family and the young girl who was with the bride Arriane was a dear family friend also from Michigan and who wore me out on the dance floor.