Saturday was beautiful and sunny. Ron and I enjoyed breakfast at the hotel,
then I went swimming while Ron relaxed in the room. The hotel had a very large group of family
and friends staying for a wedding, and many were sitting around the pool. I didn't get it. How can people be that close to a pool on
such a beautiful day and just look at it?
A few immersed themselves, but it was mainly to cool off while keeping
up a conversation with others in the chairs.
I had a large expanse of pool to thrash back and forth and get in a good
workout.
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| With my brothers John and Paul. |
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| With Ron. |
We headed back to John and Les' later in the afternoon, where another brother and his wife arrived, along with some nieces and nephews and their Accompanying Persons.
Ricky was busy signing a stack of photos to put out at the party, which would be held at the neighborhood Clubhouse. That morning my brother, Ricky and other family members had gone out for a round of golf, where Ricky later described his dad's score as "a sloppy 76". I'd take that score any day. For 9 holes. A very young female admirer, hearing Ricky was on the course, met him and tweeted adoring thoughts to her followers immediately. The family reported that Ricky handled it graciously. I'm not surprised.
With Ron and me.
With my parents. My mother still has a photo of 2-year old Ricky in swim wings on her refrigerator.
A great-looking family, including Benji the dog.
And my personal favorite- Tim (with his brother Rick in the background) in London.
The party started around 6:30 PM; the lawn of the Clubhouse
had been sprayed with the Olympic Rings for the occasion. A generous spread of food and drink was
available; Ricky's orthodontist had partially sponsored the event. Nice publicity for the guy who engineered the
million-dollar smile!
With perfect weather, Ron and I spent a lot of the time out
on the back porch, having a wonderful conversation with Gran and Pearl, a
couple in their 90s who had been friends of the family for years. A few other friends and family joined
us. Later we enjoyed a video slideshow
of Ricky and the family at the Olympics, followed by the "Call me Maybe" video by the USA Swim Team. The Olympic Rings had been lovingly made by a friend, and included pictures from all stages of Ricky's life to date.
Les' brother did a wonderful job as emcee, welcoming family and friends from all over, and introducing the family's pastor as "the first guy to dip Ricky in the water". After the video Ricky answered questions from the guests. The only off-limits question: "What's it like to swim with Michael Phelps?" Later, Ricky and my brother John addressed the group.
The cake.
As the crowd thinned out, we took down the decorations and put the furniture back into place, and walked back over to John and Les'.
And a good time was had by all.
Ron and I said loving goodbyes to the family and headed back to our hotel for the night.
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