Holiday fun with the family

January 14, 2002 - Holiday fun with the family

Once we were settled in Ft. Myers, we were ready to have the kids visit us over the holidays. We put up a few Christmas decorations, and a little tree on the aft deck which made us look a little festive. Amy, Jim and Baby James arrived on December 22 and the fun began. Bill and Jim played golf, and Amy and I played with James and put the finishing touches on the photo album that Amy had been working on for us to give to Catherine for her 40th Birthday. Suzy had a party on Sunday, so we went to Naples and had a great time. Suzy had so much delicious food, and it was fun to see Iris, Gigi, Tom, Katie and Kelsey, Jeff and his girl friend, Joe and Nancy and Gene Heth. Her home was decorated beautifully in Suzy style.

Christmas Day was rainy and cold, but that didn't stop us from having a great time watching James opening presents on his first Xmas. He was so adorable and, of course, got way too many things. He liked Grandmas coasters and baskets and kitchen things the best. Is that a surprise? We managed to put together a traditional dinner, with a little help from the grocery store. Pretty good after all.

The day after Christmas, we decided to cruise over to Boca Grande for a couple of days.

Amy and Jim's friends, the DeCamp family from Tennessee were going to be there and we thought it would be fun to see them and the guys could play golf. So we arranged everything and Mimi brought Bill and their sons Will and Rob to Ft. Myers to ride on the boat to Boca. We had several dinners together and Jim and Bill played golf with Bill Decamp at a very nice golf course in Boca called Coral Creek. Well, we had such fun that the kids decided to stay on until New Years Day, which of course, didn't upset us. While in Boca, we also had the pleasure of seeing President Bush "41", Barbara and her dog, and Jeb. The twins and others were there too, but we missed them. We saw a lot of secret service around, both in town and on the little canal next to the Gasparilla Inn where the Bush family stays. The first time we saw them, Amy, Jim and Bill were out cruising around in the dingy. They were very close by in a boat fishing just off shore when they spotted them. They took pictures like every good tourist would and then rushed back to get me so I could see them too, but it was too late. We later saw Barbara walking the dog on the golf course while she was watching some of her grandsons playing golf. Later Bill, Amy, James and I got back in the dingy to see whom we might see. Well. The President and Jeb were out fishing again. We were so close to them that Amy mentioned to Jeb, when he nodded to her, that it was James first boat ride in the dingy, and he said, he wasn't sure that James was enjoying it very much. Of course, he had this big life jacket on and couldn't move his head, and he did look pretty uncomfortable. It was pretty exciting seeing all the excitement around that beautiful little town when the Bush family is visiting there. We cruised back to Ft. Myers on Saturday in the rain. James slept almost all the way in his little bunk, which Grandpa had fixed up for him.

After Amy's family left, we got ready for Catherine and Mikes visit. They came on January 3rd to celebrate her 40th and Bills 70th that weekend. None of us can believe they are so old. Unfortunately, it was quite cold when they arrived, and it continued to be so most of the time they were here. They brought their kayaks and did get out in them every minute that it was warm enough. We cruised over to Sanibel for a couple of days and saw a lot of dauphins playing along way. Bill and Mike captured some of them on film. It's always so neat when we see them. One morning we saw them playing right next to our boat at the marina. Quite a sight. We went to Grandma Dots Restaurant for the Birthday celebration - Delicious. Then, of course, we did another dinner celebration for Bill on his day at the new restaurant at the Ft. Myers Country Club, Brixz. One night we drove to meet Suzy, Joe, Gigi, Tom and Kelsey for dinner half way between here and Naples. It was nice to get together again. It was a special time having Catherine and Mike with us, as they are so much fun to be with.

All in all it was a very fun, festive holiday season with the kids. Now we are looking forward to Dougs visit this week. Rosie and Dick are in Naples now, so we are planning a couple of outings to get together while Doug is here. I think we'll cruise over to Ft. Myers Beach for a day or so with Doug to see what that's like.