By mommie2zs in Gem-Fest — Jul 10, 2023

Gem-Fest 2023

We gathered in Orlando, Florida this year. Monkey decided Florida’s heat and politics were enough to keep her home, despite how much she enjoys the gathering, especially getting time with the young cousins. We missed her a lot, but she was not wrong about the oppressive heat.

Despite that, it was a fantastic time, and the themed house served all 22 of us well, not least because I didn’t have to sleep in a themed bedroom. 😁 I’ll write a separate post about the house and community amenities, so for now, just the festivities of the week.

We left bright and early to give Buds as full of a work day as we could.

It was great to have a short drive to Kel and Paula’s so we could enjoy time with them before our long drive on Saturday to Orlando.

Buds found a delicious restaurant for a stop in Savannah, GA. We also stopped at a farmer’s market, hoping to find fresh peaches, but that dream was thwarted.

Sly’s Sliders and Fries was the perfect stop for us. Great food, a lovely afternoon to sit outside.

After many, many hours, we finally made it to the house. The development was called Storey Lake, and the community was much larger than any of us realized it was going to be, which turned out well with multiple swimming pool areas and amentities.

The house had space for all 22 of us, so we knew it would be large, and it did serve our needs for the week really well.

We arrived first, heading in to explore the house.

We hauled in all our stuff and put it in the corner of the kitchen. Having done these trips for years, we know that the sorting of bodies into rooms is best done when as many people as possible are there to figure it all out. All the kids being older does make it so much easier, and this year, for the first time, all the adult couples had bedrooms completely to themselves!

The week was a mixed bag of fun for all the different families. Some folks had a fantastic day at Universal Studios.

There was a lot of group game play, card games, puzzles, and many hours in our private pool. Buster, especially, spends weeks ahead of Gem-Fest planning for ways that multiple people, as many as possible, can be included in various game play options. This year he orchestrated the purchase of new games and extra controllers to give people as many options as possible. I love the talent he has shown over the years in helping people feel welcome to play.

Bob put in many appearances and Buds got great footage that will appear in blog posts later, I’m sure. It was fun for me to take shots from the side as Buds worked with the younger crowd for videos with Bob.

Yessa went with the rest of the families for a pontoon boat outing. When I asked her today what her favorite animal sighting was of the trip, she replied, “Otters!” which they saw on this excursion.

That’s one of my favorite parts of Gem-Fest. The mix and match of all the cousins, all the adults; jokes and stories are shared and born as we all spend time together doing various activities and outings.

Otters weren’t the only animal sightings on this trip. We were amazed by the number and variety of birds we saw. And the gators did not disappoint.

[caption id="attachment_34386" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Let’s go hunt some gators!

Once you know to watch for the little eyeballs…

Buds and I met this charming critter on one of our bike rides.

The kids made dinner one of the nights, planned, created, and presented by the 17 to 10 year olds. Buds and I had a great time taking a mixed bag of kiddos out to do the grocery shopping for the dinner; none of our own kids. 😍😍

They are so kind to put up with his antics. 😆

The food was delicious and we lined up for it, all of the nights people made group meals.

We did try two new approaches for food this year. The kids and two of the couples made meals on 3 nights. One night people handled their family meals on their own. The last night we ordered Chinese Food.

[caption id="attachment_34360" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Waiting for the many, many meals.

The other night, we all went to Al Capone’s Dinner Theatre.

Hoo, boy, that was an experience. It was a little raunchy for some of us, but adored and giggled over by others. Another experience to add to the list of family memories.

You had to knock and give the secret word to enter the Speakeasy. As you can see, Buddie’s sister did a beautiful job on her costume.

All 22 of us had our own section at the back of the theater.

The music and dancing were my favorite parts. The actor had powerful voices.

We even bought the souvenirs for the memories.

Buds and I were so glad we took the bikes. Easy for running errands, and a way to explore in the heat that allowed us to go deeper into the paths and nature areas than just walking would have.