27 April.....Melbourne, Florida
We arrived in Melbourne the evening of 16 April to spend time with the Walsh family and was so good to give hugs especially to the Walsh Grandgirls and Kelly and Bryan too of course.  They only live about 20 minutes from Charlotte and Bill and their 3 cats that they rescued!  So fun to just spend time with Bill and Charlotte and Bryan and Kelly  and of course.....playing lots of games and cards with the girls!  OF course Monopoly was the first game played!!  The first weekend we were so excited that Kelly and Bryan went to Orlando for a couple days to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary....so we had the girls to ourselves.Had plans to go play miniature golf but had a weekend of rain so we played lots of card and board games etc.  Of course we are also spending time with Charlotte and Bill and also going to all our favorite restaurants for lunch with them too.   So far getting our fill of seafood(catfish, shrimp, cod, crab, hush puppies etc.) AND THE BEST FRIED GREEN TOMATOES EVER....and sweet tea...can never have enough!  We were also able to spent time with Mary and Rob Floyd, friends of ours from Tucson.  Mary is active duty Air Force and Maryann worked with Mary at Davis-Monthan.  They are now stationed at Patrick Air Force Base so are so glad to be able to see them every year on our annual Florida trip.  Alway fun to catch up and give hugs.   We are also spending time with Kelly making 
plans for our trip with Kelly and Girls as we will be heading North on the 29 May. Spending about 3 weeks on the road before Kelly and girls go to Cape Cod to spend time with Bryan’s parents who will be at their home on Cape Cod for the summer.  Bryan will fly up and join them and then they will all drive back together.  We are so blessed to be able to make these memories with them. Tom and I will be staying with my sister, Joan and Tom when we reach Pennsylvania before we head back to Tucson.
We also have been making phone contacts this week with the 6 couples we will be traveling to Amsterdam with to take the cruise down the Rhine River on the 2nd of May.  ARE WE ALL EXCITED....YES WE ARE!   Today we went up to Orlando and spent some time with our friends, Nancy and Chuck.  Tom was stationed with Nancy when he first came into the Air Force and then we were stationed with them when we were in Japan in the early 70”s.  Always nice to share some time with them.
Tom and Bryan took the girls to see “Avengers“ this evening.   Charlotte and I went to see  “I can only Imagine” today.  What a good movie.....strongly suggest you put it on your MUST SEE movie list.
Talked to Carrie and Emme last evening.   Emme told me she was “focusing on putting a puzzle” together so we knew that she was unable to focus on talking to us.. She uses that phrase “am focusing on” a lot now!
Our two weeks here have passed quickly...have had pleasant weather days and there has not been a moment that we have not enjoyed being with our Florida family and Friends!
We are following the teachers walk out in Arizona and hope that they are able to convince our state that  teaching our children and not having to buy all their own supplies etc. vs. spending our tax money on increasing wages for the administration is far more important!  
We have been having beautiful days here ..nice to see the beautiful skies here in Florida and the cranes walking along and across the roads...and the occasional turtle slowing down traffic as they saunder across the highways. Also out into the country where we saw lots of cattle in the fields.
We will be packing our suitcases and finalizing our plans to be ready to fly to Amsterdam on Wednesday.  Jim and Cher will be arriving from Tucson on Tuesday and stay with Charlotte and Bill until we leave for Orlando on Wednesday to board our British Airway Flight in the evening on Wednesday Of course we will stop by Boston’s Seafood Restaurant near Orlando on our way to our flight!    In the past few days have talked with several family members and our family back in Tucson to catch up before we leave.  We feel just so blessed to be able to take this adventure with friends that are family and yes it is blessed, not lucky.  AND then when we arrive back in this wonderful United States of America...to continue on our road trip to hopefully visit more of you.   Please help us pray for this world and for all  the military, police and fireman that protect us each minute of each day..and for all of us to have travel mercies. We will keep you all  in our hearts as we take this new adventure.

I found a few quotes that need to share with you as know that our summer trips always find us right in the middle of these words of truth...

~~Always cherish your connections and your relationships with your family and friends~~

~~Making memories with Family and Friends is not a waste of time.  IT IS a LIFETIME of moments  that you will surely TREASURE  the rest of your life~~

NEXT post from across the Atlantic!!!

God Bless you and your family and prayers for all those in our families that need special prayers.
Love and hugs,
Tom and Maryann