We have been in Florida for over a week now and I finally have the opportunity to post on this blog. We have been very busy with getting settled, hosting daughter Carla and grandchildren; Kaylyn and Brendan, and visiting with nearby friends. I've also run into some computer gliches that delayed this post. Anyway, we are having a great time and enjoying the mild weather. We arrived on Friday evening, 2/22, following a 12 hour drive form North Carolina. It was 34 degrees when we left the motel and it warmed up slowly throughout the day. When we saw the welcome to Florida sign, we reached 70 degrees for the first time and within 15 minutes it reached 80! Welcome to Florida, indeed. Saturday was a day for unpacking, shopping, and becoming reacquainted with the area. On Saturday evening we enjoyed the free entertainment and dancing at Spanish Square in The Villages.

Sunday we atttended worship at St. John's Lutheran Church in Summerville where we connected with Rich and Louise from up home. After worship we enjoyed coffee and conversation on the porch of our Villa. Monday we enjoyed our much anticipated trip to Hommossasa Springs to visite Pokerbluegill (Dewey and Elizabeth). They took us on their pontoon boat down the river past "monkey island" as we spotted three manatees along the way. Then a lunch of fish and stone crab before visiting the wonderful wildlife park nearby. There we learned about manatees closeup and viewed gators, birds, bears, panthers, and Lu the Hippo. It was a great afternoon that concluded with supper at Fat Boy's BBQ.

Carla and the grandchildren arrived on Thursday and we met them at Universal Studios where we toured the Islands of Adventure. We returned on Saturday to visit the Universal Studios park. Lots of rides, shows, and smiles.

We also had a great lunch at Gator Joe's where Brendan snacked on gator tails and frog legs.