St. Petersburg Family Reunion

....And for the final trip in July (yes, we traveled A LOT last month), we went down to St. Pete beach in Florida for a family reunion on Marsh's side to celebrate his Aunt Joanne and Aunt (Dodo) Dorothy's birthdays. Joanne turned 80 and Dodo turned 79 last month ....wow!!!

The brothers (Lashar, Al, and Marsh) with Aunt Dodo

It was a ton of fun (despite the wicked sunburn I got after being an idiot for too long on the beach without enough --or strong enough- sunscreen!). Marsh and I flew down on a Thursday and met the boys (Justin and Collin) later that evening at the airport. It was one family member after another flying in from all over the place .....it was a bit crazy!!

Marsh and I at the Inn on the Beach (a bunch of us stayed here, we practically took over the place ;)

Marsh's cousin John, his partner Lance, Me, and Marsh having way too good of a time!!

the Portland faction of our family: Elizabeth, Aria, and Myra!

our Oklahoma City niece and nephew, Margaux and James (cute :)

Justin, Me, and Collin at the beach (before the rain rolled in and the sunburn set in ...ooww!)

....so, these are just some highlights and I will post another slideshow (top right of blog) to view as there are many photos, per usual :) ....With the exception of the barely tolerable humidity levels known to present themselves during July in Florida (...ahh, ..duh!), we really enjoyed our time. Lots of storytelling surrounding events from the past, catching up, drinking (of course), eating (...again, of course!), live bluegrass music courtesy of family members Diane and Clay, and time with family which truly is priceless and never taken for granted (even if you have to sweat it out ...that's what sangria is for ;) ....Good stuff!!

My Kind of Town, Chicago!

While we were up in Wisconsin in July, Marsh, Justin, Collin and I took a train down to Chicago to visit David and spend a few days exploring the Windy City (since the boys have never been here) ....this photo was taken on top of the building where David lives downtown. It's our family "album cover"....ha! However, I am PETRIFIED of heights like this, but I think I managed pretty well all things considered. Justin and Collin, on the other hand, thought David's place was "the bomb" (or something like that, anyway ;) ....

..my triplet bro, David and I :)

hangin' out on David's balcony ...

....We also went to the Sears Tower, Shedd's Aquarium, checked out a show at Second City, and a few other cool things in the city. I'm going to throw the rest of the pics in a slideshow for you. Marsh and I wanted to go on an architectural tour of the city that you do while cruising on the river along downtown, but the boys vetoed that (boooo!! ...next time I guess). I did get some great architectural pics like the one below: ....I wish I could remember what building this was ...oops, my ignorant bad, but it is one of many beautiful buildings throughout the downtown Chicago area. I also took many pictures at the aquarium and will leave you with one of my favorites of the Moray eel (in honor of David, of course, who I nicknamed "Moray" many years ago!! Here you are, Davey ...this one's for you ;)