Spring Gardening

Darren and April are exploring The Garden Factory.

I think this may be his favorite activitiy of the whole year.

The color has to be just right.

How about some greenery?

Are we still here? This wasn't what he had expected.

Janie is just happy to be out.

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Oranjestad

Oranjestad is full of tropical color and Dutch whimsy.

Just a warning to watch for crazy drivers.

Pretty in Pink

We should have eaten here.

Palm Trees are not native to Aruba, but plastic will do.

This home was for sale.  I like the entry.

Beautifully restored home from the 1920s...

This was the biggest church in town.

Time for shopping.

Lots of flowering trees.

Legos, anyone?

See what I mean by Dutch Whimsy?  I think I've coined a new architectural term.

This tour bus offers everything but air conditioning.

Sidewalk Gardens

Everything was in English.

We found this as we detoured through a neighborhood.

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Aruba's Welcome Squad

So, instead of Paris for spring break we ended up in Aruba. It was not what we had planned, but it was definitely better than sitting home all week feeling sorry for ourselves. We spent Thursday night at home, re-packed our bags and rented a car and drove through Friday night to Philadelphia ( all flights out of Rochester were booked through Monday) and took a 8 AM flight to Aruba.

Upon our arrival at the resort, this was one of the first things we saw.

These iguanas were everywhere--running around the pools and under the tables at the poolside grill. It's a little freaky to be eating your lunch and have a 3 ft iguana run under your feet.

This guy was hanging out near a light house.

We saw lots of skinny dogs. They were slow and seemed to have little interest in people.

We saw this one climb the tree and enjoy the view over our heads.

I had read that there were wild donkeys on the island, so when saw these guys hanging out at an abandoned lot, we had to stop and get some pics.

Feeding iguanas at the resort's iguana sanctuary (which is just a few rocks along a path).

This guy came barreling over the wall when he smelled the lettuce and then back where he came from when he was done.

These blue lizards were spectacular. A female (on left) is brown with blue spots and the males are a bright turquoise blue.

The color is almost too blue to believe.

This little one stopped by for dinner.

Lots of friendly critters to be found on the island.

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Anticipating the trip that didn't happen

Thursday, April 15
12:51pm
Waiting for our flight to Paris, not a care in the world.

Happy Thoughts
"I'm going to climb the Eiffel Tower!"

"We will explore the halls of Versailles."

"We will cruise down the Seine."

1:11pm ( 4 minutes before flight)
"What did you just say?"
"What volcano? Where?"

2:39pm
"Joanna, can you come and pick us up?"
"Plans have changed."

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Roxy's Visit

Our favorite little Jack-a-poo came to visit us for a few days.  We love to have her come.  Bea dotes on her and Winnie gets lots of walking.  For some reason, having two dogs in the house makes me feel twice the guilt for not walking them,

so we walk-sometimes multiple times a day.

We even find other dogs and kids to join our pack.

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