Sunrise on Fort Lauderdale beach

Highs and lows

This last weekend the weather in Florida has hit record highs for the time of year, 90F on Saturday and Sunday but back to the 70s today. Our visit here is nearly over but we have had a great time. Here are some of the highlights of last week.

We spent one day on the water. We had a day ticket for the water taxi, stopping off along the way for lunch, to feed the fish and to watch the world go by.

It was a very relaxing day.

We finished up at the beach.

I helped out at Lily's school Easter Egg Hunt which was held in their local park ...... 60 4 -6 year olds rushing round filling their paper bags with plastic eggs filled with candy. Then doughnuts and juice before playing. Finally a lunch of Pizza and then 60 weary children walking back to school for nap time. They all had a good time.

On Satuday we got up early and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. (See seperate post for the pictures.) Later in the day we went to Heritage Park for a picnic and to feed the ducks.

Our busy week, relaxing

Winter rain! This last week we had several wet days and days when everyone here said it was cold, although we still wore just T-shirts and Arthur still went swimming everyday. One day there was over 3 inches of rain, which fell very heavily and flooded everywhere ... although a day later you wouldn't even have known it had rained. As you can see the rain didn't keep Arthur inside as he donned his swimming trunks and went out to sweep the patio down.

Most of the time the weather has been good and we have spent a lot of time in the garden .. watching and playing with Lily's friends who drop in to bounce or swing. Lily loves doing arts and crafts so we have spent a lot of time at her craft table and we had a number of "tea parties". She is a lot of fun to be with.

I spent two sessions in Lily's school .. St Jerome's Catholic School. One as a volunteer in the cafeteria .. not at all like an English school kitchen and one afternoon with her PreK4 class, telling them about England and telling a story. The whole system here is very different and as she is in a private school the parents are expected to do a number of volunteer hours or pay for them to be done by someone else. (Sessions about where you are from count double!)

Lily is being treated for her allergies by a doctor who specialises in the NAET programme. This has been a fascinating experience. It is an alternative way of identifying what people are allergic to and then eliminating that allergy without the use of medication. It makes good reading so google it and see.

Weekend trip

We spent this weekend visiting Courtney and his family. A four hour drive across Alligator Alley and up the other side of Florida. We went Friday evening and came back Sunday afternoon. We had a good visit and Lily enjoyed playing with Michael, following him around all day. We were pleased to see Arthur's sister Olga and his other nephew Mark. Marlon (Courtney's other son) and Ashley joined us all for dinner on the Saturday so it was a full house and good to catch up with everyone. Arthur loves going there to be able to indulge in good Jamaican food.

Tuesday is make your own dinner day!

Who's sunning themselves

After our daily chores we enjoyed a morning relaxing by the pool. The weather is wonderful although too hot by midday. Our peace however was disrupted by the arrival of a slippery friend who popped his head out from under the deck box. We have got used to the little lizards running around but are not so sure of the new arrival. With no way of knowing if this was harmless as a grass snake or a less friendly variety we were stuck watching him until he had cleared the patio door so that we could call Belinda and ask her what we should do. Her response was kill it or trap it for Kelly to kill later .. of course by then we couldn't see where it had gone so have been keeping a cautious watch!

Visit to the sunshine state

We arrived safely in Florida on our latest visit to Belinda and Lily. It was a good flight and as always Virgin Atlantic fed us well on the flight. we were tired but managed to stay awake a while, even walking to the local park with Belinda and Lily to stretch our legs.

As we arrived on a Tuesday Belinda and Lily were both out all week so we were able to just potter around and enjoy the sunshine. Next week Lily is going to come home from school at lunch time as she only has lessons in the mornings and the rest of the day is activities and after school care. Marley and Guinness kept us company during the day until everyone came home.

It has been unusually hot for the time of year and the temperature has been up to 87F. They keep telling us there is going to be a cold snap and that the temperature will drop to the low 70's, which is of course still warm enough for us. The pool is really good for cooling down.

On Saturday I went to get my hair cut and we ate lunch out. In the early evening we walked along the Waterfront and engaged in some people watching. It was a beautiful warm evening with just the right amount of breeze.