Growing Fast

Baily at three and one half months.

Thanksgiving

We spent several days last week with Delaney, Beckett, Heather, and Frank and celebrated Thanksgiving there along with my Mom.  It was Baily's first visit away from home and he handled it quite well.  We had a fun time, culminating with a great dinner on Thanksgiving.



Baily joined right in with the fun and games.




He was very good with the kids.




A romp in the park was great fun.  The photographer chose not to run up and down the hill.




Mom and Delaney monitored the football games.




Heather made custom napkin rings.





I even managed to get into the group shot.




These didn't last long.



Tiki Bar - Key Largo

The second half of the trip we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Key Largo.  Hotel's feature attraction was their Tiki Bar.  Tiki Bar's feature attraction was the bartender, a true wanderer, and his parrot.  Bartender seemed to be an expert on everything and was very entertaining to talk to, lived on his sail boat full time, travelling from port to port.




Hampton Inn on Key Largo




Said Tiki Bar



Said Bartender



Said Parrot





A White Ibis stopped by for a round.



One of these sail boats was home sweet home for the bartender.  He had a small dingy to get back and forth.

Doug and I become quite "creative" after 5 PM.  After several rounds of Tiki treats we decided they were watered down.  We also decided the Parrot was the brains behind the operation.  As the bartender pored the booze the Parrot would squak, an apparent signal for the bartender to stop pouring.

Key West

It was the first time to the Keys for all of us, and we should have come sooner, we had a great time.  Key West is the western/southern most Key about 250 miles from Miami.  We will be going back,



The hotel we stayed at was on the harbor.  We arrived when it was dark, looked out from the balcony Monday morning and here's the first thing I saw.




We ate breakfast at this hotel restaurant each morning.  Staff was very friendly and gave us lots of tourist tips.





From our suite balcony.




From our balcony without the cruise ship.




View of our hotel from the Coast Guard station.





Every night crowds gather to watch the sunset...and drink.



The gardens at Ernest Hemingway's home.



Hemingway's bed.  Noteworthy because of the cat.  He loved them, and his cats have a genetic uniqueness...six toes.  Hemingway is long gone, but the cats remain at his Key West home.




Hemingway's desk.




Wednesday began the international boat races.  Some boats with as much as 2,000 horsepower and capable of 180 miles per hour.  We were able to watch from our suite balconey.





Next stop Key Largo



Braumeister

Scott's taken up home beer brewing quite seriously and while we were visiting he started a new batch.  "Sampled" four of his other batches and they were all excellent...and potent.



Here's all his equipment.  Patio furniture is still in the hurricaine readiness state.




Propane powered, first step is to bring 5 gallons of water to a boil





In goes the hops, barley, etc.




Water hose attaches to the coil, very rapid cool down.




Transfer to the brew bottle, straining out the crud.




Let the yeast do it's thing!  Off to the basement.



Visit with Scott and Renee

Visits to see Lucas, Renee, and Scott include as a special bonus Scott's cullinary skills.  This trip we had venison, a "cowboy" rib roast, and General Tso's chicken on consecutive nights.

Venison



The Cowboy Rib Roast





Always tough to leave.



Grandkids!

The first legs of our just completed vacation trip were visits to see all the kids, first several days with Delaney and Beckett here in Wisconsin, and then off to Virginia to see Lucas. (and Heather, Frank, Renee, and Scott)




Delaney has become quite "aware" and loves watching Beckett play.




Bath time




We were visiting on Halloween, Beckett was a T-Rex.




Macy made Beckett a "Treats" bag.



We hadn't seen Lucas since early August.  He's got a quick smile and loves to flirt



Even helps set the table.




Grandma made some doggy pillows.  Lucas is well aware what dogs are.