Palm Coast-SURPRISE!!

I'm going to set the scene: My mom and dad were going to be in Florida for business. On the way home they were going to stop at my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Paul's home is Palm Coast for the weekend. As a nice treat, my cousin Kristy and her hubby Dennie were going to drive in from Lake Mary and spend some time with my parents. My aunt called two weeks before and asked if Rick and I could come down and surprise my mom. Well, Rick is always in Europe this time of year for the FIQ tournament, BUT, Rob and I jumped at the chance to spend a couple days at the beach. I haven't seen their new place, wanted to see my cousin and surprise my folks. So Rob and I get the kids on the bus on Friday morning and head down to Palm Coast. After a fire drill of errors, we surprised mom and dad and had a good laugh about the fact that we were all "on vacation" and my dad was not in the "Twilight Zone".

The men decided to try Rob's latest batch of home brew and then we hit the strip. Apparently it was biker week and we went out for appetizers to a local hang out. Next we went to the Club and had a wonderful dinner. Later, we put toothpicks in our eyes to stay awake for the night launch of the Keppler rocket, I forgot what the mission was but it was neat to watch!! Saturday morning the boys were up early to fish and the ladies were out on the veranda having coffee and hot chocolates. It was so beautiful, warm and sunny. I will live on the beach at some point in my life...promise! Around 1 the boys came home with LOTS of fish (yummy appetizers!) and my cousin was on her way. She had no idea we were coming either. Was it a good idea to surprise a pregnant person? We'll see. After they arrived, Rob and I hid in the bathroom for a while-we thought that the longer we waited, the bigger the surprise. We were right, the look on Kristy and Dennie's faces were priceless and Rob caught it on film, hehehehe.
Marcia had sent out invitations for a baby shower and all our family had sent their gifts down ahead of time. We had a wonderful surprise shower and it was fun to see all the "new" baby things. It's amazing how many things have changed in the few short years since we had the kids.

It was a nice afternoon of showering love on baby Jack Paul (JP). Afterwords the boys wanted to get out and enjoy some sunshine. They went to hit some balls on the driving range and the ladies followed them to the course. We decided to take a drive on the carts along the path and look for wild life. This was the most beautiful, natural golf course I have ever been on. We did see an armadillo (not in the trees) and some sort of beaver thingy. It was quick to get away.

The guys were on the front nine and they saw turnkeys, gators, armadillos, and an eagle. It was a beautiful afternoon, the sun was out, the breeze was warm and the sun was shining through the gorgeous trees lined with Spanish moss. I loved this shot, it reminded me of the poem, the Road Less Traveled for some reason....

Back to the house for fresh fish, and dinner. While things were cookin' I went to the back and saw my favorite color---oh, yeah-this was a beautiful sunset. I'm still learning to use my camera and it doesn't do justice to the colors but it's close...After a yummy dinner, we had one more surprise up our sleeves. Marcia had baked a chocolaty- chocolate-chocolate cake for my mom. We sang Happy Birthday and Ryan provided the purple crown... It was a WONDERFUL mini vacay! What a nice chance for us to get away and relax. Oh, in case you're wondering, we did leave the kids at home. For my birthday I asked if Bob and Barb could babysit them so we could have an adult only trip. They had an awesome weekend with Grammy and Pop Pop and if you have time, they would love to tell you about it, or they can just show you the cool shirts they each made while they were there.