So what do the spouses of e-cousins do at a family reunion while the girls are at the spa? Typically there either weren't any spouses or was just one so that person would either hang out with the aunts and uncles or just kind of disappear for a while. But lately, we've got more spouses! Last year and the year before, a golf outing was planned. This year there were 3 of them and they went fishing. Here are photos of the three of them and their catch.
After our exciting and fun Riverfront Cruise, we came back to the neighborhood and had dinner at The Gold Coast Grill. Yummmmmmm!! And we had spectacular service, too! Afterwards we had ice cream at Kilwin's next door. For some folks, this was not their first experience at this great chocolate and ice cream shop. Then some of us walked back to the hotel while others drove/rode. What a great ending to a great day.
Here's more photos of KMO taking photos. See Dad and Twyla in the background?
I hung out with Mommy. We found this friendly fellow "hanging around". My what big teeth you have!
Here are the only siblings that made it to this reunion (of the sibling generation that is)--Daddy and Twyla.
Here are the newest members of the family: Flicka and Stinker with their "mom".
After the cruise, we hung around the Riverfront area for a while just to take in all the sights. Nancy, Dale, Bing, and Katy took in the local beverages. ;-) Karen loves to evade the camera so I found her here and took as many shots as I could with the assistance of the ever-helpful Dale.
The prior posting was about the sights on the Riverfront Cruise, this one's about the best part . . . the fun family folks on the cruise. Check out Albert in most of the photos . . . he's checking on everyone making sure they're having a good time, asking if they need anything. The tray in his hand is from the refreshments he brought up from the concession stand below deck. He's ready to make another trip if anyone needs him to. What a host!
We took a 90 minute cruise down The New River which is the longest deep river or the shortest long river . . . something like that. It reaches depths of 45-100 feet but is only 2.9 miles long. We had a guide who pointed out sights along the way. I took a lot of photos but I'm not sure I'll remember what is what. Just know that this is a teeny tiny portion of what we saw.
This little yellow house with a yellow boat out in front is the house of the mayor. It's an older home from "a different era" and was modest and cute, I thought. There were many mega-mansions along the way that had no lawns because the house took up the whole lot. I preferred these cute, older, "original" homes.
This yacht was built in Italy and cost over 29 million dollars.
Cool! We got to see the draw bridge draw. There were 3 sailboats, 2 coming at us and 1 behind us, that had masts so tall they had to raise the draw bridge.
This one's for Steve. This is the 28 million dollar home and the 11 million dollar yacht of the commissioner of the NBA.
This was the very first house in Fort Lauderdale. It's now a museum.
I didn't know this until after the cruise, but apparently Mother read about this in AAA and suggested it to Rebecca who got the whole rest of the family interested. So we all went. It was really fun. It was a gorgeous day and the area down by the riverfront is very nice. More fun!
Hurry! You don't want to miss the boat! (Valet parking was full and we were cutting it pretty close to our 4:30 departure time. We had 3 cars full of people. Fortunately, the 3 drivers made it in time to catch the boat.)
Aaaah, Spa Day!! This e-Cousin tradition is how old now? hmmmm. I need to track down this history. We first became the "e-cousins" before the reunion that Rebecca hosted in 2000. She had been emailing all the family members about details for the reunion but eventually just emailed the girl cousins "because you're the only ones replying". That group helped design the reunion shirts via email and after lots of plotting, planning, and virtual laughing, we started emailing about other things besides shirts. We've been emailing ever since and it's fabulous. We get quick updates on soccer schedules and vacation plans and what's going on at work. Then when we get to reunions we can talk about the big things 'cuz we're all caught up on the little things. The 2001 reunion at Uncle Vernon's in Los Osos, CA was the first spa day just for the e-cousins. And we've been doing them ever since!
Rebecca and Albert just re-did the guest room and turned it into "Stinker's" bedroom. Oh my. Is she really a princess or is she just treated like one? How gorgeous is this room??!!
After that we headed back to Rebecca and Albert's where there was serious cooking going on. They were hosting a big barbecue dinner for all the Overalls plus the extended family. Carol was Rebecca's assistant for a long time and they've been good friends ever since. Carol's 2 daughters (who are all grown up now . . . we first met them 10 years ago), her son, her daughter's boyfriend, her son-in-law, her husband, and her 2 grandchildren were all there. It was a long and glorious night of amazingly delicious food and lots of fun. It even included s'mores!! What a great spring break to get to have s'mores twice in 48 hours!
Karen and I both arrived in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport around midnight Thursday night/Friday morning. Our planes were scheduled to arrive within 20 minutes of each other. When I was sitting in BWI and they announced that mine was going to be late, I text messaged Karen with the news. She texted back immediately: She was in Atlanta and they had just announced that hers was going to be late, too. So we still arrived within 20 minutes of each other. It was after 1 by the time we got luggage, got the rent car, stopped at WalMart, checked into the hotel, and settled into our room. I slept in a little bit on Friday morning but Karen was up by 8 because she was picking up Nancy and Dale at the airport at 10. Eventually, we were at Rebecca and Albert's house and from there, we headed to Big Bear Brewery for lunch. It was Mother and Daddy, Aunt Twyla, Karen, Nancy, Dale, and I for lunch . . . Rebecca, Albert, and "Stinker" (as Albert calls the little one) stayed behind to cook and prep for dinner.
Here are those two engineers, Dale and Daddy, having an interesting conversation on the couch in the family room (well, they were until I said, "SMILE!" but they only stopped for a moment).
...and here they are on the couch in the living room, sound asleep. They really are like two peas in a pod.
Seen on the road from Bridgeport, CT to Manchester, NH. You gotta love a trucking company with a sense of humor. See the "round" message above the red lights on the bottom, back of the truck. (Click on the picture to see a larger version of the photo.)
Sorry for the bad photo. We drove past this sign several times and this was the only chance I had to take a photo of it. it's just indicative of what a great neighborhood my Godfamily lives in. The sign says, "Duck toy found" and there's a little sketch of it and a phone number. You know some child is sad to have lost it and this person(s) recognized that fact and took the time and trouble to try to locate the rightful owner. Gotta love it. (Well, I guess you don't have to love it, but I do!)
