Our winter holiday in FL - Part 1

Kendra's parents miss the boys SOOOO much! When they heard that Kendra had to be in FL the first week of Jan for work, they decided we all had to come visit them in FL for the holidays. Since we are away this year anyway, Kendra's parents have rented a house and a golf cart in The Villages, FL for the months of Dec-Mar. We arrived late Saturday Dec 21 and stayed for just over 2 weeks. The weather was very variable - typical for FL in Dec - some days it was sunny and 80 degrees F and other days it rained and was 50 degrees F.

Notice the decals on the front of the rental?
That's what happens when you befriend strangers everywhere you go!

For those of you who have not yet heard of The Villages, it is a retirement community in central FL that boasts almost 100,000 residents over the age of 50, something like 40 golf courses, and many pools and recreation centers. There are 3 "Village" centers each with its own theme and daily activities -- Sumter Landing (central, New England style), Spanish Springs (north, obviously Spanish style), Brownwood (south, Country Western style). Here's a map of the area: http://goo.gl/maps/L1p2O that has a marker for The Villages and another for where we stayed. The house that Kendra's parents are renting backs up to one of the many Village golf courses and when the weather was warm enough, we would sit out on the lanai to relax and take in the views and fresh air. Here are a couple of pix from there:

We saw quite a few Sandhill Cranes on the golf course.

What a nice place to relax...

One of its features that The Villages is known for is its residents' use of golf carts. There are golf cart paths and lanes throughout the development so that residents can drive their golf cart everywhere (yep, to get groceries or go to the doctor as well), which the boys LOVED. We used our 4-seater golf cart to go out and about day and night. In fact, the 2nd day we were there, Kendra and her Mom took it to Publix and barely made it home, there were SO many groceries in it! Unfortunately, our golf cart was a bit on the slow side...but, at least the battery lasted a long time (one night Kendra's parent's golf cart ran out of juice!). Here are some pictures of us either in or from the cart:

On Christmas Eve, we took the carts out for a light tour to see the holiday decorations.

Following Kendra's parents around The Villages...

One day, we went to Sumter Landing for a bit - no...Watson is not driving!

This is what the streets look like - there are normal parking spots,
some taken by one car and others by 2 golf carts.

During our time at The Villages, we cooked lots of yummy food, some of which we had never made before, like a Crown Roast of Pork (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/crown-roast-of-pork-recipe.html) and peanut butter pie. Yum! Watson and Jubin went to see Frozen, Jubin and I had a couple hours of alone-time at Sumter Landing, we all went together to all 3 of the Village centers, we visited with Kendra's Uncle Andy and his wife Terry (they own a home there), and we went to the pool about 4 times (whenever it was warm enough to swim), where we also played shuffle board and bocce ball. Jubin and I also got to run together 4 times, which we really enjoyed - we haven't been able to do that together for a LONG time!

Brownwood Village Center

Walking on the Sumter Landing boardwalk.

Dad at the pool napping...too bad he was sick for most of our visit!

While we were in FL, MI experienced a terrible ice storm followed by arctic cold and lots of snow. Some of our friends were without power for over a week! Luckily, our house in Lansing didn't lose power and our neighbors were able to give us periodic updates (the family renting our house was also in FL for the holiday break). The weather in MI certainly made us appreciate the relative warmth in FL, even when it was only in the 40's!