Time for Family

For the holidays, Sparky and Eldo went to visit family....Sparky went to Houston to see her daughter and grandson, and Eldo went with his family on a weeklong cruise to the western Caribbean on the MSC "Seashore".

Sparky's grandson is 12 going on 20. He is taller than both his mom and his grandma! 

We had a great time seeing the holiday lights around Creekside, an upscale area northwest of Houston. We have a holiday tradition in our family of driving around to see lights every season, playing Christmas music in the car while we ooh and ahhh over the lights. Kerry likes to wear holiday sparkle like her mom, so she had on light up shoelaces. Sparky wants some shoelaces just like these!

Kerry took us to Dewberry Farms, which is sort of like going to a county fairgrounds, but it's a farm that has been designed to provide rides, entertainment, and seasonal holiday decorations done up to the max. We went on a cute little train ride all around the complex. The lights were really spectacular.

Some of the amenities were not. The bathrooms, were abysmal. They were basically little wooden porta potty units with several stopped up toilets and a wooden trough sink outside to wash your hands. The bathrooms were not handicapped friendly at all with rickety wooden steps and they were really dirty. No signs of any workers picking up trash or keeping the grounds clean, but there were a ton of visitors there for the lights and rides. The farm has been purchased by new owners and they don't care about upgrading the facilities, nor was it run very well as far as attractions. We had a good time anyway.....Grandson is a great basketball shooter!

We celebrated opening presents...Think Sparky, Jr. likes her slippers?

Sparky definitely loved her hand painted wine glass which joins a growing collection of the same artist....great gift idea!

Eldo had a great time on his 7 night cruise...He did lots of walking which was great for him. The cruise line was called the MSC and the particular ship was the "Seashore"....The ship was Italian and built in 2021. It was a BIG ship, designed to handle more than 5179 passengers! It has 5 specialty restaurants, 18 bars and lounges, 4 main dining restaurants, 6 swimming pools, an infinity pool along with 2 infinity whirlpools, and a waterfront promenade. It also features advance air sanitation technology, to reduce the chances of getting viruses on the ship. Hopefully, next time he will take more pictures!

He thought the trip was great....It stopped in Costa Maya, Cozumel and their own private island as another stop. Eldy did not get off the ship, the kids went to see ruins and other spots of interest. Eldy has seen them and so he stayed on the ship to explore....

The food was terrific, he says...But he didn't take any photos! Silly guy....But here are a couple of the family that someone took....Eldy's son and daughter-in-law...

And Eldy's grandkids....don't you just love Trevor's jacket? They are really great kids and are well on their way to becoming successful, happy adults....

Time passes by so quickly...We hope you and your family had a special holiday season together, thanks for following along with us...

                                        Sparky and Eldo