Lazy summer afternoons

I have the day off...and nothing that I really need to do. I am tired of reading my book....even though I have a good one. What to do? Write on the blog I guess and share some photos.
For a while now a friend and I have talked about making a trip out to the Viera Wetlands. She likes to go with her children. We were talking about it and decided we ought to go sometime; well as plans tend to go when people are busy, a year later....we finally made it!
The day we planned to go the weather did not look promising. In Florida, once we get into the pattern of afternoon rain showers....we stay in that pattern for  a long time. We had POURING rain off and on, but decided to take a ride out there anyway and make the best of it. I had no idea exactly what this trip would entail. I thought it was a walking trail; but when Heather reminded me about all the alligators...it made sense that it was more of a "driving" experience. That actually sounded even better, because then we'd stay nice and cool in the car (out of the humidity). On our way out there , which is approximately 40-45 minutes from our house, depending on traffic, it poured . Poured so hard it was hard to see the road....okayyyyyyy; wondered how this was going to go. hahahah But...it stopped and like it does...the sun came back out. It sprinkled a bit as we were driving around the place, but never heavy rain. Heather and her girls like to keep a count of how many birds, animals, etc they see on each visit. They have seen many birds (it's part of the Florida Birding Trail), turtles, otters, gators,snakes, deer, etc. Because it's been raining a lot, some of the usual inhabitants were not around but we had plenty to see. Here's some pictures we/I took along the way.

          As you can see there were still storm clouds around...but not a problem for us.

in the middle of the marsh, we spotted this bird in a tree. We think it was an eagle. Zoomed in and then zoomed again...and it's hard to say for sure...but looking at it's beak, I'm going to say it was in fact an eagle.

When we first arrived....we were the only vehicle there, which was kind of nice. No one around to hurry us or get in the way...hahaha  At the start we saw some birds andwe saw butterflies hiding in the brush...probably making sure their wings didn't get wet.
Eventually a couple more vehicles came...it was fun watching this group of three cars making their way along the path. All the kids piled into the car with the sun roof.

They were looking for alligators...they hadn't seen any when they passed us...we had seen several along the way...so we told them to keep looking. Shortly after our conversation...they stopped because there were not just one...but TWO gators.

nice zoom lens on my camera!

The three kids who were with us also enjoyed riding along with their heads out of the top...just like a safari...hahahah We didn't see any deer. The turtles weren't out sunning in their usual spot...because their log was under water. But we saw red-winged blackbirds, pelicans, cormorants, all different colors and shapes of herons, the gators and a variety of other birds and insects...so our visit was a success. I always thought an air boat ride was a perfect way to show visitors some "real" Florida...but a trip out here would work almost as well! Next time I want to go around dusk....or sunset, my favorite time of the day. Heather has gone all different times of the year/day....and each time there are different things to see and enjoy.
Speaking of boat rides.....Reid recently got new engines on the boat he and John had together. (now Reid has another partner) He wanted to take the boat out to test out the new engines and break them in...so he & John planned an evening boat ride on the river to Grills...a restaurant north of the Pineda Causeway. As usual...it had rained that afternoon and I wasn't entirely convinced that it wouldn't rain again...but we decided to bring rain gear and go for it. I had worked...and was too tired to change...so I wore the dress I had been wearing. I felt a little like Marilyn Monroe with the dress blowing around. Not the best choice for boating...but no one else was near by and I managed...hahahaha
I'll know better next time

I am glad I went in spite of thinking it might rain and yawning non-stop for the first half an hour....because my dinner was good and it was a beautiful evening.

Eau Gallie Causeway

and then the Pineda Causeway

look at that water! Like a lake.

leaving

And then we were back to the dock. It was a beautiful evening and a good dinner. I'm glad I decided it was worth the effort I didn't have to do anything...hardly an effort on my part
I took pictures the whole way back as the light kept changing. I felt a little silly...but then again who cares.
This was the best shot of the evening though...I told John to snap one on his I-phone......

*Okay...I know there's a duplicate picture of John in this post...but last time I tried to delete just that picture...it deleted the rest of the post...I re-did it once and decided I wasn't going to do it again. So enjoy it twice...hahaha

July is slipping away

Time is slipping away...and so is my motivation hahaha. Not really; just haven't spent too much time sitting at the computer lately. But here's a recap of a couple of July parties.
We went to the annual LD 4th of July party. This year it was held in Cocoa Beach at the Lori Wilson Park. It was a great spot for the party. Plenty of room for all the activities as well as a couple of covered picnic areas.

lots of festive decorations

The party is a day off for all staff and their families and friends. But, it is also a time for some friendly competition between the different  restaurants. (some AL take it more seriously than others hahah.

Al can usually found rallying his troops. Games included Cornhole, A Foam Pit, Surfboard ride/game,,
Hula Hoop and Balloon Toss.

You would get on the board and try to stay on when it started moving up, down around, etc.

spot the green balloon

                         Once the "competition" was over anyone could play....and we did.

We stayed long enough to eat lunch, play a few games and talk to some friends...then we headed home. As usual the party was really nice. Fun activities, plenty to eat and drink, lots of great things for all the kids. The guys in charge know how to do things right!
Oh  and by the way...the Champions for 2015....... INDIALANTIC!!!!!!

And as my dad would say...You know what comes after the 4th of July? The 5th of July.
And this year my husband's brother-in-law turned 80 on the 5th.
We headed down to my niece's house for a little birthday celebration with some family and friends.

Brenna and Uncle Mac

Last October we celebrated an Uncle's 80th, and Mac was there but he almost didn't join us because he was having back issues. He made it to that party and ended up having a good time....but I'm happy to say he was feeling a whole lot better at his own celebration.

Rain was threatening...but it actually ended up being kind of nice. The clouds kept things a little cooler and so we were all more comfortable and enjoyed sitting at the tables set up under the trees.

There was a LOT of food...homemade barbecue pork, all kinds of salads, fruit, chips, cookies and off course birthday cake. (decorated by one of Mac's grand-daughters).

Debbie is actually John's niece....she's the same age as me...hahah John was the youngest in his family and his sister Lucy was young when she got married...so John was an uncle when he was a baby. Debbie put together a nice celebration for her dad.

                           It was a nice party...we were happy to celebrate with Mac.

*Meanwhile the other day at work it was a slow afternoon and Sue and I were chatting with a friendly patron. She is probably about 10-15 yrs older than the two of us and mentioned she was involved with a "Seniors Helping Seniors" program in town. We were talking  about the different things that go on at Nursing Homes, Asisited Living facilities, etc. At one point she said "Hey the way things are these days, we're all living a lot longer. We're all going to be there soon enough. And I can tell you we're going to need some better TV shows! If that's what we're all going to end up doing"
Hahah hahah  Any way...I'm off the point...Happy Birthday America! Happy Birthday Mac! (and also to my sister Elizabeth-also on July 5th)......and here's hoping we all can live long enough to enjoy celebrating 80 years. after all ----our friend LJ is looking forward to our "ALL 80's 80th Birthday PARTY" -don't worry I'm not planning that one just yet. hahahah