Yesterday we ventured North to Florida's true horse country in Ocala to see our long-time family friend Diana Burnett (google her!) compete in 3-day eventing (dressage, cross-country, stadium).  Di was riding 4 horses so kept busy while her 1.5 year old daughter Emma, hung close to Lauren! We went back to the farm she is renting for the winter months and enjoyed a BBQ while Brady rode around on a little dirtbike!  A beautiful day and we stayed in Ocala overnig...

We ventured to Gatorland and enjoyed the gators and so much more - reptiles, exotic birds, fish, etc. And yes, yours truly got chosen to come down and hold a snake - clearly not my favourite thing to do as my legs trembled for about 15 minutes afterwards!! Needless to say, I did it much to the laughter of my family (who were too chicken to do it!) The park was very educational and natural which was great.....and as a bonus, the kids cooked dinner that night! ...

Happy Birthday to me....Meredith! What an occasion to celebrate a birthday in American soil with the Super Bowl as they SURE love their football! We had a fun day today back at Universal Studios where of course I got soaked on the water rides and held onto my lunch on the roller coasters! There was a special celebration of Harry Potter which was great and to see some of the actors from the movies (Dumbledore, Luna, Fred & George) so posted a few pics in th...

Whew! We left Naples yesterday after a wonderful visit with family. Hats off to our hosts who acommodated us and for cooking for 11-13 people! Funny how you could tell the 'locals' on the beach bundled up while we froliced in the water!! Our drive to Orlando was interesting as we traveled the scenic way off the interstate and passed thousands of orange trees! Now the Rusaw's (Meredith's sister's family) and Seabrook's are in Orlando and we survived our first...

Wow - crazy that we've been in Florida for 5 days and haven't had time to write! Spent the first day recovering on sleep and enjoying the fresh air and beach. Weather was cloudy and cool for the first couple of days which made the transition easier as when the sun is out, it's LOVELY! We are geared up now with warm weather clothing, good sunhats and glasses and froliced on the beach a couple of times and of course swam in the pool everyday. Great to see my Mo...