Birthday Blessings 2024

It's a big month for birthday celebrations, with one notable newcomer to the party! Gary is now Great-Grandpa to THREE cuties! The Minnesota Twins (boys) were born in October 2022 and now they have a sweet lil' girl cousin to play with! She made her entrance earlier this week.

Sister's Basset Hounds had doggie birthday cake on March 8th... yeah, how amazing it was that they sat still long enough for this picture to be taken!!

Would you believe I have 4 family members (some related by marriage) who all celebrate their birthday on the same day as me?!!! 

Last year's birthday cake from Gary.

When it's a birthday, my personal motto is, "Don't spare the frosting!" I'm pretty sure my cake from last year was yellow underneath all that gorgeous chocolate frosting. The bakery at Publix grocery store never disappoints!

For my Blog Birthday Party, I've been collecting some cartoons to include on this fun day:

from Linda (I think)

from Sue

To be honest, I could never manage a cartwheel, even somersaults made me feel sick.

But there is this one, which has a real element of truth to it:

While I won't divulge my exact age, I'll confirm what you surely suspect: I'm 70-something. Gary says I'm 32, which is one of the many reasons why I love this man! ❤️🥰

Gary began my party celebrations the day before (which was yesterday) with a trip to Weeki Wachee in Spring Hill, Florida to see the real live mermaid show! 

Here are some highlights:

the entrance fee is only $13 per person!

The park has the mermaid show, a teaching session on Florida wildlife, a river boat ride, lots of photo opportunities, and a water park, although on this day the water park had not yet opened for the summer season (which was a plus for those of us not wanting to mix in large crowds). We felt the admission fee was a real bargain for what we got. The mermaid show, especially, was excellent.

not exactly "The Little Mermaid"!!

(I texted this one to Jersey Girl who replied with, "Now I know why you married him 😄)

flat-bottomed boat trip 

Eagles' nest high above the river

On the boat trip we saw fish, birds, turtles and somebody saw a water snake. No gators here. The boat captain said gators are reclusive, choosing to hide in murky water. This spring water is very, very clear so this is not where people are likely to see a gator.

From the mermaid show, which is performed in the deepest spring water in all of Florida (over 400 feet deep!!):

the Mistress of Ceremonies

We sat in a below-ground theater that seated about 400 people, and every seat was taken! Viewing the mermaids through a very large glass window, I don't think anyone had a bad seat for the show.

A total of 5 mermaids entertained us, with swim acrobatics, singing, eating, and drinking all while deep under water, occasionally taking a breath from long hoses that did not distract from the performance at all. It was amazing. The program lasted 30 minutes and included tributes to several famous people who have been a part of the show over the past 47 years: Elvis, Jimmy Buffet, and more than I can remember.

As we were leaving, we saw Mr Peacock strutting around:

And he was successful in catching the eyes of the ladies:

But at the same time, about 4 of them got into a squabble over a pancake somebody had dropped on the ground, outside of the restaurant (no picture of that). 

"Been there,
done that,
got the T-shirt."

The gift shop was large, had a lot of merchandise and some snacks. A shirt was all I wanted and Gary got that for me.

We stopped on the way home at Culver's for lunch to get some of our favorite menu items: a hamburger combo with fries and sweet tea.

 

paper wrapping on my hamburger

All of the above happened on the day before my birthday, so the fun continued into Saturday. Our usual coffee in bed before breakfast came with a very special birthday card, a big box of my favorite candy, and a generous card for shopping.

a great beginning to my birthday 

At the breakfast table there was a stack of birthday cards to open, some with more opportunities to shop and eat out. 😊👍🏻😋

birthday cards on the dining table

The weather for our bike ride was perfect, which was good exercise because in addition to the box of candy, we enjoyed a pink and white ice cream cake with Jersey Girl and Jersey Boy.

my birthday wish is also a prayer

It's been a wonderful day with many newsy messages of friendship, love, and affection. So many of you reached me via emails, FaceBook, and text messages. Wow. I am so blessed and grateful. THANK YOU! 

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places....

Psalm 16:6a

Until next time, grace and peace.