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Published: March 8th 2021
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Yep...We are still here and thinking of you. How long has it been since we have chatted? A LOOOOONG time. Since we last spoke, a couple exciting events occurred......the rest were more routine, repetitive but pleasant doings. So let’s catch up, shall we? Hope all has been fine with all of you.
On February 1st, we were blessed with the birth of our second great-grandson, Luke Michael Knapp. Alan and Brittany Knapp are his devoted parents. Luke struggled to be born. His cord was around his neck and he needed resuscitation. He responded well but, to be on the safe side, he was transferred to the big Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, NY. Here they put him on the cooling device to insure his brain would have no issues. It was set at 92’... brrrr for such a wee one. He was on it steady for 72 hours. Brittany and Al stayed there with him.....going to a Ronald McDonald house for occasional rest. What a wonderful service it is for stressed and weary parents. Luke was put through all the necessary tests and all results were good results. Hallelujah! They all returned home after a week. All three of them were
strong warriors. Luke is just fine and has no problems. Hallelujah! We are all so blessed. Brittany sends us photos on a regular basis. Luke is so cute and growing so fast each day. We are so excited to meet him when we go North. We’re coming, Luke! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
And remember, we also have another adorable great-grandson, Henry, to meet. We are always so happy to receive photos of him from his parents, Amber & Ryan. What a cutie he is. Amber is a photographer so she gets him posed just right. He is going to win first place in a baby contest...no doubts. We’re coming, Henry. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
We ate at a restaurant in Old Town. Noticed a new little shop across the way. It’s called Sugars Gallery. WOW! It sells so many different, yummy, sweet treats. Their tables are shaped like big cupcakes. If you need a sugar high......stop by! Lulu wanted to hang out for hours....Miss Piggy!
Marilyn Monroe was a resident of our park for awhile. What a great attraction....for awhile. Friends behind us said their son (who was visiting) bought Marilyn at an antique shop. She displayed herself in front of their camper.
Sandy and Mary (son’s mother) posed with this glamour girl. Lulu was sooooo disappointed she didn’t get to be with her. I forgot. Lulu is still glaring at me. The management made them cover MM and put her away. Why?? Have they seen some of the bathing suits at the pool? It was nice for awhile.
Our foursome adventured out (which is not so much our norm this year) last week. We went to the yummy Parksdale Strawberry Market where you get the mega shortcakes anyway you want them. I get their ice cream and strawberries. They always top it with whipped cream that I forget to tell them to hold. Sandy gets the strawberry milkshake. Sam gets just the cake and ice cream and whipped cream. Cory gets the full Monty. They are sooooo good! Alas, poor Lulu had a sore throat and nursed it at home. The ice cream might have made it feel better. Too bad.
Coming home, we had heard of a brand new RV campground resort that has been built near Auburndale (where we sometimes go to a Flea Market). It is called Cabana Club. It was gorgeous. It isn’t quite done but
the majority of it is. When completed, it will have cottages all around the perimeter. The RV sites are perfect. They have full amenities and a huge pool plus splash pad. We wish them well in their endeavor.
Continuing home, we stopped at an Amish shop. Full of jams, jellies, sauces, etc. They also had tons of lighted white Christmas decorations. An alligator decoration only cost $225. We did not load up, especially after seeing their sign on the cheese refrigerator.....at least they are honest about selling expired food....wouldn’t “aged” have been a better word? And forget their honesty. On a bag of chips priced $4.xx, they put a sticker over it for $5.40.....plus it was expired. Bought nothing!
We are fortunate to have many talented people in our park who are willing to share their knowledge with the rest of us. Of course, you already know about famous Art. The other day, a favorite friend, Joe Rossi, put on an informational seminar for those interested to attend. He is a licensed funeral director in Ohio. He has personally helped several campers in our park who have lost a spouse while here at Tropical Palms. He was a
God-send for them. His presentation is what to do if a spouse dies while camped in Florida and you need to get the body or cremains and RV and toad home. He uses FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) as one choice to select. They pay and assist with so many of the tasks that need to be done. We belong to it after listening to an earlier presentation by Joe. He is an excellent speaker and offers so much of his knowledge to all of us. Thank you, Joe, for being such a kind helper during one of the most difficult times in our lives.
Pay-Up time! Yup.....remember way back when there was the Super Bowl? Remember that Sam & Cory always bet on who will win? This time, Sam won! So we had to pay-up. First we thought about dinner at Cherry Pocket but haven’t had good reviews on it now. Rats. So we switched to an extreme and went to The Cheesecake Factory. Good decision, for sure. Food was delicious and surroundings gorgeous. I had my favorite: calamari....what a pile they gave me....had to take some home. Sandy got her favorite: lettuce wraps. Sam & Cory got
their meatloaf. Sam topped our meals off with his favorite hot fudge sundae....with 4 spoons. Boy, we were so full when we crawled out of there. Now, onto next year.
I know I wasn’t going to mention my most recent knee replacement.....but inquiring minds want to know....right? I’m still going to physical therapy. My therapist came up with a new procedure. She used a device that looks like brass knuckles but no knuckles.....it has a blunt blade on it. She then puts lotion on my legs and scrapes my legs ( both & front and back) like she’s skinning a hog. OMG! First it felt kind of nice but then she leaned into it.....and wowee...owwwie! I had to bury my head in my pillow. Next visit, she said “what have you done to your legs??” They were all bruised, especially the backs. Then she said it must have been from the hog skinning move. And then she repeated the maneuver all over again. Yowwie! Third visit, I wore long pants and told her that was to prevent her from skinning me again. Of course, this procedure lossens my muscles but now we are doing a different “massage”. Thank God.
I know some of the activities I do aren’t supposed to be always gentle and easy and they aren’t.....but the hog skinning almost sent me to the ER trauma room. I didn’t share my bruised legs picture with you.....I knew you would cry in sympathy for me. Instead, here is a picture where the hospital is and a portion of our campground (red circle...doesn’t show the entire place). Now you can see how close we are to the hospital for the many trips we make there for my PT visits.
This is the ending for this blog. Hope it finds you well and happy. See you next blog. Toot-to-loo. Remember to see all 28 photos....they are on 3 Pages.
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DeAnne McKay
non-member comment
Hellooooooo
Sounds like torture instead of pt! Love the new great grands congrats ?!!!!