My Wife Went To Panama City For Spring Break And All I Got Was A Shirt!

The conquering heroine comes back to San Jose Airport. Her plane ride was alright, and did not land on any strange islands with smoke monsters.

The kids ran over to greet her.

Every angle must be photographed!

Come on Delta, It was only one flight, and you still manage to get a tear on the bag? This was a carry-on bag, but on the small plane from Atlanta to Panama City and back, they do have to put bags in cargo. They managed to put this on her bag.

Now for the fun stuff! A Shirt.

A nice cool hat.

A shell covered box.

Another shirt...

Here is the shirt I got.

I did get a visit from someone in Southern California, so I guess that counts for something. Plus, it's a Kramer sighting, and it just might have been a real one, too! Don't remember that light green shirt, though.

Top Secret Florida Trip!

Well, I finally made it out to Florida to visit most of the Kramers, minus Eddie. So how was the first day? It rained the entire first day, so all we did was just hang around and talk. Oh, and one of the children beat me at the game of Clue. Morning came and night came, the first day.

Here are loading up the Huge white Van with all the kids, and heading off to the beach.

Their nice, big, beautiful house in Florida.

Nothing says, "You're in the South!" like a Waffle and Omelet House. I tried to convince my hostess to go to one, but was advised against it. I did get treated to Chick-fil-et (or however you spell it) twice, however.

Finally on the beach. Calm, clear water all around, no crashing waves. A good deal warmer than California beaches.

The best thing about going to the beach? Chips!

Kids at play on the beach. Insert your own Neville Shutte joke here.

Lots of big cargo ships passing by.

The infamous Potty Skittles.

Club La Vela. You can't see it very well, but there is a sign that is cut off on the right that said, "PARTY WITH THOUSANDS!." Why was it cut off? I got to go on a tour of the Bay in Panama City on what was called a Sea Screamer, a really fast boat. Ostensibly it was to see Dolphins in the bay, and there were quite a few of them. However, they were pretty fast, and was not able to get pictures of them. Panama City is known as a Spring Break destination, although it was starting to wind down by the time I got there.

Juan wants to come here next year and party with thousands.

Here is a picture of someone else doing something exciting.

New Pier being built in Panama City.

So of course every one has to wave at the construction workers. Neat thing about the boat tour, the driver let all the kids on board have a turn at driving the boat.

Margaret pulling a towel over her head. She looks like a cute little Russian Babushka.

Cupcakes! We had a Tea Party after Mass on Sunday, so some food was prepared.

The table was arranged with care, in hopes that Saint Ni.... Oops.

Here are some of the kids enjoying the Tea Party.

The next day we went out to this State Park that used to be the summer recreation spot of an Alabama Textile Company. and it was gorgeous, with clear blue water, charming little cottages, swooping dunes, and a big lagoon. And if my camera had not died, you would be seeing pictures of Camp Helen State Park. Hey, Kramers, do you have any pictures?

And so after a yummy pot roast dinner, my last day with the Kramers ended. The next day it was back home to California, where my family and huge piles of laundry awaited me. Hey, at least they were able to feed themselves. Barely.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve around here on the Central Coast of California was a pleasant experience, as we were invited to a Bon Fire and Weenie Roast (insert your own jokes here) at the house of some friends near Salinas. Great company and Great Food!

The fire was kept going by just about all the kids who came.

There is nothing like bouncing on a Trampoline at 8 PM at night!

Thank you Flanders Family for a great time!

Have Another One, Eddie!

Finally, I was able to upload this picture.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! ( a few days late)

Monday was Canadian Thanksgiving. The Lawrences very kindly invited us over for an early Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. Our roving photographer was there!

Tracey cooked us a fantastic dinner.

We had turkey, stuffing, and all the usual goodies.

Kranberries Kourtesy of the Kramers. We still have enough left for U.S. Thanksgiving and German re-unification day. What were you going to do with them all, Teresa?

And best of all was having a Thanksgiving completely free of parades and Christmas sales!

Thank you Lawrences, for a terrific evening!