February 10, 2012

We won the annual sweetheart golf tournament. We were minus 12 for the 18 holes. It was a great day that started with me pulling my drive OB on the first hit of the day! It got better. Thank goodness.

February 14, 2012

Diane played in the Ladies Day Rally for the Cure event. She won a Cleveland rescue club for closest to the hole and she won the raffle prize basket. A good day for a good golfer.

February 25, 2012

Went to the sandbar for sunset. Tinker loves to be off her leash and run free. We enjoyed a walk and then watched the sunset. It is so pretty here!

February 27, 2012

Stephanie and the Boys came for a short week. What a treat. We were really excited to have them. They arrived late Monday around 10 pm in Ft Lauderdale about 60 miles away. I missed a turn on the way back and had to backtrack off the road. The area is under construction and the signs are temporary. (and small!) The boys were excited and wanted to ride with the windows down. They didn’t fall asleep until we were almost home. We all got to bed around midnight. They were up early the next morning. Jack likes to play games on Grandmother’s computer and Clark likes to do whatever Jack does. Grandmother Diane watched and fed them breakfast while Stephanie and I slept in.

The first day was jam packed with activity. We started with tennis and hit balls until they got bored. Jack could hit the ball pretty consistently but you never knew which way it would go. Then we moved on to golf. We got two carts and went to the driving range looking for alligators on the way. We did not see any gators. The boys and Stephanie hit balls. The boys prefer them on a tee! Thankfully we ran out of balls before the frustration level got too high. At this young age they seem to prefer the tennis to golf.

For lunch we went to the Loggerhead Café at Carlin Park Beach. We had a nice lunch on their outdoor patio so the Boys could enjoy the wonderful weather. We wrapped some left over French fries in a napkin to take to the beach for the seagulls. I told Jack to stand still and hold the fry up in the air so the gull could swoop down and take it. He listened. We put the video on Facebook™. It was fun. Clark enjoyed tossing the fries onto the sand and watching the birds fight to get there first. Once the fries were gone we had trouble explaining that to the birds. They hung around the rest of the afternoon while the boys played in the surf and Stephanie enjoyed the sun. Because of the wind there were some waves that day and the boys started by running away from the breaking surf. Then they tried the Boogey boards letting the braking waves lift the board off the dry beach as they tried to keep their balance. Sometimes standing and sometimes sitting, they let the waves carry them where ever. From the boards on dry land they progressed to jumping directly into the coming waves. First they tried to jump over the waves and then eventually directly into the waves. It wore me out just watching them. They had a blast.

After the beach we went to the pool to rinse everything off and let the boys sit in the hot tub for a while. Then we packed a picnic supper and went to the local sandbar for a sunset and dinner on the boat. See the pictures above from February 25^th. We tried to pack everything we could into the first day as the weather was perfect. We all went to bed exhausted.

The next day began a little later with breakfast followed by tennis again but they opted to skip golf, I think. I stayed home exhausted from the previous day. How can you get tired just watching someone else? This morning I think they went to the hard courts at North Passage.

For lunch we went to Wylders Restaurant at the Jupiter Point Club Marina. This is a swimming pool with a tent awning over half. As the wind was blowing we had them lower a couple of screens, which made it perfect on a windy day. The boys tested the water but would have no part of it, as it was too cold. After a lunch which included a one pound hot dog and fried pickles we headed next door to the local tourist gift shop. Clark wanted to spend some of his “Florida Bucks”. He settled on glass dolphin and a stuffed dolphin with a red Christmas stocking cap hat.

Since it was raining over North Passage and extremely windy we then went to the new DuBois Park which is right on the Jupiter Inlet. It is sheltered from the wind and the surf. They have built an artificial reef to block the waves from passing boat wakes and to attract fish. It is a peaceful snorkeling lagoon. The boys fed the seagulls again and swam in the shallow water looking for fish. Diane and I watched the boys and the passing boats as they returned from their fishing expeditions on the ocean. While the sky was black in the west in was clear at the park. The lagoon was followed by the traditional dip at the pool. After the pool we packed a picnic dinner and took it on the boat. We took a short ride up into Johnathan Dickson State Park to look for wildlife. We ran out of daylight and the darkness sent us home. Another great day.

The next day after breakfast we headed for the tennis courts for some tennis and then we hit the pool for a short swim. We then made a picnic lunch and headed for low tide at the sandbar and a cruise up the intracoastal waterway to Tiger Woods home.

Tiger played in the Honda Classic this year and was quite a draw. He came is 2^nd in a tie with local Jupiter resident/PGA professional Tom Gillis. Our waitress at Duffy’s Restaurant told us that she had served dinner to Rory McIlroy and his family two nights earlier. She said she was excited and felt like a little girl.

After our boat ride past Tigers we all cleaned up and went to a local favorite the Dune Dog Restaurant. Kids love it. They have a small vending machine that dispenses fake tattoos. It is frequently visited by some of the local celebrity who have children. The last time we were there Betsy talked to Venus Williams. There was no celebrity citing this night, but the food was delicious.

The last day began with a gentle knock on the door, as the boys wanted to go fishing at first daylight. I don’t consider myself a fishing expert. I put some hot dog on a hook and settled back to drink my morning coffee. Much to our surprise the fish like hot dog. We caught a mangrove snapper first and then three catfish! The coffee got cold as Jack kept pulling in one fish after another. It was fun and exciting for all.

After a dip in the pool we all had catfish for lunch before heading to the airport. It was so wonderful to have them visit. We lucked out and had four great days of weather and fun. Summer weather in February is just awesome. We look forward to the next visit.

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