Nick's wedding and a little vacation (lj copy)
I have had a crazy week and a half or so. Last weekend my youngest brother, Nick, married his fiancee, Laura, in a little ceremony at her grandma's house. The first festivity was on Friday, 6/19, and Mom and I met Laura and her mom for breakfast at Circle G. Since I called it a non-diet day, I had the special. I had livermush, grits, two over easy eggs, and a biscuit. There was a funny sign at the restaurant that we took pictures by. It said, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." After that, Mom and I stopped at Walmart for a few supplies. She wanted to make Nick and Laura masks that said "bride" on hers and "groom" on his. I bought a limited edition apple pie Kit Kat that I split with Mom. I can't eat a whole one any more so I ate two sticks and gave her the other two. Then we rested because we had family dinner at Bon Terra restaurant that evening. The building had been a church at one point. We ate downstairs in the wine cave which was nicely air conditioned and private. The food was good, but it was expensive and the portions were small.
The next day was the wedding at Laura's grandma's house in Lilesville, NC. It was a neat old house that overlooked a river. We also had Zoom going on Nick's laptop so Nate and his family could watch and also Laura's brother. There were a few technical difficulties, but Nate got to play a song on his ukulele over Zoom, and he didn't cut out until the ceremony was almost over. Nick and Laura wrote their own vows, and couldn't get through them without crying, but we forgot to record them. My job during the ceremony was dog wrangler because Colby was there too.
After the ceremony was dinner. Dad brought smoked brisket, Laura's grandma made cole slaw, we had potato salad that I think came from the grocery store, buns, eclair dessert that I made at Nick's request, almond pound cake with lemon glaze that Laura's mom made, and cocktails that Nick made. I forget what all the gifts they got were, but Nate and Muyoung ordered a custom pillow with cute pictures of Nick and Laura on it. They also had Mom write a card that included messages from Cambree and Lyla in it.
After the ceremony, Nick and Laura left for their honeymoon. I had bubbles to blow, but everyone else threw rice, and Nick got a rice grain in his ear. Mom had also made a Just Married sign to stick in the back window of Nick's mustang. We have Colby while they are in Florida.
Sunday was Father's day, and I made bourbon balls for Dad's gift. Mom bought him White Castle sliders from the grocery store freezer section. I usually get those for him, but I asked what he wanted this year, and he asked for bourbon balls. He cooked filet mignons for his dinner. He figured to have the steaks the way he wanted them he needed to cook them himself. He has a sous vide that he has enjoyed using, and it makes very tender steaks. He and Mom had leftover eclair dessert for their dessert.
This past tuesday, Mom and I took a little vacation to Tennessee. We stayed with her friend, Kaye, who has a house on a lake and a guest house. She also has lots of pets. She has six cats of which I met four, and two dogs. There was Chase, a sweet cream and white cat who was old and deaf, but he loved to be petted and also have his picture taken. There was Katie, who was a shy and very fluffy long hair tabby cat. She did come to greet me once. There was Reese, who was a snowshoe cat. She was a calico with blue eyes, and she was fat. Kaye said that Reese sometimes bit, but Reese let me pet her and she rubbed on me a little bit. Bandy was a calico and an outdoor cat. I never saw the other two, but one was a tuxedo cat and the other was a fluffy one like Katie. I may have seen that one, and not realized it wasn't Katie because they looked just alike. The two dogs were Reba the German Shepherd and Joy the Golden Retriever. Joy had been a show dog before Kaye got her and was the most well behaved dog I've ever seen. Reba loved to be petted and cuddled but she was a little bit hyper.
We went to Dollywood finally after having canceled that trip three times. The first ride I went on was probably the most intense roller coaster I've ever been on. It was a launched wooden coaster named Lighting Rod, and had both a seat belt and a lap restraint that were very tight. They needed to be too, or I would have flown out of the train on the airtime hills. Mom did not go on that with me. She doesn't do intense rides any more. Our next ride was the carousel and it had no line. After that we walked for a while, ate cinnamon bread that I bought at the grist mill, toured a little old church in the park, and saw the eagles that are there at the park. The next thing we did was watch their raptor show. They flew most of the birds that they showed there. They had a one-eyed Great Horned owl, two cute screech owls one red and one grayish brown, a cute female kestrel, a very cute Black Vulture, a red tailed hawk, a Golden Eagle who turned 40 earlier this year, a Bald Eagle, and a cute African Pied crow who was trained to take donations. I didn't have any $1 bills to give him though.
We rode the log flume next, and there was very little line so we could just walk on. Mom and I rode it together twice, and then I rode it by myself a third time. Mom took a perfect video, but she realized after she took it that it was of the ladies in the boat in front of mine. She missed me coming down the big hill because of that.
We rode a fire station themed roller coaster after that was actually pretty intense for a ride that kids could go on. It had a backwards section that made it intense. Then we found this pretty little arbor with lights in it and took a break there. We had also watched the trains of the Wild Eagle coaster go up its huge lift hill. It had cute trains that looked like flying bald eagles, but we didn't ride that one because it has inversions. We rode a creaky old kiddy roller coaster after that, and then I walked onto a big wooden roller coaster that had no line.
Then we hustled back to the train depot to get in line for the old steam train. We were the last two onto the 5 o'clock train which might have been the last one of the day. We sat in the very back row. Mom did have to climb over me once to take a good picture of the engine as we went around a bend. After the train we went to a little area with flat rides and rode the airplanes and the waltzing swings, neither of which had any lines. The scrambler was back there too, but I didn't ride it. Even though it was my favorite carnival ride as a kid, my stomach had had enough. Then we left because we were tired.
The next day, we went to Parrot Mountain. I bought Mom's way in, and I bought us some masks too. We didn't need to wear masks at Parrot Mountain like we had to at Dollywood, but they were cute and had parrots on them. The money for those also went directly back into caring for the birds. There were so many sweet ones there, and they were interested in Mom's apple. I got to hold the most beautiful Major Mitchell's cockatoo, and she got on my head too. I petted a sweet Macaw named Cid. I think he was a greenwing. I also petted Marty the Blue and Gold, and Sangria the Greenwing. I had petted those two the last time I was there, but Fred the hybrid macaw wasn't in the mood for petting this time. I also petted Tennessee the citron crested cockatoo. She was all sweet this time, and she said "I love you," in her sweet little bird voice. Gabby the hyacinth macaw was out that day too, and I took a picture of her this time too. She loves having her picture taken. There were lots of cute babies in the nursery too, and quite a few parrotlets, but they were in cages and you had to ask to hold them. I did hold a cute little green bird that was slightly bigger than a parrotlet. It wasn't a lovebird. I don't know what it was. It liked to hang upside down from my hand.
We bought Arby's and had had a picnic by the river, but I couldn't feed the geese this time because the machine with corn in it was jammed. We stopped at Russell Stover on the way home because it was open. I ate three of the chocolates I bought, but I'm saving the Mint dream for later. I should have bought another peach whip egg to bring home to Dad. They didn't have those at any of the regular stores at Easter this year.
I'm still tired from last week. I will start my paper work for DAC next week.
The crosspost from Dreamwidth failed again so I copied this to LJ.
The next day was the wedding at Laura's grandma's house in Lilesville, NC. It was a neat old house that overlooked a river. We also had Zoom going on Nick's laptop so Nate and his family could watch and also Laura's brother. There were a few technical difficulties, but Nate got to play a song on his ukulele over Zoom, and he didn't cut out until the ceremony was almost over. Nick and Laura wrote their own vows, and couldn't get through them without crying, but we forgot to record them. My job during the ceremony was dog wrangler because Colby was there too.
After the ceremony was dinner. Dad brought smoked brisket, Laura's grandma made cole slaw, we had potato salad that I think came from the grocery store, buns, eclair dessert that I made at Nick's request, almond pound cake with lemon glaze that Laura's mom made, and cocktails that Nick made. I forget what all the gifts they got were, but Nate and Muyoung ordered a custom pillow with cute pictures of Nick and Laura on it. They also had Mom write a card that included messages from Cambree and Lyla in it.
After the ceremony, Nick and Laura left for their honeymoon. I had bubbles to blow, but everyone else threw rice, and Nick got a rice grain in his ear. Mom had also made a Just Married sign to stick in the back window of Nick's mustang. We have Colby while they are in Florida.
Sunday was Father's day, and I made bourbon balls for Dad's gift. Mom bought him White Castle sliders from the grocery store freezer section. I usually get those for him, but I asked what he wanted this year, and he asked for bourbon balls. He cooked filet mignons for his dinner. He figured to have the steaks the way he wanted them he needed to cook them himself. He has a sous vide that he has enjoyed using, and it makes very tender steaks. He and Mom had leftover eclair dessert for their dessert.
This past tuesday, Mom and I took a little vacation to Tennessee. We stayed with her friend, Kaye, who has a house on a lake and a guest house. She also has lots of pets. She has six cats of which I met four, and two dogs. There was Chase, a sweet cream and white cat who was old and deaf, but he loved to be petted and also have his picture taken. There was Katie, who was a shy and very fluffy long hair tabby cat. She did come to greet me once. There was Reese, who was a snowshoe cat. She was a calico with blue eyes, and she was fat. Kaye said that Reese sometimes bit, but Reese let me pet her and she rubbed on me a little bit. Bandy was a calico and an outdoor cat. I never saw the other two, but one was a tuxedo cat and the other was a fluffy one like Katie. I may have seen that one, and not realized it wasn't Katie because they looked just alike. The two dogs were Reba the German Shepherd and Joy the Golden Retriever. Joy had been a show dog before Kaye got her and was the most well behaved dog I've ever seen. Reba loved to be petted and cuddled but she was a little bit hyper.
We went to Dollywood finally after having canceled that trip three times. The first ride I went on was probably the most intense roller coaster I've ever been on. It was a launched wooden coaster named Lighting Rod, and had both a seat belt and a lap restraint that were very tight. They needed to be too, or I would have flown out of the train on the airtime hills. Mom did not go on that with me. She doesn't do intense rides any more. Our next ride was the carousel and it had no line. After that we walked for a while, ate cinnamon bread that I bought at the grist mill, toured a little old church in the park, and saw the eagles that are there at the park. The next thing we did was watch their raptor show. They flew most of the birds that they showed there. They had a one-eyed Great Horned owl, two cute screech owls one red and one grayish brown, a cute female kestrel, a very cute Black Vulture, a red tailed hawk, a Golden Eagle who turned 40 earlier this year, a Bald Eagle, and a cute African Pied crow who was trained to take donations. I didn't have any $1 bills to give him though.
We rode the log flume next, and there was very little line so we could just walk on. Mom and I rode it together twice, and then I rode it by myself a third time. Mom took a perfect video, but she realized after she took it that it was of the ladies in the boat in front of mine. She missed me coming down the big hill because of that.
We rode a fire station themed roller coaster after that was actually pretty intense for a ride that kids could go on. It had a backwards section that made it intense. Then we found this pretty little arbor with lights in it and took a break there. We had also watched the trains of the Wild Eagle coaster go up its huge lift hill. It had cute trains that looked like flying bald eagles, but we didn't ride that one because it has inversions. We rode a creaky old kiddy roller coaster after that, and then I walked onto a big wooden roller coaster that had no line.
Then we hustled back to the train depot to get in line for the old steam train. We were the last two onto the 5 o'clock train which might have been the last one of the day. We sat in the very back row. Mom did have to climb over me once to take a good picture of the engine as we went around a bend. After the train we went to a little area with flat rides and rode the airplanes and the waltzing swings, neither of which had any lines. The scrambler was back there too, but I didn't ride it. Even though it was my favorite carnival ride as a kid, my stomach had had enough. Then we left because we were tired.
The next day, we went to Parrot Mountain. I bought Mom's way in, and I bought us some masks too. We didn't need to wear masks at Parrot Mountain like we had to at Dollywood, but they were cute and had parrots on them. The money for those also went directly back into caring for the birds. There were so many sweet ones there, and they were interested in Mom's apple. I got to hold the most beautiful Major Mitchell's cockatoo, and she got on my head too. I petted a sweet Macaw named Cid. I think he was a greenwing. I also petted Marty the Blue and Gold, and Sangria the Greenwing. I had petted those two the last time I was there, but Fred the hybrid macaw wasn't in the mood for petting this time. I also petted Tennessee the citron crested cockatoo. She was all sweet this time, and she said "I love you," in her sweet little bird voice. Gabby the hyacinth macaw was out that day too, and I took a picture of her this time too. She loves having her picture taken. There were lots of cute babies in the nursery too, and quite a few parrotlets, but they were in cages and you had to ask to hold them. I did hold a cute little green bird that was slightly bigger than a parrotlet. It wasn't a lovebird. I don't know what it was. It liked to hang upside down from my hand.
We bought Arby's and had had a picnic by the river, but I couldn't feed the geese this time because the machine with corn in it was jammed. We stopped at Russell Stover on the way home because it was open. I ate three of the chocolates I bought, but I'm saving the Mint dream for later. I should have bought another peach whip egg to bring home to Dad. They didn't have those at any of the regular stores at Easter this year.
I'm still tired from last week. I will start my paper work for DAC next week.
The crosspost from Dreamwidth failed again so I copied this to LJ.