Tony and Laura
Laura in the winter of her discontent suffering from the coldest weather in Florida since the 1980’s. Claims to have frostbite. Dad, turn up the heat. Didn’t happen. This is Florida after all!
Saturday, December 30, 2017 Carol retrieved Tony ( Der Schweigersohn) and Laura (Die Tochter ) from the Tampa Airport while Bill worked at his volunteer job as a Starter at a local golf course. Hoping to escape the frigid below zero temperatures in their home state of Wisconsin the adventurous twosome arrived in time to experience a rare cyclone bomb that dropped temperatures into the 30’s. Brrrrrrrr...
Tony and Laura seen here praying to Saint Sebaldus patron saint of protection against cold weather. Lost in the the forest on a bitterly cold night the saint came upon a small cottage in a clearing. He was invited to share a place near the fireplace where a meager fire was loosing the battle to warm the bone chilled saint. He asked if they could add more wood but the couple had so little remaining they could not. The saint instructed the wife (Bill likes this part) to go outside and collect as many icickes as possible from under the eves while simultaneously keeping the chips and dip coming. When she returned he placed the icicles in the fireplace. In no time they had a jolly fire blazing. Hence people pray to Saint Sebaldus to protect them from the cold. Please let usbeat Dan at pool. And, please make dad keep us in in the will.
New Year’s Eve we watched the Buccaneers play their last game of the season. Carol got tickets in the nosebleed section. Unbeknownst to her the seats were in Saints section. We were surrounded by Saint worshipers. Tony and Laura taught kids of Saints fans to say “BAY!” In response to the first part of the buccaneer cheer: TAMPA! Half the crowd yells TAMPA and the reply by the other half is BAY. The parents moved or went home. Yep, took their children with them.
Half way through the fourth quarter Bill says, ok, we’re going home. Gotta beat the traffic. Causes Tony and Laura to miss one of the best buccaneer come backs of the season. 31 to 24! Bucs win. Laura reports play by play from her phone as we drive home. Reminds Bill of the old days listening to the Brooklyn Dodgers on the radio in his bedroom on a school night. Now batting the Duke of Flatbush Duke Snider.....BILLY ARE YOU LISTENING TO THAT RADIO AGAIN? No, mom.....Carol gives Bill the third degree for leaving early. Bill daydreams about Duke Snider.
Class, what do you think your parents have in common? Yes, Tony? They don’t want any more children teacher....
We visited Heritage Village in Largo. 21 acres or so of historic buildings. This is the house of seven gables. Alice is not the resident ghost here. It is somebody else. Of course, you knew that because in high school you read Nathaniel Hawthorne‘s book the house of the seven Gables. Many of the buildings are from the 1800’s and turn of the century. We had a 30 minute guided tour of this building. The inside was built with hearts pine. It is the inner most section of pine and is so hard termites can’t munch on it. A short slide show follows:
McGough Nature Park in Largo Fl. Collection of injured owls, hawks, and eagle. Laura walked an owl around the park. No kidding. They walk the owls. Picture to follow:
They like to get the owls out of the cage each day if possible. Volunteers take the owls for a walk. Here Laura gets ready to take her newfound friend for a hike.
Tampa aquarium. Laura, Duck!
Tony’s new best bud, Tony. Slide show follows.
Do fish have homework?
The answer follows:
Bill had 6 layers on, Tony 5. The dynamic duo won $24! Not talking about the second day they played golf. Pitiful! Heat wave melts asphalt after this picture was taken. Ok, maybe not. Hypothermia at work here.
Carol teaching Laura the rudiments of making pizza crust. Pizza explodes in oven.
Sunday. Waiting for the 2 PM dolphin boat departure Saint John’s Pass. Where’s Tony?
Out into the Gulf of Mexico in search of bottlenose dolphins. We were riding on a large pontoon boat.
Pirate ship in the bay. Pirate captain nods to Tony-one pirate to another.
Dolphin’s on the starboard side!
Family Golf Outing: if you both have noodles what difference does it make which one you get?
This isn’t my Noodle. These guys are impossible!
You do the hokey pokey this way, Bill. you put your right foot in, you take your right foot out, you put your right foot in, and you shake it all about...
The shots just kept getting more difficult as we reached the back nine!
Never take a sleeping pill and laxative on the same night.
The game is on the line! Results: Laura 95, Tony 85, Dan 82, Bill 69.
Wednesday, 1/10 Lowry Zoo, Tampa Bay. All the monkeys aren’t in the zoo, every day you meet quite a few....
At birth this is what Laura looked like. Cute, yes?
Is there life after death? Jump this fence and find out.
Looking for the missing missionary Dr. Livingston, these intrepid explorers prepare to embark into the deepest darkest interior of Africa.....slide show follows:
What’s going on back there?
Deeper into the “Jungle”....Slide show:
Laura’s eloquence requires no written caption.
Charles Darwin was spot on...still looking for Dr. Livingston.
Florida Wildlife Area! Aquatic Center. Affectionate Nose Kissing fish greets Carol...slide show follows:
Saturday, January 13, 2018, the Woods are on the way back to the frozen tundra of Wisconsin. Despite record breaking arctic weather deep into Florida, these intrepid vacationers had good times, good food, and interesting sites to see and experience. Stay safe and warm. Warm weather is only 5 months away in polar Wisconsin. Save your rubles for another go at it next year with, we hope, a few new wrinkles. Luv U guys.