A family trip to Key {Weird} West

We took a little family vacation to celebrate Lindsay turning 21! The Coach and I were just in KW in May to celebrate our 25th, the girls surprised me by popping up, but they were only there for about 5 hours that day and didn't see much. Me? I was there for 4 days and didn't see enough, so we went back for round two.
We rented a cute little house just off of Duval street. (the main drag downtown)
It was hawwtt for the first few days and then a cold front came in and make me shiver once. or thrice.

We had lovely meals, several cocktails and lots of walking. The Coach went fishing one morning and caught a slew of unsuspecting victims. (all were given back to the sea) The girls and I went to the spa one morning and I let them experience massages. (they LOVED them)

*note the random iguana in this tree in someone's front yard. They were everywhere....just like the chickens and roosters.

It was a great weekend spent with my people who I don't get to see as much as I'd love to.
Lolo graduates from the Police Academy next month and who knows what her working schedule will be.....she'll be a full-fledged adult. She has her own insurance, she finally knows her SS# by heart and she makes her own Doctors appointments now. *sigh*

The Coach and his girlies. Lolo up top, the birthday girl down below.

We did a great food walking tour which was full not only great food and drinks, but really full of history and an education of the local traditions.

The girls and I spent some time at the Butterfly Conservancy ...I was in heaven! If you ever get to KW, you must go visit this place; it's amazing. I'll not mention names though, but *someone* kept getting freaked out by all the things flying around her head and I could not stop giggling.

The house had a slew of games and puzzles. Lolo started this butterfly puzzle our first night.....I never thought she'd finish it. I helped her. I mean, I spent 10 minutes trying to help and ONLY found ONE piece to fit.

Cut to 2:30 the morning before we were to leave....I went to the kitchen for a drink and found her still working on it! When I woke up in the morning, it was DONE. She did the entire thing herself. That kid has some patience.

It was a great weekend making memories with my favorites.
Have any of you been to Key West lately? Did you enjoy it as much as we did?

Before it's 2017....

We had a lovely Christmas season at the BusyBee homestead!

We were able to have many parties this year; celebrating employees, friends and family.
Honestly, we're SO blessed.

We were able to spend a lot of quality time with the girls; they even spent the night on Christmas Eve! I told them Santa doesn't know that they've moved out.

 The Coach and I at our company party; I'd say we cleaned up well for the night. 

We had over 120 people for this lovely event; it's so NICE to let our people know how they're appreciated!

The girls and I at our Company Party. They're the best kind of fun.

Our house partay one week later.

Linds, Dawn, Lolo and Suz---Dawn thought it would be appropriate to wear the table light decorations. Honestly....after all these years I don't even try to contain her enthusiasm. Nope.

Is it just me, or do I look angelic with lights behind me? I was hoping to fool everyone, especially Santa!

The Coach and his offspring. 

Sweaty Suz and her girls on Christmas Eve. I had my head in the oven for a while.....

 Cocoa on Christmas Eve wondering what she's done wrong to deserve this.

Funny story. We had our house party catered this year and it was a great idea! Hosting for 50 people can become hectic. The food that the chef prepared was delish and the staff cleaned UP the entire kitchen/bar area. We thought there were more leftovers than we found in the fridge. The next day we were scratching our heads trying to figure out where all the yummy meatballs went since we knew there were more than could be eaten.
Fast forward one week later on Christmas Eve when I opened up the (large side) our oven and found the pan full of meatballs.....but now they looked like a science experiment! There was much gagging happening as I had to clean out the pan!  I'll leave you with that visual.

Wishing all my blog friends a beautiful 2017 to come!!
XOXO

The birthday Girl~~She'll only turn 21 once!

I'm the worst blogger ever but I can't let the day pass without acknowledging one of the people who inspire my blog!
Our Linds turns 21 today!
She's such a feisty, fun, sassy and smart young lady! I'm proud to be her Mama!

 A lot of people say she's my mini-me....I truly believe she inherited my sassy gene. Poor thing.

 On her actual day of birth (the 27th) the Coach and I met her for lunch.....free ice cream?  Yes please.

She'll spend the evening with her friends and the next night we'll have a nice family dinner together.
Life is GOOD!

We're so blessed to have her in our life. Happy 21 baby doll!!!
XOXO

Getting ready for the Fat Guy.

Did you hear the news? No? There's a brand new Suzanne in town.
Actually, she arrived a few years ago. The less-stressed-less-crazed Suzanne.
Ok, on occasion the crazy Suzanne shows her face, but mostly she's all chill and laid back.
{hey, lets check her pulse and make sure she's still with us}

We had a great Thanksgiving. I had my head in the oven only for a few minutes....ya know, trying to rearrange those shelves, and I worked up a sweat. But I got through it with a lot of help from my people. It was a good day, but it seemed to fly by...back in the day we had a huge crowd and we visited, we ate, we played football and then ate again.
This year it was all visiting and the ONE meal, then bam it was over.
A small group of 10.

I had the trees up on Saturday. If you recall last year we were living in the midst of a huge renovation and we didn't get to decorate....so I wasted NO time this year.
I believe this time last year I was convincing my electrician to put an outlet on this sliver of a wall in the family room. (I'm short on walls, but big on GLASS!) I knew I needed a nice spot for our big tree and voila!

It's all turquoise, white, silver and pretty.
And it's got that personal touch of my DNA.
Relax....DNA = pictures of my girlies!

I add new pics every year and I'm thinking I'll continue doing that until someone demands that I stop.

And the sweet little tree has a nice cozy spot too.

This one is covered in homemade ornaments, pics of the girls and silly stuff, like Hello Kitty, GLEE and scuba diving bees.

And my newest addition is this lovely Santa that the Coach won   purchased at a charity auction last weekend. He (The Santa) and I made eye contact as soon as I entered the room.....he was to be MINE. 

I'm trying to decide what to name him....oh, wait, I'll name him Santa! I'm so original and he's so divine. 

And I know it's not nice to brag, but I've already sent out party invitations for the following weekend, sent out our family Christmas cards and I've got everything ready for our company party this weekend.

Ok, I just annoyed myself. 

I'm really on the ball this year and I'm hoping to enjoy every minute of the celebrations. 

Of course, there were some projects I 'wanted' to get to, but hey....a girl can only get so much done while NOT being a hawt mess!

You know that come Christmas Eve I'll remember that I forgot to finish my shopping though....that's how I roll. HAHA!

Are you ready for the fat man to visit? No, I'm not talking about your weird Uncle.

All the best! 

XOXO