Pictures and More - The Real World Strikes: 2007
A THOT wedding! In January, Mike and Amanda got hitched in Las Vegas. A handful of friends joined them for the occasion. Two out of three thotters made the trip out; one was worthless and weak. It was a weekend of spirits, blackjack, and...umm...oh yeah, that's right...a wedding! Click above to check out the "'I Do' Drive Through" and some of the most threatening wedding cake pictures you're likely to see...congrats to our nule and his missus!
The yearly trip down to Florida to check out the manatees. As usual, it was a Bielek/Leake (and co.) affair and Jenn and Mike played excellent hosts. Special guests to the event included Caroline and cousin Dave Leake. The group was big enough we graduated to two boats on which to brave the mighty Homosassa River. The manatees were not as active as in past years, so I don't have any actual pictures of them. I do have pictures of other mammals awkwardly swimming around...and monkeys, too...
The annual Seven Springs trip, what can I say? It's taken on a life of its own. Once again, Debbie and Jeff were not about to back down as the only two to have made it every year (I keep waiting for her to just not tell me about it one year so she can claim the title all her own). As always, great people = a great time.
A few pictures from a trip to C-Bus and several from a trip by some of us back to Ohio University.
On April 28th, two rabid Buckeye fans got married in Columbus. Okay, so maybe "rabid" isn't a good word to use for newlyweds...but they had Brutus at the reception, so I'm not sure it's *that* far off. Jamie and Matt both graduated from Ohio State and it shows. Jamie and I go way back to the junior high school days (we actually knew each other for a short time in kindergarten-first grade, too). She's been a great friend who has managed to stay in touch over expanses of time and distance. I was grateful Caroline and I had the opportunity to join her for her special day.
On June 30th, Mike and Amanda had a celebration at Holden Arboretum, one of Cleveland's Metroparks. They rolled the dice and it turned out to be a gorgeous day for a get together.
In July, Jeff and Caroline rolled down to North Carolina to participate in what has become approximately a biennial Bielek-Leake get-together at the shore. The group keeps getting bigger as its members go forth and multiply. On the way down, we stopped in to visit Caroline's dad in South Carolina.
Coming hard on the heels of the North Carolina get-away (rough life, eh?), I had the fortunate opportunity to accompany Caroline and her family to Europe for a couple weeks. The first week of our trip took us to a small town in southern France named St. Martin, where Elise's (Morgan's wife) family resides. Time was spent and merriment made at their chateau, visiting with their friends and family, and we also used it as a base of operations to visit some nearby locations. The second week of the trip was spent along a section of the Italian coast known as Liguria. The trip met and exceeded any expectations I might have had. The Dukes really are blessed with the ability to find enjoyment in whatever they do; it's inspiring. I can't tell you here how much fun we had, and the pictures don't capture it either, but here's to giving it the old college try...