Willow Playing

Here's another!

Willow on Mother's Day

This video was taken with a camera phone...so it's not too high quality. BUT IT'S SURE CUTE!

Three Day Hiatus...not.

I had 3 days off, so I headed to the lake to do some work on the deck. I ended up staying there by myself for all 3 days. I'm not used to being alone...so it was quite different.

The first night, I had a flashback! Sleeping at our house while growing up meant...window's open at night. On the weekends at our campground, we tend to leave the windows closed at night because people like to sit around the fire and chat. Well, this week...the temps were right, the people were gone...and I slept with the windows open for once. The cool night breeze, the sound of leaves rustling on the trees and frogs croaking was very nostalgic and comforting. I miss that.

So much for rest, I spent the 3 days building deck rail, mowing lawn, cutting trees, washing roofs, yadda yadda yadda. Worth it in the end, I say. The mosquitoes have finally arrived...and the screen porch will be a nice retreat!

Here's where I am with it. Still needs the top cap and hand rails:

Work Continues...

Another weekend at the Lake, and the work continues. More trim work done on the screen porch, and I got the new signpost up! Not much time to relax, but the quicker it's done...the quicker I can relax. The mosquitoes have finally hatched, but they aren't bad. There are loads of Dragonflies to eat them for now. Besides, we can always retreat to the screen porch now!

We attended a pot-luck dinner hosted by Maple Lake Resorts owners. It was a pig roast, and we all brought a little something. Cindy made a great Taco Salad, and I made an Apple Cinnamon Crumb Cake in my Dutch Oven over charcoal...and brought it straight to the picnic piping hot. It was nearly gone before we got through the line...and people were talking about it! Willow loved the picnic, and a local guy made her a balloon animal. (kitty)

We did have a little time for some R&R, so I went swimming with Willow. She's kind of a 'pool hog' as you can tell from the picture!

She loves to splash around on a hot day, so...we did. Sorry about the lack of tan...but it was the first week of temperatures above 75 degrees up here! :-)

It was a great weekend, and kick off to summer. (and Happy Birthday Dad! We miss you!)

Emerald Princess Godmothers

FYI CRUISE INFO:
Did you know....
Emerald Princess was Christened on Mother's Day 2007 by Iconic Television Mothers and Daughters. In celebration of Mother's Day, Princess united some of television's most famous mothers and daughters to serve as the christeners and chose Greece, the birthplace of Mother's Day, as the site for the naming festivities.
The ship's godmothers are Florence Henderson, best known as "Carol Brady" on The Brady Bunch, and her TV daughter, Susan Olsen, aka "Cindy Brady," as well as Marion Ross, the beloved "Marion Cunningham" from the international hit, Happy Days, and her TV daughter, Erin Moran, aka "Joanie Cunningham."
The christeners were joined by Gavin MacLeod, former captain of The Love Boat and Princess spokesperson, who emceed the naming ceremony, as well as Princess Cruises and Greek officials.

Announcing Cruise 2009

Cruise 2009 is open for booking! If you haven't yet booked, you have missed the lower deposit sale. (cruise price will be the same, but there was also a $2 pp per day fuel surcharge increase) No worries mon! Contact me to book!

I'll be posting Cruise 2009 news & info right here on Blog-aritaville, so check back frequently for the latest.

Cruise 2009
Emerald Princess
February 8, 2009 for 10 days.
Ports: Ft Lauderdale, St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Kitt's, Dominica, Barbados, & Princess Cays (Eluethera, Bahamas)

Price: $1150 inside; $1750 balcony
(we are hoping for a sale to make these prices lower)

I've booked this one though a different travel agent, Beck Tours & Travel out of Orlando.

Larson-ritaville!

"Larson-ritaville" is what I call...our little place at the lake. We have Salem Park trailer at Maple Lake Resort, and I call it that...because it's serves as our place or sanctuary. A place to escape, relax, gather, and have fun.

This is a photo of the sign that's going to stand at the front of the place. It's a genuine 'piece of art' custom-carved in Cedar, by Cedar Sign Co. I'm going to hang it on a palm tree. (you'll see!

We've all been busy out at Larson-ritaville lately! My good friend Marty has helped me finish the monsterous deck, and screen porch. Work is almost complete, but there is a little finish work to be done. Here are the latest pictures:

The deck is about 38' x 8.5' with a 12' x 8.5' screen porch.

The trailer is a 2008 Salem 392 FLFB Park Trailer. It's in a nice shady spot in the woods, right off Maple Lake near Mentor, MN.

It's our little "Home away from Home."

Welcome to the launch of Blog-aritaville!

I've got so many obsessions...I need some space to empty my head...so here we go. I'll be keeping you up to date on all things "Pete". I'll be writing about:

Cruises
Coffee
Jimmy Buffett
My Family
Camping (Larson-ritaville)
My job
and much more.

So, grab a cup a coffee, and try to keep up! (and don't forget to post some comments, and check back often!)