This past Thanksgiving was extra special with the arrival of my parents the day before from California and the day after of our oldest daughter Amber, her husband Eddie and their son and our first grandchild Elliot all arrived. My Uncle Bill hosted us all for Thanksgiving dinner and then our weeks activities began as we all got to enjoy family time together.
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| Back left to right- Uncle Bill, Grandpa Scherer and Baba, Amber, Elliot and Eddie Front left to right- Hannah, Kevin, Lynda and Lauren |
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| Great Grandma Carr with Elliot |
We all agreed that Elliot is adorable and his smiles and laugh kept us all entertained. It was wonderful seeing our parents with their great grandson and though Kevin and I had a hard time getting used to being referred to as grandma and grandpa, those are titles we love.
We enjoyed St. Augustine's Nights of Lights. With all the walking we would be doing I got wheelchairs for my parents so we could cover as much ground as possible with the limited daylight time we would have before our Trolley ride to see the lights. Aside from a bumpier ride over the old cobblestones and uneven surfaces this worked out well. The weather was great and it was a really enjoyable event to participate in.
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| Visitor Center |
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| Inside the visitor center as we prepare to tour. Grabbing area maps to find our way around |
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| Cameron and Courtney outside the visitors center |
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| Horse drawn carriage along the main waterside route |
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| Cameron |
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| Elliot |
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| Our group, with the assistance of Courtney who joined us and graciously played photographer |
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| Lauren being silly |
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| One of the 2 tables at the restaurant for dinner. |
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| Bill, Baba and Grandpa at the other table |
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| Amber and Elliot |
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| Center Park with lights taken on our Trolley ride |
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| Uncle Bill at the Kuckoburra coffee place we all got our coffee fix from |
A day at the Sanford Zoo. This was a fun outing and again the weather was perfect so there were lots of animals out and about to enjoy.
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| Amber has loved llama's for a long time, so when she was able to get up close to Andre on his walk she was thrilled |
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| Elliot sporting his cool shades became the subject of attention as well |
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| See what I mean? HA HA...tourists |
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| Kevin and I |
Decorating began for Christmas and with everyone helping out it was all the more special this year.
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| Me adding the ribbon to the tree |
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| Great Grandpa playing with Elliot |
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| Baba's turn to hold him |
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| Uncle Cameron and Mr. Smiley |
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| Poor Jake feeling humiliated |
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| Train time for the tree. We've since enlarged the track and cars to allow for presents |
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| My turn- love being a grandma!!! |
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| Grandpa and Elliot - both love the train |
A day at Disney Springs was a great outing.
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| Family Christmas picture by the tree at Disney Springs |
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| My girls!! Hannah was thrilled that she's now taller than Amber, and looking at Lauren she doesn't have far to go. |
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| Eddie and Elliot |
Saying good bye is always hard, but with my parents decision to move to Florida it wasn't as hard. With technology these days staying in touch with Amber, Eddie and Elliot is a lot easier, but seeing them leave was really tough.
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| Goodbyes at the airport |
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| The night before they left Amber and Eddie stopped by my uncles to say goodbye |
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| Then the next morning it was time to say goodbye to my parents as they began their drive back to California |
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| Lauren and Hannah with Grandpa and Baba |
We LOVED our visit and now with Christmas quickly approaching we've been in full prep mode for the day.
So in advance Merry Christmas to all and a very Happy New Year.
