This 'n That

So here it is, January 2015.  So far, this has been a quite year.  All 23 days of it ;)  We drove down to Florida for Christmas and came back in time to jump in the Yough on January 1st (once again, Aidan chickened out).

Christmas was great, though the kids had conflicting schedules and didn't get to see each other except for a few minutes at the Starbucks where Sam works.  I'll have to make sure that doesn't happen again as I know both were not too happy about that.

Before heading to Lake Placid, I wanted to stop once again in Hatchbend to look for my Great Great Grandpa's grave.  With the help of Google Earth and another website, I FINALLY FOUND IT!  I am still quite perplexed as to why he's buried in a cemetery with no other relatives, when there are at least 3 in the town that have some kin planted in them.  Anyway, so happy to have finally found your final resting place, Grandpa!

Goofus tried to climb over the fence and got stuck

We also found 3 new Springs for our list:

Branford Springs (I'd obviously seen this one before).  Pretty, but you can tell not the healthiest of springs.

Troy Springs is probably a much prettier place when there aren't thunderstorms and rain.

Divers getting ready to do the caves

Ruth Springs was unexpected.  A little tricky to get to, no signs or anything.  Again, I think if the weather had been nicer, the spring itself would've looked nicer.

The weather was warm. George went fishing with Rusty.  He didn't catch a fish and managed to lose one of his Croc's.  I didn't shed a tear over the loss, but I think George did.  He also managed to take the kayak out at the end of our street and paddle around Lake Francis for a while.

We saw downtown Sebring decked out in it's usual Christmas decorations.

We got to spend a little time with a good friend.

And we met up with my sister and her husband for lunch at Don Jose's (VERY good place!).

We also got to finally meet my cousin, Rob for the first time.  He's a super nice guy and funny, too!  He told us tales of living in Australia and different things about his job.  So, so glad to finally meet him in person.  And he's a real cousin, too!  Not a second or a third, but a first cousin, so it was very special getting to know him a bit.
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A few random pics from our trip...

As we headed home, I got a text from a friend who asked about camping places in Highlands County.  They were going to be up there for a few days doing some hiking and canoeing (or was it kayaking?).  I offered them our place if they couldn't find any camping spots.  Well, they camped one night at Fisheating Creek, but it was a bit noisy for them, so they ended up camping out in our front yard.  I'm sure that put some weird thoughts in our neighbor's heads, but ya know what?  WHO CARES?!?!

So Happy New Year, everyone!