Prunes in the lazy river

Our decision to come to Pt Lonsdale instead of staying at home on a 40 degree day was a smart one. It was so much cooler here by the sea. It was pleasantly warm instead of inferno-like.

The activity of the day was a trip to adventure park to see the pirate show. Captain Jack, Bonito and the crew didn't disappoint and greeted Elias as their number one fan. More pirate hi jinks, jigs and photo ops ensued.

Later while we were trying out the water fountains the park first aid chief  came up to us and insisted we take Elias in the lazy river. Turns out Phil the First Aider is a former nurse and now a policeman with the dog squad. There was no declining. Phil organised for us to put Elias in a ring and stand either side of him, while we walked him around the lazy river circuit. He also sent into the water with us a fully clothed life guard to shadow us and keep rowdy tube bumpers and splashers away from us. At the same time a synchronised team of life guards watched us from above on the bank, walking with us along the outside of the river ready to leap in any moment and assist.

Elias had the BEST TIME EVER. He floated, swished, bumped, went under bridges and through squirters. We ender up doing a second lap (First Aider Phil had given permission for unlimited access) and then a third and a fourth and so on until they evicted us at park closing time, happy and well pruned.

We bought Bean home delighted and exhausted. He asked to get into bed at about 7:00pm and dropped off to sleep pretty much before his head hit the pillow.

Tomorrow is Pt Lonnie markets, formerly Donut Day but now Public Adoration of the Dog Day Out. Need an early night myself to fend off his groupies.

Hope you are having a great time at the Magic Kingdom.

Loads of love,

M, D, B and Bo xxxxxxxxxxx

Sweet Tomatoes, Thomas Edison and Learning to Lose at Pool

Today was slightly more eventful than yesterday! I started my day by getting up late (10:15... In my defense, I was up after 11 the day before and so consider this a minor victory over jetlag/travel exhaustion.) Anyway...

Highlight of the day was visiting the winter houses of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, which are on adjoining properties on the other side of Ft Myers. The houses themselves were beautiful, and both have expansive gardens with hundreds of amazing trees which have been preserved. Edison's estate includes a pool, two labs and an office set in the middle of the gardens - wait till you see the photos! I also got my first Christmas tree decoration of the trip there.

After the Edison and Ford winter houses, Pop took Barb and I to lunch at a restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. It's an all-vegetarian all-you-can-eat buffet and I can see why Barb loves it! Needless to say, we ate enough that we haven't really eaten since... Pop and I ended going back for second desserts after he showed me the nutritient-laden dish that is chocolate brownie covered in chocolate ice cream and hot chocolate fudge. We both decided that one is never enough!

I also went for a quick ride down to the local beach, which is about 2 mi away, to see the sunset. Not too spectacular, but still well worth the ride. The weather was perfect for a ride and I ended up going about 5 mi.

This evening Pop took me down to the hall at the resort to hear the resort band play. I now have a new appreciation for school bands after discovering what a group of elderly musicians who can't hear their fold back sounds like, playing for an audience who I'm not sure really heard them. I have to laugh at the man sitting a few rows back who repeatedly stuck his hand up pointing to the roof, indicating it should be louder. The result: If I didn't know what a mic'd-up accordion sounded 

Iike before, I sure do now. Ouch. They got a huge turn out though, and (mixing aside), you really have to applaud them; I've certainly never heard a band with that many years of playing between them!

Pop also taught me to play pool, and although I'm beginning to understand it, he beat me four games to none. Still, it was good fun.

Tomorrow morning we make the 3 hour drive up to Orlando, then spend the rest of the day relaxing before we hit Disneyworld on Saturday morning.

Favorite "Only In America" Thing Today: I spent almost 10 minutes trawling the aisles of the local supermarket looking for Up-n-Gos before realizing that they're Australian. Oops. Hooray for Boost Perfect Balance drinks!

Siesta Bay, or, "How Jonas Became a Senior Citizen"

So, after 24 hours of air travel and airports, I finally reached Ft Myers. Today's been a very relaxed day, and highlights have included Pop giving me a guided tour of Ft Myers and a dip in the pool.

Ft Myers is a little bit like what would happen if the Gold Coast had to down-size to fit into Torquay; it's not a huge place (ok, it is bigger than Torquay, but still feels very much the same). In the area where we are, there's a lot of resorts for seniors, and as you head north you find trailer/caravan parks and more resorts, particularly holiday apartments. Amazingly, Pop tells me that the holiday rental cycle is the polar opposite of Australia's: in winter, people pay up to $1000/week for a holiday rental house, but in summer the prices can be as low as $100/wk in an effort to rent them out. Apparently it gets too hot... I should mention that it was 31 degrees C here today, and this is winter!


Siesta Bay is the resort where Pop stays, and it's like a giant caravan park, except everyone is over 55 and almost everyone stays in RVs the size of a coach or in demountable little homes. I get much the same reception that I get when I go to church and people are often very excited that I come from Australia. Pop's little house is very cute and I'm already loving it. It's a huge community, with two pools, it's own tennis league and is host to inter-resort volleyball competitions between local resorts. If you'd like to come for a wander, play with Google Street View. 

Pop's unit.

It's great having Barb here - she's great company and has been really helpful with everything, including making us dinner; burgers and salad which we ate outside.

Tomorrow's plan? We're not sure yet! Barb is very keen for us to go to dinner at a restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. Other than that, it's looking like another relaxed day. I'm thinking of cycling down to the nearby beach (2 mi by bike trail). We also might go shopping in town. Not sure yet...

Well, there's Cinnabon.
Not sure about much else...

Favourite "Only In America" Moment of the Day: Cinnabon at Charlotte Airport: "Because Life is Better Frosted." I totally agree!

Still haven't decided if I'm going to let you go yet...

Shopping list for today:

Lock for J's bedroom door
GPS locator ankle bracelet
"If found return to my mum" t-shirt