Griffey Family Reunion

My great grandma Griffey, who's nearly 99, and as many descendants of hers as could make it gathered at Columbian Park yesterday for our annual family reunion!  It was great seeing a few family members we hadn't seen in a while, although the majority of people there I had no idea who they were.  :)  But mostly I just hung out with the kids, anyway.

Great Grandma, still kickin' at 99!

I recognize about HALF the faces here...

...more of the extended family.

My dad's family, and his sister with her hubby and kid, and they're brother's wife and sister-in-law.

Just dad's fam...and Great Grandma.  :)

A rare happy shot--it was SOOOOOO hot, AND his naptime, so he was pretty cranky for most of it.  But peekaboo always wins!

Cooling down at the park's zoo's watery entrance.

Caida, happily getting splashed by metal elephants.

The poor wallabies were thirsty!  With 97+ degree temperatures, can't blame them.

The river otter tunnel!

My brother Ben as a prairie dog.

Brother Lukey and niece Caida.

Luke liked the petting zoo, especially the pregnant goats.

I *loved* how this little guy was putting himself up for sale!  Hahaha!

Caida at the Dino Dig.

Ben.

Luke.

"Hey, guys, I found something!"

The three little monkeys.

"This is the happiest day of my life." ~Lukey, upon seeing the monkeys.

Back to the water to cool off again!

Tanner was soaked.

What could be better than water on a hot day?  Snowcones!  Well, shaved ice, anyway...

In spite of the heat, it was a lot of fun.  But shaved ice and all, I got a wee bit too hot, and got a little sick to my stomach, and when I got home I fell asleep and pretty much slept through my 10-year high school reunion.  But that was okay, because I didn't really want to go, anyway.  Who has a high school reunion at a local bar instead of the actual school?  And who wants to revisit high school when you were a depressed teenager without any friends?  I like my life now WAY better than my life then, and have no desire to look back.  Besides, one reunion in a day is more than enough!  :)

Food in Florida

Maybe it was because we were in Florida, or maybe it was just because I didn't have to cook AT ALL while we were there, but I loved eating during our vacation.  First of all, the hotel provided a hot breakfast every day AND dinners Monday-Thursday.  When we weren't taking advantage of that, we were eating out on the company's dime.  Two cool places worth mentioning:

Thai food (our favorite) at Thai Ruby!  It had a different selection than the Thai places here, but it was still pretty awesome.  I think I like Basil Thai better, though...but maybe it's just because it is familiar.

AND...Columbia!  It's Florida's oldest restaurant (since 1905), in Ybor.  It's a little pricey for average dinner food, in my honest opinion, but the ambiance of the old building as well as the FLAMENCO SHOW totally make up for it!  I so need to learn how to dance.  :)  We went with two of Paul's coworkers, and that was a fun change of pace.  Definitely a good parting dinner, since I left EARLY the next morning for home.  Sorry for all the blurriness, we only had our phone cameras with us, and they don't do well inside...in the dark...with lots of moving people.  :)

Clearwater Beach and Swimming!

You can't go all the way to Florida and not hit up a beach at least once!  :)  We went to Clearwater, and it was BEAUTIFUL.  I seriously want to go spend a week there.  They have cute little shops and cafes right across the street, with a real "boardwalk" kind of feel.  Couldn't have asked for warmer weather, or warmer water.  The white sand along the Gulf was amazingly fine, and the best part?  We got within 10 feet of a manatee that was just chilling with all the swimmers!  That's close enough to be a misdemeanor!  I wish we had thought to bring along a camera IN the water, but we were too afraid it would get destroyed.  So you get what you get.  :)

Haha, these turtles were on all the showering stations around the entrances.  I love them!

My free souvenirs, which I'm going to turn into a bracelet or something soon!

Beautiful flowers, which were EVERYWHERE in Florida!

And, of course, the palm trees lining every road.

Haha, this picture's for my Ya-Yas...we have a restaurant to eat at when we go there together someday!

Amazing view on the way back--just water and sky, separated by miles of bridges.

That dark blog in the middle of the picture is the manatee.

Here's a slightly better view...of course, we got a LOT closer than this later on before we found out it was a small crime!

When it started to get late enough our meter was going to run out, we headed home...but still felt like swimming, so we hit up the hotel's pool.  It was beautiful, too!  A little colder than the salty waters of the Gulf, but still amazing enough we got sunburned.  :)

See?  It's BEAUTIFUL.

Paul, acting like the manatee.  :)

*Sigh*  Just LOOKING at all these pictures again makes me want to go back!