41

Today is my parent's 41st wedding anniversary. 41 years! This afternoon Mom called me just to tell me what Dad had gotten for her for the big day: a Wii. I'm amazed that he found one. It reminds me of Christmas 1983 when he managed to get me a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas. I gotta ask him how he pulled this off. Anyway, the real point is that Mom is thrilled to bits & can't wait to break it out of the box. So tonight after going out for steaks, my parents will return home to play a bit of golf or maybe do a little fishing. Good times.

All of this reminded me that it has now been a whole year since we were in Florida for the big honkin' family reunion. So lets do a little time traveling, shall we, and take a look at my parents as they renewed their vows in front of friends and family last year.


Aaaaaaaw .... ain't they cute?!? It's hard to imagine being married to the same person for that long, but I am certainly glad they stuck it out. Thanks, Mom & Dad!!!

Chicken goes to Disney

Remember the 20-pound concrete chicken that we stole from my friend, Tes? We took it to Disney World. Unfortunately, we saw no way to take the chicken inside any of the parks because they've really stepped up security there (ll bags are searched before you enter the parks). Besides, who wants to carry around a 20-pound concrete chicken all day?! Luckily there are no security issues at the Disney Marketplace, so we took some pics around there.

Florida trip: final days

The last 2 days of June were also our last 2 days to play in Florida. Some people were a bit worse for wear at this point. Tiff was covered in dozens of mosquito bites (despite wearing jeans & bug repellant) and poor Ray was developing a very unhappy tummy. Tim was weary, as well, so in the end we did not get to do all the things I wanted to do on this trip. Guess that measn we'll have to go back someday. ;)

On Thursday, Ray, Tim and I decided we should check out the other water park, Blizzard Beach. The theme of Blizzard Beach is unusual: a freak snowstorm hit Florida and disney, always keen to take advantage of a marketing opportunity, opened a ski resort. Well, the snow began to melt, of course, so now the bobsled and skiing courses are water slides. Good fun - especially when the rains poured down on us!

One of the wonderful things about Ray is that he will pose for ANY picture I want to take.


Thursday was the Davis Clan's last day in Florida, so we chose to meet up with them that night at the Magic Kingdom to watch the parade & the fireworks.


Slideshow time! Click on the little "View Show" buttons if you're having trouble seeing the images.

The archway through Cinderella's Castle is very pretty. Lovely mosaics. Not enough people take the time to appreciate it.

Spectromagic!

Here's dear Helen & my sweet Ashes. I miss them so much! Sobebody kidnap them & drag them to North Carolina. ;)



And then it was Friday. Our last day. We chose to spend most of it at Animal Kingdom. I had never been there before, but I must say that I liked it a LOT more than I thought I would. We didn't get to see half of what it has to offer, so I look forward to going back.

The very best thing was the safari ride. The road the truck drives along is VERY very bumpy & I chose not to take pics because I was sure my camera would be thrown from my hands! But the views we saw of the elephants and giraffes and other animals ... wow. Breath taking. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

Since it was our last night together, those of us who were still in town got together for dinner. It was a nice way to close out the trip.

Tim & Tiff - aka "two peas in a pod" :)


Tim & his mother, Sylvia


That may have been our last full day in Florida, but I'm not quite done with photos yet! Next time ... Chicken Pics!

Mom & Dad's 40th Anniversary Party

Thursday was the big day - Mom & Dad's party. Mom had been planning this thing for months, so it was nice to see her hard work come to fruition. It took place at Leu Gardens near downtown Orlando.
http://www.leugardens.org/

It was a lovely summer evening in the south, so Tim and I took a moment to enjoy the rocking chairs on the screened porch.



There were 18 people there:
Mom & Dad, of course
My two brothers, Mike & Ray
Tim & myself
Tim's mom, Sylvia
My Uncle Buster & Aunt Fay
Cousin Tiffani (who is actually the daughter of my cousin Damon, so I guess she is my first-cousin-once-removed or something?)
Mom's best friend, Helen
Helen's daughter, Tracy, her husband Greg, & daughter Sam
Helen's daughter (and my sissy!) Ashlie & her son G'Rae
And two of Mom's old friends who now live in Florida, Jackie & Mike


First we had a little pseudo-ceremony outside. Since Tracy is an ordained minister, she ran the show. My parents stood underneath what appeared to be one tree, but was actually two trees that had grown into one another - wrapping around eachother over the years and basically becoming "one". Isn't that romantic?


Tracy started out by talking about how sweet and loving and generous my parents are & how they are a living testiment to what love can be. That got us all crying right away!


Then Tracy asked Ray to step forward and he talked about all the sacrifices our parents have made for us over the years & how they've always shown us nothing but love and support. More tears!


Then Mom and Dad spoke about the fact that they married just 3 months after they met & how they wer practically strangers at the time, but they would do it all over again. Aaaaaaaaw!


Next: drinks! And fun stories! Mom and Dad recalled the more ridiculous aspects of their wedding day.

For instance, Mom hadn't met Dad's mother before the ceremony, so she ended up meeting her mother-in-law for the first time in the receiving line after the wedding ceremony. My grandmother's first words to her new daughter-in-law?
"You must be Beverly."
Ummm ... ya think? :D

After drinks (non-alcoholic, I should add), it was time for dinner ...

... and laughs ...

... and perhaps a touch of insanity.

Oh no! It's catching!!!


The flowers in the centerpieces are daisies (which my mother carried on their wedding day) and yellow roses (which my father gives to mom on special occasions). Oh, and there was cake, too!


After we ate, Helen had some of us play a Newlywed-&-Not-So-Newlywed Game.
The Newlyweds: Me & Tim (2 years) and Tracy & Greg (2 years)
The Not-So-Newlyweds: Mom & Dad (40 years) and Buster & Fay (50 years)
Tim and I tied for last place ... with my parents! But we were just one point behind the winners, so that's okay.


We finished out the evening on the patio, watching the sun set over the lake.




In my family, card games are an important part of almost every family gathering. Luckily, my darling husband LOVES card games and was sure to bring his poker kit with him. So a bunch of us got together and stayed up late playing Texas Hold 'Em. Good clean family fun!


The happy couple ... and their growing pile of chips!

Disney con't: Day 2 & 3

It has taken me over a week to download all of the photos from Disney into my photobucket account.
Okay. That's only partly true.
I also took a break to host a dinner party. And I went out & took some more pics from around our neighborhood, but then I had to download those, too, ya see? And that took, like 1,337 hours. Fer reelz, y'all.

So where were we? Oh, that's right.
Day 2.
On our second day we arrived at Magic Kingdom shortly before it opened. We rode Space Mountain first thing (yay!), but our energy flagged soon afterwards. Too bad it was blazing hot.




Apparently, disco dancing is not allowed at Disney. But Rebellious Raymond cannot hold back! Somebody find a themometer because I think he has ... Disco Fever!!!!!!


This, dear friends, is why I have so few pics of my brother, Mike. Ask him to pose & he'll just give you the "Duh" face ... or worse.

I dare you to ride the monorail and NOT sing the Monorail song from The Simpsons. It's nearly impossible. At least it is for me & Tim.

See? Oodles of fun. [insert eye-rolling smiley here] Shortly after noon it was determined that we (Ray, Tim, Tiff, & myself) should go to a water park. Typhoon Lagoon was fabulous! Too bad I can't offer proof with pics. Did I mention that Typhoon Lagoon was fabulous? Because it was. I swear, I normally hate water parks (being as pasty as I am), but this place kicks much ass. So much lush vegetation, so much shade, and so much fun. Whenever we come back to Florida I think we'll be spending a lot more time there.

After the water park, we went back to Magic Kingdom, snuck out during the electrical parade, & went to Uno's for a late dinner. Mmmmmm ... deep dish pizza ...


Day 3
Early in the morning on Day 3, I woke up feeling horrendously ill. Unfortunately, this means that Tim and I left the condo long after everyone else. We got to MGM Studios at lunch time, so we got to meet up with my parents, brothers, & Cousin Tiff for a while. Unfortunately, though, we didn't do very much. I was still sickly and grumpy and suffering from shin splints. About 2 hours after we arrived we sent Tiff a text message asking if she was bored yet. Turns out that she wanted to go swimming at the pool at our condo. Sounded good to us! So we met up with the fam again, participated in about an hour's worth of group shopping, and then Tim, Tiff and I took off.

It took us a while to get to the pool. First we went to the Downtown Disney Marketplace because Tiff wanted a Finding Nemo towel. We found one of those R2-D2 postal boxes, which was super cool!


Then we had to stop and get Tim his daily root beer float. He ate one of these almost every day of the trip.


Tiffani is texting her friends back home. Tiffani is CONSTANTLY texting. The girl is going to get carpal tunnel before she goes out on her first date. Mysteriously, she still manages to participate in conversations with us while texting. Oh, these kids today ... amazing!


Okay. We've bought a souvenir towel. We've eaten ice cream. We've even pretended to put mail in the R2-D2 post box. Is it time to swim yet? Of course not!!!! Because we need ... goggles. Apparently. So we went to Target. I think we finaly got into the pool at around 7pm - approximately 5 hours after we decided it would be a good idea. But in those hours inbetween we played a few fierce rounds of 20 questions & had a grand ol' time.

Coming up next time ... Party Pics!

Pics: Epcot

I am terrible about taking photos when I am around other people. I'll click away when I'm alone, but when I'm with people, I get wrapped up in spending time with others & I tend to forget about my camera. Also, I usually don't like asking people to pose! So sadly, there are TONS of things I did not record for posterity with my camera. I just don't have nearly as many pics from Disney World as you'd expect. Oh well! I'll still share what I have.

We decided to go to Epcot on our first day. We rode everything & went everywhere, but took less than a dozen pics. Guess I was having too much fun. Or sweating too much. Or something.

Here's Ray about to board Test Track - the car-based pseudo roller coaster at Epcot. Ray will pose for anything!


We really enjoyed the Living Seas (which I think is called something differnt now, but I can't remember what). Tons of great fish, sea turtles, and even dolphins & manatees. Skip the Finding Nemo ride, though.
"Frogfish do not swim, tending to 'walk' or 'gallop' through the water instead."

"Frogfish have the ability to change their colors to blend in with their surroundings."

Cuttlefish! Mike was obsessed with these babies & captured some really cool videos of them swimming & changing color.

A living conch! This thing was simultaneously cool and gross. And it was covered in lots of tiny little shrimp-looking things. Or could they have been baby conches?

I tried to take pics of the sting rays and sea turtles and lots of cool fish in the ENORMOUS 30-foot tall wrap-around aquarium, but nothing turned out. Just believe me when I say it was fabulous!

Later we went on Mission: Space. In case you hadn't heard, some people with heart conditions have died on this attraction/ride/thingy. Now we know why. The G-forces were much stronger that I expected. It was fun, but frankly I feel less queasy on your average loopty-loop roller coaster. Seriously. Ray was so overwhelmed that he forgot his hat

Next we went on Soarin', a new attraction that is the highest rated in all of Disney World. I took a few pics while we waited in line. Seen here are Ray, Tim, my cousin's daughter Tiff, & me.

Soarin' was great! You know those films that are projected over half of a dome & are meant to make you feel like you're flying? Well, this was like that only MUCH better! We sat down on chairs that lifted way up off the ground! And a breeze was blown through the screen so it really felt like we were flying! And to top it off, subtle scents were caried on the breeze to complete the experience (pine while flying through a forest, orange while flying over an orange grove, etc). When it was over, everyone applauded! Good times.

And just so ya know, Soarin' is located inside "The Land" - one of my favorite parts of Epcot. I like how it's decorated & the food offerings are quite nice since the whole building is dedicated to agriculture & such.


Now is the point where I truly failed you, dear reader. For I failed to take one single photo of the world pavilion. All of those cool countries & great food & not one pic. How could I have done this?! Bah!

Epcot is actually the larges of all of the Disney amusement parks, so it's no surprise that we were all exhausted long before the fireworks that night. Tim, Tiff, and Mike all chose to go back to the condo to rest. Ray & I stayed behind with our parents & the entire Davis clan to enjoy the evening's festivities. It wasn't as good as in years past (I've been to Disney World 5 times, so I would know!), but we still had a lovely time together. Yay!