Happy Birthday Gina! 21!!!

Happy Birthday Gina Bean!!!  WOW!  21!  I love you!!!

I'm looking forward to spending the day with you later this week!!!














Gina's amazing voice!  I'm so proud of you!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Boy, these years keep going faster!  I got out of work at noon on Tuesday and decorated my tree, which I put up on Monday night.  And I love traditions.  A more recent one of mine is to play "It's a Wonderful Life" DVD while I am decorating it.  This tree is a far cry from the ones I grew up with and had when my own family was growing up.  I learned how to put on the lights from my father.  He had a method.  I put tons of lights on the tree, all sizes and shapes and colors. It would take me hours!

The tree would sit in the middle of the "new" room.  (We never came up with any other name for this addition.)  We had an electrical outlet placed in the center of the floor for this reason.

And you can see from this picture of my son Joe, he was paying attention!


















And Ruby is watching and learning . . . her first Christmas!

So, on this day, Dad's birthday, I want to say thank you Dad, and Happy Birthday!  Thank you for our traditions and for your love!  I miss you!

Phenomenal Birthday Weekend

This definitely has been one of the most amazing Birthday and birthday weekends of my life.  Although not planned to be, my first grandchild, Ruby Joy Gabriel, was born on the day before my 63rd birthday.  She arrived just over 20 days early, and both she and Mom, and Dad too, are doing extremely well!  I'm not posting any pictures of her until my son Joe posts them.  He did send a couple taken shortly after she was born, and I must say, without prejudice, she is the most beautiful baby!  Well, not much prejudice, anyway.

 The weekend began with Wayne bringing down a home baked carrot cake.  We hung out with friends Pete, Joe, Steve, Bryan and Dave and ate the cake, watched some slide shows (how boring?!  OK) and waiting for the text/message saying Ruby had arrived.  Joy had started late on Thursday night, but not strong contractions until later on Friday.  After midnight came and went, everyone decided it was time to go.  I received a text around 2:00 am that Ruby was born at 1:35 am on 7/9/11.  [Notice the odd number sequence?]  My birthday weekend was off to a fantastic beginning!

 On Saturday I broke in my recently purchased blender by making fruit smoothies.  Fresh strawberries, blueberries, vanilla yogurt, orange juice (from Florida, of course!), and I added in a little coconut syrup.  Soooooo good!
Saturday afternoon, we had to head over to the mall so that I could check all the baby departments.  I needed to find an "I love Grandpa" onesie or two for Ruby.  None to be found, at least, none worth purchasing.  When we got back, I checked online and found a plethora of choices.  Now, to pick one or two or three . . .

 On Saturday night Wayne took me to dinner at Carrabba's.  It was a first for me, believe it or not.

Prosciutto wrapped pork tenderloins with apple and fig infused port wine sauce; and angel hair w/garlic and olive oil.

 I knew our waiter Brad from waiting on him when he comes into the credit union.  I told him we were celebrating my birthday and me becoming a Grandpa.  After dinner, he brought out a vanilla ice cream with praline dessert with a candle.  Fortunately, Brad was nice enough not to have any  singing by waitstaff!

The Carrabba's is located in this older refurbished building which also houses the Sunken Gardens.  When I first moved here and saw the Sunken Gardens sign, I thought it was a Chinese restaurant for some reason.  What a doofus!

On Sunday morning I was interviewed on Homo Radio  which is on every Sunday on radio station WRPI 91.5 FM.  The interview was almost an hour long.  The theme of the show today was 'transitions'.  All went well!
Early afternoon, Pete and Joe picked us up and we headed over to Sunset Beach.  It was mostly hazy overcast, but we all ended up with some red.  We ran into Bryan and Dave there and hung out with them.  And then we ran into Robert G, well, actually swam into Robert.  Pete and Joe brought champagne and sandwiches.  The water was beautiful!

Afterwards we celebrated some more with Pete and Joe.  Here with creamcicle vodka drinks.

And what's a birthday party without birthday hats?














Photo courtesy of Pete!  Bruschetta courtesy of Joe!

 Another cake . . .

 Yes, it was yummy!


Looks like 'Mickey' ears!

Didn't take us long . . .

 A new St Pete shirt!

 Gift certificate for a tour and dinner at the Vinoy!

Speeding Granddads with "super speed action"

The glass says, "R.I.C.H." for "Relax.  It's Cocktail Hour"  I always knew my name had deep meaning.

Now to plan a trip to NYC to meet Ruby in person. I don't think I can wait until October!

Happy Birthday Mia!

Happy Birthday Mia!  You were born smiling!  And you make those around you smile!  Thank you for coming into my life!  You are the Sa Ou Geck!!!  I love you and and I will always keep that shirt with the gum!  Keep smiling and all will be well!

Happy Birthday at Disney World!

I spent my 62nd Birthday at Disney World with my daughter Gina.  What a blast!  Stayed overnight on property and spent most of Sunday hanging around the pool and relaxing with Gina.  While we were at Hollywood Studios, we got text messages from Adele and Mia wishing me a Happy Birthday and sending best wishes that we were enjoying ourselves.  Gina snapped this picture with her phone camera and sent it to them.

We checked into the Pop Century Hotel just after 9:00 AM.  Very gaudy surroundings, but fun!  Room was nice and clean.

We were in the 90s themed area.  Since Gina is a 90s baby, it was certainly appropriate!

I was branded for the day!  But it was fun.  Cast members wishing me a Happy Birthday and getting extra little treats and services throughout the day!

One of my toys as a little kid was TinkerToys.  Loved them!

Taking aim on the Toy Story Arcade ride.

My mid morning Birthday Cake!  Make a wish!

Gina getting her kicks on Route 66

My favorite!  The Tower of Terror!

A picture of our picture on our first plunge of the day!  We look pretty cool, calm and collected, don't we?

Outside the Great Movie Ride.  Gina's home!  "Is this a ride?"  "What is this?  A Chinese restaurant?"  "Is this it?  I thought it was a ride?!!"

Boba Fet goes Hollywood

If you want me, I'll be at The Plaza . . . 

Gotta love that man!

The Block Party Bash

Frozen lemonade break!

Boo dancing at the party . . . 

The dancers were pulling people from the crowd, and this dancer noticed my Happy Birthday button, so he came over and led me out.  I figured, "What the heck!  Nobody knows me, so I can't make too much of a fool of myself!"

We went thru a series of different dances 

The MC Hammer shuffle . . . 

Can't touch this . . . 


whoa oh whoa oh, Oh oh oh . . . 

Then we twist again . . . 

Oh, you dancing fool!

I love the way this little girl was dancing!

How low could I go?

Around 4:30 PM we left the Hollywood Studios and headed over to the Polynesian Resort for dinner reservations at 5 PM.

Was nice and peaceful there!

Aloha!

Refreshments while we waited for the Kona Cafe to open.

Delicious bread with macadamia  butter!

Lump crab appetizer . . . 

Gina's pork chop dinner .

My jumbo shrimp and scallops.

Our waitress brought this Birthday cream puff.  I'm glad I kept the Birthday button on!!!

Lilo and Stitch made out of chocolate, watching over the desserts!

After dinner we took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom.  Rode the Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain, then hung out for the fireworks.  I can't believe that Disney did all this just for me on my birthday!!!

We took a ride on the People Mover to get some breeze.  Sure was a hot day!

Got a fast pass and rode Space Mountain.  This ride is always a blast!

Dusk at the Magic Kingdom

Several hours have passed since dinner, so there was some room for dessert.  First stop, big cookie ice cream sandwich.

Think maybe I enjoyed this way too much?

Gina got the Mickey caramel and chocolate covered apple.  For my birthday, the cast member gave me a chocolate covered marshmallow treat.

Enjoying dessert while positioned in the Rose Garden for the fireworks display.

Almost time . . . 

And all this for moi!  I'm totally farglempt!

Totally exhausted, we arrived back at the Pop Century.  I liked the way this was lit.

The hotel windows in the rooms all had these little "Watch Dog" in them, made from a washcloth.

We spent Sunday just relaxing around the pool and hanging around the hotel.  Was overcast on and off, and as we were departing around 2:00 PM, the rain came down!  Only lasted for maybe the first 10 minutes of the drive back to St Pete.

Groovy Baby!