Attwood Family

After a short stop for some fresh Georgia peaches we continued heading south to the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clearwater has beautiful beaches.  Soft white sand and clear water with the scent of salt in the air.  And two very excited girls who shelled, wave jumped and built castles to their hearts content.  It was a wonderful morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glenn actually found our gluten free restaurant and what a discovery.  Frenchy’s Grill.  We sat on the deck overlooking the beach.  The three of them ate fried grouper nuggets while I enjoyed their mahi mahi with coconut rice.  A very yummy meal before we got back on the road for Disney.

 

We woke up to a nice sunny day after a very relaxing night’s sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

The main reason that we selected the OMNI hotel was not its location (which is perfect for seeing central sights) or it’s pool.  Nope we chose it because their breakfast buffet has gluten free options.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After fueling up, we walked through Olympic park.  Had a brief playground stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then hit the Georgia Aquarium….home to Whale Sharks.  It was amazing.  Just look at the photos.

This was our dinner location of choice and it was YUMMMMY!  They have an extensive gluten free menu and it was made fresh.  You get to customize your order.  I went with a beef burger on a gluten free bun with bacon and ketchup.  I also got the fifty-fifty order of fries and onion rings.  Man, were those delicious onion rings.  In fact, they are the first onion rings that I have had since diagnosis.  I also got to sample their sweet potatoe fries which were also great.

Here is the menu:

http://www.yeahburger.com/uploads/_content/menus/pdf/1_October%2014%20Menu.pdf

Glenn said that we were going hipster!  A lot of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner it was time to hit the pool.  We stayed at the Omni Hotel right beside the Olympic Park which had a great view.  The girls were pumped to swim under the stars in their salt water pool.  Very relaxing.

Our journey to our vacation began with a road trip…broken up with rest stops of course.  Going in to our trip we were worried that the girls might drive us crazy on our drive south but we were pleasantly surprised.  They were awesome!  As a reward, Glenn took them out to breakfast at the Waffle House for waffles.  I got to enjoy some me time in the hotel room away from the gluten filled air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we arrived in Atlanta we managed to get in to the World of Coke before it closed.  It was sooo much fun.

 

While her sister was off passing her first skating skills test (yipeee!); Missy E was off with her band piping down the sun.  The backdrop of the sky was beautiful,

 

 

 

 

 

The band started at the bottom of the path and marched up under the setting sun through fog before forming their circle.

 

 

 

 

 

Missy was happy that she got to wear her spiffy new hat like the rest of the band.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To top it off the ice cream truck owner gave her sprinkles on her cone because she had “done such a good job”.

The weekend began with yet another skating competition.  This time, unfortunately, it was not Miss K’s time to shine.  Hopefully it will go better in September.  Miss E was excited to see the giant PanAm torch.  After the competition we headed out to lunch with Grammy which was fun as always.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, up north to Grandma and Grandpa T’s for a few days.  While there the girls were rather busy.  Miss E supervised Grandpa as he did a job and then baked with Grandma.  Miss K practised making pastry with the expert which resulted in a wonderful apple pie….at least that is what I have been told of the gluteny offering.  She also worked with Grandpa to create a wind chime that she is quite proud of.

 

 

 

 

 

When they arrived home it was off to get our nails done as a treat.  The girls were excited about having such pretty toes.

 

 

Katrine skated for the first time this past Saturday.  She stayed very focused and looked nice in her new dress.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and she took first place for her solo.  As you can tell, she was delighted.  First time she has medaled in a competitive skating competition.

What a difference four years have made.  We went from tears and dismay to what you see below and it has been a great journey.  Just enjoy the photos.

We have moved a bit beyond house.  Yup, recently we have had a ninja training academy for penguins, a bakery and most recently an ink shop.  The girls created advertisements and delivered them via “mail” to Glenn and I.  Then they decorated our extra room.  Turn out for the grand opening was awesome as you can see from the line in the hallway.  By day three, the focus had shifted to include factory tours.  Two groups of stuffies attended.  The first a family group and the second was from preschool I am told.  Then it expanded to an include a science station involving orbees and finally a rainbow loom crafting station.  As you can tell, hours of fun were had.

It has been a big week for us.

1. I finally got to watch Katrine skate.  When you do not have a side kick and can give your skater your undivided attention it is quite relaxing.  She is having fun working on her solo and her next ice dance test.  Oh and as you can see from photo number two, she is still super ticklish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  We picked up her new skating dress this afternoon.  Fits nicely.  Unfortunately I only had my phone with me and I am not sure how to go about uploading those photos, so dress pictures will need to wait for a future post.  Instead a photo of her solo.

 

 

 

 

3. Elspeth lost her first tooth and it is teensy.  She has already planned out what to spend her tooth fairy money on…water balloons for this weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. We finally got the rest of the items to complete her band uniform.  Credit goes to my mother for all of her hard work.  She gets an extra thanks for tracking down a small enough hat for the wee drummer girl.