CALIFORNIA

Rees, Trent, and Dylan

The Malone Crew

Austin, Rees, Jake, Trent, and Dylan

Austin and Jake

Well we made it in on Thursday!  We dropped the trailer off in Santa Clarita so that we could get all the warranty work done while we are here in California and when we fly down to Mexico.  We are staying at my dad's house in Westlake, he is leaving for Hawaii on Friday, so we are kind of house sitting.  Needless to say, I hate having to pack all of the stuff we will need into garbage bags and then into the back of the truck.  It really sucks when your home is being fixed and you can't stay in it!  Anyway we are now at my dad's house getting settled in.  It is fun to be back in all the places you grew up in, it is very comfortable.

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to visit Bryce's brother out in Oak Hills (Hesperia area).  They have 2 boys around the same ages as mine and boy did the cousins have a great time hanging out.  So did the adults, it was fun to catch up and visit.

Phoenix, Arizona

Bryce and Trent on their way over to Uncle Dale and Caroll's house

Uncle Dale, Cousin Sandra, Aunt Caroll, and the rest of us!

Well we sadly left our Florida friends and headed west.  We have done a couple 10 hour days to get into Phoenix.  The first night we stayed in Slidell, Louisiana, San Antonio, Texas, and then in New Mexico.  We arrived in Arizona on Monday evening.  I have some relatives here, my dad's twin brother and his wife and some cousins.  We had dinner over at their house on Tuesday, Bryce and Trent rode the bike over and the rest of us went in the truck.  My Uncle just moved into Sun City Grand, which is a Del Webb facility, so he showed us all around.  Boy do they have a lot to offer.  It was great visiting and catching up with them.  Wednesday(today) we had an appointment with our tax man, yeah, who lives here in Tempe, then we went to see my grandmother's gravesite.  I have not been there since she died in 2007.  We are headed out tomorrow for California!!! Can't wait to see family and friends!

Tuesday night Potluck

We had a very nice potluck with some friends we met here at the park.  Some good food and conversation.  Thanks to Rick, Barbara, Nelson, and Gloria for a very nice evening.  They are here from Canada and have been very kind, especially with the kids.  We ended our night in the pool, were we have a group that typically meets there about 8 o'clock at night for a little swim and hot tub time.  Last night Rick and Bill had chicken fights with the kids, can't wait to hear how their necks feel this morning!  We are going to have a very hard time leaving here on Saturday.  It hasn't been all sunshine and fun, the kids are still schooling.  I know I haven't updated their projects, but Rees did a planet report on Neptune and Trent did one on Dolphins.  Jake is almost finished with a biography report on Arnold Palmer.  I will post those a little later.

Still in Florida

Well we just can seem to bring ourselves to leave this beautiful place.  We have extended our stay and will be leaving on Feb. 5th now.  We have all been enjoying the place we are in right now.  Although we did have some nasty weather the other night, it still is nice to be in the warm sunshine.  We will be headed for California when we leave...hoping to stay in the sunshine.  Can't wait to see friends and family out that way!

January 20th 2011

Mom I want a golf cake...not bad for an amateur

Sibling Love!

Happy 12th Birthday

Jake!

Travelers Rest Resort - Dade City, Florida

Golf course

Yes we are still here!  Can't seem to want to leave the sunshine.  It's been awhile since I blogged, we haven't been doing much but normal life stuff.  We have been taking full advantage of this campground.  We school each day and then the boys will golf and we have all been swimming for about 2 hours every evening.  This place is our favorite so far...the people are extremely friendly and there is plenty of fun and relaxation.  I have included some photos of what we see each day out our windows, we also sit in our chairs and enjoy a drink and take in the view.  The cranes come up each day to the bird feeders the guy next to us has set up.  I will post some more pictures of our lovely campground soon.

Dade City, Florida

It has been so nice being in Florida and only hearing about the snow and cold weather in other places.  We have been taking full advantage of our campground...swimming and golfing everyday!  What a life!  On Thursday we drove Bryce and Jake into Orlando so they could play Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Golf Course on Friday.  Jake's birthday is this month and for his 12th birthday he wanted to play Bay Hill.  He ended up writing a letter to Arnold Palmer asking him if he could play with him.  His assistant wrote Jake back and said that he doesn't play with people, but if he was at the resort when Jake was there, she would arrange a meeting for them.  Well we told them they were coming on Friday, but they said he only had about 15 minutes to meet Jake on the following Tuesday, so of course we said yes!  Anyway, the boys golfed on Friday, and as they were going out to hit balls, they ran into Mr. Palmer.  Then the girl at the desk asked if they wanted to go upstairs and meet him...WOW!  So they did.  They got autographed hats, pictures, and a flag from the greens.  Then they found out he was teeing off a couple groups before them, and his caddy said that if they wanted to they could go hit balls right by the roped off section, since that is where Mr. Palmer hits.  So they did and they watched him and he even watched Jake hit some balls, needless to say they were ecstatic!  Bryce said they treated Jake like royalty when they knew he was there for his birthday. They gave them a room over looking the 9th hole.  He received all kinds of pins to put on his hat.   Everyone was very gracious.  While they were gone Rees, Trent, and I swam, played games, and watched movies.
On Saturday when we picked up Bryce and Jake we hung around Downtown Disney.  We gave our kids the choice of Disney World or going to Cabo San Lucas Mexico again, with my mom...they chose to go to Mexico, but we did tell them we would do Disney World some other time.  We will be headed there for a week in February!