Grapefruit

Great Grandma Mason has not one, but two grapefruit trees in her backyard. This has always been a treat for Jimmy and I since we usually come down in January/February when the fruit is ripe for the picking. There is nothing better than fruit straight from the tree for breakfast. Great Grandma Mason would always make me fresh grapefruit juice mixed with cranberry juice - it is a delicious treat. Unfortunately being August the fruit is not quite ripe for the picking, however there was one loan fruit ready to be picked and Buster was the lucky one to get it down. His first fruit picking experience!



Here Buster is picking the grapefruit.


He held on to the grapefruit for quite a while before losing interest. Here he is with his Uncle Chris

Oceans of fun

Here are some more pictures from our trip down to Florida. On the way down, we made a stop in Daytona to visit the ocean. Thanks to it being off season Big Jim was able to find a hotel on the beach for only $66/night.

This is his first time on ocean sand. From farthest to closest is Jimmy, Big Jim, Rose, and Jimmy. I'm not in the picture as I am taking the picture :)



First steps into the ocean!! Shortly after this picture was taken he decided he was unsure of the water and demanded to be held. However, he warmed up quickly enough to the water. Out about 100 yards or so there were some dolphins swimming - scary but cool! That is our hotel directly behind us. After swimming we cleaned up and went to dinner - we ate at the Bonefish Grill, which was amazingly tasty. Then we all went for a walk on the beach after dark with drinks (and cigars for the guys (except for Buster of course, we're bad parents but not *that* bad)) Buster was having so much fun he did not go to bed until close to 11 that night! Yikes!

Welcome to Florida

On this past Monday, Jimmy's grandmother passed away peacefully. She was 86 years old and had lived a good long fulfilling life. What can I say about Grandma Mason? She was a rare breed, old south, and a loving and doting mother and grandmother. Jimmy and I tried to visit her once a year and except for this past year, we succeeded. We had planned on visiting her over Labor Day weekend so that we could have a vacation and she could meet her great-grandson, Sweet Baby James. Unfortunately for Buster, he never got the opportunity to meet his Great Grandma Mason. So...thanks to very understanding companies and bosses/team members we are in Florida at the moment to honor Grandma (her memorial service is Monday at 2pm), help Grandpa Mason, and generally be with family to relive our collective good memories. We are also trying to vacation a little and enjoy our time here in Florida. So, without further ado (adieu?) here are some pictures of our trip so far.

We drove down with Jimmy's parents, which helped us all to save money. Here we are at the Florida welcome center:

As you can tell, buster is very excited to be here!