My birthday weekend :)

John and I celebrated my birthday by heading out to Busch Gardens with friends. Eric joined us, and Carly, Francis, and their boy, Austin, met up with us later. We had a really fun time! We got to see all my favorite animals, like the white tigers, meerkats, giraffes, and gorillas. Rode a few coasters, and walked through the new Jungala part. Austin had fun riding the motorcycle and airplane rides! We fed some nectar to some crazy birds too. John and Eric also indulged me in eating ice cream while watching the 50's Doo Wop group sing on stage (ah, takes me back to the ole Show Choir days). As always, it was miserably hot, sticky, expensive, crowded, exhausting. But with good friends, beautiful animals and plants, exhilarating coaster where your feet dangle and you scream your head off, you can have an awesome day!

Later that night, we met up with my friend Danielle and our neighbors Mike and Kim, and their little girl, Kathleen, at M.J. Barleyhoppers for dinner. Then we challenged each other on Trivial Pursuit and Scattergories at the house... I won Trivial! but I'm not sure who won Scattergories cause I think we were all so exhausted we didn't really care!

What a fun day!

John and friends and Guiness!

St. Augustine trip

Well, we were invited to wedding #4, which took place in St. Augustine, Fl. Danielle, our good friend Jesse's sister, was marrying Richard, and they were just meant to be, the cutest couple. They were married in a pretty Catholic church by a pretty humorous but wise Irish priest. The reception took place on the grounds of the church in a hall, and it was nice. The bridesmaids wore cute shorter black dresses, the flowers were red, Sangria was flowing, and the couple did a foxtrot to "So Happy Together" by the Turtles. John and I decided to stay the night and take advantage of being in the area...our first vacation together was to St. Augustine and we loved it. So after the wedding we walked around downtown, shopped, saw the Castillo de San Marcos (the fort) and other sights like Flagler College and the Lightner Museum, then ate dinner at a great seafood restaurant, the A1A Ale House. Our friend Jesse and his cousin later met us at an Irish pub. But the best part of the very short trip was that we were able to stay at the Casa Monica hotel, a very old but swanky place (valet and all, ooooo). It was just gorgeous, the way it was decorated with Spanish style/Moroccan decor. If you ever get a chance to visit St. Augustine, be sure to check out downtown, the fort, the oldest house (in the world!! not really, just North America), all the cool shops (the Fair Trade shop was awesome), seafood restaurants, and the beach too! :)

Back to 4th of July weekend...

For the July 4th holiday, I went with my Mom, sister, brother-in-law, Aunt, Uncle, grandparents, and cousins to the McMullen family reunion. This takes place every July 4th, but I hadn't been since I was a kid, so it was great being a part of it. It was in Largo, Florida, and there were tons of people. They had great displays of the history of the family, and good food too.

Later that day, my Aunt and Uncle were gracious enough to let all of us hang out at their condo on Indian Rocks Beach. It was a gorgeous day! John and I met up with my sis Jennifer and her hubby Phillip at the Whistle Stop Grill and Cafe in downtown Safety Harbor to eat dinner and watch the fireworks. Such a great way to end the holiday!

The next night John and I hung out with friends at the Foley's house and played Guitar Hero (video game) and the guys watched an Ultimate Fighting Championship game. And here's a pic of me with my kitty-kats :)

DMB still rocking in '08

John & I finally got to see a Dave Matthews Band concert! It was at the Ford Amphitheater in Tampa, an outdoor arena, and of course along came the afternoon thunderstorms. Lucky for us we were in the covered area, and had great centered seats. We were expecting tons of younger whippersnappers like USF college students, and there was some partying in the parking lots before we got there. However, I was a bit surprised and happy to see a great mix of people, everyone was so glad to be there even with the lightning and almost hail-like rain all around. A band called Gomez opened the show: pretty good group, from England, a little pop-rock. We were very lucky to have seen a show with Tim Reynolds as guest guitarist with DMB also. He jams on the guitar and him and Dave are an awesome duo. DMB played the old favorites but a good portion of the show were not so popular songs and newer songs. John and I sang along, shouted "woo, woo, woo!," danced, and made fun of the drunk guy who slipped and broke a chair, and the couple in front of us who made out the whole time (get a room!). What a great time!