Thanksgiving in Florida - Part 2 of 3

Here are some photos from our visit with my grandparents and great grandmother - they live 2 hours north of Orlando in Palatka, FL. (written by Tony)

This is the beautiful view from their backyard. Their house is on a river and I love photos of their dock. This was at about 5:30 am one morning. I looked out the window and saw that the sky was on fire so I went out in the freezing cold to take a look.

My nephew Adam - didn't I tell you? Happiest kid ever. Always smiling. I gave this photo a bit of a retro look.

The Audacity of this gift.
To truly appreciate this photo, you need to know my Dad.
He doesn't get caught up in too many politics.
But he did picket an Obama rally last year.
I'm proud of you Dad.
And I'm so proud of Nana for getting you this gift!
Hilarious.
Your probably reading it right now, arn't you?
Glad to know your kitchen table won't be squeaking anymore.

The cousins.
Sorry Adam, I don't think you can quite push Ava on that yet.
Maybe next year ;)

This is how I know she is my daughter.
I make this exact face when I drive.
Uncanny.

Thankful.

Isn't this a great photo of my Dad?
I think so.

One of my all time favorites.
Meet Grammie.
She turns 96 years young next month.
She prayed and gave thanks for our meal at Thanksgiving and it was one of my favorite family moments ever.
She LOVES family.
She has a very special affection for her great great granddaughter Ava.
Ava gave her lots of kisses.

Grammie, Connie and Nana.
What a team!
Some of the sweetest people I know.

My sister Danielle's family and the grandparents.

I forgot how much fun this is.

Ava had LOTS of fun with her Granddad on the playground.

She gave him a run for his money.
By the end, we were all exhausted.
But Ava was ready for more...

This is another one of my favorites!
I underestimated my Dad.
He started crawling through this playground with Ava.
The tunnel got smaller. He continued.
The tunnel got much smaller. He continued.
The tunnel ended in an extremely small corner. He tried that too!
Fun.

Here he is helping her walk up the slide and then I would send her down by herself.
She is growing up so quick!

Going where no other Granddad has gone before...

Cute.

My sister and I are less than a year apart in age.
The fights we had growing up are legendary.
Now were great friends.
Life is full of surprises!

My grandparents have a few big orange trees on their property.
Ava had lots of fun picking oranges.

Thank you very much for the Shamu hand puppet Aunt Danielle. I have been playing with it all night tonight!! Love, Ava

Nana's french toast

Some dads wouldn't let their 18 month old little girl play with old rusted chains.
Not this dad.
He thought it would make for some nice photos.

Whimsical.

Ava misses her cousin Morgan so much. There is no one close to her size that she can chase and be chased by. Morgan, maybe you can come spend a few weeks with us next summer!