Aunt Natalie's 75th Birthday Celebration Weekend

I got to go on a girls' weekend and hang out with my Aunt Natalie and her girls (my cousins) Christi, Gale, and Julie. It's always great to be with them and get caught up. This weekend was super special because we celebrated Aunt Natalie's 75th birthday, her opening art show at Santa Barbara's Soho, and whale watching where we got to see several Blue Whales!

As soon as I upload some pictures, I'll post a few.

Ahhh, time to nap. Oh, ya. I have kids to tend to...

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A few days later:

I'm thanking God my Aunt Natalie saved my pics to her computer because when I got home, my SD card was empty! A big SHOUT OUT to Don for finding them too!!!

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Friday
Celebrations began with my Aunt Natalie's art show opening, showcasing her acrylic paintings (silk painting is no longer her #1 medium). Here's a pic of "the other photographer", Don - everyone's hero. Below is a picture of the atmosphere - too bad you can't hear the music and taste the food! Lastly, a pic of the "Wilson Family"; left to right, back row: Shane and Rod; front row: Julie, Gale, (Ed couldn't come), Kelly, (my crew couldn't come), Natalie, Sarah, Jim, and Christi.

Saturday
After camping out with the girls at Aunt Natalie's, we set up for her big 75th Birthday Party! Here's a pic of the outside where most of us hung out, the inside where the food overflowed and the jazz never ended, Aunt Natalie's best friend, Peggy, and our favorite person and birthday girl, Natalie as she's being sung to!


Tons
of
food!
Great
Friends!
Awesome
Family!
Perfect
Weather!
Jazz!
Jazz!
Jazz!





Don't leave this page until you've seen Natalie's work!




Sunday
Guess what we did today?!? We went whale watching and saw 75' BLUE WHALES! The winds were 30 knots (I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I can tell you that it was incredibly rough and lots of adventurers were hanging over the side of the boat), and the weather quickly changed from cheerful and sunny to dark and gloomy. Who cares?!? We saw BLUE WHALES!!!
On our way out to sea, sea lions talked to us, dolphins swam with us, and we got really wet. The last pic is of a blue whale, but I'm hoping to get a better picture soon. Don, our hero, found my lost pics on Aunt Natalie's computer and she's sending them to me soon. If she can get the movie to transfer, I'll be able to post dolphins swimming along side our boat!
Okay! You try and take pics thirty miles out to sea with the boat tossing you back and forth, left and right, onto stranger's laps, and nearly overboard ~ Oh, ya! And the waves were thrashing up against the boat getting us all wet ~ even completely drenching several by surprise! I was so excited to see whales that I didn't care if the salt water broke my little camera. No, I didn't take my "serious" camera. I never would have got the pics I got because I wouldn't have risked the wetness.
Was this an awesome birthday celebration weekend or what!?!