Christmas Is For Kids

Kids By DJ Tony Holm, sung by By Kenny Rogers

Kids, kids, Christmas is for kids

Look around and you will see

Kids from one to ninety-three

Laughin', lovin' life and bein' kids

Christmas time is here again
And now it's when the fun begins
This time of year we all turn into kids

     Saturday at 5:30am we were headed out the drive with great, kid like anticipation of the days to come, down south in warm, sunny weather... with dear family and friends.  I took a quick look back at the horses, standing in frozen ice and snow, with their butts to the 24mph wind in the 18 degree weather.  I hated leaving them, but knew they would be in good hands.

     Our first destination, after almost seven hours of driving, was a Del Webb complex on Lake Providence in Mt. Juliet, TN.  It was a huge, beautiful, resort-like gated retirement community.  My first thoughts though, were how close together the houses were and that I would miss the view of fields and open space.  But there were over 5 miles of walking trails and the community building and facilities were state of the art, including just about any activity you can think of.

     After two more hours on the road, we pulled into the Rarity Bay Gated Community, between Knoxville and Chattanooga. It had a completely different feel and look, with a golf course and equestrian center.

      It is a long, thin, 960 acre peninsula on 1600 acre Lake Tellico, including 18 holes of golf, riding and walking trails, panoramic views of the lake and the Great Smokey Mountains and wildlife preserve corridors.  We met the real estate agents (a married couple) at the barn, hopped in their car, and started our tour of the area.

      The community (of houses)  was not well developed yet, so felt very open, although a little deserted.  We saw herds of deer, pastures of horses, rolling golf greens, and plenty of woodland.  This was more like what I was envisioning.  The sun was setting on this cool statue, as we left to complete our last hour of driving.  Upon reaching our hotel in Chattanooga, we had dinner and then hit the hay.

     By 6:30 Sunday morning we were back in the Expedition, headed for South Carolina.  It was an uneventful 6 hour drive, but still a relief to arrive at our next destination in Bluffton,  SC.  What a difference going 300 miles south can make.  It was warmer and there were flowers.  We had a tasty lunch at Bob and Marge's and a fun time catching up with each other's lives, and talking about retirement and gated communities.  They gave us a tour of Sun City, the Del Webb community they live in.  It is basically its own little city of 18,000 residents.

     The car wash we tried was closed, so Joe and Bob washed our salt covered vehicle and then made a quick trip to the Savanna GE airport to pick up Britney who was flying in from the Michigan wedding she had attended.

     After a wonderful dinner, we played a fun game, Mexican Train, involving Dominoes.  We were up past our bedtime watching football, talking and joking around, like a bunch of kids.


     I slept in till 7 Eastern time, joined Britney on the hide-a-bed and caught up on Facebook, E-mail, and Blogging.  Marge treated us to a great breakfast and we had a relaxing easy going morning.








     We were on the road headed towards Jacksonville, zooming down I-95 by 10:30, when less than an hour into our trip, the "check charging system" light came on.  We scratched our heads and then watched the charge on the battery drop, lower and lower, as Joe drove.  We took the first exit, got the address of a Ford dealer 10 miles down the road and proceeded while losing one electronic system after another... no air, windows, lights, etc.  What was going to happen to the power steering and brakes?  The last 3 miles, Britney and I were fit to be tied... not knowing to what extent Joe had control. We arrived safely!
Joe didn't turn the Expedition off, but
when they went to move it into the shop, it wouldn't go out of park.  They had to charge the battery to do that.  We ate a "picnic" lunch while waiting... and wondering if we would get any further south for the day.  Businesses were closing early and would not be open on Christmas Day.


     Almost three hours and $500.00 later, they had replaced our alternator and fried battery and we were back on the road.

 



     It was so wonderful to arrive at Jim and Debbie's.  After attending a beautiful Children's Christmas Mass we came back to their house for a yummy dinner.  The homemade Bailey's Irish Cream was smooth as silk, and delicious.  I had taken a little to give it a taste and ended up helping finish off the bottle.  Jim made a fire in the pit outside and we sat around it and talked way past our bedtime. 

     Christmas morning was slow and relaxed, with more great food and tea.  We watched Home Alone while working a huge (over 800 word) crossword puzzle from the morning paper.  We laughed at and enjoyed the movie in childlike delight.  Then we started watching Kung Fu Panda. 


     We were treated to lunch before continuing yet another leg of our trip, this time to Orlando to pick up Valencia and Dan at the airport.  It was smooth sailing the whole way.  Then it was off to Grandma's house in a rather tightly pack vehicle.


     Mom had dinner ready when we arrived.  We talked about travel hassles, being thankful Courtney and Mike had made it to Georgia, and Dan and Valencia had no troubles flying.  But we felt bad for Jean and Brianna who were delayed at Dallas Airport. 


     Waking up at 2am, I was too excited to go back to sleep and finally got out of bed just before 3.  Mom joined me a little later but then I went back to bed to take a nap.  Joe, Britney and I took a little walk. 



     We went to the Wildlife park.












     We enjoyed the exercise and sun while watching wildlife.  This is an osprey.







     We also had fun climbing a tree.
















     Finally we were on the road to Long Boat Key.  Courtney and Mike were going to pick up Dan and Valencia because we were short on room.  They were about 3 hours behind us.  Everybody was making their way to the golf shores while a snow storm was hitting up north and across part of the south.  Jean and Brianna got stuck in Dallas airport for almost 24 hours because of snow.  Cathy and Ben were lucky to get out of Dayton at the crack of dawn, just before they shut that airport down.  Dave and Patty drove through torrential rains most of the way from Cincinnati as did Carol and her two sons from Indiana. 

     As we converged on Silver Sands, they were still finishing getting the condos ready.  The Sidenstick kids and all their stuff were temporarily off loaded so Patti could go grocery shopping. 





     Once everybody got their room assignments, we all started moving in.  I put up the Christmas tree and some lights and soon the white elephant gifts appeared around it.



     Dave and Patti treated us to a yummy meal of grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and brats.





     Many of us "girls" tried to burn some calories with an evening walk while also looking at Christmas lights. 

     Thursday I had breakfast at our condo, looking out at the beach, while catching up on Facebook and E-mails.  Midmorning, Dan and Valencia went with Joe and I to Wal-Mart to shop for groceries.


     We sat by the pool... read, napped, swam, and I showed Jean some of the Water Lily exercises.















     Joe and I cooked dinner.  Then we all did the White Elephant gift exchange.  Brianna was first to go through the pile and pick a gift.
















     We had a fun time opening and stealing gifts, with a very civil game this year.  Our night walk was chilly, but pretty, looking at all the Christmas lights.




     It was a beautiful morning Wednesday.  This is the view out our back porch.
 




     Dave, Patti and Britney enjoying the sunny morning.





     Carol going to the community condo to get internet.


     Several went shark tooth hunting, finding all kinds of teeth.



































     The little basket thing was very handy for scooping up sand that contained lots of shells and sharks teeth.













     Look at all the teeth Briana found.

     We all enjoyed pool time, beach time, game time, walking, eating and drinking.

      The kid in each of us had fun in our own way... but the most fun was always when we were goofing around together.













































     The rains came at dinner time so we skipped our after dinner walk. 

     Saturday morning it was still raining but we grabbed our rain gear and were out the door before 7:30 to go to a five mile road race.
 

     Cathy helping Ben get ready as Britney starts her warm up.

   



     Trying to stay dry while waiting to line up for the start of the race.



     The skies cleared and Britney is ready.
     Dan, Courtney and Joe were a little late
getting to the starting line.












     There were three loops so we saw the runners several times. 





     There was a down pour for a few minutes during the race.











     Go Daniel!


     Courtney finishing strong.








     Joe not in a hurry to cross the finish.  He had been a pacer for Courtney.





     Ben done.







 

    Dan done.

     Our family of runners and spectators.




     The half mile walk back to the parking lot.




     The sun eventually came out for some swimming, beach fun and walks.






















 








     Sunday was sunny but cold. 


     We lingered inside most of the day, joking around and entertaining ourselves with puzzles, games, movies, football, and Christmas present toys.



































 



























     In the afternoon, mother (Grandma Beverly) treated all 21 of us to a wonderful early dinner and drinks at the Beach House, a sea side restaurant.


















     While waiting for food, several went out by the beach to get their pictures taken.
























     Once "back at the ranch," some of us girls went for a walk to burn off all the calories.


Tree climbing was included in our exercise.


















     The night was another of games, with the poker tournament coming to a closure.  Ben was the tournament winner, beating Joe in a "play off".











     It was a gorgeous day today.  I spent a great deal of time at the pool with several others.  We were a stones throw from the beach so went there as well.  There was more goofing around... but I only got one picture for the day, of Britney... one of our biggest goof offs. 


Be filled with the joy of a kid and have faith like that of a child.

Let's not forget the "kid" whose birth we have been celebrating, whose life we try to follow, and who's death and resurrection have given us eternal life.

"Let the little children come to me."