Friday, August 5, 2016

Flashback Friday: Florida!!

Aug 1976:
Before I recap the events of this month, I need to back up. I totally forgot 1976 was the year I attended my 1st week-long Girl Scout sleep-away camp in June.  I was thrilled at first; Mom gave me an orange crate-turned-side table she'd taken on her 1st GS camp, and my tent used it to store our toiletries.  Shannon Bookwalter was the only one from my troop sharing a tent, and I don't remember the names of the other two.

I enjoyed the swimming, basket weaving, and the songs, and had looked forward to horseback riding, but my horse, Fox, and I did not get along.  He tried to throw me, and fortunately a counselor helped get him back under control.  I fully believe that the day we were supposed to go on a trail ride, God intervened and sent rain to protect me!  Though, since we were confined to our tent, the four of us decided to organize our suitcases just as a surprise tent inspection happened. Since we all had clothes strewn about on the cots, we didn't pass.

I wrote lots of letters in my down time, plus I was very grateful for having a counselor who didn't like oatmeal the day they served it, and asked us if we liked it before she served it! Since we had to take "3 Girl Scout bites' of everything, she gave those of us who shared her dislike just a tiny dab of the stuff.

I was very happy when camp was over and never went back again!  I do remember a girl named Paulette who was outgoing and fun to be around.

Back To August:
Grandma and Grandpa Grauel decided to move to St. Pete, Florida, and to see if they'd like it, they rented an apartment at Sun Cove Apts across from the beach and just up the street from the Don Caesar hotel.  My sister and I both fell in love with the large pink, castle-like structure!  We were thrilled Sun Cove had a pool with a diving board, plus shuffleboard court and croquet field, plus was on a canal.  We went back to Disney that year and had a great time, even though 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea broke down just as we were about to ride it.  The previous year, it broke down about an hour into our wait.

Wendy and I soon made friends with the ladies who played backgammon all afternoon, and they enjoyed our antics on the diving board. Plus, we respected their desire not to get their hair wet, and took care not splash when they would swim laps.

This may have also been the year my Uncle Bill introduced me to nose plugs for swimming.  Suddenly, I could swim underwater w/o any problems!

This was the year of the McIntire Family Reunion at Brown County, and my cousin Michele and I spent so much time rolling down the hill, we both ended up with muddy pants.  My parents were not that amused, lol!

School began; I was in Mr. McDonald's 5th grade class, while my sister had the misfortune to be in Mrs. Shelby's 1st grade.  The rumor was she was the meanest 1st grade teacher, and I was happy I'd not had her!

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Present Day:
Tonight our Watermelon Festival begins!  I'm making key chains to either give away or sell, and finally mastered a watermelon shape last night.  I'm also going to print out copies of my coloring page of Kenzie's Best of Both Worlds, and see how well they go over.

Karaoke Songs:
Like A Surgeon-Weird Al
Like A Virgin-Madonna
Like A Prayer-Madonna
Lightening Crashes-Live

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