It all started with a pancake recipe....

The holidays are over, but I'm not over them. hahah I had a great time with all my family in town. Megan arrived December 24th, Martha and Tony on the 26th,Ian and Tara on the 31st, Ellen, Erik and Anna on the 1st and Liz, Jon and Meredith on the 2nd. For a week or two it was like a party on the go wherever we went....at least for me.
I had suggested to my brother Mark that we plan to have a brunch on New Year's Day at his house. Almost everyone would be in town by then and I had a great pancake recipe I wanted to share with everyone. Well...Mark took the suggestion and ran with it.

He had two griddles ready for pancakes and bacon, sausage, eggs,assorted cheese, tomatoes, peppers, etc, fresh orange juice, champagne for mimosas, fruit, assorted breads and muffins  for toasting, and special Gluten free pancake mix for those who needed it. He also had everything neatly lined up and ready to go.

Most of us got there around 10:00am...the Burton-Bitterbaum crew arrived a short time later.(..straight from the airport!) We all enjoyed the beautiful (a little HOT) day. We played ping pong,

took pictures, watched football bowl games on TV and just enjoyed the morning/early afternoon.

Mark joked around with the chef hats...and when Tony stepped in to whip up one of his delicious omelets...he put one on too. (mostly so we could take their picture...hahaha)

check out that omelet!

We all sat around and laughed and talked. Made final plans for John's birthday party the next night. We all  also picked up pictures/papers Mark had sorted through and organized for all of us. Because he has been living in the house...we never had to settle up all the furnishings, etc still there. He has been slowly organizing things and is distributing them to the rest of us. We looked through my mother's jewelry, including pins, watches etc that belonged to her brothers and her parents. It was fun looking at everything and remembering stories about the different pieces of jewelry...who had given them to my mother, why, etc. We really appreciated all the time Mark had put in to sorting through it all for the rest of us. That day we looked it over...but we didn't take anything just yet...we wanted to wait for Elizabeth to get there.
It was a nice day...it seemed like everyone was having a good time...at least I hope so. I enjoyed being with all my family and assorted in-laws. It was a good way to start off 2016.
I never did hear if people liked the pancakes...but at the end of the day they were almost all gone...so I think they did. We topped them off with some real maple syrup some Mark had bought on a work trip to Ohio (side trip to nearby farm country) and a bottle of aptly named "Burton's Farm" fresh Maple syrup I got at the Farmer's Market on my trip to Chicago this past June.

Time Flies...cause I was having fun :)

Can't believe it is already January 8th! The last month has been kind of a whirlwind...but a good one!!! I thought about this blog a few times...but never took the time to sit down and write.
Now I guess I'll back track a bit and fill you in on what's been going on around town.
December 12th was the day of the annual Melbourne Beach Children's Parade.

 There is a local family that puts together a float for the Library every year. They always invite Dianne and I to participate. It's nice to be included...since I am only in the Youth Services area for a couple of hours a week. When I first started back at MBPL I was mostly in that dept and only 5 hours in circulation. Now I am in circ all but 2 hours a week. Sometimes I joke that I am like the "stepchild" in Children's area ...hahah Sad but true...everyone remembers Dianne....but not so much me. Ahh that's just the way it is. However...once a year when Sandy and family call to invite me to join them on the float...I feel like part of the gang again. It's fun to have kids and parents spot me on the float and call out to not just Dianne...but me too.

This year the float was designed to look like a big bath tub. we all wore bathrobes and blew bubbles.

                                                                        and a big rubber duck!
It was hot the day of the parade and we all joked that we would NEED a shower after it ended....because those bath robes were making us warm.

Sandy, Dianne and I

 

                 It was a beautiful day....and we had a nice ride up and down Ocean Ave.
After the parade I had to get home and finish packing because a friend and I were headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the day/night. I always enjoy seeing all the holiday decorations and lights, and I thought she could use a break after a tough few months....so we were off to "the happiest place on earth." to get happy. I figured it was going to be crowded but we just decided to deal with it. Brenna booked us some fast passes...so we knew we had at least 3 good rides planned.
It was, like I mentioned earlier, a beautiful day so we were happy about that. We put on sunscreen, short sleeves and headed out.

pretty warm for December 12th!

looking down Main Street when the lights came on...my favorite time of  the day

After an afternoon at the Magic Kingdom, we headed over to the Grand Floridian for dinner. Also wanted to check out the decorations there. Like this giant gingerbread house and beautiful tree.

When we finished eating we decide to take our chances and head over to see the Christmas Lights at Hollywood Studios. The last time I went in December...John and I were a little overwhelmed by the crowds...while everyone shuffled along the crowded streets...we saw a break and actually RAN!!! to get out of the park. It was like we wanted to escape...hahaha Luckily for Linda and I we did not have the same problem. It was too crowded and we could move along quite easily. We did and we really enjoyed the lights. It was great...we were so glad we took the chance.

It was a fun night. we loved the lights, loved the fact that we could move around comfortably and the fake snow was fun too. :)
We headed back to the hotel after we left the park. Sunday morning we got up and headed to Winter Park for breakfast and a little bit of shopping. Delicious breakfast at the Briarpatch.  Lemon pancakes with raspberry puree and lemon cream......YUM! I've been trying to figure out a reason to go back...hahahah

 We also enjoyed the scenic boat ride that takes you on several different lakes. We really lucked out...we just stopped by to check into tickets...but one of the boat guides flagged us down and told us we could hop on the boat getting ready to leave because they had a few seats available...PERFECT! no waiting.

All in all a great way to spend my birthday. Once I got home it was time to start making last minute plans for all the Christmas visitors we were expecting and of course the birthday bash we had been talking about all year!

It's Holiday Time

December is here and I hope it doesn't fly by! At work when people check books out, the due date is 3 weeks ahead...I don't like seeing December 26th as a due date when it's only the first week in December. But that's the way it is, so I just have to take time to enjoy each day.
My Christmas decorations are already up...I started earlier than usual this year.

 Not sure why exactly...but I like them. I like sitting by the tree when it's lit up at night.

 I like getting out the ornaments and remembering where and why and when we got them. I feel corny when I say this, but It's kind of like visiting with old friends.

Some are from friends, some are from family members some have seen better days....hahaha you get the idea.

I decided to decorate a little early because things are going to get hectic later on this month. We don't have a live tree...so it doesn't matter if we put it up in early December and leave it up until January 2016.

For most of the year we have been planning for John's big 60th birthday. We decided right after Brenna's fun 30th birthday that we needed to have another party to look forward to...and so the 60th Birthday plan started to evolve.  Since then I have been driving everyone crazy, I'm sure, with my little updates about the music, the costumes, the food, etc.But as a result...all of my sisters are planning to come to FL for the party! Looks like my persistence was worth it...hahaha. Now I feel like even if no one else shows up...there will be enough of us to have a great time!

Months ago I started gathering my decorations...starting with the neon colored garland and the little "Groovy Buses". I have assorted table cloths, other garlands, lights...you name it. Since it's near Christmas...I figured we needed a retro silver tree or two...and some ornaments with a 60's feel to them.

                     I have a few posters...Woodstock and Endless Summer of course.
              And there are boxes and piles of assorted items in various rooms in our house.

                       As you can see...neon colors and peace signs are the rule of the day.
By the time the date is here...I think I should have more than enough to go around. hahaha
I've been tweaking the play list...and I think I have it where I want it. When I happen upon a good song from the 60's...I just add it to the list.  For instance, We recently watched THE MAN FROM UNCLE and there were a couple of good songs in the soundtrack. When my favorite station plays a random song from the 60's....I run for the paper and pencil so I can jot down the name. I am hoping people will not just recognize all the songs...but dance too! It is kind of interesting to see the difference in my idea of the 60's vs John's idea of 60's music. He was the youngest in the family...so he knows all the Supremes, Temptations, and other top 40- 60's hits...whereas I lean towards the "Alternative" bands like The Zombies, The Troggs, Cream, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix. Of course a lot of the people coming are younger than us ...so I have to have plenty of Beach Boys and things they'll recognize too. I've tried to put together a good mix...time will tell.
We are all getting our costumes together...no doubt there will be a few who come with just a peace sign or a tie-dye shirt...but that will work. John has some retro print baggies, t-shirt and a wig.... As for me.......................................................................

My sister has several pairs of boots...we'll have to see what pair she chooses. hahaha My nephew got his costume together for Halloween and he was looking pretty good. One thing for sure is we will all have some good laughs! Hey...if you are going to turn 60...you might as well have a good time in the process!

So for the next few weeks we are going to enjoy the festivities around town. The first of the out of town family arrives on December 24th...then the 26th, the 31st, Jan 1st, and party time on the 2nd! I am looking forward to fun and games with everyone. PingPong, football games (on TV) ,board games, food, drinks and lots of laughs! Bring on the holidays!