Mother's Day!

Mother's Day arrived and thankfully the promise of all-day rain didn't materialize. It sprinkled a little in the morning, but was otherwise clear and turned out to be a decent day. We checked in on Olivia and Skipper who were still snoozing in the garage. Olivia said he's slept well and there were no accidents, but she hadn't slept that great. I can't imagine sleeping in the garage would be too comfortable, but I'm so proud of her for wanting to comfort her puppy. We ended up just having coffee and enjoying our morning in our pajamas which was great. I felt like I really needed to take a break from eating! We walked the puppies to the end of the runway again and Skipper didn't seem that interested in walking. He would stop, sit down and watch us until he finally decided to run ahead and join us. He's so uncertain and everything is so new to him, but he seems smart and willing to learn new things. He sure loves his girls and wants to be with them.

We relaxed on the patio until our amazing Mother's Day lunch! CK Sr. grilled steaks, and Connie made baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and salad. It was SO amazing and such a great meal and celebration. Before eating, the girls helped Grandma set the table. Connie is always so amazing at setting a gorgeous table and very creative with how she decorates. She makes each meal feel very special and I think the food tastes better when it is set on a beautiful setting. The table was especially beautiful for Mother's Day and I took a picture of Connie and the girls, since they made it happen. Lunch was so good and the best part was after: sliced strawberries and vanilla ice cream on vanilla pound cake. The girls have actually never had it before and they absolutely LOVED it. I don't think I've had it in years and couldn't believe how delicious it was! Such a great ending to an amazing meal.

Connie and CK Sr. gave me a beautiful variegated pink tulip plant and a thoughtful card and the girls gave me a box of Godiva, a bag of Dove dark chocolates and two of the sweetest homemade Mother's Day cards. They had made them before we left for Florida and were very careful about hiding them so I didn't see them beforehand. They were very thoughtful and sweet and the homemade cards are always the most thoughtful.

The rest of the day we hung out, rode around on the Gator and CK took Olivia up in the Cub. We also loaded up in the Gator and drove over to see the brand new baby colt at Charlie's house across the road. He was SO adorable and his momma was completely amazed at what exactly Buddy might be. She came over to us because she wanted to sniff and figure out Buddy! The colt jumped around and tried to kick up his heels but would nearly fall over. He was so adorable!

We returned to the farm and played with the puppy, relaxed and read and enjoyed a lazy Mother's Day. For dinner we ate the leftovers from Sunny's which was just as delicious as the night before. For bed, Sofia agreed to sleep in the garage with the puppy. Lucky puppy!

One of my favorite pictures of my Mom and me. I miss her so much today and every day.

Grandma and her girls behind the beautiful table setting for Mother's Day!

Sweet girls with Grandma!

Olivia's sweet homemade Mother's Day card! So sweet!

I love her drawing at the bottom.

She wanted to quit piano a few weeks ago and I convinced her to stick it out and we also spent the past Saturday buying and planting flowers.

Sofia's beautiful card! She really worked hard on this card and I love it!

I really love the flowers and bees Sofia drew!

Sofia and her sweet sentiments! Love that girl and am so lucky I'm her Mom!

Skipper hit the lottery with these girls!!

The colt and his Mama!

Mother's Day picture. The girls and dogs and me!

The girls and me!

First family photo!

Cute pup!

Sofia driving like a maniac on the Gator! Love this picture!

Skipper and CK.

Hanging out with one of his girls while she reads.

Time for a snooze.

Olivia and her Papa going for a Cub ride.

Buddy and Skipper...the only time they have ever actually been near each other.

Puppy Fun!

Saturday was spent trying to decide on the perfect name for our new puppy. We batted around a few names including Brutus, Duke, Taz, Tyler (the original name Sofia gave him when he was 2 weeks old), Rusty, Twitch, Tucker, Pepe, and Chip. In the end, we finally agreed to Skipper, although I still find myself wanting to call him Scooter. He's so cute and so uncertain of everything. The girls have started calling him Wonder Puppy and have been teaching him how to follow them and jump from hay bale to hay bale. He's so little and clumsy and so very cute. He also adores the girls. He wants to be with them at all times and looks for them when they aren't with him. He's fine with CK and me, but he much prefers to be with his girls.

It was a beautiful day, so we mainly hung out on the patio and played with the puppy or the girls cuddled with him when he slept. Olivia also took me, or anyone who would go, on several Gator rides around the farm. She is a pretty decent driver, although she drives like a maniac! She loves it so much and can zip around the farm for hours with someone or singing loudly by herself. Of course both girls love to drive off together too, but Olivia has really become a Gator-driving fan.

In the early afternoon, CK drove the girls, Buddy, Skipper and me over to Sara and Jimmy's house so we could give them a gift card we'd bought them to thank them for the sweet puppy. Sofia called Sara yesterday to ask her how much we owe them for keeping him and Sara said we didn't owe them anything, but we felt that we needed to thank them for all they have done in keeping him for us and for letting us have him. The girls wrote a sweet thank you card and CK enclosed the gift card in it as a small appreciation. We visited with Sara and her two girls for awhile and they are such nice people! We are so lucky to have this little guy in our lives! After we said our goodbyes, CK and I took a Cub flight over Orange Lake and saw a few alligators and a lot of boats fishing! Everyone was out enjoying this beautiful day and fresh area. It was a perfect day to fly and I alway love looking over the lake and Ocala-area from the air. We stopped at a neighboring pilot's grass strip and visited with him and his wife for awhile. Then returned to the farm.

For dinner we sat out on the patio and enjoyed our favorite restaurant meal in Florida - Sunny's BBQ. CK ordered it by phone and then picked it up, since restaurants aren't yet open in Florida. Plus, it's so much nicer to enjoy it at home anyway. The food was delicious, as always and it was great to enjoy such a nice evening. It actually started to get a little cool as we sat outside and the sun went down. It was forecast to rain most of Mother's Day, starting early in the morning so we decided to move Skipper and his crate into the garage to sleep. We was very uncertain, since he has literally never been inside a house before. He was nervous and whining, so Olivia agreed to sleep next to him, sleeping on the patio cushions and a sleeping bag. It was rather stuffy and hot in the garage, but the window was open so it would likely cool down. As soon as Olivia got settled, she unlocked Skipper's crate and he bounded out to cuddle with her. Hopefully they have a sleep-filled night!

Cuddling with Sofia

Meeting the donkeys and horse at the end of the runway. Skipper was very uncertain of those BIG animals.

Sticking close to Olivia.

Running back to the patio with the BIG dog, Buddy.

He's just so cute and has such an expressive face.

I took a TON of pictures of this cutie!

With my sock after our walk....not something I want to encourage, but had to take a few more pictures...

Napping with Sofia in the shade.

Sofia is SO excited to have Skipper!

So cute!

The crazy Gator driver!

The two of us mid-trip!

Another nap....

The girls reading while Skipper sleeps.

A New Puppy!

From the time the girls discovered the puppies at Grandpa and Grandma's neighboring farm in Florida, they have talked constantly about how fun it would be to have one. Of course this talk started while we were at Fernandez Bay Village over Spring Break and the girls spend every minute they could with those cute puppies once we returned to their Grandparents' farm after Spring Break. The puppies were only 3 weeks old at that time, so they were much too young to be taken from their momma and we also weren't sold on getting a puppy, especially CK. However, I was warming to the idea. The girls continued to beg and plead and talk about those puppies until finally we agreed we would get one! They were happier than we've ever seen either of them and Sofia actually teared up because she was so happy! CK texted Sara and Jimmy, who live at the farm with the puppies and they told CK we were welcome to have one, but that there was only one male left! The girls had their little hearts set on Maggie, one of the two females, but they were the first to go and the girls quickly pivoted to being in love with whichever pup was left for them! Sara texted CK that the puppies weaned off their mom at 7 weeks and were ready to go to their new homes, however, due to the Covid-19 quarantine we were uncomfortable flying to Florida, stopping along the way, etc. Not that we were fearful of getting the virus, since we really would come into virtually no contact with anyone, but fearful that Texas might not let us return after we'd been in Florida, even though the rural county where his parents live has barely been affected. So, we waited until Mother's Day weekend to head to the farm and get our puppy. The girls counted down each day and were beyond excited! Before we left Texas Sara texted us photos of our new puppy, who the girls had originally called Tyler but that we wanted to possibly rename. Sara told us that her kids call the puppy Taz, for Tazmanian Devil! So, we might have our hands full! Olivia actually texted her cousin Sam and wrote "Tomorrow we are going to.........GET THE PUPPY! We decided on a name. "Tas" that's what they call him because he's wild. It's short for Tasmanian Devil! He's going to be a handful! Or should I say "pawful"!"

Olivia chose to do her school work before we left on Friday morning, so she woke up at 8am and got busy. She was done by 9am! Sofia actually did her work for Friday on Thursday, so she slept in and didn't even have to worry about her school work. So, we packed up our stuff and headed to the airport to fly to Florida. Thankfully we had a great tailwind, so our flight was pretty quick and easy. We packed sandwiches, Oreo cookies and waters and ate in the plane. The girls sat in the back with Buddy and read or napped. Unfortunately, Olivia's seat got stuck bent forward and Olivia had to sit folded in half. We had about 3 more hours left in our flight, and even though she said she was comfortable and it wasn't a problem, I told Olivia to come sit on my lap. The girl weighs about 80 lbs, so it was going to be a LONG 3 hours! After about an hour, she moved over to CK's lap, which was a huge relief. Just before landing, she moved back over to my lap so CK could actually land us safely. There was a pretty decent cross-wind so it was a little scary (to me, not to CK or the girls) coming in for the landing, but CK is such a great pilot he landed with ease.

As soon as we gave our hello hugs to Grandma and Grandpa, the girls were ready to go see the puppy. We moved all of our things to the house and then the girls were on the Gator heading over to see Tyler (or whatever his name will eventually be). The girls returned to take CK and I over because we just had to see "how cute he is." We arrived at the puppy's "house" which is actually a field next to Jimmy and Sara's caged cattle dogs, which now includes the puppy's mother. Since the puppy is the last of the litter, he has been running wild with two 6 month old puppies who are the same breed. The older puppies are rather rough and full of energy, so the little cutie is full contact and busy! Any time the girls would give the little puppy attention, the older two would tackle either the girls or the little puppy, or both. So, it was pretty chaotic. Along with the borrowed crate, puppies pee pads, dog bowl and food, we'd brought along one gator-shaped toy for the puppy. The girls decided to go get the toy for the puppy, which ended up being a bad idea. The older dogs chased after the puppy until he went under the truck and then attacked him. Poor guy. It was the most awful thing to listen to and be helpless in getting him away from the older puppies. Of course, then the older puppies had the chew toy and destroyed it in about five minutes! The girls were horrified by how poorly the puppy was treated and based on the scratches on his face he was routinely poorly. So, the girls decided right then that they would take him home with us instead of visiting while we are in Florida. Originally we were planning on taking him home on Tuesday morning, but we decided to improvise and figure out how to keep him at CK's parents house, without letting him in the house.

The first night the girls fed him, and he was clearly not used to having puppy food all to his own. He stretched out like he was shy and uncertain, but wolfed down all of his food in about 15 seconds! He clearly liked having food to himself! He got sleepy around 8:30pm, so the girls put him in his crate which was on CK and Connie's back patio. He wined for a few minutes and then he was asleep and comfortable.

The girls and Buddy on our way to Florida

Olivia and her Papa

Olivia and the puppy! Her smile says it all!

The puppy's mama.

Hanging out in the grass

Such a cutie!

Just hanging out with the new puppy

Papa gets a cuddle.

Buddy looking regal, as always!

The first watermelon of summer! So delicious!

A full belly and the puppy is ready to sleep.

Good night, puppy!

Olivia's list of names for the Wonder Puppy!