Our Florida February Fun

 FEBRUARY 16, 2023

Back home in Riverview, Florida

One of the great joys in life is spending time with my grandchildren. They make me feel like I can do anything,

and as the youngest of my 31 "grands", little Liam melts my heart. 

As he started getting more and more mobile, Cody invested in a fenced yard/playpen for him so he couldn't escape.

Rachel and Hyram spent the night in February and we took that time to paint their silhouettes and tie together Rachel's quilt she received as a Christmas gift.

Awesome job kiddos!

One beautiful February day I went over to the RV park where Cody and Alisa were staying and Sammy and I finished his Silhouette painting. I think they all had a great time being creative.

What a cute iguana!

I makes my heart happy that they love to paint and do crafts with Grandma Cindy.

We visited the Florida State fair and what a crush of people it was.

Grandpa and his little buddy getting ready for the Dennis Lee show.

We surprised Dennis when Cody, Alisa, Kendra and Kelly showed up. Dennis invited them up on stage to sing with him. They shared a stage for years at the Strawberry Festival.

Awww... this was actually before the show when it was actually nap time for Liam. I think Darryl is awake... but I'm not sure.

Dennis was amazed when he saw the families, especially Rachel and Hyrum and how much they had grown.

And... we enjoyed a couple days at the beach. Here, Alisa and Liam trying out their new shades.

One thing Darryl likes to do at the beach is fly kites. Do you see it way up in the sky?

This Dragon kite is a favorite of the kids.

Sammy played for hours in the sand with his little bucket, 

but little Liam wasn't too sure what to think about all the gritty, sticky stuff..

Eventually he decided it wasn't too bad.

Rachel, Hyrum, Gary and Ross enjoyed the water

We stayed to watch the sunset as it was such a pleasant afternoon.

Cody always enjoys the beach and had a great time playing with the kids.

It has been a good day...

Some other happenings in the Month of February.

The Toast of Tampa Celebrated 30 years since winning the Sweet Adeline's International Competition.

Below are women who competed in the chorus along with their director Randy Loos, who along with his wife and a few of the women in the photo, were founding members of the Toast of Tampa Show Chorus in 1989.

And another highlight of the month for me was a visit from Michelle and Kevin. I even talked Michelle into trying a new palate knife painting with me. We took them to dinner and out to see the dome,

Kevin wasn't feeling well and took some time to rest while Shelly and I went shopping and had a great time!

And she is a natural artist!

I guess I didn't take a photo of her painting, but this is the one I did at the same time.

And the end of the month brought a little bit of sadness to me. My dear, sweet friend whom I have known since we went to Kindergarten together passed away after a very long battle with Kidney failure.

She was kindness and light to all who knew her and is dearly missed.

Karen Bennett Raubuck 

December 26, 1956 - February 26, 2023

God Bless your family with peace and comfort my dear friend.