Family & Father / Daughter Ball
Family
We had a lot of family up this past weekend! Both of my sisters came up from the Williamsburg area – bringing various nieces & nephews with them. It was great to have all the siblings together – and for all the kids to get some cousins time! Thank you to everyone enduring the long drive up here to make this happen! A special thank you to my brother and his lovely wife Annette for hosting most of the meals & gatherings! Thank you!
Father / Daughter Ball 2019
We did not attend the Father / Daughter Ball that the school put on this year. They do a good job – and the kids always have fun – but I wish it were a little more elegant. So I suggested to the girls that we host our own Father / Daughter Ball this year. It took a little convincing – but they agreed to give it a try.
Originally, our self-hosted Father / Daughter Ball was slated for April – but I was sick the weekend we had it scheduled – so it got postponed “indefinitely”.
Well, we finally got it re-scheduled and pulled it off this last weekend!
Gracie and Annie settled on Olive Garden as the restaurant they wanted to go to for the dinner portion of our evening. So that is what we did!
While we were there I reminded them that I was on the original crew that opened the restaurant way back in 1989! I worked there as a waiter while I was in college. I explained that I got hired 2 weeks before the restaurant opened and right before the grand opening the crew was split into two groups. The first group got to be customers and the other half waited on us. After everyone ate – we switched roles. It was my first experience as both a waiter and with a restaurant opening.
When we arrived back at the house we were greeted – and stalled for a bit – by the emcee of the evening – Dominick!
Dominick really blew my mind! He so far exceeded my expectations for the evening – that it was ridiculous! He was gracious, funny and really made the evening super special for all of us! Of course Melani was wonderful as well – but that is just expected from her!
For a Father / Daughter Ball – I have always envisioned big-band music, formal tea & desserts and some dancing. Well – that is exactly what we did! Oh – and of course some games and crafts were thrown in there for good measure!
One of the highlights of the evening was the Survivor Auction! Again, just WOW Dominick! It was absolutely hilarious and fun beyond measure! The two stars of the show were Dominick as the auctioneer and Sophie as the bidder! I better keep Sophie away from any auctions – that girl sure does like to bid – and hates to be out-bid!
I’m sure that the fact that we also decided to do the Mother / Son Sportspalooza ourselves this year (which we will be doing in later August) played a role in Dominick being such a wonderful and gracious participant. We discussed that the better the job he does for his sisters and I – the better the job WE will have to do for him and mom! We certainly do look forward to returning the favor now! Thank you both Melani & Dominick for making the Father / Daughter Ball of 2019 so memorable & fun! We really appreciate every thing you did!
Miscellaneous
Dominick’s favorite number is 9,638. Why – I not really sure…. Regardless – I knew I was coming up on that number with my Bolt odometer pretty soon – and I had pointed that out to Dominick a couple of times. He asked that I take a picture when I finally rolled up to the number – so I did on my way back from work one evening last week. I had to pull over in a parking lot to do it – but I did it to make him happy. If you have been reading for awhile – you know I am not above doing stupid things to make my kids happy! (Yes – I still have my Great Wolf Lodge Kalahari wrist bands on more than one month since our visits there…. see Adventure Update #19: Boobies – You Better Run)
At some point there was another trip to our favorite ice cream shop – Wolfies! Hey – it makes them smile – which makes me smile!
Finally, I just took these pictures today on my walk into town for a luncheon. I feel fortunate to work so close to the rivers and get to see this so frequently! I just thought I would share the view!
Sincerely,
