When I last left off with the blog, it was just about to be midnight , and as a result, our 13th anniversary. If you were at our wedding, or if you've paid attention to any anniversary blog in the last 13 years, you know that at the end of our anniversary night, we continue the wedding reception tradition of jumping in a pool in our clothes. The weather for the night of our anniversary looked like it might be rough (and if lightning is within 6 miles of a Disney resort pool they close down), so as we were leaving Jellyrolls, we decided to jump in the Beach Club Villa (DVC Resort) pool on our way back to Port Orleans. So, technically the pool was "closed", but posted hours are just a suggestion, right? Especially if the gate isn't locked! We waited on a bench outside the pool area until exactly midnight, and then we jumped in the pool. Tradition alive! I feel like some year we'll be too old to want to do this.. right? But, I still love it as a throwback to our wedding night.
Cause man.. what a ride we've had over the last 13 years. I mean, yes, we've known each other 19- been together nearly 18, but we've "only" been married for 13. This guy though. Man, I know I didn't get it right the first time, but he was worth the wait- and the screw ups, you know? Sometimes I wonder how I got SO lucky to end up with Asa. That wasn't always a forgone conclusion, but the fact that it's worked out the way it has and I ended up living my best life with my best friend... well, I know that's not something everyone gets. And I feel very grateful to have found it.
We always say everyone has "their crazy", it's just whether or not you can live with other people's crazy. I think we've recently discovered our 'crazy' is how much time we spend together. I mean, we're ALWAYS together. Occasionally Asa will go somewhere without me, but he's my favorite security blanket- I don't go anywhere without him. You guys, I miss him when he's in the office a lot. And by office- I mean the room right off the family room.
But yea, I'm not good putting my feelings into words (I blame Catholic school), but Asa really is the love of my life. People say that. But, for real. Love of my life. Can't get enough. Will never get enough. I will follow him to the end of the earth. Or New Zealand. Whichever comes first.
Anyway, enough of that. You didn't come here to read all of that, did you? (Actually, I'm not sure why anyone comes here anymore- it used to be to document the kids lives and now they're almost all grown!) So, the next morning, on our anniversary, we got up and headed over to Boma for anniversary breakfast. We haven't been to Boma since covid, and it's back in all it's pre-covid glory! The fun african oats, the bread pudding, the bobotie, the pecan cinnamon rolls. All SO good.
Asa and I know to get all your food in one trip to the buffet if you can (that Boma line can get annoyingly long!), and we sat down and feasted on it all with our included POG juice. It does not get any better than this. Protip: put the breakfast gravy on tater tots. You're welcome.
We also go our breakfast coffees to go and enjoyed them at the (Still closed) Victoria Falls lounge.
Oh, and I took this picture for no other reason than to tell people to check out the restroom signs right outside Boma- it's Simba and Nala!
We were thinking we'd bring over swimsuits and crash the Animal Kingdom pool (totally 'illegal' by Disney standards, but it happens. However, the weather was looking ROUGH. It had already poured down while we were eating, and though there was a break, it wasn't looking promising.
We decided before it stormed again, we should head out to the savanna to look at the animals. Of course when I saw the keeper out feeding the pelicans, I made a beeline for it.
The keeper didn't normally work on this savanna, so she didn't know all of their names- but she did tell us a lot about their care, and then note one of the pelicans ankle bracelets had slid down and the poor guys foot, and he needed some rescuing, so we got to see her go out there net and all to help him.
But it was so early, the pelicans were the only animals out. Either that, or because of the weather, animals were back in the barn, so we started to head back in (I was a little disappointed, though), so Asa suggested we hang out on one of the balconies to see if they ever came out- and sure enough, we spotted some wildebeast stampede-ing their way out.
Even though it was thundering and slightly raining, Asa and I went back out to check out everyone having their morning breakfast. No giraffes- but we did see antelopes and zebras.
Once the lightning showed up though, we headed inside. Asa was kind enough to run to the car and get soaked, while I waited for him in the lobby. I told you he was a keeper.
And then in the absolute pouring rain (while listening to "Rain King")
Lucky for us the downpour was over by the time we got back to our resort. So, we grabbed some drinks, headed down to the pool and just so happened to be some of the first people back in it. We hung out, laid out, played trivia and had our drinks (We so love our orca cups from Marcus, we take them everywhere!) And the sun did eventually come back out - so much so that Asa ended up sunburnt. Oops!
After a couple hours by the pool, we headed over to get an afternoon snack: some beignets from Scat Cat Lounge. This is about the only place on Disney property you can find these. But, they are worth the trip to get the fried pillow-y, Mickey shaped goodness.
Asa and I got the boozey ones- we could infuse ours with Rumchata or Kailua.
But it was actually A LOT of liquor for my tiny beignet, so I infused about half of it, and dared Asa to have a 'shot' of the rest. You can't tell as much in this picture, but the lady behind him was definitly judging us.
Anyway, the weather was lovely now- especially under the shade with ceiling fans, so we hung out and played some cards. Does that make us old? Playing cards on our anniversary? If so, I'll be old. That's cool.
By now, it was starting to cloud up again, so I suggested we take out our picture-in-picture and try and get it done. If you don't know about the picture in picture: every year on our anniversary we take a picture of us holding the picture from the year before... in which we're holding the picture from the year before... and so on and so on.. all the way back to Anniversary #1. Usually, everyone sees the finished product- but not so much the lead up to it all. We run around taking the picture various places. We have a tripod thingie, because we've discovered random people don't usually take it the way we need it (close up, little to no glare on the picture, and obviously I'd like to look at the least slightly cute in it!) Anyway, we usually take it in a couple different spots- all the while people notice what we're doing- they think it's adorable, wish us a happy anniversary- you know, it's a whole thing. And part of that whole thing is Asa snapping pictures as I'm trying to set things up. He thinks he's funny. This year, I got him back. Anyway, enjoy the pictures of the process!
Besides the walking around (in the heat! Blah! Why oh why did we get married in June?! Oh right, because we got married on my parents anniversary!).... we try and find the best background. You want something that shows where you are... but where you can still be the center of the picture.
No matter where we went, though, I really just wanted to get the iconic Port Orleans French Quarter alligators in the picture. Honestly, one year I just might go with the super casual one- those are kind of uniquely us!
Ultimately, this is what we settled on. And, I kind of love it. Even if I had to take it with the selfie stick part of the tripod and not the regular tripod part. There's some glare on the picture- but nothing too bad. So, anyway, yup.. here it is: the official 13th anniversary picture in picture.
After all our hard work, we headed over to Disney Springs for dinner at the Polite Pig, where we got the butcher board and sprung for the extra turkey and ribs. This board never, ever disappoints.
After we were sufficiently stuffed, Asa took me over to World of Disney. After the chess club shirts I made, he got me a Disney gift card specifically for a wish list item for me: a Disney Loungefly Backpack. I'd been dragging my feet on what one I wanted- but over multiple trips, I kept coming back to this one. It's full of Disney animals! From Jaq and Gus to Meeko to Pascal- it has them all. And, Asa pointed out no two backpacks of these was the same, because you'd get different parts of the print in every backpack. After I noticed that detail, I was sold- and I painstakingly picked out mine, all while Asa happily waited for me. And then, when we were checking out, we discovered our extra bump of a passholder discount even worked on Loungefly. So, we got 30% off of it.
Back at the resort, we did a dip kiss picture..
And those outtakes are just as fun as the other picture in picture ones.
By now the evening weather forecast was looking rough- and we had an 8:30 reservation for a horse drawn carriage ride at the Riverside part of Port Orleans. We decided to head down there early to see if we could get on early in case we got rained out.
And luckily, they could accommodate us! Our horse for the evening was Grady, this gorgeous pretty white horse.
We headed down along the path by the river, under the bridge, and over through the streets of the French Quarter. It was amazing. And, when we were about half way done, the skies opened up, and they called the driver back and said they would have to cancel all the rides for the rest of the night.
Since it was raining pretty heavy when we got back, our driver even dropped us off under the covered area at the front of the resort, where he met up with the over driver. We got to see both horses that had been working that night, we got our ride in just in time, and we even got a refund because of the rain. So, it all worked out perfectly!
Thanks for the ride, Grady! (I'm pretty sure I've seen him before at the stables at Fort Wilderness, he seemed so familiar!
We did have to walk back in the rain, but I came prepared for that.
And under the bridge on the way back, we even got to stand around and check out the bats for awhile. Very cool!
As we made our way back in the pouring rain, thunder, and lightning, we agreed it was a good thing we had already jumped in a pool- they would all remain closed the rest of the night.
On our way back to our room, we noticed we could catch some of the Epcot fireworks from the balcony outside our room. It was the one thing I was sad I hadn't done at Disney this trip: see fireworks-- and we just happened into it.
We tried to hit up the Scat Cat Club (not to be confused with the cafe), but there were no tables available- so we went to our room and did some Disney trivia, and listened to soundscapes. We even watched Happily Ever After on the tv (which, I admit, I may have watched multiple times. How is this only at Disney resorts?! Put this on Disney plus!)
A little while later, the Scat Cat Lounge at our hotel had emptied out just a bit. We went down and listened to the jazz band, and got ourselves some more beignets and drinks.
Three nights at Disney. Three nights of live music. Nice!
Still raining when we headed back to our room around midnight- but the ambiance was lovely.
And that, my friends is a wrap on our 13th anniversary.. onto year 14. May we continue to have great communication, so much laughter and fun, and plenty of snuggles. Love you babe.
Next up: One last Disney meal!
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