One Week From Today!

We've been in count down mode for a few weeks now, but as I sit here typing this I realize that one week from today we should be checked into our condo in Jackson Hole, WY, and getting ready for a week of sightseeing.  Darryl and Amy (mostly Darryl) have made all our arrangements for the week.  We have not had to do a thing and that is such a luxury to not have to make those kind of decisions.

I've been studying the weather at Yellowstone for the past month and was convinced that it was going to be much colder than we first thought.  I started mentally packing heavy sweaters, coats, and long underwear, but now that we are so close it has started warming up and I'm mentally unpacking most of the winter clothes and adding in some summer clothing.

This week should go by pretty fast.  Amelia will be staying with us.  She and Darryl came down for his nephew's graduation and since Amy had to work unexpectedly next week, it will help out if she can stay with us.  We will try to do some fun things with her and then we will all go to Atlanta on Friday to fly out from there on Saturday morning.  Can't Wait!

Amelia and her cousins

And in other news.... We went fishing again this week.  We caught twenty and this time I caught the most and most of the big ones.  Bubba caught a huge hand painted bream and released it back into the river.  He said that if it had lived long enough to reach that size, he didn't have the heart to keep it.

Friday we picked tomatoes and they are just about the best ever.  We  made tomato sandwiches for lunch on soft white bread with lots of mayo.  YUM!  I also cut some corn off the cob and put it in the freezer.  

That's about it for this week.  I got a keyboard for Bubba's iPad and hope to blog daily while we are on our trip.  I'm afraid I'll forget important things if I wait until I get home.

Catch Up! Good Times with Family! Here and There!

Hitch itch struck and we called Joe and Judy to see if they were up for some camper company and they were so we went to our favorite campground in Opp, AL for four nights.

What did we do?  We caught up on all our family news.  We ate and ate.  We talked.  We shopped a little.  And we talked and we ate.  We pulled out old pictures and talked about old times and then we laughed because we realized that Bubba had on the same shirt he is wearing in this picture taken decades before.

While we were there we planned for them to come our way for a visit so that Joe and Bubba could go fishing on the river near us. A few days before they were scheduled to arrive the weather forecast was predicting rain for every day, but fortunately they were wrong.  They went fishing on Thursday.  Judy and I went to Pier Park at Panama City Beach for lunch and some shopping.  The fishermen had good luck and Judy and I had a good time.  We also picked up some steamed shrimp which we all enjoyed for several meals.

Friday's rain was almost a relief.  I think they were too tired to go fishing again so the decision was made for them by Mother Nature.  We spent the day visiting.

Saturday we attended the Tupelo Festival and met sister Azalea and her husband, Marshall there.  After looking around and buying a little bit of very expensive honey, we all went to our house where we fried the fish they caught Thursday along with some catfish furnished by Joe accompanied by hushpuppies, tomato cheese grits, cole slaw, potato salad and banana pudding.  

Both visits were so enjoyable and as I've said way too many times before, "A good time was had by all!"

Marathon Weekend

Son-in-law Darryl registered for the Big Sur International Marathon which was held on Sunday, April 24, in California.  Amy registered for the Nine Miler that same day.  They were able to fly to California and meet up with their Baton Rouge friends, Damien and Rebecca, and participate in a weekend of running along the California coast because they have access to excellent babysitters who are always thrilled to help out.  (That's us in case you haven't figured it out!)

We drove up on Thursday.  When we got to LaGrange, GA, we met an old friend from our past, Dolores, for lunch at Cracker Barrel.  Dolores and her husband were our neighbors many years ago.  We lived in a little block house that had two bedrooms and one bathroom and cost us $45 per month house payment.  That was a long time ago.  We sure enjoyed this visit and look forward to doing this again.

Amy and Darryl flew out of Atlanta Friday evening and we picked up Amelia from school.  We stopped by Five Guys for supper on our way back home, thinking that Amelia would probably be hungry right after school and she was. 

Ice cream after Five Guys

 She and I slept upstairs on the new trundle bed in Darryl's office.  I had planned to sleep up there anyway because I hated for her to be upstairs by herself, but she thought it would be really fun for us to sleep on the trundle bed.  The first night was a little rough for Billy.  He is used to sleeping in a crate in Amy and Darryl's room but when Amelia brought him and the crate in our room, he had too much stimulation.  Every time he whimpered, Amelia tried to comfort him and that went on for a while.  (The next night he stayed downstairs and did fine.)  The second night I was having trouble sleeping.  Amelia had been asleep for hours when I heard her stir a little.  She got up on her knees and kissed me on the cheek so sweetly.  Then she lay back down and was asleep again.  (Isn't that precious?)

Saturday, after biscuits and bacon, we went to Jaemore Farms where we anticipated getting some delicious strawberries.  We did get some delicious strawberry ice cream and strawberry pie, but the actual strawberries were not great.  This was the first time I've been disappointed with Jaemore produce.



We went to Joann's to pick out fabric to make Amelia a skirt.  She went in and selected her material from the first bolts we saw.  I wish I could make a decision that easily.  She also bought supplies to make Mrs. Patterson a sun visor for her birthday which was coming up the following Wednesday.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Patterson!

And one for herself!

Amelia is reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
for the second time because it is the "best book ever"!  Bubba is reading
The Harbor Boy for the second time because he can't remember
what it is about.

Monday and Tuesday we took Amelia to school and picked her up.  I also took time to meet my cousin, Vicky, for lunch.  We went by her house to say hello to her greyhounds, Taz and Mango, and to look at all the flowers she had planted for spring.  

Amy and Darryl returned late Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning we said good bye.  Our next trip up will be to leave for our anniversary vacation out west.  I can't wait!

By the way, Amy and Darryl both finished their runs.  Did you know that a marathon is 26 miles?!!   Amy's nine miles is amazing to me.  I think I've reallly done something when I go 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill.

        THE END!

Seize the Day

After returning from sharing the Easter holiday with Amy and family, we became a little restless.  When we checked the weather we saw that some pretty spring days were in our future and we made the spontaneous decision to go back to Seminole State Park for a few days.

We got a great spot on the lake.  There were not many people camping in the park so it was very peaceful and we were able to enjoy some good time out in the cool spring weather reading and watching the fishermen on the lake.  We watched a number of people fishing from fancy bass boats, but the only fish we actually saw caught was by a man paddling quietly around in his kayak and fishing.

Bubba pulls out the binoculars to keep an eye on things.

We both brought our new hiking shoes so that we could start breaking them in before out trip out west on June 4.  We walked over two miles every day we were there and we both declared our shoes comfortable.

This is my new hiker look.

We went into Bainbridge to eat at a buffet that we have found there and as usual the food was good.  

After three nights, we returned home and got back to our usual routine.  Coming up at the end of April was another trip to Atlanta and more good times with Amelia.