Prism 2015

Mackenzie participated in her final Prism concert this weekend. First she took a quick pic with her percussion director of four years, Mr. Gomez.



A new addition to this year's Prism experience was a farewell by the Senior class. Representatives from the senior class spoke about their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. The seniors also played a song from each of their past halftime shows. It was an awesome walk down memory lane. Below is a short snip-it of the farewell.

@collierschools @GCSharks #ccpsproud GCHS Prism Concert pic.twitter.com/ApbvbeU5t1

— PellechiaFamily (@FamilyPellechia) December 11, 2015

The drumline is always the final act before the grand finale.

Neon power! @GCSharks Prism concert. #ccps proud #drumsinthedark pic.twitter.com/MgnITpuop3

— Collier Schools (@collierschools) December 11, 2015

The Grand Finale is always truly amazing.



Next post: the Macy's Parade - better late than never

8th Grade Band Night

This past Friday night was a momentous evening at Gulf Coast. For Mackenzie, it was her last time to perform on the field. For Mason, it was his first chance to experience high school band. Mackenzie's evening ended on an emotional note as the seniors gathered on the field after the game to reminisce about their last four years. On the other hand, Mason had a blast and cannot wait for his freshman year when he can become a marching Shark. Mason got rather emotional as well during the National Anthem. He said it was very touching to look in the stands and see so may people with their hats off and hands over their hearts.

Two Homecomings

Last month we celebrated not only one but two homecomings on the same weekend. Mackenzie attended her senior homecoming dance with her close group of friends.







Unfortunately, we had to bid Mackenzie farewell prior to her dance in order to attend the Kiefhaber homecoming in Stuart. My cousin, Shannon, who lives in California came home to have her son, Austin, baptized. We were so honored to be invited for the weekend of festivities.



The proud parents, Andy and Shannon Kiefhaber, along with the Kayla the Godmother.



Does this church look familiar? It is the same church that Andy and Shannon were married in five years ago.



After the baptism, we celebrated my Aunt Sharon's 60th birthday at a luncheon on the beach.



Jim and Sharon's Godson holding their Grandson.

Senior Band Night

Last night Mackenzie was one of seventy eight seniors who were honored for their service and dedication to the GCHS band. Mackenzie marched on to the field and then joined us on the fifty yard line.



The four of us walked across the field hand-in-hand as the announcer read Mackenzie's high school accomplishments and her plans for college.

 

Along the way Mackenzie was bombarded by her fellow bass players.



Once we reached the home side Mackenzie was given a flower and a huge hug from her percussion instructor, Austin Gomez.



Mackenzie was also honored by her non-band friends as well. We heard her name being called from the student section and then saw a huge pink poster with her name on it.



Once the game started it was back to work for Mack but she was allowed to wear her tiara and sash.





Mackenzie and I both thought we might get a little emotional because it was senior night but we were all smiles. Yes, she will be graduating this year but it's only October and there are so so many more exciting events to look forward to this school year.

A Shell Of A Good Time

Key West has been on Mackenzie's bucket list for a number of years. Darin and I have been there before but for some unknown reason we have never gotten around to taking the kids. Naples has a "Key West Express" that will take you to Key West by boat in 3 1/2 hours but we opted to take the kids on a road trip of the Keys.



Our first stop was Key Largo where we ate lunch with these guests.

While on Key Largo we also visited Pennekamp State Park.  The weather was perfect. So perfect that we were able to take a snorkel boat tour to Dry Rocks reef where we were able to snorkel over the Christ the Abyss statue.

After Key Largo we headed to Marathon for a night. Along the way we stopped at Robbie's in Islamorada.

At Robbie's you purchase a $3 bucket of baitfish and hand feed the tarpon. These aren't your average tarpon - they are humongous.

Often a tarpon will actually rise up from the water in a powerful flash of silver and meet the fish as it leaves your hand. Mason was dangling a fish over the side when this tarpon jumped and startled him. I can't believe I was able to snap a photo of it.

After a night in Marathon we made it to Key West and hit the major tourist attractions such as the Southernmost Point, Truman's Little White House, Duval Street and the sunset celebration.



A favorite among all of us was Hemingway's house.

Who wouldn't fall in love with all of Hemingway's six-toed cats?



Speaking of Hemingway, by pure accident, our trip coincided with the 35th Annual Papa Look-A-Like Contest at Sloppy Joe's.



After a sipping on fresh coconut milk it was time to head home.  We did make one last stop on Bahia Honda Key. We had planned to take the snorkeling tour to Looe Key but we literally missed the boat. Luckily, we had our own equipment so we snorkeled at Sandspur Beach. Truthfully, we saw just as much if not more sea life at Bahia Honda State Park than we did at Pennekamp State Park.



Darin and I didn't  have high expectations for this trip because we had been to Key West before. However, we were surprised by how much we enjoyed each of the Keys. I dare say - we will probably be back.

Ice Cream Special

Did you know that today is National Ice Cream Day? Mason and I decided to try a brand new ice cream shop in Naples called SubZero.



Wait a minute! That young lady taking Mason's order sure looks familiar.



SubZero has a different take on preparing ice cream. The liquid cream is poured directly into a clean bowl and your chosen flavors and mix-ins are added.



Then -321 degrees liquid nitrogen is poured on to your mixture and your ice cream is flash frozen at that moment - right in front of you.





By mixing each serving by hand, SubZero's ice cream is extremely creamy.



SubZero has been quite a summer experience for Mackenzie. She was one of the first three employees hired and then trained by the corporate office.  What does the SubZero future hold for Mackenzie?  I guess time will tell. She has enjoyed the chance to earn spending money but she does have a very busy fall with school and band. Hopefully, SubZero can be flexible with her hours until marching season is over.  

Down The River

For over a year a very generous coworker/friend has been offering our family to stay on her 10 acre property in Fort White (40 miles north of Gainesville,) and last weekend we finally decided to take her up on the offer. Fort White's motto is "Home of the Itchtucknee River," so guess what we did on Day 1? We floated down the Itchtucknee on tubes. There are roadside vendors who rent any and every type of tube that your heart could desire. I just assumed that we would take our tubes on a tram to the entrance of the river. 

Nope, I was wrong. The employees strap the tubes onto your car with twine and send you on your merry way to the north entrance of Itchtucknee Springs State Park.  Be forewarned that the park only allows 750 guests per day to tube the entire length of river. Luckily, we were able to enter the park before it closed to capacity. 

We entered the river at the north entrance and floated for 2 hours. We exited at the midpoint launch and had to wait out a rainstorm (thank goodness for concession stands). We finished the river with a 45 minute float to the final exit. 

After spending almost the entire day at the park we were ready to get dressed and head out for dinner. We ended up at The Great Outdoors Restaurant in historic High Springs. Darin said he had the best Shrimp and Grits of his life. The kids and I were partial to the awesome desserts.

On Day 2 we decided to go tubing at Ginnie Springs. We were warned by a Itchtucknee park ranger that Ginnie Springs is privately owned and attracts a much young and rowdier crowd. That ranger was on point about Ginnie Springs and we loved it. We arrived early in the morning hoping that the crowd would still be sleeping after a late night of fireworks. The rowdy crowd was slowly waking up and still shooting off an occasional leftover firework. At Ginnie Springs you carry your tubes to the north entrance of the Santa Fe river and float south stopping at four different springs.

We rented a mask and snorkel just for Mason but ending up taking turns using them. The water was cold but the underwater caves at each spring were too amzing to skip. Most people just snorkel over the caves and a few attempt to free dive. The caves are very popular with SCUBA divers and sadly a few have lost their lives in these caves.

We exited the last spring just as another nasty afternoon thunderstorm was approaching. We decided to head to Gainesville to visit our very first sink-hole called Millshopper. It was 232 steps to the bottom of the sink but the view was totally worth it.

We had to hit the road bright and early on Day 3 to attend an official University of Florida campus tour for Mackenzie. Will she become a Gator? Seminole? Or possibly something else? I guess we will know in less than a year.