Kate, our wonderful granddaughter, spent the night with us last night; one more time before we hit the road for summer.  As always, it was a wonderful day and evening.  We ended up at Mel's diner in Pigeon Forge for dinner, and then went across the street to a small children's amusement park where Kate rode the merry go round, train and plane before heading home.

She also had so much fun, just sitting outside, blowing bubbles and playing soccer with Grampy.

​We'll miss her this summer!

This past March, I left behind the cold winter in Florida (it was cold at that time) and joined my family on a Southern Caribbean cruise.  We sailed on the Crown Princess, her last sail before going into dry dock and headed for what's known as the ABC islands - Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.  We enjoyed our time on the ship - lots of relaxation, some good meals and a little sightseeing.  All in all, a great eight days.

​Our first stop was Bonaire.  Mom and I had been here before, so we chose not to do any shore excursions.  Rather, we just walked through town and did a little shopping.  These islands are dutch, of course, so we saw a lot of dutch knick knacks.

Our next stop was Aruba.  Well known for its resorts, we spent the day learning a little about their huge desalination plant where they make drinking water for everyone on the island.  We then spent the rest of the day relaxing on a small island, named Depalm island.  We rented a cabana, snorkeled, ate and just relaxed by the water.

Last stop, Curacao, where we boarded a little trolley and got a great tour of the town and all it's beautifully colored houses.

Finally, here are a few pictures from wandering around the ship.