With 2013 in the rear view mirror it’s time to set our sights on January and the New Year. We had a great Decorating Elves season. Now we can prepare for the new Tortuga Twins season, but first we get to celebrate Mia’s 1st Birthday and visit the frozen tundra of Minneapolis.
January is usually dedicated to breaking down all the amazing holiday lighting displays, at least the first couple weeks. Then we get a couple weeks to chill before the new season and trip to AZ is on deck. This year we have a new event to celebrate. Mia’s birthday!!!
Mia was born on January 13th. Hopefully that’s far enough away from Christmas that she won’t get the dreaded combo gift. This year is a big deal since it’s her first. I know she’s only one and won’t really remember it, but she only has one first birthday and I wanna create some memories and some great pictures.
Mia’s one year checkup was due and her doctor is in Minnesota, so we decided to plan a visit to Minneapolis. The north has been having quite a winter as of late. I was curious to see how our little bug handles the frigid temps.
While there it only made sense to have her 1st birthday party. Jes has a lot of family and friends in Minnesota and they were very excited to be a part of her special day. A friend even said she’d host the party since we couldn’t find a good venue for it.
The party was a huge success! Mia got some great loot and had a blast! Everyone told us we had to get a cake so she could play in it and get that great first birthday “covered in icing†shot. Jes and I are trying to keep her away from processed sugar. Heck… any amount of added sugar, really. So, we opted for a tub of sugar free cool whip and a fruit torte. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
It was great to catch up with some of Jessica’s friends. She really misses her family and friends back home. Hopefully we’ll be able to visit again before July.
After our visit to MN it was time to get home and prepare for the 2014 Festival season. The Tortugas own quite a few businesses out there. One of the new ones is the Jerky business at the Bay area Renaissance Festival. I’ll be managing it and since I’m in Florida I’ll be building the stands with a little help from my friend Jay. Hopefully this will be a good business that will put a few bucks in the Tortuga coffers. Time will tell.
That’s it for January. It’s time to pack up the RV for storage and hit the road towards Arizona. It’s cheaper to store the RV and rent a place in Phoenix than the gas it would take to drive the RV cross country. Let the 2014 season begin!!!
