Our Home in Bonita Springs, Florida

Chuck and I have been in our new home for four days, now.  So far, we have enjoyed the area and also the warm weather---little humidity and lots of sunshine.  Unfortunately, I came down with a cold but staying put in the house is not a hardship.  What is a hardship is trying to keep all germs away from Chuck who, as many of you know, is susceptible to pneumonia. 
Oscar is adjusting well to his new surroundings.  In fact, we were a little worried about him what with being drugged and on a plane for three hours.  Then the poor dog would be plunked into an unfamiliar house.  Because of the hour of arrival, 6:00 p.m., we hadn't eaten dinner, so we decided that we would go to a local outdoor restaurant at Coconut Point and take Oscar with us.   If any of you have been there, you'll know that Coconut Point is one of the most beautiful outdoor malls in North America.  With five or six restaurants to choose from, we decided to go to the Blue Water Bistro.  Oscar was fussed over by all of the servers and given a little bowl of water but he sure stuck close to Chuck's leg---it was all a little overwhelming for him.  He had the intense look of fear in his eyes---worried that Chuck and I would go poof into thin air and he'd be left alone in this strange and foreign land; although, he had been to Florida more than a few times.  He has always been suspicious when he sees suitcases laying about on the floor of our bedroom at home and usually, the sight of them means Aw-w, they're leaving me, again  for Oscar.  He's been quite happy and obedient here.  We think he's fearful of being sent back to Canada if he isn't well-behaved---that is assuming he has thoughts.  It surely is what his body language conveys.

     Oscar knows how to get comfortable and feel secure.                                 

  This is the living-room.  The cabinet faces our couch and two chairs.                            

Living-room.  In background, where people are standing, that's the dining-room area.                

        Our lanai faces the ninth hole of the women's tee blocks. Beyond that is a lake. As this open area faces directly east, we can have a view of the sunrise.              .

   Master Bedroom ~bathroom to the right.

   Partial view of the pool area ~ bathroom door leads out to pool as does the living-room sliding doors.                            

   Our kitchen ~ we like that everything is on one floor.                                    

   The guest bedroom is a good size

 Living-room
The photos on my blog aren't of all of the rooms in our house.  The dining-room, study/third bedroom/ kitchen nook, ( where we eat) and also the bathrooms (but if anyone is really curious about the bathrooms, I will post them on my next blog. )  How interesting can a bathroom really be, though?---essential but not very interesting.

Our Home in Bonita Springs, Florida

As I wasn't able to keep up my blog during our European vacation, I am posting a few of Graham's most enjoyable memories and ours. 
At Landal I learned, for the first time, just how skilled Graham was on the trampoline.  I watched with wonder and awe as he did perfect back flips, landing on his feet and straight as an arrow---close to a perfect 10!  So glad he had something to burn off all of his energy.
He was introduced to his first glass of Sinas, when we arrived in Holland, and like the other two grandchildren, he was hooked.
My favorite photo of the entire holiday was the one of Graham and the dog.  We met he and his owner while walking in one of the squares in Venice.  The woman was throwing a ball but when the dog saw Graham, he saw a potential new playmate and after catching a throwb ball laid it at Graham's feet.  Graham took up the challenge and threw it many meters.  Back he came but this time to Chuck (the dog merely looked at me as if to say "I can tell she can't throw the ball high enough let alone far enough".  That was fine with me because I was able to take the above photo of Graham winding up for another toss.  This went on for fifteen minutes until we all relized the dog was not going to tire.  We patted him "good-bye".  He looked longingly after Graham but doggy had to be satisfied with his few minutes of joy playing ball with these Canadian tourists.

A Few of Our Favorite Things on our Vacation

From Holland to Venice and Our Adriatic Cruise

The boys went off on a bike trip in the a.m. (Wed.).  Graham was interested in visiting the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam so we set off in the early afternoon.  The lineup was 30-40 minutes long with throngs of people milling about.  It was worth the wait and took us about 1 hour to get through it.  I had a hard time keeping up with Graham and felt like I was a kid trailing after my father.  I know Graham enjoyed this exhibit.  He didn't say much but I soon found out that when Graham took pleasure in something, his smile became so broad that it almost reached his two ears.

Venice ~ August 26, 2012