Incredible Weekend- Part II

Saturday was the big day. But, before I start to share any of our adventures, I have to give a birthday shout-out to my sweet niece, Hannah, who turned 12!!!! (gasp!!!). She is growing up so fast and I'm sad about the miles between us. When she was first born, I took great pride in the title of Aunt Jenny. I got to spend a lot of time with her when she was tiny, but now, the years go faster and faster. I hope we are able to live close again, who knows, maybe we'll be Texans too! Yeehaw! Happy Birthday, Hannah! We love you!

Saturday was the opening day of the National Cherry Festival. The festival brings in approximately $25,000,000 to the local economy and about 500,000 people in one week. Needless to say, it's huge. Every year, the festival opens up with Air shows. This year was a Blue Angels year, so the show attracts people from everywhere. But the Blue Angels weren't the #1 attraction in our house. Nope, it was the Coast Guard featuring our very own Paul! Since he was flying in the show, he scored us some VIP tickets to sit at show center, complete with excellent seating areas and free food and drinks. Since it was almost 90 degrees, it was great. We went with Karel and Howard and the kids were pretty antsy due to the heat. Finally, Owen fell asleep...yes, fell asleep despite the A-10s and F-15s flying overhead.

While we waited, Kailey's dreams came true as she was able to meet one of the Cherry Princesses (they are each vying to be next year's Cherry Queen...again, huge). This young lady spotted Kailey out of the crowd because of her fancy Cherry hat. Kailey was stunned because the Princess had a similar resemblance to Ariel (the Little Mermaid for those not up on their Princesses). I thought Kailey was going to cry she was so excited. Princess Megan was lovely and kind and she is our favorite to win Queen. (That and because we didn't really meet any others).

Finally, it was Coast Guard time. I've seen the SAR demonstration before, but this is the first time Karel has ever seen Paul fly. Very exciting. They announced Paul's name as the Co-Pilot and of course, we all cheered. But then, suddenly we heard the announcer say, "Okay, we're going to try to talk to them, Paul is that you?" And there he was. Kailey screamed, "That's my Daddy talking, that's my Daddy talking!" He was brilliant. He was chatting with the announcer from the aircraft and the entire crowd was cheering for him. We were overwhelmed and of course all got teary-eyed when he said hi to us. Our shy Paul is shy no more. He was amazing, charismatic and a true professional while he spoke to the crowd of 50,000. If I can figure it out, I'll post the video for everyone to hear.

And oh yeah, the Blue Angels performed. Owen woke up and absolutely loved them. For Kailey, the Princess and Daddy's voice over the speakers by far, trumped the Blue Angels. (Me too!)

Treat #2 came when we arrived home after a long, long day in the sun. Date night #2 and Paul took me to see "Sex and the City." Yes, it's my guilty pleasure. I can watch every episode over and over and over. I really wanted to see the movie, but with his deployments, I didn't think it was going to happen. It was awesome, I loved it and Paul even laughed too! SUCH an amazing day, and we're STILL not done with this incredible weekend!