Pembroke Pines, FL

On Monday we left Orlando and drove down to Pembroke Pines (a suburb of Miami, I think) to stay with Jamie's aunt and uncle and cousins. Jamie's grandma (we call her Nonnie) lives very nearby and his Aunt Paula and cousin Paul are staying with Nonnie. When we arrived, Matt and Sarah were there just long enough to take a picture of most of the grandkids and Nonnie. (But it was on Matt's camera, so I don't have it yet...but you can check for it on facebook!)

That evening we had a yummy meal made by Nonnie (it reminded me of Oma's cooking - delicious!) and dessert made by Aunt Paula. It was all delicious, especially the "crack sauce", so named because its so sugary that it supposedly gets you high (I think, that's why its named that anyway.)

Dinner with the family was amazingly fun. Then I went with Kelly to see where she lives with her husband Drew (he was gone for training) and Jamie stayed with Uncle Randy to watch the YouTube debate. Then, when all the "grown-ups" had gone to bed, we hooked up the Wii and had our first Wii experience. Here are Craig and Jamie playing baseball. I think Jamie is batting and Craig is pitching.

This is Craig and me boxing. That game is hard.

The next day Craig, Kelly, Jamie and I went to Las Olas, the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. We pretty much parked, walked to a restaurant for lunch, and then walked back to the car. But it was a great time of conversation and laughter...and the restaurant was fun. The tables and benches were all joined together and were like a giant table-wide swing. This is Kelly.

This is Craig.

This is me and Jamie and Florida palm tree. Patti, this is for you! :)

We drove back via Cold Stone Creamery, ate some yummy icecream, while chatting some more. Then we got back, hung out, played some more Wii...this time with Paul. He's a fun kid. :)

Then yummy dinner made by Aunt Paula and then a rousing game of Apples to Apples. Jamie said a little about that. This is (L-R) Aunt Mary, Paul, and Aunt Paula.

Craig, Uncle Randy, and Kelly.

Me, Craig, Uncle Randy, Kelly, Aunt Mary, Paul, and Aunt Paula.


The next morning (Wednesday) we left with a large bag of snacks from Aunt Mary (pumpkin muffins, brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies, YUM!) It was sad to say goodbye. I wish we lived closer to the family. They're such an amazing family and I felt such a connection with them. I felt like Kelly could have been one of my best friends from college or something. Honestly, I think its the God thing. They so clearly love the Lord, and I love that!


That day was our longest day of driving. We drove all the way from Miami area to Rocky Mount, NC in just about 12 hours. Well, actually Jamie drove all that way. But it was probably one of my favorite days. (Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, although I can't say they would have been very interesting.) We talked for a long time, listened to music, sang along, listened to 2 sermons (both excellent) and talked about what we thought about them, and just in general had a good long together time.


The only bad part was the bathrooms along the way. Ew, ew, ew. I hate public restrooms. We stopped twice. The second time we stopped I went to use the restroom in the gas station and it was crowded with people so you could barely move. I decided I could use the KFC next door. Walked in there to find it literally overflowing with, um, dirty water. Ugh. Make me barf. :-P So we went across the street to the McDonalds where the floor was covered with water. Hopefully from the sink, but I'm doubtful. I gave up, walked gingerly through it, and used it. Then I tried to wash my hands, but there weren't even any paper towels to dry my hands - and no napkins in the restaurant. I came out pretty traumatized to Jamie waiting in the car and immediately took my flip-flops off and put them in the back seat. He, being the hero he is, promptly got our germ-x hand sanitizer from the trunk, let me drench my hands in it, and then used a couple napkins from the car to clean my shoes with it. That made me feel a bit better.


When we finally got to the hotel (around 9:30 pm) we checked in (finding that the toilet seat in our bathroom was up and not completely clean - ew again! - but it got us the room for free that night thanks to Jamie's negotiation skills...) and then went immediately out to the Outback across the street. It was Jamie's reward for driving so far. And it was great to relax together after a really very good day (except the grossness). Ahhh.