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| Friday the 11th -Hailey finished up "Skate Camp" with a performance as Anna from "Frozen" with Mom Susie, otherwise known as my official photographer! |
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| Sunday - a dozen of us at Señor Frogs on I-Drive for a wild afternoon of World Cup soccer (more below) |
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| Tuesday - a double rainbow over Orlando - taken with ipod as the Smartphone died! |
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| Thursday - Birthday Girl - Cassidy turned 8. |
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| Friday the 18th - a visit to Winter the Dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium |
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| Riley at Clearwater Beach - the Gulf Coast is SO much nicer than the Atlantic! |
oh yes, that's right, all four reasons are in the photos above.
More on Watching the World Cup in Orlando
Could we stay home and watch the World Cup in comfort? And in English? (Not that the snarkiness of the ESPN announcer doesn't make me cringe!) Oh no, we had to drive to what is locally known as "the attractions," the heart of Orlando's tourist corridor (next to Universal Studios & about 5 miles from Disney) and watch the game at something called Señor Frogs. And in Spanish! Not that anyone could hear what was being said as the noise level was off the scale.
For those not familiar with Orlando, International Drive is where the tourists without small children stay. Universal Studios, SeaWorld, and I-Drive are the grown-up versions of Disneyworld. An Orlando version of the London Eye is currently under construction. We drove by the base of it, which already towers over the whole area.
We had reserved a table for 15 at Señor Frogs, and close to that many showed up - all wearing blue and white, waving Argentinian flags, and certain Argentina was going to win. The atmosphere was electric - we could only locate three German supporters among the sea of blue and white. There were Argentinian supporters chanting and doing snake dances through the aisles. And tables of all girls screaming their hearts out for their heros. Plus a DJ determined to split every eardrum in the house - before, after, and at half-time.
But I have to admit it was fun. Some of the outfits were amazing, including a lady wearing blue and white "wings" sticking out from the side of her head and a German supporter who had a tall fake fur hat in black and red with three small soccer balls nesting in the top. At the end of the game my daughter ended up kneeling on the table taking photos of him and his celebrating friends with each of their cameras. Now there's a magnanimous gesture for you!
And all those commercials in Spanish were fun, even if the outcome of the game wasn't what we'd hoped. It was a mad month of soccer and, frankly, I'm ready for some good old American football after a steady diet of "futbol." (We had one new immigrant from Colombia at the table, by the way, and I swear she screamed louder than all the rest of us put together. And, believe me, that was pretty hard to do.)
Since we saw so few German supporters at Señor Frogs, I was surprised when so many cheers broke out when Germany won. I suspect it was our many Brazilian tourists who wouldn't root for Argentina if their lives depended it. (This was explained to me very kindly by my son-in-law, the Argentinian who refused to root for Brazil against the Netherlands.)
Oh yes - I don't know what ESPN showed, but Telemundo, without saying anything, panned over a well-known face in the audience. Vladimir Putin.
And to finish out the week, today - Saturday - is my birthday. I planned on NO photographs of me - the grandchildren are much cuter - but . . .
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| Saturday the 19th - Enjoying lunch at Spice on Lake Eola |
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| Baked brie en croute - Yum! |
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| Slight Accident - Cassidy kicked over the cake box - I understand it had pink roses and "Happy Birthday, Gramma," around the base. But after Susie put one of the layers back in place and remolded the pink frosting into a heart (hands on), it tasted just as good, and was far more memorable than just your same old-same old birthday cake! |
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| More years ago than I care to remember my mother used to take me on the Swan Boats on Boston Common. This was my first Swan Boat ride since - incredible views of downtown Orlando, but was it hot! |
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| Cassidy and I have been sharing birthday fun ever since she was born - though we didn't quite expect her to kick over the cake! |
~ * ~
Next Mosaic Moments - c. August 1st - hopefully with a pub date
for The Mists of Moorhead Manor
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
For Grace's website, listing all books as Blair Bancroft, click here.
For a brochure for Grace's editing service, Best Foot Forward, click here.
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