Off we go into the wild blue yonder

As though college graduation were not enough activity for one day, this evening we also had Mike's Air Force commissioning. Here are some highlights:

Getting ready:



Fred administered the oath:



Sarah and I took care of Mike's shoulders while Annabelle doctored up his hat:



Quick moment of celebration:



First salute:



After the ceremony everybody wanted a picture with Second Lieutenant Taylor:



















After we got done with our picture-taking, our family and Sarah's family went out to dinner to celebrate. Here's the cake that Sarah ordered for the occasion that caused the cake lady to say, "Oh, twins!" when she saw their photos:



Here are the "twins" enjoying a well-earned piece of cake, with Sarah's nephew photo-bombing them:



Sweet ending to a wonderful day!

Graduation

Graduation this morning was lovely, even if the traffic trying to get out of the civic center's lot was NOT. Here's a barrage of photos!

Before the ceremony:











Coach Bobby Bowden was the commencement speaker:



Mike did a graduation selfie:



After the ceremony:







How things do change (that first pic is from Jenny's Stetson graduation in December 1995):





So proud of the graduates!



After the ceremony, we headed over to the 4th Quarter for a celebratory lunch. We took a picture of all the FSU grads in our group:



Looks like Sarah's nephew is eager to join the crowd:



Next step, commissioning!

Are we ready to party?

Greetings from Tallahassee, where we are gearing up for a couple big events: FSU graduation and Mike's Air Force commissioning! Tonight Sarah planned a great supper at El Jalisco, which was a great opportunity for both families to meet for the first time. We also celebrated birthdays for Fred and for Sarah's nephew:





Fred and Sarah's grandfather showed up in matching shirts:



A good time was had by all, and now we are going to keep this party going all weekend!

Wildlife fun

If you think all I've done in Florida is eat (Chili's, 3 Bananas, Belly Busters . . . ), you're only half-right. When we haven't been stuffing ourselves silly, we have been enjoying the antics of my parents' 5 cats plus their dog plus my dog. I've been snapping pictures here and there along the way, and here are some of my faves.

Arlo is kind of a jerk, but he's a handsome fella:



Coco says, "Hey, where's the mouse?"



Who's your Buddy?



Dog tired:



Rocky, what big feet you have!



Tell us how you feel about Mondays, Rocky!



Ginger would like to hear a story, please:



Pushmi-pullyu?



Gracie in profile:

America's most wanted

Most wanted sandwiches, that is!





Hot roast beef and cheese, all the way minus onions, please!

Bananas for 3 Bananas

We drove up to Crescent City this afternoon for lupper (it's like brunch but in the afternoon) at 3 Bananas. Delicious as always! Here's a backlit photo of our little group:

Selfie with Dave!

I'm having a nice, relaxing time in Florida. Today we met up with Dave at Chili's (2-for-1 happy hour, hooray!), so Jenny and I grabbed the opportunity for a selfie:



Always fun to catch up with Dave!

Better than snow

Screw this, I'm going to Florida

Actually, the trip has been planned for a while now, but really. Snow? In the middle of April?

New hair for spring

Out with the old, in with the new!

Fred bought his 1998 Blazer used when we got to San Antonio in 2001, and it has been a great car over the years. It stayed remarkably low-mileage thanks to one year in storage (Iraq deployment) and numerous other years of hardly being driven because Fred was walking to work. It was the starter car for 2 kids and protected one of them in a fender bender. But things haven't been quite right since said fender bender, most recently the fact that you can't turn the heat off or direct what vent you want the hot air coming out of. So it was definitely time for Fred to get a new set of wheels!

Goodbye, Chevy Blazer!



Hello, Mazda CX5!

Oh, for the love of Pete!

Go away, winter! I am so done with you.

If you've gotta go, go Honda

We spent the day shopping for a new car for Fred. This sign on the back of the stall door in our local Honda restroom made me snicker like a 12-year-old boy:



It gives a whole new meaning to the question: "Why go anywhere but Honda?"

College reunion

Wonderful time tonight with members of Fred's War College seminar:



Having so many friends close by is definitely one of the best parts of living in the DC area!

Book of Mormon

One of Annabelle's Christmas presents was tickets to see Book of Mormon in Baltimore over spring break. Today was the big day, and the show was every bit as good as we had expected!

We took a selfie before the show:



After the show, the cast raised money for AIDS research in a number of novel ways. I paid 20 bucks to get our picture made with General B***-F***ing Naked:



Here are a couple of great video clips from the Tony awards: