Dear Family,
The Temple is closed for a month so we had time for a little vacation from all the cold here in Utah.
Mom was anxious to get down to Florida to see
Christina (Bina), Scott the two girls and the new little guy,
Jacob.
Scott had finished dental school at Loma Linda, went into dental practice for two years and decided to go back into training to become an oral surgeon. He was accepted into the program at Gainesville, FL, where he will have a four year residency. He is in his first year.
We forgot the distances in Florida.
Mom sort of remembered deriving short distances when we went there on vacation during the Michigan years. She arranged for a van rental in Gainesville and had
Bina pick us up at the airport in Orlando (100 miles away).
Bina came with cute little
Alison,
Ashley and little
Jacob who was the best baby in a car.
We drove back and made a plan.
Bina was up to driving so we decided to get tickets to
Bush Gardens and go there as much as we could. This was 100 miles away but the roads are great, straight and wide so it is not as bad as 100 miles through the Rocky Mountains. I really like Bush Gardens as there are all the animals, flowers and trees, lots of great rides on excellent roller coasters and a whole section devoted to little children.
The next day, we drove down there, got our tickets and had a ball. It was cold, in the 40's, so the park was not congested.
Here is
Bina with
Alison and
Ashley in the front on this little elephant statue.
Alison, (Alley) was an exact clone of her mother in appearance and speech. She is one of those very bright grandchildren. She reminded me so much of
Bina, that when I played with her, I had flashbacks to 25 years ago when
Bina was her age. I called
Alison, "Little Bean".
Saturday,
Scott was off and so we all went down to Bush Gardens again.
Here is the family next to the LandRover by the lion exhibit. We watched the smaller kids as
Bina and
Scott and sometimes
Alley went on the roller coaster rides.
Here are
Scott, Bina and
little Bean on the
"Log Ride". There were shows as well and the ice show was great with excellent skaters and birds flying around.
It was fun to watch the little kids.
Jacob was the best little guy who stayed in his car seat the whole time and just laughed and smiled.
Here is
Mom during one of those little baby sitting times as
Scott, Little Bean and
Bean went on the rides. That electric cart was the only ride that
Mom and I went on and it is loaded down like one of our four wheel drive trucks. Little
Jacob was just a good little guy and very patient.
We ate sea food the entire time we were down there except on Sunday. One thing I learned was not to go to anything that has "
Crab Shack" in its name. We looked for blue crabs but the weather was so cold, there were no crabs anywhere.
Here is an
Oyster Bar that
Mom and I found down in Ocala. I was so tempted to eat the oysters raw on the half shell and they had good ones there. I must be sensitized to the raw ones, maybe from eating 70 at one time with
John on a previous trip. Here we had deep fried oysters and they were good and did not produce illness. Here is
Mom going to check it out.
We took the gang to a couple of good restaurants in Gainesville and Tampa. This was at the Colonnade on the "
Gasperilo Night". They celebrate some phony pirate and the whole place goes nuts like a Mardi Gras. Ate these great
soft shell crabs while the others had
Grouper as they set off a dazzling display of fireworks in Tampa Bay. We thought we should eat the Florida sea food while there. Introduced
Scott to "
Hush Puppies and
Gator Tail and
Cheesy grits. (That is what
Mitt Romney called them during the election),
We went back to Bush Gardens three times more.
We took the train ride but the train had to stop as these huge White Rhinos were crossing the tracks.
The tiger took an interest in me and it was nose to nose through thick glass pane. Maybe he could sense that I was admiring the animal and wondering at the same time where I would put the shot. Maybe I need some hunting detox.
We visited
Bina's ward in Gainesville. It had three sets of missionaries and there were many recent converts as well. Definitely back in the mission field.
Little Bean, 6, gave a great talkl in Primary and read the talk she repaired. The Primary Pres. was going to help her but
Little Bean said authoritatively that she could read!
So we say thanks to
Bina for all the driving and to
Scott who was able to come with us twice. We thank
Bina and
Scott for their great hospitality and it was such a good time.
Love to All,
Mom and Dad
