Christmas 2011

Just a short blog entry to note some of the events of our holiday season:

Joanne, Marie and I listened to an evening Christmas Concert at Epcot after which we watched  fantastic fireworks over Epcot's lake.  The next day found us listening to Christmas stories from around the world.

 Joanne & crew planned a Islander's Holiday Party that by all accounts was a huge success.  The Music was by Latitudes.

We, mostly me, paddled a kayak (to which we added lights and moose hats) up and down PGI canals to view the Christmas Lights. Read about it at Kayak Paddle.

We watched the Lighted Boat Parade from a neighbor's backyard. About 40 boats participated. Maybe we will next year!

Kit Moran, a professional jazz and her band provided the entertainment at IYC's Friday night incredible pasta buffet December 23.  We had a table right beside the band and Kit asked Joanne to sing a few songs. After Joanne took center stage, Kit complemented her on her voice. Later on, numerous IYC members stepped to lead us in Christmas carols.  Check out Kit at her Website: Kit Moran

Christmas Eve, Joanne showed her mom all the Christmas trees at the IYC Eggnog Party.  Later on in the afternoon, old friends from Houston, Doug and Cheryl, stopped to visit and share a German traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner.  A concert with saxophone, solos and hymns performed incredibly by the choir preceded the mass at Sacred Heart.  We learned that Father Jerry's mother was not only a Rockette, but a child of God! The mass ended with Father Jerry walking down the aisle wearing a Santa Cap!

After opening presents on Christmas morning, we shared a brunch at my cousin's house.  Bleu entertained himself with empty boxes, wrapping paper and fish now swimming in our pool!

Click to see our pictures:  Pictures   Hope you all had as much fun as we have! 

Marie's 91st Birthday Dinner at SouthPort

Here's a Family Picture of my Mom, Marie, on her 91st Birthday.  She is surrounded by her family.  From the left is Al, Mary, granddaughter Laura, Paul, Diane, Joanne, Richard and granddaugher, Annie.

We had a wonderful birthday dinner at SouthPort - just yummy prime rib with all the trimmings and a delicious birthday cake.  Cousin Constance and Bill also joined in the festivities.

We've been having a wonderful Holiday Season.  We took Marie over to Disney World where we enjoyed a spectacular concert and fireworks display called Illuminations.  Check out the photos below.  We've also included a few of our little kitty cat, Bleu.  He's really enthralled with the Christmas tree - and the train and music box that surround it.  Happy Holidays to all!



Some Holiday Photos of DisneyWorld and Bleu Kitty

French Picnic 2011

2nd Annual IYC French Picnic on Cayo Costa

Here's Joanne organizing the food for the fantastic French Picnic attended by 43 Isles Yacht Club's French food lovers!

What a wonderful time we all had dining on the delicacies such as Onion Tarlet, Quiche Lorraine, Flemish Beef, Chocolate Silk Pie - the specialties went on and on.  We all voted for the 2 best entrees and dessert and prizes were awarded.  Check out the fun pictures by double-clicking on Photos below!

Photos

Korolev Exchange

Traditional Dress at Welcome Party

Our club, the Southwest Florida Friendship Force, hosted 24 members of the Korolev, Russia Friendship Force for a week's visit from November 1 - 8th.  Pictured here are 2 of the visitors in their native costumes as they demonstrated their dancing and singing at the Welcome Party that we held for them at one of our member's home in Fort Myers.

Korolev is located close to Moscow and is known as their "space city" since they colaborate with NASA.  Different members of our club welcome the guests into their homes - and we welcomed Milhail and Tatiyana Blinov into ours.  Milhail is a builder in Moscow and his wife, Tatiyana, is the architect.  They have a beautiful daughter and son-in-law and have 2 grandchildren.  They spoke very little English; however, we used the Google Translate Application on our Droid (similar to an I-Phone).  Most of the time, this worked pretty well, but we did have some laughs when obviously some things were "lost in translation."

Some of the group club activities were trips to the Edison House, Babcock Ranch and Ding Darling Nature Preserve.  We also took them swimming at Ft Myers, Sanibel and Venice beaches as well as trips to the Venice Art Festival and the Dali Museum in St. Pete.  Last night we had a rousing "Farewell" BBQ complete with Russian entertainment (lots of songs) and American entertainment (games and of course, lots of our songs such as America the Beautiful, This Land is Your Land, etc.). 





Today they left for touring of Miami's South Beach and then they are off to NYC before they fly back to Russia.  What a wonderful experience this was for all of us.  We really enjoyed this cultural exchange!

Photo Album  

2011 - New Kitten

Our new kitty cat added excitement to our day! We haven't decided on his name - but probably it will be "Scooter" because he scoots around the house - but it could be "Bleu" because he is a blue-gray Persian or it could be "Bleu-Scoot"!

At any rate, born 3/25/11,  he is now almost 7 months old.
 
Call or email to sign-up for your very own photo-shoot with the new kid in the house!

Homeward Bound

A total of four flights, two hotel stays, and two car trips transported us from Gold Coast to Punta Gorda. We flew the Smoochy Maroochy  to Sydney; the flight routine but the plane name memorable.  

American Friendship Force with some of the Tweed Valley hosts

Farewell to our Friendship Force Friends and to Australia

Diane and Joanne on the Tweed

All our Friendship Force friends cruised down the Tweed River on our last day here.  It was fun seeing the area from our favorite view - aboard a boat!  The Captain peppered the journey with interesting facts and stories about the area.  When we disembarked at the Village of Tumbulgum, we enjoyed a farewell lunch with the group. 

We didn't want the day to end, so Jim drove us to the Art Gallery to check out the local works.  It was sad to say "good-bye" to our Charlotte friends - but it helped that we agreed to stay in touch.  We returned to the Larkins for a fun evening BBQ of roast kangaroo, lamb chops and sausages.  It was their grand-daughter, Miranda's, 7th Birthday.  We got a taste of what it is to be a grand-parent - there was lots of birthday excitement opening the presents (Miranda got a drum set!!) - wow, that noise got our attention - and it was fun trying on her fake hair!  

This morning Helen & Jim drove us to the airport.  We had tears in our eyes hugging them goodbye.  We hope they will visit us in Florida - if not, we will try to see them when we return to Australia.  We've decided we have to come back.  There is more to see!  We'd like to take the train from Adelaide to Darwin with stops at Alice Springs and Ayer's Rock - and also visit Perth and the quaint town of Broome. 

We are in Syndey tonight and our plane leaves tomorrow afternoon.  We have a 14-hour flight to Los Angeles, a 3-hour layover, and then a flight across the country to Newark.  We'll spend the night there and then head off to Ft Myers where Bill will pick us up on Monday afternoon.

This adventure was just wonderful.  We highly recommend visiting Australia.  The people are THE BEST and adding the 2-week Friendship Force "home exchange" experience made it so special.  We'll never forget the kindness of the Casterton and Tweed Valley Groups.

We'd like to conclude our adventure with this Friendship Force Pledge that says it all about international travel:

As a member of Friendship Force, I recognize that I can make a difference.


I recognize that I have a mission.  That mission is to be a friend to the people of the world.


As I embark upon this adventure, I know that through my example to my own fellow citizens and the people of other nations, the course of Friendship, Love and Peace will be furthered.


I Can Make A Difference!

Friendship Force International

See you back in Florida....