We arrived at his parent's house and got right to work, helping set the table and preparing the food for our late lunch. I would soon find out that we were about to enjoy a family favorite, Salade Nicoise. Having served a mission in Southern France and knowing full well how wonderful this dish was, I was more than excited to hear that this was a family favorite! Before I could ask who was joining us, since I was asked to set the table for 8, Shanam's grandmother arrived with the marinated potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and red onions and his aunt arrived with her family bringing hard boiled eggs and olives. I wasn't aware that this was going to be a full family get together but I welcomed the chance to get to know everyone!
"So, you must be the famous Bethany!" his grandmother said. "It's so nice to finally meet you!" She walked right over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek then a big hug, like I was already a part of the family.
"It's so nice to finally meet you!" I answered back, enjoying her warm welcome. She stood about a foot shorter than me with blond short hair and bright red lips. I loved her immediately :)
"And you must be Aunt Carol." I said to Shanam's aunt. "I'm so glad you're here so I could meet you and your family, too!"
"It's nice to meet you. This is my husband, Allen, and my son, Craig." she said pointing to her family next to her.
"Well, it looks like you've met everyone except for my sister, Elana. I told you my family wasn't very big compared to yours." Shanam said. "We all fit at one table!" He added, laughing.
With that, we all sat down and said a blessing on the food. I wished I'd had a camera with me to take a picture of my plate because it was absolutely beautiful! And, of course, it tasted divine! The conversation was light and fun as they all asked me questions. I, in turn, found out a lot about them. Just like it was with Shanam, the more I found out, the more I fell in love.
I could tell immediately that Shanam's mother was a very passionate woman. Her wide range of passion covered everything from family history to gardening, from healthy eating to emergency preparedness, from Waldorf education to personality temperaments, from religion to alternative medicine. She spoke with such enthusiasm about everything that I found myself completely enthralled with everything she had to say. I was sure I could spend hours talking with her and only scratch the surface of everything she was so eager to share with me. I had never met anyone like her!
Now, Shanam's father, I could tell, was also a wealth of knowledge. Although, he didn't share it in quite the same way. He was more quiet but would insert his comments and opinions whenever he got the chance. I enjoyed his abstract sense of humor and couldn't help but giggle at his corny puns. He and Shanam would often have their own side conversation about finances, politics or the newest invention, while the rest of us were discussing something else. One time I heard his father telling him about a car that ran on water instead of gas. He had actually looked into it and had a stack of documents explaining how it worked.
Watching their family's dynamics was so interesting to me and I couldn't wait to see how Elana fit in. As I was wondering what her personality was like and if we would get along as well as I got along with the rest of Shanam's family, his mother brought my attention back to the conversation.
"Did Shanam ever tell you that he called us the day after your first date and told us that was the best first date he had ever been on?" she said.
I looked at Shanam and smiled, "No, but I'd have to agree that it was my best first date, as well. What's even better, is the second date topped the first!" I looked at Shanam and said, "Now, we are talking about our first "real" date, right? Not our ice cream date?" We had an inside joke that the first time he met me for ice cream wasn't a "real" date, just a preliminary get-to-know-you date.
"Yes, of course." he said laughing. "And it really was the best date I'd ever been on."
His grandmother chimed in and said, "He even told me all about it! You sure made an impression on him."
"The feeling was mutual." I said, smiling at him, remembering how I had felt that night.
We all helped clear the table and slowly congregated to the family room where we made ourselves comfortable on the cushy sofas. Shanam sprawled out and laid his head on my lap, nudging me like a cat to play with his hair and scratch his back. It still amazed me at how open and affectionate he was in front of his family. We continued our discussion, talking about the different things we had done together and what we had planned for the next day. On our list of 100 things to do together was wake boarding. I had always wanted to try it but never had the opportunity to and Shanam went frequently with a good friend of his who owned a boat. He arranged for us to go early the next morning before I needed to head back to Orlando for work. I was looking forward to trying something new, but also a little nervous. It would be the first time Shanam would see that I wasn't quite the athletic type. Not like he was, anyway.
We arrived at Tony's Town Square Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom just in time for our reservation. I thought this would be a fun place to dine since the restaurant was inspired by the Italian trattoria where Lady and the Tramp shared spaghetti and a kiss. We, of course, ordered a plate of spaghetti to share along with a delicious appetizer and dessert. I didn't go so far as to make him share a noodle with me, though. :)
He read over it, chuckling at some of the parts, and took the crayon I offered him. He signed his name while shaking his head.
After swimming, we treated ourselves to some delicious ice cream cones from a cute little ice cream parlor called Beaches and Cream, picked up our stuff and headed out to our next resort, The Boardwalk. We meandered, hand in hand, across the boardwalk that connected the two resorts, enjoying every lick of our ice cream cones :)
The Boardwalk Resort had a clown slide that was made to look like a carnival roller coaster, but it wasn't very fast. We only stayed for a little while then decided to go over to the Saratoga Springs Resort where they had a better slide. Our last stop was the Old Key West Resort. They have a little-known sauna hidden in one of the lighthouses so that was where we spent most of our time, enjoying the steam and the privacy. :)
He got out on the water first to show me how it was done. I absolutely loved watching him and enjoyed when he did jumps and tricks. He made it look so effortless. I really could have spent the entire time on the boat contently watching him have fun, but I knew it would be my turn soon. 
We enjoyed another 20 minutes cruising around in the boat, riding over other people's wakes and making sharp turns. I loved feeling the wind in my hair and Shanam's strong arm around my shoulders. I felt secure knowing that he accepted me for the less-than-athletic person I was. I knew he wished I were more athletic and I also knew that if our relationship continued further that I would really need push myself. I was willing to go outside my comfort zone as long as he was willing to be patient and understanding. That day, he proved to be both. I was more than happy to discover this wonderful trait.
Him: Oh congrats! Yes, I wish I was there! How was it?
