Friday, July 25, 2014

Family Visit Top Ten: Part 5

Finally, I've come to the last entry in this series about my "staycation" with my Kentucky family and my sister's family from Pennsylvania. It's taken a week to tell the story but I have enjoyed looking back at a lot of what we did. 

TeeJai's Birthday
This last of the ten topics I've chosen to highlight is a day that resulted from the main reason for the Pearsons visiting when they did. Just like last year my niece, Teejai, wanted to spend her birthday, Thursday July 17,  with us here in the Bluegrass State. 

Shari and I made plans for a special family outing the night of TJ's special day and kept it as a secret from her all week. It drove her crazy. I took full advantage of it as a means of teasing her too. 

On Wednesday night when we were all together as a family we celebrated my niece, Teejai's birthday with an ice cream cake. Here's a short video of her blowing out the candles. I know I have put this up on a previous post in this series but it also fits into this one. 



The one thing she asked to do on her birthday was go back to the Opry Mills. Since her surprise was also in Nashville we told her we'd take her to the mall first. 

On Thursday morning I woke up around 8AM. I was really tired and kind of sluggish. But it was my niece's birthday and she had decided to come spend it with her uncle's family. I knew I had to start the day out special.  So I grabbed my ukulele and went down to the Bryce. 

As Teejai sat in the motel room eating her breakfast I sang Happy Birthday to her. I also tried to sing my own special version of the song "You're Sixteen" with words for her 17th birthday. 

I hadn't rehearsed all week and it was terrible. But Teejai and the rest were very gracious in saying that they liked it. Personally, I was very disappointed in my performance for several reasons. But that's another subject for another day. 

By midday, 9 of us (Michael & Heather couldn't go because Heather had to work) were in a caravan of 3 vehicles heading down I-65 toward Nashville and the mall. I drove with Bob & Bobby. Paula, Shari, and TJ rode with Theresa. James and Brandi were only going to the mall with us so they drove on their own. 

James was anxious to take everyone to the Aquatic Critters pet store he and I went to earlier in the month. After about half an hour there we headed back up Briley Parkway to Opry Mills. 

Once we got there our first order of business was to get something to eat. Having parked on the side of the mall opposite the food court we walked up one corridor to the Rain Forrest Cafe and back down to the food court. 

Each of us got in line to get what we wanted. Collectively we ate from Panda Express, Burger King, Villa pizza, and "Which Wich", a sandwich place. 

After eating we broke up into smaller groups. Brandi and James took Aria to the "Build A Bear" workshop to get her first custom stuffed animal. She got a pink horse that quickly became her best friend. 

The woman went shopping in the Vera Bradley outlet store; where Paula allowed Teejai to pick out her own birthday present. Bobby and I went to the Lego Store. That's where I surprised him by getting the Star Wars AT-AT I mentioned in part 2 of this series.  

We didn't spend as much at the mall as we did last year but we all had a good time. We gathered back together at the entrance where we came in, said "good-bye" to Aria, James and Brandi. Then at about 5 o'clock we left and headed for our evening destination. Teejai was about to find out what her big surprise was. 

Just like the grand opening of the Crossroads IGA in the grove earlier in the week the surprise was a matter of serendipity. It just so happened to be going on at the time the PA family was in town for TJ's birthday. 

We drove across Nashville once again; going down I-40 to 70S and then on to RT 100. Soon we pulled into the parking lot and this is what my niece saw which finally revealed her birthday surprise. 
This was her first time to Chaffin's and it was to see one of her favorite shows, Grease. 

Paula and I have been going to Chaffin's for years. This was Shari and Bob's 2nd time and the first time for Teejai and Bobby. Theresa had been there before but this time she was our guest as a gift for her upcoming birthday.

For the first time we were seated at a pair of tables on the floor of the theater. It was level with the stage area. This would be an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time. It was nice to be so close but it limited our view when there were a lot of people on the stage. 

Although I didn't care for it at all, everyone else seemed to enjoy the food on the buffet. 

Through conversation, I found out that our waiter was a former cast member at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. He told me that he was a parking lot attendant for 8 years. I wish I could have gotten to talk with him more. 

During the introductions and announcements, just before the show started,  all the waiters gathered on the stage and verbally recognized everyone who was there for a special occasion and or birthday. They wished Teejai a "happy birthday" with a special song. She also got a cupcake with a candle on it at her table. 

The show was a lot of fun and quite a bit different than the iconic movie we are all familiar with. The cast was very large for the venue. Paula and I couldn't believe that they were able to fit that many people on the stage at the same time during the production numbers. It was the most we'd ever seen before.

During intermission I asked Charlie, our waiter, to take a picture of our group. 

After the show was over we all gathered out in the small courtyard just outside the red barn that serves as the theater building.

We waiting to make sure that everyone was gathered together before heading home. 

Shari and Teejai went back into the theater to try and get a picture with some of the cast. The actresses who played a couple of the Pink Ladies and the one who played "Sandy" the female lead posed with her. 

Take a look at the smile on TJ's face in the last two pictures. That stayed there the entire night. She really really liked her surprised. I'm sure this will be a birthday she'll remember for a long time. 

So there you have the 10 things that I will remember the most about the Pearsons' 2014 trip to my little town in Kentucky. 

The best result of their visit is that there are family members that are now closer than they were before last week. The bonds formed during our time together are there to stay. 

One of the hottest topics of discussion during our evening dinners throughout the week was plans for all of us to go to Pennsylvania and visit them next year. 

Michael and Heather's plans are firm because she is going to a book signing in Hershey, PA (two hours away from Easton where my sisters live) in August 2015. They will probably meet up with Shari and her family one day at Hershey Park.

The rest of us are looking to go in June of next year so we can attend Teejai's high school graduation. But no matter when we see them again we will always treasure the time we got to spend with Shari, Bob, Bobby, and Teejai here in Kentucky during the middle week of July 2014. Hope you enjoyed reading about it as well.  










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