Florida Warmup

We normally head out to Florida to warm up as soon as we get back from cold and snowy Montana.  However, since we were staying with sweet Malenda through February we didn't go south until March.  Spending the time with Malenda was great and we also got in some "Will" time before leaving for the month.

Will, our 6-year old grandson, is in first grade this year and is growing so fast.  Finding the time to spend with him during the school year is more of a challenge now, but I managed to catch him one day after school.  It was a beautiful day so we headed to the Riverpark and kicked the soccer ball around.  There's lots of open greenspace and plenty of playground equipment.  It's fun to watch his skill and coordination progress and he seems to really enjoy this sport.

 Our friends in Florida, Martha and Jim, always have some fun activities planned when we get there.  Martha, who is in the process of producing a musical this fall, is well connected with the musicians in the Tampa Bay area, so there's always a concert or jazz event somewhere.  This year, Dean, one of her cohorts helping to write the musical, was playing a regular gig with a Dixeland jazz ensemble at the Bilmar Resort on Clearwater Beach.  The resort is right on the beach, and we grabbed a table on the patio where we could see the beautiful sunset.

This Dixieland group has become so popular, it's necessary to arrive a couple of hours early to get a seat to hear them.  Dean, who plays a hot stride piano, stopped by our table for a visit before the show got started.  This group always closes their show with "When the Saints Go Marching In".  As soon as this tune started, the women in the room (obviously regulars) jumped up and started dancing around the room twirling their fancy parasols.  If this is how the saints act in heaven, I definitely want to sign up for that group!!

We also took a 4-day trip down to Sanibel Island to visit friends Connie and Dennis.  This beautiful island never fails to disappoint.  I must have been so relaxed that I totally forgot to take any pictures, but the weather was beautiful, BUT chilly!!  One would think that getting that much further south would make for warmer weather - not this year.  In fact, most people we talked with were complaining about how cold and wet the whole winter season had been.  I suppose it's all relative - when you're coming from snow and near zero temperatures, it just doesn't seem all that cold to me!