April And Stuart

Travel began early this morning, up at 5 a.m out the door at 5:45, at the airport at 6:35 and in the air at 7:25. Dropped down in PBI at 11:25… It sounds as if travel is tedious and cumbersome however to the contrary it is quite beneficial. I was reading emails from clients & artists that came in after 10 p.m. last night, addressed their issues and had information waiting for all of them before they ever began their days. I rarely afford myself time to read a real live newspaper. Primarily because my news is supplied to me in news emails and small morning chit chat with Stuart (he is a ravenous news reader… he furnishes me with all pertinent information that I need to know for the day). But when I fly I need to have something to read during the first :20 minutes of flights until we reach cruising altitudes. Today I learned from the NYTimes that I operate the majority of my by business by way of Cloud Computing…the new white-hot technology buzzword. This means that I engage in using internet applications that are not housed within my office…ie: Google calendars and google mail. I also learned that the few times that I thought I had acquired poison sumac from weeding my bushes and flower beds was most probably not poison sumac.  Poison sumac is indigenous to swampy and beachy areas - primarily on the far east and west coasts. I learned that east of the Mississippi is the biggest hotbed of growth for Posion Ivy.  So PI is really the only thing that I would have most likely be exposed to. I also learned that Posion Ivy is a huge consumer of CO2. That the more CO2 is available the more it thrives… so now I will reconsider the pruning back of my indigenous Posion Ivy in the hopes of contributing in some small way to the reverse of the green house effect.

I also learned that the second quarter earning reports that came out this week was not as doom and gloom as was projected. I felt my “recession denial” further confirmed by this information. There was also an article about the trends of retirees who are coming out of retirement. It was also noted that the unemployment figures have once again gone up… Hmmmmmm…..I pondered on these two tid-bits of information as well as considering the volume of business that is still unsolicited and coming our way. The volume of brand new business construction centers and a slight improvement in housing market also fueled my thoughts …Conclusion- the unemployment numbers are not being measured nor being reflected equally as in the prior quarters. The number is based upon the amount of people “seeking jobs”. It is my conviction that yes there are more people who looking…people who want and were not looking before; such as retirees and non-working mothers and college students who are all concerned with the economy getting tough.   Just my thoughts…during a Ho Hum flight to Florida.

Well - Delta canceled our flight today … Probably because of that newspaper article … But they have sent us over the hills and through the woods and we’ll get home today … maybe. Currently we are parked in the West Palm airport awaiting a flight to NYC where we hope to catch a ride into Cincinnati!

We got up early morning, had a light breakfast of hard boiled eggs and bacon and then quickly charter our next stop to be at Soper’s Hole, basically to get some cash. The goats were out first thing in the morning. We read that they had wild goats and cattle and that it was best not to mess with them. It was a very pleasant morning and the little bay was quiet. We threaded our way out of Little Harbour and set off for the next hour to get to Soper’s Hole. It was pretty choppy and we were really banging around a lot. We noticed that the cloud cover was thickening up and the wind was definitely picking up. We came into Sopers Hole with only three or four moorings available. Which we thought a bit odd. The wind was starting to make good waves and it made the mooring ball catching process a bit difficult. It took Stuart and I four attempts before we were able to get it. As we got ourselves moored we started noticing the weather really taking a turn and that boats were racing to get in. We hear a lot of chatter on the radio too. Boats were coming in to get away from the pending storm. We were glad that we had timed ourselves the way we did (lucky is what we were). Shortly after mooring the 45 mph winds and rain started. It was a good :20 minutes of hard rain. Stuart stayed up top for a while to hold down the canvas top that had a weak zipper. While he was doing that (getting pelted by rain) the sundeck pads went flying away. Stuart came down to help me while I gathered the other pads and brought them inside. We started taking pictures and sat inside for a while. Radio chatter about a boat sinking and unmanned dingies as well as emergency calls for help were happening all the while. One boat lost its mooring ball and had to maneuver quickly to get its self secure again. It had to have been frightening for the family on board. It made us incredibly worried about out weak rope that we had make-shifted because the hook that the boat came with had too narrow of a hook to hook to any of the mooring balls. Stuart had taped the fraying part earlier and thought it was secure enough but the weather added enough of a twist to certainly make us concerned about it again. After the rough weather passed a sailor in front of us raced out to find friends that they could not connect with by radio. He briefly stopped to see if we were okay and we mentioned out sun pads flying away. We are glad we mentioned it because about a half hour later the guy came back with them in his boat! We were grateful and wanted to offer him something but he wouldn’t take anything. We were lucky, and counted our blessing because we had figured that was going to be about $1000 to replace. Several boats that we not so lucky came into the harbour demasted and with shredded sails. One of the Mooring boats actually sank. (We later found out that boats sinking is fairly rare and on average they lose one boat a year).

We left Soper around 2:30 in the afternoon, post a cash machine trip and small shopping spree. We sailed over to Norman Island. Mooring at the Bright. We cleaned up and talked to our offices briefly. We were given a clue by the guys in Stuart’s office that Alan had sent a funny email, so we went straight to the computer to see. Kipp had responded to our email of the storm by sending an Omaha storm picture of a tornado and lightening, we laughed pretty good at that but then we opened Alan’s response to that email and we howled. The photoshopped picture of us from Foxy’s in front of a huge tidal wave was hysterical. The neighboring boats must have thought we were crazy.

We dingied into the Bight for drinks. We went over to Pirates. A family food and bar place. We sat and had drinks. While we were there a call on the radio came in saying that a man had stopped breathing on one of the boats in the Bight. Everyone just kind of looked helpless and stood around, no one had any idea which boat it was. It took about another 10-15 minutes and the coast guard or emergency boat was at a boat in the far end of the harbour. We never exactly heard what happened to him other than people were performing CPR on him and that the emergency boat had left in less of a rush. We stayed on the beach until dusk and then dingied back to the boat to make dinner. I concocted a pasta dish with the tomato and onions, cheese and milk. Stuart raved about it I thought it was okay. We chatted with Amalie and Sam while we ate our only self cooked dinner. After the clean up we decided to go to the famous Willie T’s, which is a float pirate’s boat bar. We had heard and read about it being a crazy and insane bar. The kind where people jump off the top into the water naked for free drinks and t-shirts. We tried to squeeze our dingy into the mass of dingys already there. 60’s and 70’s dance music was blaring. We got to the bar and had to elbow in to get to the bar, all to find out that half the bar was full of teenagers, and young teenagers at that. We were highly disappointed, drank one drink each and left. We sat out on the bow of the boat under the stars for a little while and then retired for the evening. We were extra concerned about the rope post our storm experience and Stuart got up often to check it throughout the night.

In the morning we cleaned up and went to Saba for breakfast. We grabbed some food and a sailing flag. Not sure what we will do with it but we have one! We left the harbour around noon and sailed for a while, destination White Bay. White Beach is on Guana Island; beautiful, quiet beach with very few boats around.

(Stuart note: went to Guana but passed marina Cay Great Camanoe on way)

We tried anchoring at White Bay but we kept dragging anchor. It was certainly windy enough to think that if we didn’t anchor well we might have problems. We were bummed that we couldn’t leave the boat because of the anchoring situation. I spotted a large fish hanging out under the boat, we think it was a King fish. It was a bit scary looking from the water. I snorkeled over to the beach while Stuart stayed on the boat. There was not much to look at within the water but it was so clear that the swim was soothing and enjoyable. The sands of the beach were of such a fine grain that it was almost like walking through powdered sugar. The only thing that was not enjoyable was the looming pelicans and the frightening King Fish living under the boat that I had to pass to get back to Stuart. The idea was that I’d check the beach out and then Stuart would go, but he changed his mind when he realized the time and that we needed to find a mooring for the night.

We sailed off to Jost Van Dyke with great plans to visit Foxy’s, the world famous Foxy’s that is adorned with bras, shirts, panties etc… clothing that people signed and attached to the ceilings and walls. We tried to go straight to Great Harbour but all the mooring were taken when we got there so we had to back track to Little Harbour. Little Harbour was not as “exciting” and had less moorings but it had mooring balls! So we were thrilled and went about hooking ourselves up to the closest ball to the dock. We were so close to the shore that we could hear the goats grazing on the hill. Once we moored we cleaned up to go get some cash. We dingied over to Abe’s shack. But Abe’s didn’t have an ATM…so we ended up paying a little extra for a taxi and used a credit card to pay. Abe, the same Abe who owned the rental car, taxi and dining shack drove us to Foxy’s. It was up and over some hills. There is not all that much on the island, at least as we could tell.

We made it to Foxy’s. A fun lively place. We were surprised that it was being run by a bunch of non-island guys. We put our reservations in, waited at the Foxy’s bar and I downed a yummy Painkiller and Stuart had a beer. We didn’t have to wait long. We were put at a table that was close to the bar, the edge of the dance area and right under a “Hogs flag!” Stuart had his picture taken under it. We did not leave any of our clothing at Foxy’s – which was not a disappointment to us. I ordered the catch of the day which ironically was caught by the group at the table next to us – it WAS a King fish. The food was decent, the atmosphere was fun. There was a crazy “island” man that  we guessed was paid “island entertainment”. He was a large man but despite his largeness he was incredibly good at back bend beer upside down drinking and he was doing the limba that was a meer foot off of the ground. I frankly thought he looked and acted a little inbred, I don’t think Stuart disagreed with me. We had a little hermit crab hanging around the table and the black lab checked in on it from time to time.

We did some dancing. It was incredibly hot so we had to sit and relax after a while. We took pictures of us all sweaty and red faced. I don’t think we completely cool down until later that evening. Foxy’s is where we saw our first bat. We had never noticed how large they were – or maybe we just thought they were birds flying at dusk. I suspect that they had about a good foot and a half wingspan.

We awoke this morning and tried our hand at the percolating coffeemaker. Coffee was fair (got better the following days). Today we will head to The Baths.

We dingied into Saba and took their tender over to the land taxi on the other side of the sound, “Ice Willie” a basketball star and part-time cab driver (Ice Willie is on the BVI National Team) drove us to the Baths on the other side of the island, about a 25 minute drive up and around the island. It was a great drive with gorgeous views of the bays and beaches below. Ice Willie stopped at several scenic spots and we took some photographs. He dropped us off and promised to be back at 2 p.m. to pick us up. We hiked down to the Baths, seeing interesting lizards that had turquiose bellies and orange tipped noses. The Bathes is a national park, we were impressed with how clean and well kept it is. There was no trash and it was not overly “tourist-ed up” although it was clear that a lot of “tour boats” visit. We walked through the huge granite boulders that make the Baths famous and were able to take several photos along the way. We explored the Baths hidden grottos and helped others take pictures in the unique spaces. We ran across a young, recently married couple. The bride had graduated from Lakota West high school in West Chester in 2003, she was one year older than Kerri. She didn’t know Kerri but it was pretty amazing to run across people from home, it’s a small world.

We hung out at the beach until about 12:30 and then started back up to the top for a little lunch. There was great little café (At the Top Baths) at the top and we sat down and had some great Pina Coladas, shared a salad and coconut chicken wrap (which I thought was great but Stuart burned his finger on the juices). We had another round of drinks and moved to the cafe’s pool where we washed the salt water off and relaxed. We chatted with a couple from CA, they were on their 10^th wedding anniversary. They were staying at Little Dix, a nice resort on Virgin Gorda. We also chatted with a family with three young children…the children played troll under the bridge that crossed the pool. It was cute and for a second we missed the kids… but just for a second.

We dried off and went in search of Ice Willie at around 1:45 p.m. No Ice Willie. We found a little bar that had a hand made sign offering pbj’s, beer, cigarettes and ice cream. How could we go wrong? We encountered several characters in this little joint. One of which was local who was originally from Cincinnati “John from Cincinnati”. He offered Stuart a free 5 bed room villa if he would help John finish his website (his 32 year old webdesigner died on him leaving the site half finished….???) We hung out for a while longer and talked to two guys that had brought their teenage daughters to the BVI’s for a Father’s Day sailing trip (Brian and Felix -who we swear was Herb from WKRP). We hung out long enough to realize Ice Willie wasn’t coming back for us. We chatted a little longer and planned a possible Trellis Bay renedevous with Brian and Felix… which we never made.John offered us a ride back… we were a bit leery but everyone seemed to know the guy and we were open to the adventure, (Stuart just keep whispering “Courage” and patting my shoulder…why did he do that!) John chatted and BS’ed the whole ride back. We made it back to the taxi station…he yelled up to The Last Stop Café for Agnes. She was in and tending bar with her 8 month old daughter, perched in the punkin’ seat behind the bar. We stayed, had one last drink and waited for the ferry. While we waited our buddy Ice Willie drove up to the taxi station. We yelled down at him…he smiled and swore that he had come back for us…yeah right! He claims he was on the BVI basketball team…whatever!

The tender from Saba Rock showed back up to return us to the resort so we could fetch our dingy. Arriving at Saba, we met pregnant Helena from Prague (which we’re convinced is a super model because of everywhere that she says she has lived) and her husband a monied Indian who had just arrived at the resort from Cannes. They invited us to join them at Biras Creek at 8:45 that night (we didn’t go). We also met another couple Michael and Megan from San Francisco…she was in IT staffing. They had left their family on the boat and had rented a room a Saba for the night… they needed a privacy from their parents and brother. We had a few “Painkillers” and yummy calamari and then dingy’d back to the boat.

We are now waiting topside (8:12 a.m. Tuesday) for our “Monday evening late start, which cost us an extra $900)… we are on island time you know. We need our radio to be fixed and we’re concerned that cabin smells like gasoline. The boat is huge and Stuart has confessed that he is a bit concerned just because it is so big. The other thing that we are a bit concern about is that everyone keeps asking “It is just the two of you?” (with a very surprised look) Why is it so odd… can’t wait to find out why.

So it is 2:30 before we were underway. We waited for several things to be righted before starting. Davits winch needed to be replaced (for holding the dingy), our radio needed repair, the horn wasn’t working, and our electronic chart plotter wasn’t working in the cockpit of the main salon, Stuart found a charting brief that no one informed us of, we had to get a medical kit.  I went and tried to get internet and iPod connection (they could not accommodate Vista and were waiting for the card for a Mac). Stuart made his list of all the problems and missing items…signed the checklist paper and off we went. Where to?… didn’t matter we were underway!

So we cruised out into the Sir Francis Drake Channel with not destination planned. Stuart giving instructions on wind and speed, waves and charting. April listened.

A bird joined our journey and we named him “Earl” . We took turns steering and playing with autopilot. We finally set our sights for the mooring balls of Saba Rock in the North Sound of Virgin Gorda. A Great spot with a gorgeous sunset (see 1^st Sunset pic). It was also our first try at catching ourselves a mooring ball. Quite a show for the other yachts in the harbour as I dropped the “hook” and the Bitter End sailing staff came out to assist. Stuart of course was a gentleman and took the blame for the ineptness but everyone knew who really lacked the abilities. (:

Our first night at Saba cost us $30 to moor. We were a bit distressed when the bilge pumps still continued to run several hours after we turned off the engine. We phoned The Moorings people and they told us to radio for Leonard, but it was after 5 p.m. so we were going to have to wait for his return in the morning. We were more than a little concerned with leaving the boat with the pumps running but we wanted to go onto the island for dinner. The Moorings people told us it should be fine… we crossed our fingers.

So we cleaned off a bit (aka smeared some deodorant under our armpits and changed clothes). The breeze was great but the humidity still lingered. We rolled up our pants and hopped into the dingy. We tried to get into the BBQ buffet at the Bitter End around 8 p.m., however we did not have reservations so we had to wait a little while. We decided to walk over to the English Pub on the resort, it was a relaxed bar atmosphere. Stuart grabbed beer and I got a dry cider and some fried conch fritters – really hot and a bit over cooked. We chatted with two couples from Boulder, CO at the table next to us. They have sailed the BVI’s many times over the years and Saba Rock/Bitter End/North Sound of Virgin Gorda was their favorite spot. We finished the majority of our fritters and drinks and headed over to dinner. We sat down, ordered a bottle of wine, grabbed some plates and went buffet cruising. Stuart grabbed a steak, I had tuna and then we filled our plates with the variety of potato salads, pumpkin soups, salads, and desserts. There was a “jammin’“ band and we danced a few times but watched others and tap our toes more. After dinner we dingied back in the dark. The full moon made it a fairly easy float back (luckily it was not necessary to utilize my lighted ballcap). The moon was bright and we sat out on the bow of the sundeck (call it a moondeck at night I guess). It was so relaxing that we fell asleep right there. At around midnight Stuart woke up and realized we were still on the bow and suggested we go below… a little more comfortable.)

Luckily, Brandi came around 7pm last night so we could get Nicolas acclimated to the idea of her being around for a week; and to play with him while we readied for our trip. We had to quietly and efficiently get ourselves scooped up and in the car at 4:45 am in the morning (which in “April and Stuart time” meant we left around 5:00 a.m.). We walked through all the normal airport rigors. Got on our plane and slept. The day was fairly uneventful airport and plane travel (slept and ate bad terminal/plane food).

We touched down in Charlotte Amalie, St. Johns (USVI) and fretted a bit about getting luggage, cash and a taxi on time to make the last ferry to Tortola. It all came together and we had time to spare to sit and have a drink before leaving for the BVI’s. It all worked out easy enough and by 4:00 p.m. and we were in full relaxation mode. The water in the bay was definitely as turquoise blue as we had hoped it would be.

Arriving at the Moorings, Michael, our check in attendant … was a little less than knowledgable on what he was suppose to do (Frankly he didn’t know what he was doing) and I was a bit apprehensive to hand over my credit card for the $2000 insurance deposit (that was never mentioned before). But once on the boat we started to explore, open hatches and take inventory of our provisions (and libations). We got our cooler and some ice, turned on the air conditioning and waited for Terry. We were suppose to have an “late start”. However, late start for The Moorings and late start for the Koenigs were not exactly of the same definition. We were under the impression that if we pay a considerably higher rate to have some one go through the boat with us on Monday night we would be able to get the boat out of the slip and on our way… no that is not what that means with The Moorings peeps. For them it meant, you get to sleep on the boat and can pay us extra money for the privilege. Lesson number one, just because you pay more for it doesn’t mean that you get something better.

The boat is pretty cool, a bit dirty but I’m getting used to it and likening it to camping. We took advantage of the expensive restaurant for dinner (not that swell tasting though) and then went back to hang out on the top of the boat and drank some island rum punch. We had a relaxing time just sitting in the moonlight, looking at a few pictures that friends sent us from the wedding and basking in the evening sea breezes.

We’re up early this morning. CRAZINESS with airplane schedules. When we booked Nicolas’s ticket up North three weeks ago, we had to do so hastily because of the unplanned nature of his coming up to Cincinnati a full week earlier than we hand planned. Because the booking of the ticket was so rushed, his return trip was never booked properly and every single time we have called, the Delta representatives on the “Special Member Services” line kept telling us not to worry about it. Well WE”RE WORRIED ABOUT IT.

April and I are booked on a 6 a.m. flight and Nicolas is booked on a 1:30 p.m. flight - BY HIMSELF. Yeah, that’s not gonna work. April was frantic and worried, we are already running late. So I took charge and called the “Special Member Services” line (we’re such big wigs at Delta, whatever) explained the situation and let them know that I was fairly certain that they would not be letting “Little Time” travel solo at the ripe age of 3. They concurred and switched up our flights and put us all on the 1:30 flight. Yep, in less than two minutes we were both HAPPILY back beneath the covers and fast asleep. Anytime you don’t have to rush out the door at 4:30 a.m. and are provided the opportunity to sleep in and leisurely begin your honeymoon - YOU KNOW IT’S A GOOD START.

After lazily sleeping in and casually getting underway, we had an uneventful flight back to Florida. Nicolas is a pro on the plane. Chatting up the ladies, winking at the girlies, he’s got all the moves. The kid is all personality.

So what do you do with 30 people who are all from out of town, bored and stuck in a hotel? You go see skinned bodies and play in tubs of water at the Cincinnati Museum Center!

On Friday morning around 9:30 a.m. family started moseying down to the buffet breakfast in the hotel.

As planned prior we ate breakfast and then organized ourselves to caravan over to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see Bodies Exhibition or go through one of the other museum centers.

It was Stuart’s brothers Alan & Zach, with sisters in laws and nephews, my brothers Ty & Kipp and his family, Sam & Amalie, Carolyn and Gary. We purchased tickets for all the different exhibits. Dana & Zach started early and went through the full Monty of the museum center. Stuart and I, Alan and Nicole just got tickets to the Bodies and Children’s museum. And I think everyone else primarily hung out in the Children’s Museum.  We let the grandparents “enjoy” time with their grandkids… nice way of saying we pawned them off so we could go through the Bodies Exhibit.  Alan & Nicole and Stuart & I went through the Bodies Exhibit.  Stuart and I were sort of disappointed and moved pretty quickly through the exhibit. Where as Alan & Nicole had purchased the headsets and seemed to enjoy it much more than us.

It was clear after the kids played for a while and the parents and grandparents ran after them we were all in need of food. So we went upstairs to feed everyone and joyously planned naptime.  We also all decided that a night out seemed a little too much and we changed our plans to just a casual night at the house again and to eat the leftovers from Wednesday night’s BBQ.

Ty had a plane to catch late afternoon so he was missing for second feasting at the house but everyone else was there. Mom & Dad took him back and then met us on their way back down from Dayton.  Kerri concocted “her new” drink which was not only pretty yummy and but also pretty to look at as well.  My gurlie the mixologist.

This was the last night that the majority of everyone was still here. There were lots of final good byes happening throughout the evening as family made their ways back to the hotel.  Again, it was great to see everyone and it was kind of sad to see everyone leaving. Lots of hugs and kisses and “It was so nice to see you’s” ended the evening.

The next morning the Koenig brothers and their family were still in town so we scooped up Nicolas and made our way downtown to meet up with them and to venture over to the Zoo. I think the kids were having a pretty good time as well as the daddies. After a busy morning of seeing and smelling animals it came time for the Tennessan to go, so after lunch we said our goodbyes at the zoo and wished them safe travels and promises to see each other soon. We made plans to meet up with the Jersey Koenigs later in the evening, post naps but unfortunately Stuart and I had to beg out. We were just a little overwhelmed with all the things we had to do prior to getting on our early morning flight. I was a little worried about the flying arrangement that Delta had set up for the three of us. They did some crazy dancing around to help us get Nicolas here and said that all would be fine for the return flight. With that said Nicolas was still on a flight all by himself, which was not going to work. Sadly we had to cancel our plans to dine with Zach, Dana, Sammy & Charlie. It was the thing we had to do but we really were unhappy about missing out on the time with them.

We did it! Lots of fun. It was great to have family here. The reception was nice.

The morning started off rough. I was a bit edgy and no one seemed to be moving any too fast. (or at least not as fast as I thought they should). I think I was behaving like a bridezilla. We were running late and Kerri and Bethany shuffled me off into the car to drive down to the Hilton. The Korean nail lady kept calling my cell phone, we had a 10 a.m. appointment  for 7 and it was 10 after 10!  After the ladies finished with the nails we all went up to the hospitality room. The hotel goofed up on the attached room reservation and gave it to Kathy and Kelly from STL. It was a mystery for a while as to who was in the room. The hotel people didn’t even know. Once we figured it out we called the girls and it was straightened out.

We had Skyline delivered… the dude was early, I had to leave the ladies at the nail salon and go figure he forgot plates. The guys (minus Stuart, Brandon, Ty and my Dad) slowly returned back from the Newport aquarium. We nibbled a little for lunch. Stuart and Brandon came later after running errands.  Stuart later said that he and Brandon had a really good time running around just the two of them.

About that time, stress was kicking in full swing. To relieve stress Stuart and I both kept reaching and grabbing for our blackberries. Eventually, Kerri stole mine and Amalie “tried” to take Stuart’s. Stuart, as I have heard, gave his mother a “no nonsense” look and she returned his blackberry promptly. So, I guess I wasn’t the only one a little nervous.

The girls and I left to go get my hair done. Nicole at Paragon did a nice job. The only thing that we did not think about was that I forgot to change my shirt to a button shirt…oops! It wasn’t that big of a problem and the girls helped me wiggle out of the t-shirt without undoing Nicole’s work. Once the girls and I got back to the hospitality room we finished getting dress. Skyline dude showed up in the midst of the dressing to pick up the cart.  I hid in the bathroom and thanked him from behind the door.

Photographer Angela T. was calling regularly and Brigid was waiting patiently. We met them just outside the Hall of Mirrors. Stuart was waiting with Nicolas on the bottom of the steps. I grabbed his hand, held tight and we walked down and around to the Continental room. At the entrance, my brother Aaron and Kristen, and my parents were waiting. We talked briefly and then went in to greet everyone else and to do the deed!

It was quick but we had some cute little moments. The two best were the ringing of the “Magical Wedding Scepter” and Nicolas climbing on the banister behind Stuart saying “To infinity and beyond!”. The officiate, Bill Proud kept on track despite the distractions. There were a few tears rolling but all the word came out loud and clear. I can’t say that I was nervous scared during the vows but was incredibly shaky and could not make it stop. I held onto Stuart pretty darn tight!  It was perfect.  Whew! and Yeah!

We were shuffled up and around for pictures. We got a few family shots in. The little ones were not all too excited about the ordeal; it will be interesting to see the photographers pictures in a couple of weeks. I believe that Nicolas has a few toys accompanying him and I’m not sure his clothes were all in order.

The food was all right; we had a salad, filet, mashed potatoes, asparagus and wedding cake. Red and white wine flowed.  The kids had chicken fingers. The last minute change up on the cake turned out great. And I really liked the flowers; originally I didn’t give the flowers much thought but after seeing them I really really liked them and I’m glad that we got them - Joni at Sprouts did a great job.

Stuart and I got all of two bites of cake and then the photographers whisked us away to go traveling the city for more shots. I’m anxious to see how they turned out. We went the “unusual” route for pictures. Why go traditional - nothing about the two of us is tradtitional!

Settings for some are alleys, dumpsters, Starbucks and in front of the Hustler shop.  Again can’t wait to see them! We returned about 6:45-ish, a little warm from our downtown walk. People were already there and so we quickly started to greet people. We had originally made a pact to not break apart and to greet everyone together… but within 5 minutes that was over! We did manage to get back together throughout the 2 & 1/2 hours of the reception.

After the reception, most of the COC peeps and our brothers and sister in laws, the Bruders and a few others went over to Twist. We had the babysitters until midnight so why not? It was fairly busy for a Thursday night. We hung out, had a few more cocktails and then went back at midnight.

We got up to the hospitality room where the kids were. Oh what a site! It looked like they had a blast (and from what I have heard they did). Droopy-eyed holdouts were waiting for us in the dark, watching a movie and the others were conked out in full snore, drooling and smudged face paints. We laughed so hard and loudly - yet they didn’t wake up! We took pictures of Nicolas, who resembled John Belushi from animal house. We put him in bed and Kerri stayed with him through the night. We left and went up to our room and nibbled on the left over wedding cake and sipped some champagne.