Where to begin...

Amy, Derek, Kari, and I headed down to Orlando, FL last Thursday for Kevi and Julie's wedding. To start things off we got to the Des Moines airport to find out that our flight to Memphis was going to be delayed 3 hours so we quickly had them reschedule us to leave Memphis the next morning. We got to our concourse and they told us the flight was on time - wtf is going??? Anyway, we fly to Memphis, TN and get there around 7:30pm. The connecting flight to Orlando was leaving at 7:32pm so there was no way for us to make it anyway. Kari's dad does a lot of traveling for his job so she had him make us a reservation at a hotel for the night. The hotel was only 7 miles from the airport but it was in Mississippi and apparently the cab drivers hate going to Mississippi so they charge you an extra $30. We got to the hotel with a $41 cab ride for 7 miles. Awesome. The next morning we got a much cheaper cab ($18) back to the airport and headed to Orlando. We went get our checked bags right away. Derek and Kari's bags came really quick so they headed down to get the car situation figured out. Amy and I waited and waited for our bags. Mine finally came out and then they made the announcement that all the bags from our flight were off the plane. GREAT! Amy's luggage got lost. I then had to make a lost luggage claim with the airport which was a ton of fun. They said it would be delivered between 6 and 9pm that night. We met up with Kevi for some lunch at Quiznos and then we headed to our hotel in Orlando which was really nice - kitchen, living room, big bathroom, and 2 queen size beds. Derek and I then had to go with Kevi to the wedding rehearsal. It was at that moment when I realized Derek and I were going to be standing in 100 degree weather in black tuxes for ~30 minutes the next day. We then all went to Ohana's at the Disney Polynesian Resort for dinner. This place was really cool. They had really good food. The atmosphere was what you could expect from a Disney Resort. Lots of kids and maracas. That night we went to Jellyrolls which is a piano bar. It was a lot cooler than I thought it would be.

Saturday Amy and I were on hold with the airline for about an hour and she finally got through. They told her that her bag was on a plane heading for Orlando and that we should go to the baggage claim and just pick it up. Thanks a lot Northwest Airlines for letting us know. Had we not called to find this info out ourselves it would have been lost again. After that fiasco Derek and I met Kevi for lunch which was supposed to be sushi, then Bonefish Grill, and turned into TGIFridays. We had some beer and some good food and then headed back to the hotel to get dressed for the wedding. We got to the garden where the wedding was taking place and headed straight for the little building with air conditioning. The wedding was really nice. Derek and I were sweating bullets because of the sun beating down on us, black tuxes, and 100 degree weather. We shared a handkerchief during the whole ceremony to wipe sweat off our faces. After the wedding we got in a limo to head to the reception. We all tried a little Patron Platinum which was awesome. The reception was nice and short. Derek and I successfully gave our toasts and we had some really good Italian food. That night we got back to the hotel where Derek and I wanted to party so we modified our tuxes by wearing the vest, tie, and socks and started walking around the hotel looking for a party. Hahaha.

Sunday we were planning on going to Universal, but in order to save a little money we opted to head to Daytona Beach. When we got into town it started pouring so we had some lunch at Chipotle. We got really close to the beach and the rain stopped and the sun came out. At Daytona Beach there really aren't any parking lots so you just drive your car down onto beach and park. We were out in the ocean swimming and noticed some people were leaving and some were getting stuck. We then realized that the tide was coming in. We got stuck on the beach for an extra hour or so waiting for the tide to go back down. The water was up to all 4 of our tires at times. Woops. That night we went to Universal City Walk and met Nehru and Karissa at the Jimmy Buffet bar for a beer and then went and got cigars before heading home for bed. We had to be up at 4am for our flight back home.

The next morning we flew home. The End.

PICTURES!

btw...happy birthday Jake!