Ground Control to Major Mom

We walked the outer perimeter of the #Oktoberfest? grounds this afternoon — only employees are allowed inside the perimeter until Saturday. We are in awe of the expanse of the beer halls and the huge carnival rides.

We had the chance to visit the Bavaria statue, along with two memorials right by the main entrance commemorating a September 1980 bombing — by a right-wing extremist — that killed a number of Oktoberfest guests. The 1980 Oktoberfest closed for only one day after that, their philosophy was that if they closed any more than that, the terrorist wins.

I’m glad to have seen those memorials before the crowds really start up on Saturday.

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Wandering Munich while waiting to check into our hotel.

Enjoying cappuccinos to force ourselves to stay awake today.

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I sat on these photos for almost four MONTHS waiting till my birthday to share them!

I splurged and did a professional photo session for my 50th birthday.

I had such fun with Daniel and his team with Luxury Flying Dress Aruba back in May! They offer packages that include makeup and hair, and they make you feel so beautiful — I was incredibly self-conscious about doing all of this (I’m usually in hikers and t-shirts when vacationing).

The sunset photos are my favorite, and the first one here is what’s hanging on our wall in the house now. As a meteorologist, I can’t get over how beautiful the sky looks! I also appreciate how the flying dress is the perfect memory of the constant breeze Aruba experiences.

#thisis50

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Less photos from the past couple days — apparently we did all the “cool touristy stuff” during the 1st half of the trip.

Good thing too, since I, then Dave, in succession, each were hit with either food poisoning or Norovirus. Not sure which, they look and feel the same. I was in bad shape overnight Sunday, and for Dave it was much of Monday.

I was just well enough to dive Monday morning (and did fine). We were both better by Monday evening.

Tim’s ear issues were keeping his head above water since Saturday, which was disappointing for him; he was unable to do the second day of diving. On our last full day we stuck close, lounging in the AirBnB’s pool while watching the kite surfers in the ocean across the street. We still had a nice time…we flew home the next day.

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On Saturday we spent the day on the desolate, but beautiful, northeast side of the island. The orientation of the island with the prevailing arid winds makes one side much more desert-like than the other. The boys thoroughly enjoyed taking turns driving the off-road vehicle. There’s some controversy in driving “UTVs” around, mainly from folks who don’t respect the roads and destroy the wildlife and plants when they try to go completely off road. We made a point to respect the map and stay on the roads. In the future, if we go back, we’ll check out one of the horseback tours.

In the evening we took a Kukoo Kunuku Party Bus tour, bar hopping throughout Oranjestad. We behaved and the following day we actually woke up feeling decently. I’m sure being at sea level has given us some superpowers.

#graduationcelebration2023

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Jolly Pirate Sunset Cruise. The ship took us to a popular swim/snorkel spot so we can use the swing for about an hour, then we sail back to the pier watching the sunset. Complimentary drinks. The boys really enjoyed the swing…and the drinks.

#graduationcelebration2023

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Greetings from One Happy Island! Tim asked for a dive trip for a graduation gift.

We have been here about 24 hours and are about as relaxed as one could imagine. We enjoyed some shrimp and Argentinian steak for dinner last night and the boys had their first casino experience. Let me tell you…slot machines are way more complicated than I remember back in the 90s. But we were pretty tired from the redeye — none of us slept all too well on those flights — so we didn’t stay out too late.

This morning Tim and I got to do a couple shipwreck dives and enjoyed hanging with the turtles and sting rays. And so…many…fish…. I included one of my favorite photos here: a very ornery turtle that gave us some serious side-eye as we swam past. Be sure to catch the two videos at the end!

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