"Home" for a Visit

We finished up our season at Everglades National Park on April 13th. We are the last of the seasonal volunteers to leave this year. With the temperatures getting warmer, the humidity getting higher and the bugs getting hungrier....I can see why everyone leaves by the end of April!!

Our first visit "Home" was to drive over to the west coast and see Kathleen's parents in Fort Myers.  Because this season we only had two days off together, Kathleen made most trips to see the Stanley's by herself, so it was nice to have Fred along for this final visit of the season.  It was good to see Dad in better health and we hope that he continues to improve. We also enjoy all the great home cooked meals that Mom provides.  Of course we also were able to get some good Chicago style pizza from Aurelio's in Fort Myers!!

We made arrangements to leave the RV at our spot in the Everglades while we traveled to see family. So it was a quick trip back to the RV to do laundry and repack for our flight to Chicago on April 16th.

Luckily for us, we arrived before the rain did but it was a rude awakening from sunny and dry to record breaking rain and flooding.  

It's amazing how fast the grandchildren grow.

Isn't she a cutie!!!

We had agreed to watch our 15 month old granddaughter Tia the day after we arrived.  Thankfully, there were two of us, because she can wear you out! The next morning we watched Tia and her big brother Jonas.

On Thursday we drove down to Homewood, avoiding the flooded highway and streets. We stayed with Fred's parents there for the rest of our visit.

Fred's sister Patricia arrived from California so we had fun seeing her again. It was a busy weekend with several parties.  On Saturday, there was a bridal shower for our youngest daughter Jennifer who is getting married in June.

Kathleen, Jen and future MIL Margo

 It was an interesting gathering of women from the Stanley's, the Gold's, the Witkowsky's and the Totsch's. Jen looked like the beautiful bride and received lots of wonderful gifts.

On Sunday April 21st, we celebrated Fred Gold Sr's 94th birthday with a family dinner at Carlo's in Chicago Heights.

Esther and Fred Gold Sr

Thanks Julie for the wonderful cake!!

A few doctor's visits, visits with neighbors and a tour through our old house rounded out the trip. 

We are back in the everglades for a few days packing and getting ready to hit the road.  I promise I'll be good and share the rest of our adventures.