Emmalyn Turns One!!!

We knew we could not leave New York this fall without celebrating Emmalyn's 1st birthday. It seems like only yesterday we found out we were going to be grandparents.  It has been the greatest ride so far.  She is just the apple of our eyes and we are so glad to live close enough to spend so much time with her.  She just makes us laugh so much and melts our hearts. We love her hugs and kisses she gives us too!

She had fun at her Minnie Mouse party, especially enjoying pizza, cake and ice-cream.  Without a nap that day it looks like she was ready to fall asleep on her Frozen car.

I know her parents must be doing something right because she is just the happiest little girl (except when she is teething of course).  Now we are looking forward to our second grandchild (Emmalyn's little sibling) due to arrive in April!  So much to be thankful for!!!!!

Our Little Buddy

October 1st was a very sad day for us.  We had to say goodbye to Mickey after 15 years.  We are not really sure what happened.  He was fine until about 2 weeks before when he started having problems standing and he would act a little confused.  He did not want to walk anymore or take rides (his favorite past time).  Without doing tests on him (which we would not put him through) the vet thinks that he may have had a stroke.

Being the sweet little boy he was, he let us know that it was time.  Even though we knew it was the right decision it was so hard.  It was so tough to come home and not have him there to greet us, or to wake up in the morning with him next to us.  

We have such fun and happy memories of the little guy.  While we miss him so much, what keeps us smiling is knowing that he is now running free and romping with his brother Jerry.  I'm sure someday we will be reunited with both of them and they will have a lot of licks for us.  Until then, love you little buddy!

Springdale Farm

Not far from our park is Springdale Farm.  It is a farm that is owned by Monroe County but run by Christian Heritage Services.  It is an agricultural education facility open to the public. People with developmental disabilities care for the animals and plants as well as maintain the grounds. There is no charge but donations are welcome.

It was a great place to take Emmalyn and introduce her to some new animals.

This pig was her favorite.  We had to pry her hands off the fence to go see other animals.

 Here she is in the petting zoo.  She was a little hesitant at first but realized she liked the baby goats, more her size I guess.

If she gets so excited at the farm, I can only imagine what she will do when she comes to visit us in Florida and she goes to Disney World!!!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and more Pumpkins

Autumn is so beautiful here at Southwoods and the surrounding farmlands.  There are so many roadside stands to buy fresh produce and the colors this time of year are stunning.

No fall would be complete without a trip to Pulley's farm market and pumpkin patch, especially with little Emmalyn in tow.

From the petting zoo, to the corn toy box, to the train, to the pumpkin patch she never stopped smiling.

It sure didn't take her long to pick out a pumpkin, or should I say three pumpkins.  The only thing missing was her daddy.  Maybe next year he won't have to work and we can go back with him.

And The Winner Is.......

We were so blessed to be able to spend so much time this summer with family and going on little outings with Emmalyn.

Every year Batavia Downs Casino and Raceway holds a wiener dog race at the track.  We have always wanted to go but never made it there until this year.  We thought it would be fun to take Emmalyn.

They held several heats but we only stayed for a few.  I felt sorry for the little one at the bottom of the picture.  He ran a few feet and then turned around the other way.

There were horses racing when we first got there.  Emmalyn loved watching them go by so fast with grandpa.

Time for an ice-cream break!

I think she had just as much fun watching the people behind her in the stands.  They had their dog with them!

New Friends, Great Times

We knew from previous times we have camped at Southwoods that it was the people and friendly feel of the park that kept drawing us back.  Our site is in a section that has about eight sites in a circle.  Five of us share a common area behind our sites where we gather for campfires, dinners, football games, corn hole and great times.  It is a great park where all the neighbors help each other out but we all understand that sometimes we like our own space as well.

We decided to get involved in a few activities to meet people.  We played in a min-golf, putt putt tournament for eight weeks and had such a great time.  We were not very high scorers but we both got trophies and a steak dinner at the end.

We also joined in for birthday parties and wine tours on golf carts stopping at different sites for drinks and food.

Once a month there is also a women's luncheon.  I was only able to make two this summer.  One was at the Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth State Park, known as the Grand Canyon of the East.  I have been to the park several times, both as a child and an adult but had never eaten at the inn.  The food was great as well as the company.

We are looking forward to making many more memories here at Southwoods.

A Place to Call Home

Realizing that the park we had planned to spend the summer in was not going to be up and running when we got home left us in quite a predicament as there are not many RV parks near Rochester.  After much correspondence back and forth with Mike and Sue Curran at Southwoods RV Resort in Byron, NY we were able to secure a site for the summer but at the monthly rate.  They had no seasonal sites available, and have a waiting list which we had been on for five years.  We were willing to take whatever they had just to get our foot in the door so to speak.

We left Florida around April 10th stopping the first night at Barnyard RV Park in Lexington, SC.  It was not a bad little park for a night, not far off the beaten path with good size pull-thrus.

Our second night we stopped at Flatwoods KOA in Sutton, WV.  I absolutely loved this park for some reason, but unfortunately deleted the pictures of it off my camera by mistake.  It is run by a Days Inn Hotel and right off of I-79. The campground is behind the hotel and down a small hill.  There were several pull thrus to accommodate larger rigs.   It was probably the nicest KOA we have seen, with impeccable restrooms and showers, as well as an amphitheater, large outdoor group fire pit and cabins.  

Our next stop was at Camping World in Hamburg, NY.  We needed to drop the 5th wheel off for some warranty work.  We spent a month at the kids house (spoiling our granddaughter) only to find that after that month they had not touched the RV.  We picked it up and continued on to Southwoods RV Resort with the decision to have the work done somewhere else.

We arrived at Southwoods the second week in May and were given site W23.  It was a nice site in the older section of the park.  It was rather difficult to maneuver as it was a pull-in site (not pull thru), made for a motor home.  We had to pull in at an angle in order to disconnect and get the truck out but it worked out better in the long run as it gave us so much space between us and the neighbors.  The only downsize to this site was that it was all gravel which was not to Mickey's liking as he loved to lie in the grass.

We settled in and became friends with the neighbors and I was glad to finally have a garden to tinker with.

Half way through the summer we were informed we had secured a seasonal site for the rest of the summer and for every summer after that for as long as we want it.  We had the option of keeping the site we were on or choosing from three other ones.  We chose Site W2, same section but more sun and a lot of grass for Mickey.  It feels great to finally have a park to call home when we are in NY for the summer.