HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD !
Trip Start
May 17, 2009
1
Trip End
May 24, 2009
Oranjestad,
Aruba
Friday, May 22, 2009
In July of 2008 Moira, my sister, came to visit us in Florida with her kids (Michelle and Kevin). My mom who had recently undergone hip surgery was in recovery mode. Rusty and I both had ensured that we had our kids during Moira's visit in order to have all the cousins together. Mom and dad treated Moira, Rusty and I (with kids) to a three day Bahamas cruise (http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/a3dennert/11/1216673820/tpod.html?tweb_UID=a3dennert). It was during this cruise that we decided to celebrate our fathers 80th birthday celebration in Aruba.
We had to provide mom and dad with their travel tickets to ensure that they had no plans for the week of May 17th to the 24th, 2009, but we kept the dinner celebration on May 22nd a secret. Additional suprises that developed were Michelle's (my niece) last minute travel inclusion, where she packaged herself in a box and jumped out for Grandpa with a big "SUPRISE" that really caught him off guard. What was so special about this was that this was all Michelle's idea. She first of all stressed how much she wanted to be included in grandpa's special celebration and then solely came up with the plan of being packaged in a box and jumping out of it to suprise him. She did stipulate however that we had to ensure there would be a few holes made in the side of the box to ensure she could breath. How special is all of that? :o) Separately a dear and close friend of our parents (Myriam) flew in to attend this event and you should have seen my dads face when he saw her - priceless :o)
"Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts."
Mom, Dad, Moira and Michelle all arrived in Aruba on Sunday the 17th. Rusty and I arrived on Wednesday the 20th. We all departed on Sunday the 24th. What a great time we all had. We stayed at the Divi All Inclusive (http://www.diviaruba.com/index.php), which is a fantastic property. All our rooms were ocean front units :o)
The day following my arrival (Thursday) Moira, Rusty and I spent the day at Aruba's newest attraction: Morgan's Island Aqua Park (http://www.arubamorgansisland.com/). Our cousin Ingrid was celebrating her daughters 8th birthday party there. What an awesome time we had. I was the biggest kid there. Up and down, up and down, splish splash, fun fun fun.
On Friday night we celebrated my dad's birthday at the Promenade Restaurant (http://www.promenadearuba.com/), which went off without a hitch. In attendance we had my dads family: Tante Ana (my dads aunt / godmother), Mayra and Joe Maduro (cousin), Stella and Jan van Gulick (cousin), Ruby Deveer (cousin), Tante Glenda (sister), Myriam Montoya (close family friend), Mimi and Patrick (niece), Ingrid and Alexandra (nieces), Moira, Michelle, Rusty and I. We had a personalized menu made and the food was fantastic. A cake with edible photgraphs was presented to my dad and the whole restaurant broke out into birthday cheers - what a great event.
How can I say a few words about my dad that will do justice to all of the years of love and strength that he gave to us (Moira, Rusty and I)? I now know that it is much easier to become a father than to be one; my dad is the best father I could ever have hoped for, and I strive to be as good a father to my children as he has been to me. I hope that the real tribute to my dad will be in the actions we have taken in our lives; that we are a testament to the love and lessons that he instilled in us.
On our final day (Saturday) Rusty and I had agreed that we wanted to go motorcycle off-roading. Considering that we had already completed the USA 4 CORNERS (http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/a3dennert/3/1207166220/tpod.html), we thought it would be fun to now complete the ARUBA 2 CORNERS - lol; and so we did. Patrick joined us on this outing. We rented our bikes from George's Cycle Center.
This was a fantastic and memorable family outing that I can only hope we can repeat on a frequent basis.
"Families are the compass that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter."
Happy birthday dad !!!
To view some more pictures - click on the following link - sit back and just enjoy !!!
http://smilebox.com/play/4f5455314d5451354d5877784e5467774d4459774d673d3d0d0a&sb=1
