And the bead goes on, on, on........

Yes....I ran over old ladies and stomped on little kids to get the beads.... :-)

We had a great time in Biloxi....lots of laughs with the OMS gang. Was fun to be in touch with so many of them again. This was our bus driver "Mark"; one of the best drivers I can remember and not bad to look at either!

We stayed three nights at the Beau Rivage (right on the beach). It is definitely the nicest hotel in the area, but not necessarily the best casino....(only because I didn't win a lot of money).

All you can eat crab legs THREE nights in a row. I think I have had my fill for awhile.

Mardi Gras decorations at the entrance to the buffet.

Susie and myself raising cane and having a good time.....Oh yeah, Terry and Susie bought a new home in our community. It's beautiful, and we are SO happy to have them so close.

We had front row seats (although we were chasing beads most of the time) to the parade.

Below are some of the floats......

Terry and Susie on the bus....

Lead me not into temptation (I can get there by myself!!!) Just in case you didn't get enough desserts at the buffet.....

Diane and Don.....

More floats....

There seems to be a competition for whoever has the biggest" balls" (beads)....I believe this guy might have been the winner????

The local high school band.....

One day of rest and then off to NY to help my cousin bring her back to FL. She also bought a home in our community.

This killin time is killin me............

Today was the Clint Black concert at Silver Springs. It was a gorgeous day for an outside concert!
Here are some of the birds who greet the tourists/concert goers as they enter the park.

Loved the concert....Bumming that I won't be here for the Charlie Daniels concert next week. I promised my cousin I would ride back to NY (brrrrr...what was I thinking?????) with she and her husband in their motor home and then turn around and drive her van back so she will have it here for the rest of the season. I told her, leaving this 80-85 weather to go to NY and the snow is something I will definitely "lord" over her for a long time......

Clint and his band.....

Well, now I am finally caught up with the blog, I will head to bed as we wake at 5:00 tomorrow morning to get ready to leave for Biloxi, MS and the Mardi Gras......

Cos your talking rock and roll taking karaoke soul....

My cousin Hazel (Burlew) came for a visit and the second day she was here bought a house right in our neighborhood. Since she is the "Karaoke Queen" we took them down to the Spillway Grill for Friday fish fry and a night of karaoke.

Hazel was the only one who got up and sang (from our table) but there were a total of 16 singers last night....about 14 of them were pretty good!!

Yummy, Yummy....Yummy, yeah? Yeah, Yummy!

We went out to dinner with our OMS crew, and tried a new Japanese restaurant in Eustis. Our cook must have just got off the boat....the only thing he said all the time he was cooking was "yummy, yummy" "yummy right? " The food was "ok" but not as good as the one we usually go to. The company, however, was great, as usual.

I had a Bar-B-Q stain on my white t-shirt......

We decided since it was the last night of vacation for Joe and the family, we would take them to one of our favorite Bar-B-Q restaurants.....The Oakwood for ribs, collard greens and sweet potato fries. We had all been to the pool most of the afternoon so that's the reason for all the bad hairdos.

After dinner we went to Georgefest in Eustis.

I love this picture of the kids....this fountain overlooking the lake is one of my favorite backgrounds for pictures.

If you don't believe teenagers can eat a LOT.....take these two to your house for a while...LOL

Janna decided she would do a "chocolate covered cheesecake" on a stick for her dessert.

Matthew went with a "Funnel Cake".....

Janna had to try some alligator before she headed back north....

I thought my kids would get a kick out of seeing me wear this......One of my favorite sayings when they were little!

Oh yeah, we also did a Farmer's/Flea Market early this morning.....I bought Joe a new head of hair!!

Fireworks over the lake were great, as always!

Ending with a spectacular grand finale....

But this is country music and we do......

So far the best concert of the year (and we have seen some great ones) was the Brad Paisley H2O tour held at the new Amway Center in Orlando. We went with our friends Terry and Susie Muldoon. Thinking it would take forever to get into the parking garage and then into the concert we left early and were happily surprised to find how easy it is to pull into the parking garage and walk into the arena. Leaving was just as quick and easy.

There were two opening acts before Brad, and both were great. Jerred Neimann (What do you Want from Me) was first.....

Followed by one of our other favorites, Darius Rucker. We saw Darius in concert last year at the Strawberry Festival, and were even more impressed with him this year.

When Brad made his way to the stage he put on an amazing show...he played for an hour and 45 minutes without a break. It was GREAT!!!!!!

I truly believe he is, if not the best, one of the best guitar players in country music today.

This was one of the parts I liked best. He walked all around the arena and then came to the middle where he had set up a smaller stage. He walked up on the stage and asked "How is everyone in the cheap seats". He explained how when he was 17 he always had to sit in the cheap seats and he just wanted to give his fans....all of them the best show he could for their money. He said he knew how tough times were and he felt that all his fans that were paying to see him should have every advantage. He is SO cool!!

We would go back and see him again for sure!!!

Go Granny, Go Granny, Go Granny....GO

The kids decided instead of Disney, this year they would go to the Universal parks.

This made "Grandma" happy, because I once again got to ride the "Hulk"..... I actually had my eyes open when they took the picture after the big loop. Joe also said I looked like I got a free face lift with the ride...(it didn't last though).

Salt, Joe and I sat out the tidal waves, as I really didn't to spend the rest of the day walking around soaking wet. Last time we went, I took raincoats from the $ Tree and they worked great. Definitely have to get some new ones before Betty and Emma come for Spring Break.

Matthew wore his new basketball sneakers....he was very easy to find in a crowd. I told him with his yellow shoes and red shorts he looked a reversed Ronald McDonald.....

We were quite surprised at the good food (reasonably priced for a park) we were able to find for lunch.

This is a part of the new Harry Potter Park. The waiting lines were SO long the kids decided to skip it this time. Next time we will upgrade to the express pass and not have to wait.

I told Matt to stand by this guy and his shoes wouldn't look so BIG.....

We stayed until just before closing and were all pretty tired by time we got back to the house. The kids were very content to stay at home the following day and take advantage of the tennis court, shuffle boards and pool. They also got a lot of bike riding in. Since they live on a very large at home, they don't get an opportunity to do much riding.

Talkin bout my girl, my girl......

Salt and I planned to go to the club to see the Legend of the Temptations . We didn't think the kids would really be interested....we mentioned it to Janna and she was like..."yeah I love the song "My Girl". So, here we all are waiting for the auditorium to fill up and the show to begin.

I forgot how all these groups used to dance....I think these guys were inspired by the Jackson 5!!!

It was a great show....We love when we can just hop in the golf cart and drive down the road for a show.

They think I'm Betty Crocker.....

Joe, Rindy, Janna and Matt came down (from Owego, NY) for a week. Since I knew we would be on a dead run for the entire week, I did all the cooking/baking ahead of time. I have been making Janna her triple fudge cake since she was a toddler....The one time they came up to the river and I wasn't home when they got there, Janna saw the empty cake holder and said she knew it wouldn't be the same. I will be sending fudge cakes to college next year!!


Apple pie for brother Joe....

And Matthew has to have a "tractor wheel salad" Tuna/mac made with pasta wheels. I love my kids and their "traditions".

After a very cold, snowy winter, Matt and Janna were loving the 85 degree weather and the pool.

Joe and Rindy, were very dedicated to their workouts in the gym (working off cake and pie...LOL).

The kids loved driving the golf cart all over the community.....