In case you hadn’t noticed, fall is a busy time for us. 🙂 We traveled down to Miami for the Best Buddies gala, which was held on November 21. Best Buddies is a non-profit organization that helps developmentally disabled folks by providing them with friendships, jobs, and leadership training.

We flew down on Friday morning. Our exchange student and our 13 year old son flew down with some friends Friday night. Our 16 year old daughter was at a math meet in Princeton. (If you ever want to blow people’s minds, especially at a fancy smancy charity event, you tell people exactly that—that she chose a math meet over Miami for the weekend. Love my daughter!!)

This year’s gala was held at the Fontainebleau Hotel with a Southeast Asia theme. It was a huge success. The event raised over $2 million—a phenomenal amount!

Best Buddies Miami 2014

Since the gala was Friday night, we stayed the weekend. Saturday wasn’t an ideal Miami day—it was quite windy and overcast, although it never rained. Nonetheless, it was still forty degrees warmer than where we had been, so no one was complaining. We played by the pool and then went walking around South Beach to show our exchange student what it was all about. Our son later solemnly informed us that he did not think South Beach was age appropriate for him. 🙂

Sunday was much more typical Miami weather, and we caught a few hours of sunshine before heading back to DC. It was a very relaxing weekend as we now brace for the chaos known as the holiday season!

Miami in November

You can find out more about Best Buddies at www.bestbuddies.org.