"I'm frustrated, my hands are tied" -- Frustrated by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

We are back in Colorado -- and now I'd love a quiet vacation from vacation.

Maxwell's eye looks worse to me so I called the specialist and are heading back up for a recheck tomorrow afternoon. When I called the receptionist said, "I can get you in today..." Unfortunately, I'm 2 hours away so tomorrow it is. I was really hoping for it to be mostly healed up by the time we returned. Eye ulcers are such a hard injury to treat and it can take months to heal and I am so impatient....

Here's a quick recap of our vacation:

Arrive in Florida late on Tuesday afternoon and have a great hug from both my mom and dad.

Got up early, early on Wednesday morning for a fun packed day. We rented a tour guide with a van to take us around showing us the sites and some tours in the Everglades.

First we went "alligator hunting" by driving out into some of the canals trying to see who could spot the biggest alligators. I was desperate to also see a Florida cougar, but didn't get that chance. We took a Swamp Buggy ride which was very educational. (A swamp buggy is basically a open cart that is about 14 feet tall so that you are above the water and saw grasses). We were up in the trees with the air plants! Then we stopped in at a alligator farm and saw the BIGGEST alligators I have EVER seen. I'll have to share a link to the photos once I get them downloaded from the camera.

Stopped at:

• The smallest post office in the United States (and mailed myself a post card from there.)
• Ole Indian Trading Post and Museum in Chokoloskee Florida

However, the highlight of the day was the air boat ride -- what a KICK IN THE PANTS. I've taken a large air boat ride before, but this time it was a little itty bitty one that we raced around in the mangrove islands on. My dad took some great video that I need to get a copy of to share -- as well as a picture of me holding an alligator!

We bought 2 lbs of crab claws and munched down on them that night....with lots of drippy melted butter and Coronas with lime...

Friday morning, my dad got Dirk and I up at 6:30 AM so that we could go try to find some manatees in the wild. My parents and I have been vacationing in Florida for the last 23 years and have never seen a wild manatee. Well, this was our lucky trip!! We went to the Lee County Manatee park which is the winter stopping grounds for the manatees and saw over 25 -- including a 1 month old baby manatee.

Mom and Dad took the day to go to the Edison Museum in Ft Meyers while Dirk and I stayed at the condo and prepared our Christmas dinner since we were celebrating on the 24th. I stuffed a turkey with onions, apples and fresh herbs and then roasted it over a charcoal fire. Of course, it was fabulous with the sides of creamed spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes and cranberry relish. Dessert was coconut cream pie with Ben and Jerry's ice cream...yum....

The rest of the vacation was very low key -- eating, drinking, hot tubbing, playing putt-putt, taking walks, watching movies etc...

When I was back in Cincinnati, while I was shopping with my mom we found a really beautiful moonstone ring that we argued over who would get to buy and wear. Mom bought it and it was part of my gift box that I opened in Colorado prior to leaving. So, I got her a matching ring that she opened when we were in Florida. :)

But in Florida, I got a GREAT book: The Night Sky Month-by-Month that gives you a day by day analysis of the moon phases, the star positions and other tidbits about the sky. Yippee! My dad and I spent about an hour looking up all our birthdays and important anniversary dates for next year to see what the sky would look like and what phase the moon would be in.