Merry Christmas from Sunny and WARM Florida

Just wanted to wish everybody a merry christmas and so did someone else -- I have a guest blogger:



Hi it's Hayden. My favorite toy was The American Girl Theater. It was cool. Very cool. I got new NancyDrew books.
I got AmericanGirl perfume. I also got a bike. I love my gifts. Bye,


(man could she BE any cuter? i did not edit this at all. she made sure all the words were spelled right! and here she is with her american girl theater.)

Anyway, we're having a great time down here in South Florida. i think it's the only place in the country that is actually WARM and i am not complaining. Kyle and his fam came down from Charlottesville. and my parent's are here too. it's been a blast.

a few highlights:

-i got to meet kristopher for the first time. we bonded instantly -- probably because he knew we shared the same name. (see this post if you don't know what i am talking about.)




-hayden and anders are totally addicted to wii bowling and baseball. it's hilarious.

-kelsey has finally made peace with pumpkin and grover. she doesn't freak out and cry every time they come near her. and she does sign language for dog about 20 times a day along with cat. (And she LOVES melly.)

-we had an amazing christmas dinner, and yes, the crown jewel was served by yours truly.

-my dad continues to school us all in rummy. i swear i don't know how he does it but he just kills us all every time we play. he's so freaking lucky.

-hayden played a big kid game (10,000) and actually beat me, kevin, kyle and my dad! no kidding. she was so excited.

i could go on and on forever so i'll just leave it at that for now. one day left before i break this party up and head to milwaukee to watch KC skate this weekend.

hope everyone had a great day. i am truly blessed with such a great family and friends. merry christmas everyone!

(the grandkids)

Can you actually walk your legs off?

Because i think i almost did in Singapore.

I started off my next day on these Cable Cars that went over the water onto an island called Sentosa. It was really, really pretty and there was a lot to do there. I walked around the island a bit, went on a little Luge ride and then went to Underwater World -- a sea aquarium that a lot of local people had told me about. And i can't lie, it kinda blew. I could almost spit from the entrance to the exit. It took me 20 minutes to walk through the whole thing. I mean, there were a few cool things there but it was just really small compared to some things here in the US. Not worth my time or money. I wish i had just done more stuff on the island instead. But i had no more time to explore the island because i had places to go and people to see.

So I headed off to Little India and Arab Street for a little more local flavor. I walked around a bit and went into a bunch of shops. A lot of silks and things like that. Then i stopped at this little indian shop to eat. And here's what i learned in Little India. 1. They are NOT messing around when it comes to spices. 2. Don't forget kleenex, you need them for said spices. 3. Green tea helps with the burn, but ice cream afterwards helps even more. :)

I walked around pretty much the rest of the day (like over 6 more hours). Saw all these temples and stuff. And crazy people waving incense and flowers and throwing coins for buddha. And I kept walking. And then I just kept walking even more. I walked so much I thought my legs might fall off. Literally. I mean, i got to the point where if i think if i took another step, i might have died. So i did want any bright young lady would do in the same situation...i got a massage. Oh yes. Oh yes.

Tokyo report coming up next.