From Snow Storms to "Sons-Shine"
I’ve just spent the best time with my youngest son William, his wife Stephanie and my new three month old grandson Bradley Scott. We really had a wonderful time together.
Winter weather has been following me around the U.S. since I got here. I left Kansas City in cold and icy weather on my way to "sunny" Tampa, Florida. We made an enroute stop in Indianapolis where we needed to de-ice the plane before take off. We approached Tampa, with thunderstorms surrounding the area and got off the plane to find everyone bundled up wearing jackets. I was really looking forward to wearing shorts and t-shirts in Florida and eventually did happen.
Wednesday, 27 February to Thursday, 6 March / Tampa, Florida
Family Time
During my previous annual trips to the U.S., I would take only a few days off during the trip to visit my two sons in Florida. But this year, with new baby Bradley and Antonella now 7 ½ years old, it was important to spend much more time with all of them.
On my last day with William and his family in Tampa, Shawn and Antonella drove down from Jacksonville to join us for a Blakeslee Family Fun Day at Busch Gardens in Tampa. Busch Gardens is an amusement park and mini zoo with many animals and birds from around the world. It was a great place to have a family day. Despite the rain, which started in the afternoon and never let up though out the night, we still had a great time together at the park.
(Left) Proud Grandpa and Bradley Scott
(Right) Antonella and Her New Bird Friends
(Left) The Blakeslee Boys & Girls
Farewells & Tornado Watches
It was great to see William, Stephanie again and meet Bradley for the first time. Yes, I know this is “grandparent talk” but even you have to admit when you see his pictures that Bradley is the cutest baby in Florida, if not the world. I’m going to miss them until I see them again next year. Before we went our separate ways, all of the “Blakeslee Boys & Girls” gathered at a local Mexican food restaurant for lunch and another round of pictures with all of us together.
Shawn, Antonella and I drove north as tornado watches were being posted for the Florida’s Panhandle area that also included touch downs and sighting in a small community just west of Jacksonville.
The heavy weather hit as we drove north of Daytona Beach. Rain just down poured down for the next two and half hours as we traveled north. Coincidently it was also Bike Week in Daytona Beach. This is a huge annual 250,000+ person motorcycle event. All of the riders traveling south to Daytona Beach were just being soaked. The best rain gear would not have kept you dry in this constant torrential rain storm.
The next couple of weeks will be spent with Shawn and Antonella. She has gotten much taller and grown up so much from last year. As you can see in the pictures, she is incredibly cute and smart. More to come from our time together in Jacksonville.
Blessings,
Lawrence
1 comment:
Great to see that you are having some good family time back in the US. We are keeping Europe warm for you, both physically and spiritually. Sorry I missed you in Tulsa. I actually was there, but could not make it to a meeting. Sandy went to a few sessions.
Safe travels. Blessings, Desmond
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