Abercorn 1, Camera 0

As I reviewed my photos from this year's St. Patrick's Day parade, I couldn't help noticing inherent irony. I go for two reasons:  1) to see my first born son march with the BC cadets, and 2) to see the people I know marching with their families or riding on family/business floats.

So for one day of the year, I cook all day on the 16th, purchase various beverages, pack three or four coolers, secure a parking spot at a friend's house, lug said coolers and beach chairs six blocks to our painstakingly saved parking spot at Abercorn and Hull so that when I see people I know walking down the street wearing green--the same people I see other days of every week--I can wave my arms and yell,

"Hey! Hey!"

before running out in the middle of Abercorn and taking their photo. Nine times out of ten, because so many other spectators are doing the same thing, they don't even know I'm there.  

 

 

Then, I park myself on the curb amongst many other mothers of BC cadets, and when I see the BC banner round the corner of Lafayette Square, I run up the street a block and a half so that I can take about two dozen shots of my son as if I'll never get another photo of him in my life. 

One shot isn't enough. I have to get every angle. I become as camera crazy as the paparazzi on Oscar night. And not only that, but I have to get photos of the other cadets because I know their mamas want photos of them too. I somehow forget that other people in the world own cameras, and it's up to me to make sure all the other mothers have for posterity images of their lipstick laden boys.

And thank goodness other people did have their cameras because just as I was asking Kevin McCarthy to take my photo with Master Sergent Osario, I dropped my Fuji S1000 on the pavement, making pieces of plastic and AA batters go flying. Sabra said that from afar, they looked like confetti. Fortunately, the photo card was unharmed, but for the rest of the afternoon, I was relying on the kindness of others for parade pics.

 

This year's event was even more frenzied because it was on a Saturday and the weather was beautiful and more than a million people had descended on downtown Savannah for the event. Two of them were Sabra and Martin Neff, who spent the weekend with us and joined us on the corner of Abercorn and Hull for the four-hour long parade. Michael Tucker stepped out of the parade to have a beer and say hello, and he eventually decided not to get back in the parade, but just stay with us and be a spectator. The Autry family joined us on our truck, as did Bill Sharpley, It was a fun, fun day.

  

 

 And just think: Next year we get to do it all again! Can't wait!

Dress Rehearsal

Although Savannah's St. Patrick's Day parade is always a blast, the Remlers have come to enjoy just as much the dress rehearsal:  Tybee's St. Patrick's Day parade, which always occurs on the Saturday prior to March 17th. Today we loaded up our cars and drove down to 10th Court to join JoJo and Pop Pop on the sidewalk of Butler Avenue.

At first, we worried the northeaster would blow us indoors in spite of the beautiful blue sky. But once we settled into our seats in the sunshine, we warmed right up. Even better, the breeze blew the gnats away.

For several reasons, Tybee's parade is a joy:

• It's an hour long, which is a nice difference from the Savannah parade's three to four-hour long show. 
  
  
  
• The crowd is much smaller. And although it grows each year, it's still small enough that we can show up about an hour ahead of time and know we'll have prime viewing spots right at the top of the lane.
  
  
  
  
• Also because of the small crowd, we're still allowed to run into the street and shake the parade participants' hands. And those marching in the parade can still throw candy and beads to the children (young and old).
  
  
  
  
• Every now and then we get invited to a wedding party.
  
  
  
  
• Every now and then we get to hug a pig.
  
  
  
  
• Every now and then, we get to jump into Matt Daniel's pedi-cab and ride along with him. And every now and then, Matt dresses up like Evel Kenevil.
  
  
  
  

Who doesn't love a parade? What's more, who doesn't love a parade starring the Beach Chair Brigade?

To me, even the Macy's balloons on Thanksgiving pale in comparison to Tybee's coastal hometown fun. And it gives us a chance to warm up our parade going skills prior to the Big Green Day!

Lawson Baked Davis's Birthday Cake

Knowing how much Davis loves Star Wars, and always willing to make something chocolate, Lawson decided to make his brother an R2D2 birthday cake. He started on it Friday night and finished it Saturday morning.

The project started by finding an instructional video on YouTube: Even though this video is in hyper-speed, Lawson thought he could follow it enough to make a cake of his own. In case anyone is interested in making this cake, here are some instructions in real time:

1. Make some cakes. Lawson's not an overachiever. He's not averse to using a cake mix. In fact, for this project, he used two boxes of Betty Crocker's chocolate fudge cake mix, which earned his school four Box Tops for Education. So Lawson's not only a generous brother, but a philanthropic student as well.

Both of my children love the opportunity to operate a machine, so Lawson broke out my Kitchen Aid mixer, which actually was due for some exercise. 

2.  Bake the cakes. Lawson used three 8" round cake pans for this project, and he baked them for thirty minutes at 350 degrees. That gave him a little break to join his brother in front of the TV. 

 

 

After all, one should always make time for an episode of "Hillbilly Handfishing."

3.  Once the cakes were done, he had to cut them  and shape into an R2D2 figure. He used icing to hold the different layers together and pieced the cake together on a cutting board. 

 

Then he spread icing over the top to smooth out the spaces between. His little R2 robot served as a model. 

3.  Then he made the legs out of Rice Krispy Treats, which he cut to match the angles of R2's little robot wheels. 

 

4. Next, Lawson iced the whole cake with white icing to make it look more R2ish. Chocolate is his favorite flavor, but he still opted for more authenticity. By the time he had the whole cake covered, it looked like a little mummy.

 

5. With blue and black icing, along with a blue sugar sheet, Lawson added the accents to turn that little iced mummy into the beloved Star Wars droid. 

 

 

I think Lawson's ready for Ace of Cakes! I hope Davis realizes what a cool brother he has. We'll be breaking into this tasty pastry tomorrow night when we have Davis's birthday dinner. 

Now, I wonder what cake Davis will bake next month when Lawson turns 13...

For the Reader's Digest version of Lawson's artistic process, you can view the following video:

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Davis Remler Turns Eighteen

I am now the parent of an adult. Where did the time go?

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