1st Anniversary II

1st Anniversary

In addition to our wonderful weekend together in Orlando, we also continued the celebration when we got back to Ocala. I bought Nyna the dozen roses you see to the right (you can click to enlarge), and we thawed the top portion of our wedding cake and ate some with a bottle of champagne. Nyna also wrote me a beautiful card that you can read here in English, and here in Portuguese. (They will each open into a new window.) I think you will agree that Nyna certainly has a way with words and she expresses herself beautifully. (-:

Our First Anniversary

May 17th marked our first anniversary of married life! To celebrate the occasion, Nyna and I went to Orlando for the weekend. On Saturday night, (the 16th), we went to see the wonderful Cirque du Soleil show, La Nouba, at Downtown Disney. If I had to describe this show in one word, it would be hard to decide between: amazing, incredible, fantastic, marvellous, inspiring, unbelievable, Wow! ... I would definitely recommend seeing this show. (From what I've heard, I'm sure all of the Cirque du Soleil shows are equally good.) There is so much talent, creativity, physical fitness and acrobatic skill on display — sometimes all at the same time! There are times during the show that there is so much being done and going on all over the stage, up in the air, on the far wall... it's hard to take it all in.

Also, you soon discover that all of the music — which is excellent, highly professional, and timed with everything that is happening on stage — is performed live within two columns that rise along each side of the stage. It's interesting to see, as the show unfolds, how everyone, including most of the clowns, contributes and has their own set of skills and abilities.

Cirque du Soleil

The "tent" that they perform in is one of the several permanent locations they have throughout the world, along with the traveling shows that they also have. This Orlando location was their first permanent structure, opening in 1998, I believe. The feel of the performance area is very immediate — you feel like you are practically there on the stage with the performers. They do not allow any photography (and are quick to point that out when they see people with their cameras out!), so we do not have any photos of this event.

We spent the night at a nearby hotel in the Downtown Disney area, and then on Sunday the 17th, we spent the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This was a fun park, and I enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. They have some fun rides, interesting animal shows and exhibits, and some very impressive shows as well. Of the rides, we particularly enjoyed the Expedition Everest roller coaster ride, and the Kali River Rapids water ride. On the Kali Rapids ride, you are sure to get wet, or soaked. But it is a very quick ride. There was also a mini-roller coaster in Dinoland called the Primeval Whirl that was pretty good for being a 'kiddie ride'. Nyna did not like it very much though. In addition to going up and down, it also spins your car around too.

They have an entertaining bird show where they have a number of different birds that they have trained to fly point-to-point around the stage. And there are two separate walking trails where you can see some very interesting animals "up close", like hippos, gorillas, and tigers. One of the trails also ends with a trip through an aviary where they have a large variety of colorful birds free to fly around.

They have two shows that are both quite good: Nemo—the Musical, and Festival of the Lion King. The Nemo show is a condensed version of the movie, but it is done with large hand puppets, and the actors act and sing alongside their puppets. It is really a top-notch musical, and I think it was my favorite... so well done and creative! The Lion King show was also very good, and it has an acrobatic part in it which reminded me a little of the Cirque. However, when it comes to acrobatic shows, it's hard to compete with Cirque du Soleil. But both shows are well worth seeing though.

At the base of the big Tree of Life, which is in the centerpiece of the park, is an attraction called, "It's Tough to be a Bug." This is a cute 3D multimedia show that really brings you into the presentation through the use of the 3D glasses, as well as having the seats rigged to do things (like puff air, squirt water, and poke you) at different points to go along with things that are happening within the show. One ride we did not like was the Dinosaur ride. It is one of those car rides that is on hydraulics, and jostles you around a lot. Worse than the jostling was the sensory overload you experience with the show. It is so loud (especially with dinosaur howls) and they blind you with bright flashing lights... After this ride we both felt like once was enough! It was very dark throughout the ride, and much of the ride consisted of holographic images being shown throughout. But the images were very dim, so you would be straining to see what it is they are showing you, and then bam! they blast you with bright flashes and excessively loud animal roars, all while jerking you around violently in the car you are seated in.

Click the tiger to see our photos taken at Animal Kingdom.

Mother’s Day

Mother's Day 09

This year for Mother's Day we were happy to have Mary Kay here visiting with us. Mom really wanted a steak, so Mary bought dinners from Longhorn Steakhouse. Mary split a steak and salmon dinner with Mom, Greg had a BBQ chicken plate, and Nyna and I had salmon. It was all very delicious. We even got a couple extra meals of chicken fingers by mistake. (They did not go to waste.)

The day before Mother's Day, Nyna and I began our task of baking Mom one of her favorite cakes: Pig's Pickin' Cake. It is a yellow cake mix with mandarin oranges mixed in, with frosting that is a combination of cool whip, crushed pineapple, and vanilla pudding mix. It a simple, and very tasty cake.

In the morning, we called Brazil and wished Mãe Carmélia a Happy Mother's Day. It was good to talk with them. Carmélia had received a nice breakfast basket filled with all sorts of goodies. After talking to the family in Brazil (and after wishing Nádya a Happy Mother's Day too), we finished frosting the cake and headed over to Mom's house.

After the dinner, we surprised Mom with the cake, and she was quite thrilled to have Pig's Pickin' Cake for dessert. She had asked Marcia in the weeks prior, and then again asked Mary Kay, to give the recipe to Nyna so that she could make the cake sometime. It was a lot of fun to see Mom's face when she discovered she was finally getting her cake (and eating it too!).

After the meal, instead of the usually Borter nap, we all looked at the photos that Nyna and took on our trip out to the Northwest. (I'm surprised that we weren't all sleeping after that though, because Nyna and I [especially Nyna] take copious photos when we go places -- we have well over 700 photos of our trip, and that is after deleting the duplicates and poorer quality photos.)

We also were all able to talk with Robert and Noreen, and wish Noreen a Happy Mother's Day, and Marcia called as well. And then, of course, Mary, Nyna and I needed to take Maggie on a nice walk. It was a fun day, and Mother said she had a wonderful day.

Another Happy Mother's Day goes out to all the moms of the family: Angie, Carmélia, Noreen, and Nádya... and also Erica, my neice, and Martha, my nephew Erik's wife!

Our Trip to the Great Northwest

In late April, Nyna and I flew out to the Northwest to visit family and friends. We first visited Peter and Marcia Lyons in Seattle. They were the ones who made our trip possible -- last year as a wedding gift, they gave us two free plane tickets to anywhere we wanted to go in the U.S. So we finally took our trip across the country to see them and also visit with Nyna's sister, Nádya, husband Karl, and daughter Kylie.

[My upfront and sincere apologies to any of you reading this who would have loved to see us, especially to meet Nyna, but who did not get to see us, or didn't know we were in the area. Our time was so short, and visiting with family was a priority. I wanted to see everyone and do everything, but we simply did not have sufficient time to do everything we wanted. I hope you understand.]

We arrived in Seattle Saturday late morning, just as Marcia was darting off to fly to Paris on a business trip. Nyna was ill from our horrible layover in Dallas, and the altitude changes in the plane, so we napped a bit in the afternoon. That night Peter grilled some delicious bleu cheese burgers on the grill.... (ohhhh they were goooood)....

Sunday we spent the day seeing Seattle: we went to the public market downtown, took the Argosy harbor tour, visited the Seattle Aquarium, and went up in the Space Needle.

Monday morning we left for Vancouver, WA to see Karl, Nádya and Kylie. We spent the week there with them, taking our day trips to Portland and the surrounding area.

Tuesday we went into Portland, and got coffee at Peet's Coffee, visited Powell's Book Store, had lunch at Whole Foods, shopped at Sur La Table... visited the Rose Garden, and the Japanese Garden. We were lucky to have gorgeous weather while we were there. The sun was out and the temperatures were mild... the smell in the air of spring! made me miss Portland!

Wednesday we went into Portland again. The original plan was to go to the Farmer's Market downtown, but we never made it there. Nyna and I tried our ankles at ice skating in Lloyd Center :-P .... We did some shopping while we were there. Then ate at my favorite restaurant, Pho Van. Afterwards visited my favorite park, Mt. Tabor.

Thursday was our trip to the Gorge to drive the scenic Columbia River highway, and to see the waterfalls. It was so beautiful and the weather was nice and cool. There is a lookout point called Crown Point that had never been open while I was living there. (Or, I was never there when it was open.) So it was neat to be able to go inside and see all of the remodelling they have done. (The clean bathroom was also a godsend...)

Friday was our day trip to Mt. Hood. We started the day by returning to Multnomah Falls, because we didn't have enough time to see it when we arrived there the day before. After seeing Multnomah Falls we headed to Mt. Hood. There is still a lot of snow on the ground up at Timberline Lodge, so all we did was walk around the area, what little bit we could, and get back into the car to drive home. That night we had a fun dinner with Karl's family.

Saturday we returned to Seattle. Marcia arrived from Paris that same day, so after we all rested a little in the afternoon, we went for a walk at Lincoln Park, where they frequently walk their dog, Hodie. Then had dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant that they frequent. As the sun was setting, Peter brought us to a popular point on the water in West Seattle, and I got some nice, night skyline shots of Seattle.

Sunday morning Peter and Marcia lavished us with a big breakfast, and then packed a shopping bag full of good food for the trip home. After a quick stop at Trader Joe's and dropping off the rental car, we were off to the airport and headed back for Florida. We finally arrived in our own home sometime after 1:00 in the morning. It was a full, fun vacation... but it was too short. But everyone says that, yes?

Traveling is a two-edged sword... On the one hand you wish you had more time and could spend at least two weeks vacationing, and not just one. On the other, after about a week, you start missing your own bed and familiar environment, and look forward to getting home soon. I guess the week was sufficient. I just wish I had another one in the fall! Next year I get my second week vacation...

(If you didn't pick up on it, the blue text at the start of the paragraphs above will take you to our photos for that day. Caution: there are a lot of photos!)

Marcia’s Birthday/Easter ’09

We were happy to have Marcia visiting Ocala the first part of April. She was here just after her birthday (3/28), and got to spent Easter weekend with us as well. Nyna wanted to be sure that we had a birthday celebration for her while she was here. Before the meal, Marcia opened her presents. In the photo above, Marcia is displaying the beautiful scarf that Nyna knitted for her as a gift. Nyna made a delicious pork loin covered in onion sauce, along with Brazilian rice, brown beans, and salad (or were they black beans?). Uncle Ed was so happy to be eating rice and beans, that Nyna gave him a to-go container full of them to eat later in the week. In attendance were Mom, Greg, Uncle Ed, Marcia, Nyna, and I. After the meal, we called Robert and Noreen via Skype and had a nice, jovial chat with them. My gift to Marcia was a hanging birdhouse, because Marcia is an avid bird watcher. She often goes out on the weekend with her girlfriend, Dixie, to watch birds with binoculars. (Click the photo above to see more photos from Marcia's Birthday Party.)

The next day was Easter Sunday, and Marcia put together a delicious ham dinner for everyone. Uncle Ed also came for Easter dinner, so this was like a continuation of Saturday's festivities. Marcia had been looking at the back yard all week long, and wanted badly to do some much-needed tree trimming.

Easter 2009

She asked if Nyna and I would be willing to help, even though it was Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful day to be out in the yard, so we went out back and cut... and cut.... and cut.....!!! One thing led to another, and next thing you know, Gregory even pulled out the ax and cut a small tree down. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work - and Marcia was so happy to accomplish so much more than she ever dreamed we'd accomplish. Of course, this was probably because of Nyna's industrious labor. Put a limb cutter in Nyna's hands, and there's no telling what she will do! (Click the photo to the right to see more Easter Sunday photos.)

11 Months!

Where did the last month go??? Today is our 11-month anniversary. From now on, we'll only be celebrating our wedding anniversary on a yearly basis... (-: Hugs and Kisses to you, Baby. Eu te amo.

Here are some flowers that I gave Nyna during the last month. The carnations last so long! Nyna arranged the yellow flowers very nicely in their vase. She has an eye for detail and good design. (She is the Design Star!)

We had a lovely visit with my sister, Marcia, last week, celebrating her birthday (which was on 3/28) and Easter weekend together. We still need to post the photos we took while we were together -- not the least of which are photos from our big work project in the back yard, where Nyna chopped down practically everything in sight! (-:

A recent addition to our home has been our lovely shelf unit that was a gift from my mom for our wedding. What better gift to remind me of my mother, than a set of book shelves? (My mom is a voracious reader.) They are quite elegant, and when you open them to get a book, the smell inside is like that of a book store, like Barnes & Noble. They came with cheesy little wooden dowel knobs. We replaced those with nice, brushed-nickel knobs. Our many thanks to my mom, for the wonderful gift, and to Don & Amy English, and John Sible who helped with the necessary transportation.

Today we are also embarking on our trip out to the NW. We'll be flying to Seattle, and driving down to the Portland area next week. It will be great to see Nádya, Karl and Kylie, and the many friends still living in the Portland area. I'm really looking forward to this week!

10 Months!

March 17th was not only St. Patrick's Day, but it was also the day of our 10-month anniversary. In less than two months, we will no longer be 'newlyweds'... though I suppose we still will be for some time to come. (-:

Beijos para você -- Eu te amo, Amor.