Wednesday-Friday, February 20-22

Wednesday - We are back home after a very memorable birthday celebration in Odessa with 7 cousins, spouses and Aunt Dee.    We left Cypress Trail at 7:40 AM with Flo (so nice to not have to pack - just take our home and on our way), stopped at Starbucks in Tampa for my free birthday latte and onto Dave and Karen's where we parked Flo in their driveway.    The rest of the kin arrived and the party began.....the cousins came from far and near......Dick (British Columbia); Barb (CA), Carol (St. Louis), Denny (Punta Gorda); Ron and Bob (Lakeland), me (Fort Myers) and Aunt Dee (Daytona Beach).

The birthday cousins.....Bob, Pat, Dave (all born February 20th) with Aunt Dee

Delicious cake

 Dick, Dave, Barb, Carol, Aunt Dee, Pat, Denny, Bob, Ron

The siblings...

Dick, Carol, Denny 

Bob, Pat, Ron 

Dave, Aunt Dee, Barb (missing Karen who passed away 3 years ago)

Dave and Karen (Dave's sister was Karen and his wife is Karen) have a beautiful home in the country and great for entertaining - lots of good food, drinks and visiting!!!    Spent the afternoon taking lots of pics and catching up.    Around 6 PM, the party started to break up and most left for home.    Aunt Dee, Barb, Chris, Mark and I stayed over.    Two of Dave and Karen's kids and grandkids joined us in the evening.   Dave built a nice bonfire and we sat outdoors on this lovely evening under the stars enjoying drinks and more stories.  Finally, nighty night - I'm a tired, but happy birthday girl!

Thursday - After a good night's sleep we enjoyed a nice breakfast of bagels, banana nut bread and fresh fruit.    We sat by the pool on this gorgeous morning yakkin away....

Cheers to Aunt Dee (90) with our mimosas

Around 12:30 we all went to "Get Hooked" in Hudson for some good grouper and grouper Reubens.   And then it was time to say good bye to Aunt Dee, Barb and Chris who were headed back to Daytona Beach.    Barb and Chris will return to CA this weekend.

Dave, Karen, Barb, Aunt Dee, Chris

We rode back with Dave and Karen.    All of us took a nap!!!    Then wine by the pool and later snacks and more chatter.....great ending to this birthday celebration!      Said our good byes and "big" thanks as we plan to leave early in the morning.

Dave and Karen.....GREAT hosts!!!

Friday - we pulled out of Karen and Dave's driveway at 6:52 AM    Had some back-up of traffic around Tampa but overall, not too bad.   Stopped in Bradenton for my free birthday treat at Panera and then a Publix stop closer to home.    Flo was parked back in her home at 11:45.

Tonight we had our neighbors, John and Nancy from Michigan over for drinks on the patio and then went to their 5th wheel which is gorgeous and spacious.    Really fun to be with them and compare notes on families, travels, etc.    They are just getting into the RV lifestyle and will be moving on March 3rd.

John, Nancy, and sweet Charlotte

Have a great weekend!!!