Boats. Beers. Babes. Bucks. Bazinga!

Last night as we lay howling with the dogs, we were trying to decide what to do with our one full day together, on this short weekend trek to Florida.

We tossed around ideas of going to the beach, the shooting range, the dog beach or park, walking around downtown or just hanging out around the hoots' nest. Then the spark of a marvelous idea came to JP and BAM! 20 minutes later we had reservations on the Victory Casino Cruise ($10 per person to board boat)!! What a great idea, indeed!

We had the morning to get ready at our own pace, have a great breakfast filled with sausage, eggs, coffee and toast and be on our way by 9:30 a.m. The drive to get to port is about an hour and a half, the boat leaves at 11:00, so we had plenty of time to get there...as well as plenty of time for "sillies"!!

The place to board the boat is called Cape Canaveral and is also the place where all of the major cruise lines leave out of Florida, it was pretty cool seeing those humungous boats!!

Once we parked, we pretty much walked in, checked in, then off to the boat & potties we went!

The boat is 6 floors of fun: 1 floor with a restaurant, 3 floors of gaming, 1 floor is gaming with a night club and the very top is a rooftop bar with live music, called The Dolphin Bar. We walked in hit the potty, then went to the very top deck to set sail. It was pretty warm...imagine sitting in the sun of sunny Florida, with tight skinny jeans on and make-up! haha Before I knew it I was sweating and sitting in the shade and we hadn't even taken off yet!

Once we set off into the sea for the day, we all headed inside for some game time and much needed A/C! JP started with Roulette and was getting lucky on every number, Jamie started with Black Jack and Brittney and I headed to the penny slots! We played this game, that game, moved around for a little while and then met back up with the boys for lunch.

We had a great lunch on the bottom floor, right at sea level...you can pretty much feel every movement down there (good thing none of us are the seasick type!) We watched a hot dog eating contest while waiting for lunch, not the greatest of ideas but that's what was on the tube. Lunch was pretty good, Jamie & I split quesadillas and a french dip type sammie, then headed back out to game it up!

After lunch Brittney & I decided to head back to the 1 cent slots and moved around machines until the Betty Boop game, Brittney wanted to play all day, finally opened up. We popped over there and played for quite a while...Betty Boop was good to Miss B, but we moved on to an even better set of machines! We sat down at these two machines that were just regular old timey slot machines, they were 2 cents a play and within 10 pulls I went from $20 to $108! I'm NOT a gambler so I played a couple more pulls then cashed out at $84.36! I was a happy camper due to getting back the money that I played, some of what Brittney played and walking out in the black! Needless to say, I didn't play anymore for the day!

We headed upstairs to the "night club" where there were games, air conditioning and less smoke. Since I wasn't playing, I was people watching and saw there was one solo lady dancing on the dance floor, she seemed to be having a grand ole time and I told Brittney, "I'm going to have to get in on that! Watch my purse...." The lady, Yvette, and I danced and had the whole place clapping along, as well as a whole bunch of hootin' & hollerin'! It was great fun, we even exchanged information...what a great gal!

The day was coming down to a dwindle on the gaming for us gals, so we just kept going up floors until we hit The Dolphin Bar. We enjoyed a nice drink together making sure everyone on deck was okay & having fun, especially this guy....

I walked over with a glass of ice water and woke him up, asked him if he was okay...he slurred, "I'm good, just getting some sun." haha Okay dude, have fun with that! Can't say I didn't try.

We sat up there for about 45 minutes before the boys joined us for the trip back to shore and what a trip back to shore it was!!

I can honestly say that I think we were the ships' best entertainment of the year, shit probably the entire existence of the cruise line! You get me, a day of beers, my family & live music together and well, everyone is in for a treat! Brittney & I started dancing around our table for a few songs, with even a gal giving me a dollar bill! (Holla)

[caption id="attachment_5565" align="aligncenter" width="363"] ...[/caption]

 Then, as if I didn't feel American enough on this 4th of July/Birthday/Anniversary/Family time trip, they started playing the Electric Slide......ohhhh yeah baby! I got up there, started dancing and no one wanted to do it with me...Brittney didn't even know how to do it! I said, "I'll teach you, I'll teach everyone! C'mon everybody!" So we start dancing and I grab a couple of people, some people get up on their own and before you knew it, we had a deck full of dancers doing the Electric Slide! Yesssssssss!!!!

[caption id="attachment_5572" align="aligncenter" width="371"] now back...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5573" align="aligncenter" width="324"] now turn...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5571" align="aligncenter" width="311"] Thank you for dancing![/caption]

Everyone had a great time on the ship, us and the people watching us! (You're welcome people for giving you a story worth telling about your trip! haha)

I think we were all pooped on the way home, but we made it in the pouring rain back to the house and 4 very excited dogs. Just glad it didn't rain on the ship and cancel our roof-top dance party!

Hope your weekend is as much fun as this and if not....make it that fun!

PEACE

 

Off to Florida we go...

We took off for the weekend to go visit our lil' hoot (our daughter, Brittney). Her & her boyfriend just bought a house in Central Florida as well as bringing home the newest addition to their family... a gorgeous Doberman Pinscher named Dash.

We just had to make a trek to go visit them and enjoy all of these firsts with them, plus it was nice to get on the road again, even if it was just for a short weekend trip.

We wanted to leave the house no later than 7 on Friday morning and ended up leaving the gas station at 6:35 a.m., so we were happy about that. It's about a 9-9.5 hour drive, and we were sure driving through Atlanta on the 4th of July would probably put us in some traffic. The great part? We were wrong about the traffic AND Atlanta and never hit either one! woo hoo...Nothing worse than driving through a major city on a holiday!

The drive, for the most part, was nice & easy. During the last two hours of our drive, we endured some pretty heavy rains accompanied by BIG thunder & lightning storms. We finally arrived at a restaurant-bar I used to work at, at around 5:15 p.m., to meet our lil' Owlings for dinner & drinks. It was so great seeing them!

At Jax, we had some wings, beer, hugs and great conversation. Daddy got to meet B's boyfriend for the first time and they hit it off, talking up a storm about technology, sports and technology!! (Did I say technology?) Brittney & I talked about our usual stuff, giggling and loving just being together again!

After dinner we headed to their new house. It's in a quiet, cute neighborhood centrally located to their town and Orlando...not too shabby!

We went out back to play with the dogs, all 4 of them, Savannah & Chili and their two Roscoe (Dachshund) and the newest baby of the family Dash (Dobie). The initial playtime was interesting because Dash is full of spunk and tons of energy and Chili is so small and kept getting stepped on, Savannah has to play referee and Roscoe just wants to play with everyone! It was funny to watch and their backyard is HUGE so it made it a little more enjoyable to run around, throw balls and just be goofy! They were all running around like crazy dogs so the only actual picture I could get was of Roscoe, he is thee sweetest boy ever!

We settled in for the night a couple of hours later, after deciding that tomorrow we will go on a Casino Cruise. JP & Brittney had done it once before and said it was a full day of fun...so heck, why not!

It's good to be with our girl again and we are so proud of how her family is growing as she becomes more of a young woman. We just love JP, the dogs, the house, everything that they have worked hard for, they seem very very happy and I think, as parents, that's all we really want for our babies!

Off to the snoozer ...

PEACE

Flyin' High, Flyin' Low...Flyin' to Orlando!

On my second plane of the day. The time is roughly 5 p.m. on this Thursday evening. We woke up at 4:15 a.m., took care of "The Bugs" morning rituals, fed myself with a ham and cheese toasted sammie and diet coke...yep, the breakfast of champions! By 5 a.m. we were out of the house. My flight didn't leave until 7:25 a.m., but I wanted to be a good flyer and earn my wings and get to the airport 2 hours early like "they" say. We were at the San Francisco airport in about 25 minutes and I was checked-in and through security in about 9 1/2 minutes!! I found a plug and opened my computer to do some "work"...uploading pictures...I was only able to load half of an album due to the slow connection, but it's half of an album that I didn't have loaded, so it's all good! The plane boarded and left pretty much right on time for Charlotte, NC...where my layover was.

[caption id="attachment_5063" align="aligncenter" width="350"] See ya Charlotte[/caption]

The flight was about 4 hours and 45 minutes long but it went by pretty fast due to my awesome luck of being seated next to two amazing women from Hawaii. We talked for the majority of the flight, in between napping, reading, stretching and potty breaks. While I am flying to Orlando to help 'the moms' move...they are enroute to Rome! They flew through the night last night, flying from San Fran to Charlotte and they're going to keep on truckin' to Rome, then once in Rome they will take a small cruise ship to Greece! How awesome is that!?

During the flight we talked about all kinds of stuff from our van-life to their lives in Hawaii. One of the women, Vicki, can watch her kids and hubby surf from her kitchen window as she makes brekkie for the fam and at times, when it's mating season, has to close her windows due to the whales making so much noise splashing their tales and bodies and moaning! They spoke of how amazing the sunsets are and how they never get old to watch, as well as how magical the views are...even after living there for 30 years! We talked about our kids & our husbands, our mothers & our siblings...and of course, the Nana Bug!

It was great to be seated next to such wonderful energy, I sure needed it after the few days leading up to this trip. For some reason, I was majorly stressing about the flight, which flying has never bothered me or scared me before. I'm sure it was driving J' totally batty listening to me for three days about how nervous I was! haha So thank you ladies, my prayers were truly answered by sitting next to you and I hope you (Margaret) had an amazing 80th birthday reminiscing in the magical city of Rome! (I'm upset I didn't get a picture of them, darn.)

They gave me a pretty good push to truly start writing my book. I've really got to get my thoughts in order to start that thing, just seems like something else always gets done before that...hmmmm. So another thank you, to you, ladies!

So...yes, back on the plane. We took off about 15 minutes ago out of Charlotte and should be arriving in Orlando in about an hour or so. I'm pretty excited...actually I'm super freakin' stoked! I not only get to see my mom (after almost two years) and hug and kiss her... this mama gets to see her Baby Owl too!

My, not so little, girl and I are going to have a sleepover and just be giggly girls together and of course I get to put the official mother's stamp of approval on her man, her house & her pup! She's a really great "kid", so I'm sure her life and everyone around her are just perfect. It should make for a really nice trip all the way around and if I get to see my best Aussie mate, that will make it even better!

[caption id="attachment_5065" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Rainy Florida[/caption]

For the next 7 days, I'll be giggling with my little owl, moving the moms, unpacking boxes and shopping for furniture for her new home and I'm sure a lot more that I haven't planned for, purty fun stuff...actually, it does sound fun to me! haha I'm always happy for the time I get to spend with anyone I love even if we just lay on the floor, stare at the popcorn ceiling that hasn't been scraped off yet and using a shower curtain for a blankie! Just kidding mom...you can have the shower curtain! I'm there for the quality time and adventure.

We're coming in for a landing.

[caption id="attachment_5066" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Crazy Cloud!![/caption]

So, here we go.......

PEACE

 

Missing Puzzle Piece = Found

Crazy how life can move right alongside you or just fly right by you.

Tonight, I met my cousin for the first time...ever! We are only 6 years apart, but we've been more than miles apart our whole entire lives. We are around the area where she lives so I figured it would probably be the best time to "stop-in" and meet the pretty lady! Her and her family just bought a gorgeous house about an hour outside of Tucson...we talk on Facebook but have never met so I had those pre-"stranger"-meeting jitters! You know, you just never know how people are going to mesh...if they do at all, so there's always a little pre-anxiety before things like that...for me at least. Anyway, we drove up around 6:45 p.m. and knocked on the door...not knowing what to expect. We were greeted by a handsome smiling face...her hubby, Gabe and then by her with outreached arms, ready for hugs! Heck yeah, my kinda girl! After the meet-n-greet with everyone, she  also has two growing boys and a very grown-up, gorgeous teenage daughter, we sat down, ate some pizza and chatted the night away. We caught up on lots of good stuff, on life in general, pretty much everything we could cram into the small amount of time we had. We took some great family photos, that I will forever cherish.

[caption id="attachment_3999" align="aligncenter" width="200"] We're cousins...two of a kind! ♫[/caption]

We have many things in common with one another and I'm sure if we lived near them, we would probably spend a good amount of time together. We got along famously and she's just an amazing person...pretty awesome she's part of my family and now, a friend as well! It was hard to leave, but we have a long drive to Phoenix ahead of us, for tomorrow we will meet up with a girlfriend of mine I haven't seen in about 10-11 years!

Just one more good thing about being on the road, if we were still in Georgia we wouldn't be getting all of this fantastically fun quality time with everyone. I love rolling rubber!

Please put us in your good thoughts as we travel on down the road.

Much love to you all.

PEACE

Time flies when you're having Fun, Fun, Fun!

While being at Kanga's, we have been busy busy bee's! I'm just going to do a brief review of everything that has gone on because I am not in the right mind to go back and write posts on every single day that I missed, so bear with me...thanks.

It has snowed in Tucson, which was super cool because, with the kids being born and raised here, they have never seen snow or been able to play in it. It was very special to see ChaCha with his eyes wide open, running through the huge flakes falling from the sky. When Jem & Emma came home they were super stoked, got all bundled up and ran out to the backyard to throw snowballs at each other and attempt snow angels! That was awesome.

We're all Snow Bunnies, now!

[caption id="attachment_3948" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Snow Angels[/caption]

It was a big day in the city of Tucson and a huge day in this household!

I was also able to give all the kids hair cuts, which was another fun day for all of us. It was fun to give the girls something different to do with their hair and ChaCha's curls came off but that's what his daddy wanted so, that's what was done.

[gallery columns="4" ids="3955,3954,3953,3952"]

I was also able to attend the girls' Girl Scout meeting. I was never a girl scout so it was something different for me and I got to meet some of their friends and was told by many girls that I was the "awesomest"....every gal, especially this gal, loves to hear that!

[caption id="attachment_3962" align="aligncenter" width="225"] My Hippie Girl Scout[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3963" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Awesome & Awesomer[/caption]

I'm sure there is a lot that I'm missing and I'll probably have to go back and think about other things we've done since being here....but that will only lead to more awesome posts! It's been so much fun being here and spending time with everyone. We are planning on leaving here in a few days and it will be sad, but the time we have been able to spend together has been priceless and amazing and I wouldn't take any of it back for anything in the world.

I hope that you are getting to spend some good quality time with the people in your life that you love. You just never know when life is going to change and be radically different. If you have the time and you have the means, go spend time with those people, it will probably mean the world to them as well as yourself.

Sending out much love today...❤❤❤❤

PEACE

Being "taken advantage of" and absolutely loving it!

So, it's been such a crazy amazing week...well I'm going to call it a week...even though it started last Thursday, Valentine's Day. I hope you all got some love and some good candy!! We have never really celebrated Valentine's Day, I think we have actually celebrated one time but to us it's just another day. This year, however, would be a little different...a good different! We have come to Tucson for one reason and one reason only...to see my sister, her hubs and her kids...my noodlebugs! My beautiful, quirky, hilarious, creative, awesome, amazing noodlebugs! We came to my sista's house on Thursday night for a Surprise Valentine's Dinner and oh how surprised my nieces were. At this point in their lives, my one niece Emma is 12 going on 32 (in the best way possible), my other niece Jem is 10 and my nephew ChaCha is 3 1/2. I got them all at different times of the day due to different school schedules...all in all it was a pretty fun afternoon of yelling, "Surprise!", giggling, hugging and laughing! And of course crying...can't be an afternoon without crying! haha But these were the best tears I've cried in a while. I haven't seen this part of my family in 3 years and we're really close so it is just awesome to see all of them. The last time I saw my nephew he was about 8 months old...now he's a walking, talking, pooping machine! haha (He just got potty trained and he's doing so good!) It's been a lot of fun just being here. I am able to help my sista' out in ways that most people wouldn't understand or wouldn't want to take on, but I am soooooo excited to help her out with all of it. I mean just being able to wash dishes for her, do a load of laundry and actually get it folded and put away, give my sis and her hubby a break from all 3 kiddos...and not just once (we've already "pushed" them out of the house twice so far and are going for a few more times before we leave). The little things really do count here.

Savannah is getting along really well with their dog, so that's been nice and not stressful. It's just been so nice to have time with my sista', the kids and her hubby (Big E'), along with J' and Big E' being able to do their thing together: movies and gaming!

[caption id="attachment_3935" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Assassin's Creed, Bro![/caption]

And the funniest of conversations of just about everything has been awesome. It's been nice to be able to squeeze Joon into the corner space of their yard/driveway so we are close and I can keep 'pushing' them out of the house and be able to wake up and be here for her so she doesn't have to have the lil one with her to do errands. I just keep telling her, "Take full advantage of me, that's why we're here!" And the best part is...I mean it and I'm diggin' it hard! I'll take my nieces and nephew any day of the week, especially if it means giving them some time together and giving me time with the kids as well.

It will be sad to leave but we're so close it'll just be miles between us, nothing else. Awwww..... I'm just so grateful for them and love them so much and am very happy for us being able to spend the time that we have...before you know it, the girls will be out of the house and onto new horizons and ChaCha will be in highschool and many "boxcars" of life will have gone by.

Take the time and appreciate the now. Time passes by so quickly and before you know it, everything and everyone will be different and in different spaces of life.

For now, I'm taking every potty break, every hug and good-night kiss and every moment that just might be normal to anyone else...I'm taking everything and anything I can. There's no time like the now.

[caption id="attachment_3938" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Treatment![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3940" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My Sailor Nails![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3939" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Artist[/caption]

For now, I must go and listen to one of Jem's funny stories and tell ChaCha not to hit his sister! haha You can say I'm pretty much loving life right now!

PEACE

Sur-prise, Sur-prise, Sur-prise!

Today is not only Valentine's Day but also the day that I got to give the biggest surprise ever...surprising my lil noodlebugs (my nieces and nephew). I think I forgot to tell everyone that we had to do a trip to Phoenix a couple of days ago, for personal reasons (that's why we were back at the Lone Butte Casino)....Anyway, we drove back into Tucson this afternoon to meet up with my sister and her family.

Before we met up with them, we needed to do a few things first...the major thing being emptying the 'terdlet'. We found a free dump site on RVDumps.com, thanks to our good friends Jenn & Johnny, at The Triple T Truckstop. We drove in and checked it out first, making sure we knew where to go, as well as making sure it was actually free...and it was! So glad we looked up the site before driving into Tucson with a full potty, it worked out great. The little area where the dump site is, doesn't have any signs or anything but they do provide running water and a trash can next to the 'hole'.

[caption id="attachment_3914" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A respectful dump[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3915" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Doodie Free[/caption]

If you are travelling and are having a hard time finding places to dump, respectfully and legally, try RVDumps.com. On this website there are free dump sites as well as paid sites, so you get a little bit of everything and it's super helpful! We will be using it from here on out. After our successful, clean dump, we were on our way to the sista's...and I'm so freakin' stoked at this point, I can barely contain any of my excitement.

[caption id="attachment_3917" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Uncontainable Magic[/caption]

The way we planned our arrival was, we would get there right after my one niece, Jem had already gotten home from school, then my other niece Emma would be home an hour after that...and of course my nephew Chacha isn't in school yet, so he would be there with Jem when we first got there.

We pulled up to the house, parked outside by the driveway and rang the doorbell...then I hid on the side of the wall by the front door while J' stood in front of the door. Jem answered the door and stood there, knowing she knew who this man was but couldn't place him...that's when I jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!!" She screamed back and as the door flew open her arms flew around me and she was laughing so hard, saying, "I thought that was Uncle J' but I just couldn't make sense of it!" It was super!! haha We sat down and talked with her and her mom (my sista, Kanga) and she played a little bit of her violin for me...what a treat!

[caption id="attachment_3918" align="aligncenter" width="225"] My Vivacious Violinist[/caption]

When Emma got home, I was a little behind on my surprising skills...she walked in and saw J' first, then me and stood frozen in the doorway. I ran to her, picked her up and squeezed her as she laughed her butt off...it was so fun to be able to surprise them like that! Also when ChaCha got up from his nap, he came out of his room and when he saw me he gave me a huge hug and said, "Hello Auntie Kani!" I was hugging him down on my knees, crying of course, he actually knows who I am!! The last time I saw him in person he was only 8 months old...now almost 4 and he's a walking, talking person...who knows who I am. That was pretty fantastic! ChaCha took really well to his 'Uncum J' too, he wanted to be right up in his lap and show him all of his toys...pretty stinkin' cute!

I was able to give them the necklaces I made for them, too...success! They were so excited to have something handmade for them as well as something I found instead of something bought. They said it made them feel pretty special....well, duh...they are!

[caption id="attachment_3921" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Emma & Jem[/caption]

The girls have school tomorrow so they had to go to bed at their normal time but I got to tuck them in so it was totally radical for all of us involved! hee hee

I'm not sure how long we will be here but I'm going to make sure that we make the most out of every moment and hopefully we'll be able to get my sister and bro-in-law out of the house and on some dates!! When you aren't around or don't have (younger) kids I don't think you truly appreciate the time you get with other adults...because it rarely happens, haha. I'm hoping to be able to give some good, quality, alone time back to my sis and her lover while we're here...also being selfish because I'll get all of that time with my noodlebugs! hee hee

Have you hugged your noodlebugs today!?

PEACE