And a Good Time Was Had by All

After several weeks of trying to synchronize our calendars, we finally found a weekend that Bubba’s brother Joe and wife Judy could go camping with us.  Our destination was Seminole State Park in Donaldsonville, Ga.  We have been here several times before and it is one of our favorite spots.  We were supposed to meet them there at 1:00, but since we usually get lost trying to get there we left a little earlier than was necessary and arrived at noon on Friday.  We went ahead and checked in and were able to check Joe and Judy in at the same time so that we could claim a site for them next to us.  We were in luck.  There were a number of sites left on the lake and we staked our claim for one on each side of us so that they could take their pick.

Once they were set up in their camp site, the first order of business was to try out Joe’s new kayak.  We all took a turn.  Of course, Bubba loved it and is now kayak shopping for one of his own.

Supper on Friday night was chili, crackers and pear salad.  Judy cooked it and it was delicious.  After supper, we built a fire and set around and visited until bedtime. 

Saturday was more of the same.  Bubba fried mullet and flounder for lunch.  It smelled wonderful and tasted as good as it smelled.  Come to think of it, we sure did a lot of eating.  Supper that night was another huge meal followed by marshmallows roasted over the campfire.

This was one of our best weekends camping.  While we have enjoyed every trip we've taken, we've always thought it would be even better with family or friends and we were right.  We're looking forward to our next trip already.  

Long Overdue Camping Trip to St. Joe Peninsula State Park

February was filled with the excitement of making our camping reservations for the summer.  We had plans to go to East Bank Corps of Engineers Park, Stephen Foster State Park in Georgia aw well as the Stephen Foster State Park in Florida.  Naturally we had to cancel all of these when I became too sick to do much of anything; however, we left our reservation at St. Joe Peninsula State Park on the books hoping that I would be able to go by then.  And I was!

We were a little disappointed with the campground there.  We had stayed there before in the winter and had written down several camp sites that we thought were preferable; however, the one we were in had palmettos and scrub oaks so close to the front door of the camper that we could not even put out our awning and enjoy sitting outside.  The Florida Parks we have stayed in seem to be going with the “natural” look which basically means they hack out a place for you to park and leave everything else.  That gives you no view, plenty of mosquitoes, and no possibility of a breeze.  On the other hand, the parks in Alabama and Georgia appear to be better “groomed” and spaced out better.  Granted we are just now in our second year of camping, but so far this is what I’ve observed. 

Our first night I fixed tacos for supper.  Since I’ve been sick I cannot get enough tacos.  This is probably the sixth time we’ve had them since June.  I wonder what that craving means?

 We walked down to the beach when we had everything set up at our campsite and the waves rolling in were huge and the red flags were flying.  It was not looking like we were going to get to enjoy the beach very much.  Saturday dawned and we packed up our beach gear and headed down to the beach hoping that it would be better and it was.  The seas had calmed enough that we could swim and cool off and we set up our umbrella and just enjoyed relaxing and swimming every now and then.

Later that day we enjoyed a game of Scrabble in the cool of the trailer and grilled pork chops for supper. That night we watched an old movie that Bubba’s brother, Joe, had recommended.  It was  "The Long, Long Trailer" staring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez.  It was very funny and reminded us of some of the tight spots we were in when we first started camping.

We came home on Sunday so I could rest up on Monday before returning to work on Tuesday.  It is good to be camping again and I’m looking forward to more trips as the weather cools off.

Ballerina Girl

Two weeks before I returned to work, we decided to make the trip to see Amy, Darryl, and mostly Amelia, since it had been nearly two months since I had seen her.  Although Amy and Darryl came while I was in the hospital, Amelia stayed with her Aunt Ashley to avoid exposure to my meningitis.   We also thought this would be a good test of my strength because it is an eight hour drive and it is usually a pretty busy weekend when we visit.  

We were waiting for Amelia when she came in from school.  She looks so cute in her school uniform or “costume” as she calls it.  She was as happy to see us as we were to see her.  During our visit we played Candyland, ran races, and went to a nearby outline mall.  At one point I was alone with Amelia and it was hot and we couldn’t find another quarter for her to ride a little ride she found.  At that point I knew that I would be able to handle work just fine.  

Every time we would get in the car to go somewhere, she would get a paper and pen and assume the role of her teacher.  She wasn’t teaching us our ABC’s or numbers.  Instead, she was writing our names on two sides of her paper and then she would announce “Paw-Paw and Amy… car pool” and “Nana and Darryl… extended care”.  I guess this is how her teacher divides them up at the end of the day.  She appears to be fascinated with the management of a classroom.

We always try to take her a little surprise when we visit.  This time we bought her some ballet shoes, a leotard and a tutu all in pink because I thought she would like to play dress up and dance.  I found out when I got there that this would have a practical use as well since she would be starting ballet lessons   the next week.  She loved the outfit and immediately stripped and put it on.  As we got our cameras she assumed many exaggerated ballet poses.  Picture below is one of the best.  

Saturday night Darryl grilled steaks for us.  I had requested a Darryl steak while I was in the hospital and even though he had just returned home that day from a business trip, he was still gracious enough to cook me the steak I had been craving.  He’s my favorite son-in-law, you know.

We left early due to the impending landfall of Hurricane Issac.  As you all prob ably know it turned and headed another way once we were headed home.  It was a good weekend and we got our much needed Amelia “fix”.  We’re already looking forward to next time.