I haven't written anything for OVER two weeks because we have been really sick with a respiratory flu.  I have never coughed so much (and so hard) in my life.  We still are coughing, but are SLOWLY getting better. 
Since we were feeling so rotten when we got to Destin, we did nothing for at least the first week except go to immediate care, go to Walgreens for meds, and go get a few groceries.  This past weekend, we felt good enough to get together with my brother and sister for a nice time here in Destin on Sat. (eating at McGuire's Irish Pub on St. Pat's day, walking around the Harbor Walk, riding along the gulf to our place here at Majestic Sun) and then on Sun. we went to a state park that had an old restored home  with beautiful trees (see pics) and drove to two quaint small towns on the gulf (Seaside, where we had a great lunch, and Rosmary's Beach, where they had a coffee shop - not Starbucks though).  This week, we have been to the beach several times, ate lunch at the Crab Trap right on the beach, gone to the mall a couple of times, ate lunch again at McGuire's, and today took a ride to a small town just east of here on the gulf (Santa Rosa) and had great oysters and shrimp for lunch at the Smiling Fish.  We walked to the beach there and watched the people.  For the last few days, there has been a ESE wind of 15+ mph, making for bigger waves on the gulf.  (see pics)  Red flags on the beach, so no one is supposed to get in the water - strong rip tides.
We leave tomorrow morning in order to get home by Sunday for Paige's birthday party.  One day early at this point doesn't mean a thing.  Wish we could snap our fingers and magically be home and unpacked! 

The view from our balcony.

The view of the little lake from the walkway to our door, opposite side of the villa.
You can just see the gulf in the far left middle.

Sunrise from our balcony.

We love the beach here - prettiest we ever see - with the fine white sand and emerald colored water that turns to purple, then dark blue. 

(Sun is setting, so sand is a little reddish.)

Sunset at the beach (clouds obscure the sun, but give good color).

This is west of us a little at the Crab Trap restaurant.  The wind is making 4 to 6 foot waves on the gulf, but some kite surfers were out.

Compare the kite surfer with the waves to get a better idea of how rough it was.  There's a second guy to the left.

  Also, note the beautiful water color and the white sand.

At Eden Garden state park east of Destin.  Lots of huge old live oaks.

My sister, Jean, me, my brother Tom, Tom's wife Pat.



Sunday - Weather:  High 67, low 41. Early rainstorm, then mostly sunny, breezy.

When I got up at about 5:30 this morning, we were having a rainstorm - lots of wind, a little lightning, lots of pouring rain. This is the first storm we've seen since we came in early January. They desperately need rain, so it's not bad, especially since it was short-lived. In about 2 hours, it had cleared off and was mostly sunny, but still very breezy. For our mid-morning break, we went to Starbucks for coffee, tea, and a cranberry-orange scone. We went to the 11:00 service at the Presbyterian Church and came home for lunch. Late afternoon, we went to the Florida mall, and Linda went shopping to replace some broken sandals. I sat and read at my usual spot in the Starbucks store near the Florida Hotel, enjoying my 2^nd Starbucks coffee of the day. Home for supper.

Monday - Weather: High 73, low 59.   Mostly sunny. Wind NW 9.

Easy morning, lunch here, and then early afternoon we went to the library. We turned in several books, but did not check out any new ones because we are going to Destin on Saturday. Then we went to Celebration for a mid-afternoon break and had our usual fare. Linda has a nasty cold, so she sat and read while Bob took a walk around lake 1. We read for a while longer and then came back to the villa for supper.

Tuesday - Weather: High 76, low 61.  Partly cloudy. Windy, E 21

Easy morning, lunch here, and now we both have a nasty cold. Neither of us feel like doing much, but late afternoon we went to see the movie 'The Artist'. We didn't have a big desire to see it, but it has received so much attention that we thought we would check it out. It's the black and white silent movie with the French actor and the cute dog. We agreed it was better than we thought, good but not great. It's something from an era that we did not experience. I hope one of this kind of movie is enough for Hollywood. Stopped at Panera Bread for soup and sandwich on our way home.

Wednesday - Weather:81, low 64.  Mostly cloudy. Very windy, E 25

Our colds are kind of like the flu, in the sense that you feel achy and listless. So today we did not go out – pretty unusual for us. We took cold medicine, laid around, drank lots of tea, and just rested. Workers at the resort came and changed the lock, changed the AC/furnace filter, and put a new battery in the smoke alarm. I understand the latter as usual maintenance, but I wonder why they changed the lock.

PICTURES OF DISNEY'S ELECTRICAL LIGHT PARADE,
NIGHT AT MAGIC KINGDOM.



Can you see Peter Pan in the front of the ship?

The best one in my opinion.  You can't tell, but this was huge.

PICTURES TAKEN BY BRENT AT DISNEY'S ANIMAL KINGDOM

Mickey came by while we were eating lunch.

Grandma and Daniel on the Safari ride.  Lots of wild animals, roaming around, not in pens!  I can't believe they do this, because of liabilities.  There must be some unseen barrior between the animals and you in the real truck that goes around.

The Sutton family with Pluto.  Note Daniel's stuffed Pluto sitting on his nose.

 One last swim for the Sutton men in the pool.

Tuesday - Weather: High 83, low 65. Partly cloudy. Wind SE 10.
The Sutton family went swimming this morning, and after lunch we went to Celebration to walk around a little.  Yes, of course, we went to Starbucks for coffee.  For supper, we went to Joe's Crab Shack.  When the waitress found that Daniel had just turned four 2 weeks ago, and that grandma & grandpa had missed his party, she had others come over to sing Happy Birthday to him and brought him and Ben a dish of ice cream.  After finishing it, the boys went outside to play on the playground for awhile before we left to go back to the villa.


Wednesday - Weather: High 86 , low 66. Partly cloudy. Wind SE 10.
I dropped Laura, Brent and Ben at the entrance to Universal this morning.  It's only about 20 to 25 minutes away.  Since most of what they were going to do was Harry Potter stuff not appropriate for Daniel, he stayed with grandma & grandpa.  We stayed around the villa until late afternoon, and then went to Disney's Boardwalk to ride on the shuttle boats.  We were in a store when we got a phone call to come and pick up the others, and Daniel didn't get his boat ride.  He was disappointed at first, but he didn't cry or have a meltdown - he's really a very good boy.  We picked up the others, and they told us of the fun they had and how realistic the Harry Potter area was.  For supper we went just down the road to one of the boys favorite places - Ihop (International House of Pancakes).  But would you believe they had a long list of things they were out of, so we left and went to one further west near Celebration.  They only had one waitress, but the wait for our food wasn't too long, and the pancakes were excellent!


Thursday - Weather: High 88 , low 64. Partly cloudy. Wind SW 10.
The boys went swimming this morning, and after a lite lunch we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom again with the idea of staying for the evening parade.  Very warm, but it doesn't seem too bad with the breeze.  Ben got to ride the roller coaster at Space Mountain, and Daniel got to ride the People Mover two more times - for him, it's like a mild-thrilling roller coaster!  We had supper at a large self-serve type restaurant, then walked over to see the end of the stage show at the castle, and from there watched the electric light parade.  It is awesome, and the lighting on the castle is spectacular!  (See photos below.)  Daniel seems to enjoy these parades the most of anything there.  Brent got both boys a light-up toy, and they enjoyed the parade a lot.  Everyone is tired on the way home, but we all thought it was a great idea to see the Magic Kingdom at night.

Friday - Weather: High 90, low 66. Partly cloudy. Wind S 11.
The last full day for the Sutton's vacation found us going to Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Again, it didn't feel like 90 - very warm, but not bad.  Laura had made a reservation for lunch at a restaurant where the Disney characters come around to the tables.  The buffet was excellent, with lots of choices and great quality.  It's a diet buster though - I had beef, pork, and chicken (small portions, okay!) along with potatoes, green beans, and corn. Also, 3 SMALL deserts!  During the meal, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Daisy Duck came into the room for fun visits.  After lunch, we went to several things, including the safari ride where you see African animals in a natural habitat.  We finished the day with the Lion King show - it's very entertaining for kids and adults with lots of music, dancing, acrobatics, and floats.  Back to the villa for a lasagna supper.


Saturday - Weather: High 88, low 59.  Partly cloudy.  Wind SW 12.
Ben went swimming one last time, but Daniel was too busy playing games on the ipad.  For lunch, we went back to Ihop, and then we went to Disney's Boardwalk, and Daniel finally got his boat ride.  Back to the villa, and the Suttons packed up.  At about 4 p.m., we took them to the airport and dropped them off.  Very sad to see them go - it is so enjoyable to have them here for a week.  Ben is such a nice kid, and it is very interesting to see Daniel learning so many new things.  He's sounding out things and is close to reading - he already recognizes several words.  One big thing was reading road signs, frequently saying things like, "Grandpa, the sign says you should go 50.  How fast are you going now?  We are on 192."  We will see them in about 3 weeks, and we're anxious to get home and see everyone.  But we are also anxious to be in Destin for 2 weeks after one more week here.

At Celebration, enjoying our coffee.

Walking around lake 1 at Celebration.

To the right is a robotic disc-jockey playing music.  The boys had fun dancing to it.

Ben with his light sword, waiting for the parade.

Daniel with his Mickey Mouse spinning light toy.

On the stage at the castle.

The castle is lighted in different colors.

Love the all-blue look.

Friday - Weather: High 88, low 57. Partly cloudy. Wind SW 22.
For lunch, we went to the Windmill restaurant at the Celebration golf course clubhouse.  We both had a charcoal-grilled hamburger, very good.  It's enjoyable to us - we sit by a window with a nice view, the decor is nice, the service is excellent, it's not crowded.  Next we went to the library to get some books, and read the paper and some magazines. Of course, we went to Starbucks for iced coffee and tea.  Our treat was two cookies that were complimentary after our meal at the Windmill.  We watched people and read our books, but didn't stay long because it was very warm.  We would rather have 68 (like tomorrow) than 88 (like today).  Good thing there was a strong breeze today, or it would have been much worse.  Supper at home.


Saturday - Weather: High 68, low 56. Cloudy. Wind N 18.
After lunch here, we picked up a few grocery things at WalMart.  At about 3:00, we left for the airport to pick up daughter Laura, husband Brent, sons Ben, age 10, and Daniel, just turned 4.  They got in a little early, so we just barely had time to finish our Starbucks coffe, tea, and scone.  Both parents said the boys were very good during the plane ride. Back to the resort for a lite supper.  They will be here for a week and are staying in a small one-bedroom at the resort, hopefully (if the resort personnel are truthful) in the lock-off from our room.  The plans are for several days at Disney theme parks, and maybe a day at Universal Studios.  Daniel is real anxious to see Mickey Mouse, and when we got back to the resort, he asked if we would see him soon!  Had to explain that we had to wait a day or so to see him at Disney World.


Sunday - Weather: High 70, low 63. 50% chance occasional showers. Wind NE 14.
Sprinkling rain early, but we took our umbrellas and headed for Downtown Disney.  It pretty much had stopped by the time we arrived.  We had lunch at T-Rex, a dinosaur-themed restaurant with many near-life sized animated dinosaurs that periodically roar, causing Daniel to be a little concerned.  He was more entertained with the huge cylindrical aquarium next to our table with lots of colorful fish swimming around and around.  After lunch, we walked around, visiting the big Lego store and Disney store.  Ben got some lego building sets and Daniel latched onto a stuffed Mickey Mouse.  The boys rode on a small train with Mom, and Ben rode on a small carousel.  After walking around some more, we left to go to a mini-golf place on the way back to the resort.  Dad and the boys played while grandpa watched people, and Laura and grandma went to a nearby Dunkin' Donuts to bring back coffe for now and treats for later.  A good day despite the clouds - a little cool, but no rain to dampen things after the early sprinkle.  Back at the resort, grandpa, Mom, and Dad went to the office, because as owners we can get Disney tickets at a small discount. For supper, we went to one of the boys favorite places, I-Hop!  Eggs and pancakes all around, except Daniel had mixed fruit (his favorite thing) with his pancake.


Monday - Weather: High 80, low 64. 50% chance occasional showers. Wind SE 10.
We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom in DisneyWorld.  Daniel was very happy to see Mickey Mouse, etc. in the parades, and even had Goofy walk by and touch him on the shoulder.  Ben enjoyed the rides, especially at Space Mountain.  Warm day, but no showers until we got to the car to come back to the resort.  Long day, eveyone tired out, but a very good day for all.

Daniel and Papa on the ferry ride to the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Ben next to Papa's belly!

Just inside the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Daniel's first view of Mickey in the early parade.

First of many pictures of Mickey!

Beautiful flowers, trees and bushes all around.

Nice colorful tree!!

Mickey, Minnie, etc. at the 3 p.m. parade.

Those kids dancing around with so much energy make me feel tired!!

There they are again!

Daniel loved riding on the people-mover with Papa & Nana while Ben went with his parents to the big rides at Space Mountain.

On the way out, with two tired boys.

We went by the big stage show on the way out.

Tuesday - Weather: High 78, low 57. Mostly cloudy. Wind SE 7.
After lunch, we went to Celebration where I fished for over an hour with no luck.  People are friendly, so I had several conversations, one with a boy who was coming home from school.  He fishes there too, and showed me where he got line tangled in a tree.  Another older lady asked all about what I caugt there, if I had to get a license, how big the fish were that I caught, etc. Home for supper.


Wednesday - Weather: High 82, low 61. Partlyly cloudy. Wind SW 6.
After early breakfast, we left about 6:45 to go to meet Thiele's at Titusville near the ocean. We are going bird-watching at Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge next to the Space Center.  Contained within a 35-mile barrier island, there are 5 to 10 unpaved driving trails, the longest about 10 miles, and also 7 foot trails, the longest about 5 miles.  We walked a 1/4 mile trail at the visitor center, looking for a painted bunting, and a 1 mile one looking for scrub jays, but we had no luck. However, we saw millions of ducks, herons, egrets, etc. (46 different species) and several large alligators. Some new duck species for me, and some beautiful sights across the marshy areas.  We went back into town (only about 2 miles) for lunch at Dixie Crossroads.  Allan and Roberta had been there before on recommendation of some locals, and it is a very popular place.  I had scallops, and the other three had variations of shrimp, all very good.  They have a great menu, and serve powdered-sugar-coated corn fritters immediately when you sit down.  They are excellent, and we could have made a meal out of them.  We finally wound up our bird watching at about 5:30 and left for home.  Unfortunately, we had to drive through a terrific thunderstorm, and I tried a different way back, made a wrong turn at one spot, so it took us about 2 hours to get home (should be less than one hour).  They finally got some much needed rain, but I wish it would have happened AFTER we were home in bed!

Thursday - Weather: High 86, low 66. Partly cloudy. Wind SW 13.
Very warm, but nice breeze, so it feels good in the shade.  Early afternoon, we went to Panera Bread for our treat.  They have the best strawberry scone (although their coffee is not quite up to Starbucks!!)  Next we went to get groceries and look for a birthday present for Daniel at WalMart.  In the past, we always flew home for his birthday (Feb. 14), but this year we didn't since they are coming for a week starting Saturday.  We are anxious to see them all - they are staying in a small one bedroom unit here at Cypress Palms. We will be going to Disney (Daniel, just turned four, is anxious to see Mickey Mouse) and to Universal Studios (Ben, now 10, is anxious to see the Harry Potter stuff).  We can't wait to see the boys responses to the theme parks.

NOT MINE - TAKEN BY ALLAN THIELE

Glossy ibis, one snowy egret.  We don't see these very often.  Most ibis are white.

Up close, they have purple and pink gloss on the wings.

Hooded merganser.  Uncommon.  New species for me.

Female hooded merganser.

Very fat alligators.  Left one is really big!

Northern shovelers.  Note big bill.  Pushes its 'spatula' bill

through the water to strain out food.  New species for me.

Sleeping ducks on a small island.

Part of a large group of American avocets. 

Note how shallow the water is.

Close-up of avocets.  Notice up-curved bill.

Northern pintail.  You can see where the name comes from.

Young roseate spoonbills (one immature ibis in the middle)

The immature spoonbills have much paler pink color.

















Friday - Weather: High 81, low 62. Mostly cloudy, scattered showers. Wind SW 7.
Everyone slept late, since we didn't get to bed until after midnight.  Late morning, we went for a walk around the resort.  For lunch, we went to Celebration and ate at the Irish Pub.  (I got to have a Guiness!!)  We took a long walk along the 3 lakes, came back to downtown, and stopped at the ice cream shop. (That could get to be a bad habit!) We came back to the resort, rested, had a lite supper, and then went to the Florida mall.  Ladies did some shopping, Bob went to Starbucks, got coffee, and read his book.


Saturday - Weather: High 83, low 67. Mostly cloudy. Wind S 6. 20% chance of rain.
Late morning, we went to Sea World, ate lunch there, saw the Shamu show - it's always very entertaining.  Walked around, looked at other exhibits, looked at the nice landscaping, and late afternoon had some ice cream.  Home for supper after a stop at Walmart.  Diane took the girls swimming after dark, but it's still warm out, and the pool is heated.  They said there were not very many people swimming.  Grandma and grandpa were tired out, so we stayed in the unit and watched TV.  (At least grandma watched - grandpa watched with his eyes closed!!)


Sunday - Weather: High 82 , low 49. Isolated showers. Wind SW 22. 40% chance of rain.
Late morning, we went to Disney's BoardWalk and had lunch outside at Big River Grille.  Disney's BoardWalk is designed after the boardwalks that were famous during the turn of the 20th century along such coastal cities as Coney Island and Atlantic City, and it has shops, restaurants and nightclubs.  There is a small lake with a nice walk around it, with branches to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.  We walked around part of it and rode the boat that traverses the lake with several stops at the resorts and theme parks.  Very windy, threatened rain, but it didn't happen (thank goodness). Before leaving BoardWalk, we had to stop and have ice cream. (That's 3 days in a row - is that enough to say it's a habit?)  Lite supper here, and then the girls went to the pool.  They leave very early tomorrow morning, and we are sad to see them go.  It's so nice to have them visit and wish they could stay.

Brooke and Paige near the entrance to BoardWalk. 

This whole area has beautiful flowers everywhere.

The Beach Resort at Boardwalk has a man-made beach on the lake with very fine white sand.

Watching the girls on the beach.  (You can see how windy it is.)

In the background, you can see a little of the Beach Resort.  It has a great swimming pool area, with play areas with sand for little kids and a big slide for the big kids.

Eating lunch outside on the boardwalk.

Eating ice cream outside before we left BoardWalk.



NOT MY PICTURE, COPIED FROM WEBSITE.

This is the area near the entrance that has shops and restaurants.  At the bottom right is the restaurant where we had lunch.  You can see the boat that transfers you around the area at the dock.

NOT MY PICTURE, COPIED FROM WEBSITE.

View from the beach at the Beach Rsort, looking back to the area of shops and restaurants.  In the far background is the Swan hotel.



NOT MY PICTURE, COPIED FROM WEBSITE.

Looking back toward the entrance and area of shops and restaurants.