Royal celebration.

Did you set your alarm and get up early to watch the Royal Wedding yesterday? I sure did! Despite having stayed up past midnight to watch the Dallas Mavericks advance to the next round of the NBA playoffs, I did not even need my alarm as I could hardly sleep for my excitement about the wedding.



Dots was invited to a friend's house to watch the royal festivities. Her hostess gave each guest a t-shirt with a picture of the bride and groom on the back, and the girls enjoyed an early breakfast of tea and scones. Dots thought it was so much fun! Of course she and her friends are now plotting how they can meet and marry Price Harry...



After driving carpool, I attended a tape-delayed wedding-watching party at a friend's house. My friend had pulled out all the stops with her British food and decorations, and I had just as much fun viewing the grand event again with friends as I'd had observing it by myself in the dark hours of the morning.





The Royal Wedding certainly did not disappoint! I thought Kate's dress was exquisite - perfectly elegant and beautiful. Prince William looked so handsome in his regimental red jacket too. Westminster Abbey was a spectacular venue; I loved all of the beautiful carved wood and the intricate tile floors. I especially enjoyed the music and thought the hymn and anthem selections were lovely.



If you're also a fan of the royal wedding, you might enjoy the official website which has lots of pictures and details: The Royal Wedding. The British Monarchy also has a page on Flickr where they post lots of pictures: The British Monarchy


My favorite part of the whole wedding may have been the precious little pages. Love those red jackets and brass-buckled shoes! And look at the hemlines on those beautiful little bridesmaids dresses


Notice how the smallest bridesmaids have their flowers tied to their wrists. So sweet



I suspect the little blonde page has a lot of personality!


Kate's father was so dignified. I loved how glad Kate and William seemed to be with each other


I never noticed Kate's blusher being lifted during the TV coverage so it was nice to see this picture


If I were British (and I really think I should have been!), I'd have had my Will sing in this boy choir. He'd have loved the stiff collar, don't you think?


Magnificent!


I thought it was so funny how the little bridesmaid covered her ears during the "flypast" (love those British terms)


"The Royal Wedding Group in the Throne Room" - I like how Camilla is holding her little granddaughter's hand in his picture

I adore pomp and pageantry and love all things formal and regal.

Well, almost all...

Meanwhile, back on the mainland...

Guess who thought it sounded like more fun to go with ten fraternity brothers to Panama City Beach, Florida for Spring Break than to Hawaii with his family?


I pleaded with Will to send me pictures from Panama City. Once again, I neglected to specify "with you in them" and this was what I received. He took this picture from the dock behind their house which evidently overlooked some sort of inland waterway (shockingly, I also received no detail on the picture!)


I lifted this picture from Will's Facebook profile (he is third from the left)

Tell me, does this look like more fun than Hawaii with the family?! {wink}

Snapshots from Hawaii 2011, Part III.

Note to commenter lmk: Of course you may copy the picture of Vivian's hospital bed to use in your search for a bed for your daughter! I hope it helps. Keep me posted on what you find. That bed was a godsend for us when Vivian was in the hospital.

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Vivian loved drinking an Oreo smoothie out of a pineapple cup (which she called a "porcupine")


Dots and her friend Maddie also liked Oreo smoothies in porcupines!


Vivian really enjoyed the fish in the lagoons around the hotel property


We would snag a few extra pieces of bread at breakfast each morning and feed them to the fish. Vivian was really good at tearing the bread into really small pieces to make it last longer


Dots and Maddie at afternoon Happy Hour


Vivian liked Happy Hour too


What's better than a fruity drink and some broccoli dipped in ketchup? Ha!


My friends Bettina and Michelle with me at Happy Hour


We abandoned our dinner plans when Vivian put on her Rudolph pajamas and climbed into bed when we went back to our room to watch the sunset


Robert, Dots and me at sunset


The next morning Vivian checked out the beach and ocean with her daddyman




I thought this little "snowman" on the beach was funny!


Though it took a little convincing to get Vivian into the pool, she had fun on the water slides


Bettina and me on the beach


Vivian loved washing her feet off at this shower. I bought this Aqua Jogger swim belt for Vivian before we left for Hawaii. It worked out really well for keeping her afloat in the water (She still required constant supervision, of course!)


Dots and her friends caught some rays


Robert relaxed by the pool with his book


And Vivian hung out in her stroller in her clothes (she wanted NO part of her swimsuit after she got out of the pool - I had to whisk her into a dressing room quickly before she disrobed in public!)


I met some friends at the Four Seasons next door for lunch

A fun couple of days for everyone, wouldn't you say?

Ugh.

I changed the privacy settings on my Flickr account tonight and realized too late that such action irrevocably changed the URL addresses on all of the pictures on my blog! Now a lovely "this picture is unavailable" message appears in the place of the pictures. I have to go back to each post and cut and paste the new URL for every picture. I am working backward and have made it through last November. I will finish one of these days and may be even eventually post something new! {sigh}

Snapshots from Hawaii 2011, Part II.

Note: My bathing suit is Lilly Pulitzer (from last year). I bought a white bandeau to wear under the top because it was way too revealing for my tastes otherwise! Vivian's swimsuits are from Land's End. I had a tough time finding modest suits for her and was very happy with the fit and quality of these. Thanks to those who asked!


After a good night's sleep, Vivian woke up in a cheerful mood. She very willingly agreed to accompany me upstairs to breakfast


On the way there Vivian kept pointing over the rail to a pond in the lobby and exclaiming, "Look at the beautiful waterfall!"


Vivian LOVED the breakfast buffet!


After breakfast Vivian and I walked down to the pool. I was able to convince Vivian to put on her bathing suit, but she didn't want to get in the water at first


Before long, however, she saw someone in the wading pool and decided to give it a try. She was a bit unsure of the situation, though!


Pretty soon her daddyman joined her and she had fun pouring water on his head


(Apparently this was around the same time that my camera ended up on manual focus and my aging eyes failed to realize this was the case)


Lunch by the pool. I'm so sad this picture was not in focus!


Vivian discovered the wonders of an Oreo smoothie


Vivian and me walking back to our chairs. (When Robert used my camera to take this picture, he said, "Something's wrong with your camera - it's all blurry" {sigh})


Dots enjoyed relaxing in a lounge chair...


...until one of her friends from Dallas arrived, then she set off for the pool


Meanwhile all the day's fun and likely a little jetlag caught up with Vivian!