Back to Work...or Play

Yesterday was a "no-school" day here so daughter #3 likes to plan fun, family adventures on those days if possible. Since we enjoyed picking strawberries so much last year, that had been our goal but, alas, apparently Mother Nature had other ideas. The weather this season has not been ideal for strawberry farmers so they are just now harvesting their wholesale berries and won't be opening the fields to us pickers for a few more weeks. So, on to plan #2.

There is a place called Sky Zone about an hour away in Clermont. It is a kid's paradise-lots of soft slides and bouncy things. The boys have been a few times for birthday parties so we thought they would all love a day there. Jen did her homework and, indeed, it was open on Fridays at noon. But, as we pulled up, it was obvious that plans were underway for something big. And so it was...and we were here on the ONE day of the year that they close to prepare for a huge (10,000 people expected) affair that evening. So, by the seat of our pants, on to plan #3!

Luckily, Jen remembered a large, fabulous playground practically right behind this place that had been built a few years back in memory of a family friend's grand daughter. It is a beautiful park and the kids had a wonderful time here.

 

 

After wearing everyone out everyone having fun here, we decided to have some lunch. Gotta love technology these days. We are not at all familiar with Clermont but with just a bit of "searching" we found numerous places that sounded good. We settled on a gastro pub called "The Crooked Spoon" and it did not disappoint!

I had a blackened mahi sandwich with artichoke and lemon aioli served with homemade chips and it was delicious! The kids menu was unbelievable-very upscale as well. Harrison had steak quesadillas and he devoured them!

We all needed our nourishment because now we were off to our next adventure. The nice folks at Sky Zone told Jen about a bowling alley/laser tag spot that sounded great-except, when we pulled into this place it didn't look big enough to house what we were expecting. In fact, we were about a year too late. The bowling alley was still here but laser tag had moved about another hour away. Bowling it was!

And, you would never have known that these kids' plans had actually changed three times today. They were all in on the bowling and had a fabulous time.

We got home right before dark, lit a fire, poured a glass of wine and had a lovely visit the rest of the day as well-while Presley decorated their house for Valentine's Day right around us!

Today I am learning patience. When last I posted, I think I said the hardest part of pallet art was prying them apart but I have spent another day wire brushing off the moss and mud that had accumulated after months of sitting outside and then today I did all of the cutting and putting together...and now I wait. Because the thickness of these boards varies so much, it is almost impossible to find sets of three that are even so I am starting by just using wood glue and braces on the back and when this is finally set, I will go back and put in some tiny nails to help hold the variations in place.

Now that I have gotten this far, I wish I had made the dimensions a bit different but have decided there is no going back now so I will just have to get over it.

And, the pile continues to grow as does my list of ideas. Stay tuned.