Pride

This weekend was the Pride Celebration in DC and as always it was great. It was the first time I attended Pride that it didn't rain on me. Not only did it not rain, but it was gorgeous out.

The parade was fantastic. Such amazing floats and groups.




Of course my favorite was my Remingtons group, country dancing. Maybe next year I'll be up there.


Sunday we all got together again for brunch. I love breakfast. All you can eat waffles, omlets, cake, and BACON!!! After that we headed down to the festival. What a crowd. There were so many booths and supporters of PRIDE. I am so lucky to live when and where I do.

Relax

My favorite site in NYC is Central Park, and I've always wished that DC had a similar park. I didn't find a city sized park, but I did find something that reminds me a great deal of Central Park. After work on Friday, Jimmy met me at the Sculpture Garden outside the National Gallery of Art on the National Mall for a picnic. During the summer on Friday evenings, Jazz musicians perform at "Jazz in the Garden."

Jimmy brought in sandwiches and we lay on the grass listening to the music. It was crazy crowded, but it was still such a peacefull experience that I just about fell asleep, but every time I did Jimmy made sure to poke me or cover me in grass.


The sculpture garden provides the perfect atmosphere with people just hanging out around the sculptures as they listen to the music. I'm not totally sure what the sculptures are (I'll never understand modern art), but they still make for a great backdrop.

2 Years and Counting...

Of all the ways I could have imagined I'd spend my Two Year Anniversary, I never would have expected to be locked out of the house by Jimmy, while he stood on the other side of the front door laughing. And I never would have guessed we'd argue about who whined the most or that we'd go back and forth to see who could come up with the most examples of the other person whining. And I'd never have wished to have a pitcher of cold water poured on me in the bathroom, but thats exactly what happened... and I loved every minute. Its been two years since Jimmy and I started dating and what a two years it has been. We've had our fair share of ups and downs, but as I sit here typing, I think back over everything we've been through and I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I know I am the luckiest man alive and on my worst day, I am better off than I was on my best day before I met Jimmy. Thank you Jimmy for my best two years.

Nationals Game

Mom and Dad were in town this weekend for a wedding and I loved getting to hang out with them. Thayne took his entire office to the Nationals Game and we tagged along. It was a good game and the Nats won, but my favorite thing to watch was Cache. There was so much going on, Cache didn't even have time to process it all. There were big screen TV's, crowds, advertisements, the game and noise all around him and he had a blast trying to see it all.

Sweet Tooth

I've met very few people in my life who have as much of a sweet tooth as I do (as well as certain other members of my family), and today I found one more family member-Aeriana. Brett, Erin and Aeriana are in town for a few days so today Jimmy and I went up to Thayne and MaryAnn's for dinner (I love having them so close). I brought cookie dough bites for Thayne, but started feeding them to Aeriana. I have never seen a child smile so big and giggle so much. I became her best friend, until Thayne took the cookie dough bites, at which point she latched onto him and totally forgot I even existed. Basically, she spent the evening following the food and whoever had food at the moment.

Naturally, as we do whenever Garner's get together, we had to play some sort of card or board game. Brett and Erin brought "It Came to Pass." It was Jimmy's first time playing but he stayed in first place until the last round when Thayne pulled in the lead. Its amazing to think how just a few years ago Jimmy thought board games were dumb. Now he loves them! I have taught him well.

WAFC

Today was the semi-finals for the spring frisbee league I am in (WAFC-Washington Area Frisbee Club). Normally semi-finals would not be blog worthy, but today was the most intense frisbee play I've ever experienced. Normal games are 7 on 7 (with a minimum of two players being female). On a good day, a team will have at least one sub for everybody on the field. For some reason, our team didn't have that today. We had one guy sub and no females...not no female subs, NO FEMALES. So we played 5 on 7. We had three games, playing from 10am to 4pm and because of an injury, the last game was savage (no subs). But somehow we won two of the three games and are going to the finals. It killed us-we all limped off the field, but we did it. Hopefully we will have more people show up for the finals, but will still play just as hard. Go Team.

97 Descendants

This has been a difficult week. Tuesday afternoon I flew out to Idaho for Grandma Garners funeral. While a terribly sad occasion, its a great feeling knowing that she is happy and in a better place. It was also really great getting to see family. Last I heard there were 87 kids, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and spouses in attendance, and ten unable to come. What an incredible life grandma lived.

I love getting to see all of my nieces and nephews. Dacia had a hotel room and we went swimming. I could not believe how good Alyssa did. She had absolutly no fear of the water.

Kaitlyn loved getting a chance to drive. Just don't tell mom.

This was one of my favorite toys at Grandma's house when I was younger and all the great-grandkids seemed to enjoy it just as much.

While it was great spending two and a half days with family, it wasn't enough. Luckily I got to come home to more. Chad, Cara and Evie flew out to DC for the weekend. We spent the weekend checking out sites, going to movies, shopping and trying lots of food. For Sunday dinner, we ended up at Thayne and MaryAnne's. MaryAnne cooked and it was delicious. She even made homeade ice cream for dessert. Cache and Evie were so cute!














Naturally the evening revolved around playing with the kids. Cache has a four wheeler that he loves to ride. He can't turn and just drives straight into the wall, but for those 8 seconds of "driving," he is in heaven.




Evie was so good. She never cried and just laid in people's arms just looking around at everything that was going on. Jimmy loved holding her. She was a "refreshing change" from all of the crazy Garners.