Great Race Weekend and Dad's Birthday

I am sooo happy to say that my family came to town two weekends ago! That tells you how behind I am on posts.

Here are my babies prior to the family arriving...this is funny because as soon as someone comes to visit at my condo all the cats hide with the exception of Nermal (the one laying at the top of the tower). The other cats literally disappear for the entire weekend. LOL. 

I think they sneak out from under the bed at night to eat and that is it! HA HA!

My family always comes to visit in Pittsburgh in September. When they are here we get to celebrate my father's birthday every year! Here we are singing in my condo...

Just another view of the birthday boy! He and my mother both turned 76 this year! I hope and pray I look as good as them when I hit that age...they are the epitome of good health too!

The night they came into town we went ad checked out Top Golf! It was great! It is soo much fun and so close to my house - I plan to be here more often!

The whole  reason they come to town is to run the Pittsburgh Great Race. We do this every year as a family and we have a walking group and a running group. This year my father and I could not run so I waited at the finish and cheered everyone home with my father. My brother's family usually joins in on the fun but he was out of town and the timing did not work for them this year. Also, have to shout out to my nephew - he had hockey tryouts ad could not make it this year ad he and my brother in law were missed!

Here is their adorable race photo at the start line...it is my sisters, my mother and my nieces.

Here are my two adorable nieces passion the finish line...aren't they soooo super cute!??! Go Kyleigh and Aly!!

Here my nieces are with the signs I made them to cheer them on!!!!!!!!

Here is my mother passing the finish line! Look at her go...76 and killing it!!!! I idolize that woman for all she is and all she does!

And here are my sisters crossing the finish!! Goooo ladies...love you both!

It was a fantastic weekend and we look forward to this family time every year!

Happy birthday Mom and Dad!!! LOVE YOU!!!

Crusin' Anyone?

I am finally getting prepared for Fall...I was hanging onto Summer with all my might but it is time so I am now embracing fall.

I am heading out tonight to get my fall cereal (I LOVE Pumpkin Spice Cheerios) and that is it. Nothing else pumpkin - not even candles! HA!

I got my new fall hair yesterday after work.

Here is the new shorter cut and color...I love it! In the Fall my stylist adds a darker base color and two different reds and a purple.  I was so ready to lose the light blond hair this year.

I honestly think I am always bummed at the end of summer since vacations are over then.

But then I thought to myself...they don't have to be, right??? I called my mother and asked to if she wanted to go on a vacation in December (when everyone with kid's is busy shopping and planning for Christmas). SHE SAID YES!!! My father is a home body and just wants to be home so it is me and Mom for the trip!

We are going on Royal Caribbean in December to Mexico and Grand Cayman. Our ship is Adventure of the Seas. Here is a video tour of the ship...




The only thing I knew I wanted was a balcony so we splurged and got one. I want to be able to sit in my room and see the wide open ocean!

And the booking said that all of our on-board gratuities are already included in what we paid.

I have something to look forward to at the end of the year so I am officially ready for fall!

Has anyone else ever been on a Royal Caribbean cruise or any cruise for that matter? 

I would love any and all tips you have for us!!!

I hope you all have an amazing day!!!!! HUGS to you all!

Florida 2019, Better Than Home if You're Sick Pt.1

Happy Monday everyone!

I am back...finally! Did you miss me? Not too much, hugh??

I was off on vacation and I fully intended to blog everyday of vacation in Florida but I remained sick...yes sick for days after my arrival and, feeling that crappy, the very last thing I wanted to do was blog...sorry!

Let me recap vacation for you all...I will do a part one and part two. The first part was just me and my oldest sister visiting my parents and then then second part will be from Wednesday on (when my little sister arrived with her kids to stay also).

Thursday, March 14th:

This is my "I am here at the Pittsburgh airport waiting to board" photo that I sent to my sister. She was flying out of Harrisburg and her plane left about 1/2 hour after mine.

This is us at the Orlando airport when we were waiting for our shuttle to take us to The Villages. You pay a shuttle and they will drive you right to The Villages to meet your party there. My parents rent a house here every year for the month of March and we all go visit!

This is me and my sister on the shuttle! I am making that face because I have always heard that cool people sit in the back of the bus and she INSISTED on the front seats of the shuttle! HA HA! That is our bus driver with his foot on the step - his name was Jeff and he was hilarious! LOL!

My parents picked us up at the shuttle drop off in Lake Sumter and we had dinner out that night at a restaurant called Redsauce. We also sat in the square and listened to the band for a while before heading home.

Friday, March 15th:

The morning was sunny (I was still SO congested and coughing like crazy) but I went along to the pool! Here are my Mom and sister...Dad did not want to be in the photo.

After a morning at the pool we played nine holes at an executive golf course in The Villages called Hawkes Bay. Here is the selfie. On a side note: I got clubs last year for Christmas but have never played a game of real golf so this was my first! I actually did okay. I had no visor like the other golfers and I got yelled at for my t-shirt but they still allowed me to play. After this game; we ran to Walmart and I got a golf shirt! No more breaking the rules for me! Also, since I was sick; my sister and I rode in the golf cart and Mom and Dad walked.

Saturday, March 16th:

We hung out at the house and ended up doing puzzles as it was rainy most of the day. We got some groceries and I was still sick! My Mucinex was not working AT ALL and I just kept getting more and more congested!!!! My Mom suggested Tussin liquid. We got some and by the next day the congestion started to break up!!! Life saver at that point!!!!

In the evening, we went to a town square and listened to the entertainment.

Sunday, March 17th:

We hung out at the pool a little in the morning and then went to the St. Patty's Day celebration at Lake Sumter. Below are The Village Twirlers...they were awesome! They twirled fire, hoops and ribbons! Amazing!

And below are The Village Cheerleaders! They had a super cute pom pom routine for St. Patty's Day!

Here is our family selfie! This is my Mom and Dad and sister and myself! Everyone dresses up in The Villages for holidays!!! It was so much fun!

This is the entertainment that night. Each night, every one of the town squares (I think there are currently four with a fifth being built now) has a different band playing from 5 - 9PM. Drinks are very CHEAP!! Everyone has A LOT of fun - even if you don't drink like me!! HA! There is always something to do at The Villages!!!! ALWAYS! ALL DAY!

Monday, March 18th:

I was still a little sick...but definitely getting better. My sister and I decided to take a long, slow, walk through the neighborhood while my Mom and Dad played pickle ball.

We found an empty pool to get a cold morning selfie to send to her friends back home...

This shows you how bundled we were - LOL!!!

Everyone at the Villages has a name marker with their names and then names of their pets below that...so cute! I took a photo of this one since Bill and Jan are my parents names - LOL!

After our walk; we took a little golf cart ride to the grocery store for a few things we needed. Everyone there goes EVERYWHERE in their carts! It is so convenient!

That night, we went to the entertainment again! I still can not believe that I did not get any pictures because this night was the BEST!!! I ate dinner out with my sister. My parents were meeting up with the friends The Calfo's so we went out without them to a delicious Thai restaurant called Ruby Thai at Lake Sumter. I was feeling way better that evening and the entertainment was SCOOTER! He is my families favorite!!! If you are ever in The Villages you have to see him! It was so much fun - we danced the ENTIRE NIGHT!!!

Tuesday, March 19th:

Spent the day at the pool and the night at entertainment!

Part 2 to follow...Spoiler alert...more sickness to follow!!! UGH! :-)

 

Wolfe's 2018 Annual Cookie Baking

After our two Thanksgivings, you can read about them here, my family has a tradition of spending the rest of that weekend baking cookies! And by cookies - I mean COOKIES!!!! We even have matching aprons we made for everyone! Be prepared for a VERY photo heavy post!!!!

Here is a play by play of Friday night, Saturday and Sunday...

It started out with my niece and I unwrapping the candies that will be used on the cookies. Usually all my nieces and nephews do this but a few of them went to the Penn State game and one niece did not feel well so it defaulted to me and Maddy!

This is my little sister and niece mixing some dough! The kids love to help so much! I think they like this as much as we all do!

My tw0 adorable nephews pushing the peanut butter cups into the baked dough.

My sister-in-law and myself for a selfie!

Mom counting the completed batches.

My oldest niece keeping the little ones occupied during their break by playing Polly pockets. The little kids love the baking but they have a short attention span and need frequent breaks - LOL!!

Here is the break room - HA!!! The boys watching football no doubt!!!

See them all - lots of testosterone in that room!

Two nieces working on the cutout cookies. We bake these and then let the kids decorate them every year.

Another break - I think this one is the Game of Life break.

Here is my darling niece Jess.  She recently graduated and has just started teaching at a school near my sisters house so she moved back home.  To her right is her new baby Max...she is a super cute cat mom and is great to her baby!

This is a close up of her baby Max...

Another round of the Game of Life anyone?!?!

My niece Jordan was hilarious this year! Not only did she participate this year with baking, playing with her younger cousins, etc. but everyday she came up with a new outfit for the day! This one was great! She is a cat mom too to a cute little fur ball names Penelope. This sweater actually lit up!!!!!! Awesome!!

This is a cute out that my sister-in-law found on Facebook! Sadly, it is a deer that has been shot. My brother-in-law hunts so it was perfect for him to take up to his deer camp. LOL! I was not in the spirit of love so we only made three - HA!

This is about halfway thorough the baking...

Cute picture of cousins working together to mic batter...

And my littler sister and nephew twisting candy canes...this is a horrible job and we give it to my sister every year - HA!

My niece was counting cookies in this photo-see her way back there with her paper. We add up the numbers we do every year...

My sister makes homemade applesauce and she wanted to defrost some for dinner Saturday night to eat with pizza. She put it outside to defrost. Then it started pouring down raining outside and my Mom put on all her raingear to go out and retrieve it...LOL! I just love this picture...my mother will kill me if she ever sees it on here! LOL!

This is my brother and sister making Santa's out of Nutter Butter's. He is an engineer and she thinks like one so these are the most precise and perfect cookies you will ever see...seriously! They turned out super cute!

Everyone chilling and taking breaks on electronics.

Same here....

This is the finished table!!!! What a productive weekend! We finished on Saturday night around dinner time. We did not set a family record this year as we dropped a few kinds that we have made before but we finished all of our holiday baking. Total cookie count was 2,133 cookies; 173 dozen; 16 varieties!!!

On Sunday the family separates the cookies and everyone heads home. We split them up in zip-locks and everyone takes home a ton of cookies they can then use for cookie trays at parties and gifts! Holiday baking is completed for everyone! Note: everyone in their Steelers gear for the game!!!!

 

If you live nearby and we are friends; be prepared for your tray of cookies!!!!

 

I love my family and I love all the time we spend together! Do not be deceived; we get on each others nerves but there is nothing better then family! I think we only about 20 minor spats throughout the weekend which is pretty good for all those people under one roof!!! There is no one that can push my buttons more then my siblings! LOL!!!!

 

I hope you all had an amazing holiday!!!!

 

Do you bake for the holidays? Do you have any family traditions you follow every year? Do you enjoy spending the holidays alone or in chaos?