First night babysitting

We had our first official night babysitting our granddaughter, Chloe.  She is a sweetheart, and spent most of her time sleeping.  She is now 5 weeks old.  What do infants do at this age?  Oh yea, eat, sleep, and pee.  None the less, she has the perfect cheeks for the many kisses doled out. :)



Clif enjoyed his bonding time.



When Valerie went to leave, the car didn't start.  She and Chloe came back inside to wait for Michael.
Chloe looks as if to say, "back here again?  I was just here!"



While they were waiting, Valerie emailed this shot she'd taken earlier this week.

Talents

I had an epiphany of sorts the other day when I was watching Michael make a table for a friend at work.  I realized why it is that God wants us to use and share our talents.  It brings Him much joy to see us utilize the talents we've been gifted with.  My heart was overjoyed witnessing Michael's talent be put to use!  It was then that I made the connection that that must be how God feels when we exercise our gifts!  As I watched Michael, I saw how his giftedness falls from Clif's tree.  I admired the time he took and due care to make sure it would be just right for his colleague.  The joy I felt was overwhelming.






Then I reflected on the many conversations I've had with Stephen.  Stephen has been busy building a model railroad at his place.  I had yet to see it.   Wanting to experience the same joy I felt with Michael in his hobby, I asked Stephen if I can come and see how his project was coming along.  Today was my opportunity, and it did not disappoint!  I was amazed at how much detail he is putting into his project.  The thought and execution of his ideas are amazing.  My heart once again swelled with joy as I listened to Stephen's excitement in showing me what has been completed so far, and what is yet to come.  I can't wait to see his final project.  I thought to myself what a great relief this must be for him after a hard stressful day of being a Trooper.   As I reflected upon this further, I realized God wants us also to be able to enjoy our gifts.  After God completed each day of creation, he said, "and it is good."  Once again, I can see.  We are created in God's image, and we can experience the same feelings that God must feel.  In awe, I also can say..."and it is good."



Amber is a much better photographer that I.



Although my flash was too bright for the distance taken, I think you can get the gist.  There really isn't white inside the tunnel.  That was created from the flash.
Notice the black bear in the bottom left corner?  He also has campers further down from this.



The picture on the wall is a puzzle he and Amber completed.  How appropriate.
I can't wait to see his finished project! :)

A visit with Grandpa

Michael, Valerie, and Chloe stopped by this afternoon.  It was great for Grandpa as this was the first time he had the opportunity to hold her!  It didn't take long to get her from the car seat into his arms.





I had a previous engagement for a graduation party of a family friend.  I spent a couple hours there catching up on the happenings of our growing children then came home so I could have my time with Chloe as well.  We had fun cooing and interacting with her. 



I am going to enjoy being a Grandma! :)

Seminole Ranch

Today Clif and I decided to hike the Seminole Ranch.  I thought it would have been in Seminole County, but actually, it is in East Orange County near the St. John's River, directly across from the Orlando Wetlands Park.  We were out on the trail by 10am and back by 1.  It was an interesting morning.





I decided to take a picture of the map and trail system in case we had issues like we did last month at The Rock Springs Preserve.  Needless to say, this map wasn't accurate AT ALL.  I was grateful that Clif had his handy GPS device because this is what kept us on the right track.  In retrospect, after having him download what we walked, we started at the You are Here, went slightly to the east, then due south.  The link that is not marked is from the bottom of the lake to the west that hooks back into the trail that is just to the west of what we walked and dead ends in the hikers note.



The parking area is right next to the pasture land.  I don't know why it didn't register in my mind that because this is the SEMINOLE RANCH, this would be a clue as to what adventure we were about to embark on!



Hazard number one...cow pies.  Forget trying to pay attention to the blazes on the trees, you were too busy watching where you were stepping!




On the trail, we were privileged to see up close and personal the calf feeding.  Mom was pretty docile which surprised us.  And no, I wasn't actually this close to the cow.  I used my zoom lens. :)  I was about 50 yards back.



Clif said he was checking for ticks.  I think he was inspecting a cow pie.



Once we went just over a 1/2 mile or so, we realized we had to scale the fence.  I'm glad the ranchman made it easy for us.


 Now it was time to get out of cow country and into the real Florida.



They had many interesting bridges to cross.



They had a camping area.  This is where we decided to eat lunch.  It was nice it had a covered pavilion as it had been spritzing for the previous 1/2 hour.  I was glad I had my compact umbrella.  It was much too humid and muggy to where a rain poncho, and I was already sweating like mad.




Before long, we came to a clearing in which we could see HWY 50 off in the distance.  The fenced area is the Christmas RV Park that you see on your way to/from the coast.



We hiked around the lake.  Part of which bordered The South Pasture Trail.  Hmmm, another clue as to what we would be getting ourselves into.


This is the area where the trail is not marked.  How do you mark pasture land?  When the cows saw us, the entire herd took off running  away from us much to our relief.  Clif having an orange shirt, and I having a red camelback could have been enticing for the bulls to charge us.  We relied on Clif's GPS to navigate us through this grassy acreage.



The herd is watching us vigilantly.  They had about 7 calves they were protecting.



Through another gate, and another herd watched as we passed by.  This herd just stared and didn't stampede away like the others.  After hugging the tree line, we were able to pass through the final gate and follow the dirt road back to the platform that helped us scale the fence.  We walked a total of 5.78 miles on this loop trail.