A Move and Birthday #7

Amelia turned seven years old on November 12.  Her mom and dad ate lunch with her at school taking Frozen cupcakes to share with her class.  That evening they ate at Chuck-E-Cheese.  In a phone call to wish her a happy birthday, she told us that she felt seven and it was way better than six.  It's hard to believe how fast she is growing up.  However, that was not the only big event that week.  On the Friday following her actual birthday, her parents met at my cousin's office (an attorney) for the closing on their new home.  By the time we arrived in Atlanta around 1:00, the house was a beehive of activity with all the carpet being cleaned.  Then Amy and Darryl left Bubba and me at the new house putting down shelf paper in the kitchen and they went to pick up a rented truck and Amelia at school.  The big move had officially begun.

When Amelia came in, we stopped with the shelf paper so that she could open her birthday presents.  She had asked for a disco ball and some "glitter" shoes in a bigger size than the ones we got her last year.  We weren't too sure about the disco ball, but we did find a light that accomplished the same effect and we got two pairs of "glitter" shoes, and a new dress to go with it.

Amelia set up her light, put on her glitter shoes, and selected music for her performance.

  I love how graceful she is when she dances, especially with her hands. She has long slender fingers just like her mom's and she moves them so delicately when she "performs". She is very self-assured. She tells us that she has many talents -- among them are being the fastest runner, a singer, a dancer, a musician, and an artist. I don't know how she will ever choose what to focus on.


We all spent Friday night at the apartment and the next morning Darryl left to pick up his helpers and start the move. They had a storage unit full of things that wouldn't fit in the apartment that he was going to tackle first. After he left we began to pack up the apartment so that it would be ready to go when he got there. I felt sorry for all the movers, including Darryl, because the apartment was on the second floor and when they got to the house, there was also a second floor. It was a long day but by the time it was over, we were all able to shower and sleep in the new house on the freshly made beds.


Sunday morning moved a little slow since everyone was tired, but that afternoon things picked up as Amelia had her birthday party at a local gym which followed the Frozen theme and included a rock climbing wall as the activity. Amelia and her friends seemed to enjoy the party and as I have been known to say more than once -- a good time was had by all.

Amelia and her friends line up for a picture.

 It's almost time for cake.

And here it is, look at that smile.

She is fearless!

Hang on Amelia!  Don't "let it go"!  (Frozen, get it?)

Paw-Paw and Nana declined to participate in the rock wall climbing.

I've got to give Amy credit for being a super mom this weekend.  I don't know how she pulled off a birthday party in the midst of the big move.  I don't think I could have done it.

We stayed until Wednesday helping where we could.  I'm happy that they are finally settled into what we hope will be their home for years to come.  The house is beautiful with lots of space.  I can picture Amelia as a teenager there having her friends over to visit.

Well, it was a busy week.  A lot was accomplished.  If you ever need to move, call Darryl.  He has gotten really good at it.

And Happy Birthday, Amelia!  We all love you so much.

St. Andrews State Park in November

Early November we returned to St. Andrews State Park for a five night stay.  Everything was working great on the trailer this time.  The weather was great and we had an enjoyable trip.

So beautiful and deserted this time of year

Bubba tried throwing his cast net from the pier along with several other fishermen, but had no luck.  He returned to the camp site and as it got dark we began to notice that there would be a mullet jump every now and then right out from us.  Bubba donned his waders, gathered up his net, and waded out into the water.

Mullet beware -- Bubba is after you!

And....he catches them.

He caught enough in three throws that we had enough for a fish fry the next day and some to freeze for later.  It's kind of funny that he spent so much time looking for them at the pier and they were right there behind us the whole time.

We went to Pier Park to shop and eat out one day, spent some good time relaxing and enjoying the view.  Our next trip will be to a park that we have not been to before so maybe I'll have more to report.  We've been completely retired for one year.  It went by so fast, but it has been good.   

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!

I had a big adventure at the end of October that I'm just now writing about.  I vowed to never get this far behind with my blog, but I guess I just needed to get in the mood to write.  I did something totally out of character for me, totally spontaneous, and (according to Amy) totally crazy.

I drove to Atlanta all by myself to see Amelia in a play that was "produced" by a children's drama workshop that she was participating in after school.  Amy felt that it was too far to drive for something like that, but I really wanted to go.  Bubba reluctantly agreed so I packed my one little bag and drove up on Tuesday, attended the play that evening, and drove back home the next day.  Not only did I want to be there for Amelia, I also wanted to see Amy who was going to celebrate her birthday in a few days.  Now that Amelia has come along, we go for her birthday and rarely get to be with Amy for hers.  I baked her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and fashioned a "41" for the top out of pecans.

I waited for Amy to get out of school so we could pick up Amelia together.  Amelia was so excited when she saw me -- that made it all worthwhile.  I hope she will remember one day that Nana loved her so much that she drove six hours to see her in a 20 minute play.

The play was really cute.  I've waited so long to write that I can't remember the name of it or what it was about, but Amelia was a princess named "Lily" and she gave an academy award worthy performance.

Amelia and the rest of the cast pose for a picture.

Princess Lily poses with Nana.

There always has to be a super hero pose, doesn't there?

My girls!!

After the play we celebrated Amy's birthday at a local restaurant.  Since I was not thinking about my diet, I had the best sandwich ever with fried green tomatoes as a side.  Later after I helped Amelia get ready for bed and read her bedtime story with her, Amy and I had a big slab of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream on the side and some special mother/daughter time that we rarely get any more.

The next morning I saw them off to school, enjoyed drinking coffee, eating chocolate cake for breakfast and watching "Good Morning America" before I felt it was late enough to avoid the morning rush hour.  

I'm quite proud of myself for doing this.  The Atlanta traffic is always terrible, but I got in one lane and stayed there until I got through town and after that it was a piece of cake.  I don't want to turn into the kind of little old lady that has to have her husband drive her everywhere.  I appreciate that Bubba was okay with me going although I know it made him nervous.  Who knows?  He may want to do something crazy one day and I may have to be okay with it.

Seminole State Park -- What Again?

Yes, we just returned from four nights at Seminole State Park in Georgia.  I tried to count how many times we've been there; it's been seven times in the past year.  Every time is different in some way and they have all been good.

This week the weather was perfect for camping.  It was cool and the sun was shining.  There were a number of sites available right on the lake.  This time we chose site #2.  Usually we stay farther down, but this was a pull through site and hard to resist.

After it was too late to change sites, Bubba noticed a rotten limb above our awning.  He was worried about it falling and tearing up the awning so we did not put the awning out or hang our lights -- maybe next time.

Yep, it's rotten!

With the slide fixed on our new trailer, it felt like we were camping in a mansion.  You don't realize how much space you really have until you don't have it and have to ease through a narrow opening to get to your bed.

The view is always awesome.

Bubba took his kayak and enjoyed paddling around while I sat outside and read.  We walked some, but my foot is still bothering me.  (I have a doctor's appointment Monday.)  I really miss being able to exercise on the treadmill.

Here he comes.  I bet he's looking for breakfast.

We rode into Bainbridge twice and found a new restaurant that we liked.  It had a good country cooking buffet and it was good both times.  We did some exploring in the woods.  

Wild flowers were blooming everywhere.

What can I say?

Bubba grilled some good hamburgers and sausage one night.  Another time we had grilled pork chops.  

The acres of cotton make me think of the Bible verse... "The fields are white unto harvest."

This field of sunflowers stretched on forever.  So pretty!

We figured that the fish must be biting because there were some many fishermen out this time.  Some people in a tent close to us would leave before daylight and return after dark.  We finally figured out that there was a bass tournament starting when we were awakened on Friday morning by a loudspeaker calling the boats to start out one at a time.  There were sixty entries. With the red and green lights it looked like Christmas on the lake.

Trucks with boat trailers were parked everywhere.

On the way home Friday we stopped at the truck stop in Marianna and ate Popeye's Chicken for lunch.  Yes, I know that fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a biscuit are not diet food  --- but it sure was good.

I've decided to order adult training wheels for my bicycle.  I don't know if Bubba will ride with me, but Judy has promised that she would.  My balance is off and I'm afraid I'm going to fall so my beautiful new bicycle is stored in the barn.  Maybe this will help me gain my confidence.  I hope so.  I really want to ride in all these parks.

Later in the week I decided to Google the bass tournament to see if anyone I knew was entered in it.  It turns out that a young man that I worked with at the prison actually won it.  The prize was a bass boat with a 200 hp Evinrude motor on it.  It's a small world, isn't it?

Fall Break Georgia Style

A few weeks ago we got a call from Amy inviting us to visit during their Fall Break.  She didn't have to ask twice.  Amelia had Friday and Monday off, but unfortunately Amy only had Monday.  We were going to have to babysit on Friday.

It turned out that my cousin, Vicky, and her husband were going to enjoy a Fall Break of their own and were leaving on Saturday for the mountains.  Friday lunch was our only opportunity to see her so we met for lunch and caught up on family news.

Amelia and Paw-Paw wait outside the restaurant for Vicky to arrive.
Everywhere we went people complimented her on her hat.

Paw-Paw and Amelia always take a selfie.

After lunch she invited us to follow her home to meet her two rescue greyhounds, Taz and Mango.  These dogs were trained at a women's correctional facility in northwest florida and then adopted by Vicky and her husband.  Taz was the first adoptee and he turned out to be such a well-mannered, sweet dog that Vicky made arrangements to adopt his sister, Mango, after she had been through the same training.  

Amelia was intrigued with the dogs.  She asked Vicky, who she calls "Bebe" if she could help her walk them.  They are so well trained that she had no trouble at all leading them around on a leash.

Amelia leads with Taz.  Vicky follows with Mango.

Friday evening we had an early supper at Amelia's favorite place, Chuck-E-Cheese.  We got there around 4:00 so it was not crowded at all.  Amelia had a good time and the pizza was pretty good.

Amelia and Chuck-E-Cheese

We stopped by Barnes and Noble to exchange the books we brought Amelia for some she didn't have.
 I had no idea that there were so many "distractions".  That delayed the process somewhat.

Saturday we went to Jaemore Farms for some traditional fall activities like a corn maze, riding on a pumpkin train, sliding down a farm slide, racing ducks, shooting an apple cannon, and a hay ride.  It was fun although it was a little warm and humid.  We bought some apples and pumpkins and ate some delicious barbecue and homemade peach ice cream.  A good time was had by all.

Amy and Amelia did the corn maze.  I don't like them.  I can never find my way out.
That is so embarrassing.

Amy had to hold Amelia's ears while she did the apple cannon.
 It sure smelled good around there.

Right after her turn on this farm slide, Amelia slid in this red Georgia clay.  

Amelia is growing up.  She rode the pumpkin train all by herself.

The hay ride was really a "cage" pulled by a tractor.  I think Amelia enjoyed it.

While we were there, Amy and Amelia went to see Frozen On Ice which inspired a lot of dancing (Amelia, not Amy). As we left on Monday morning, Amelia had her iPad, pencil, and paper making a list of songs that she would "perform" to when we return for her birthday.

Amy and Darryl have a contract on a new house.  It did not take long for them to tire of apartment living.  If things proceed on schedule they should be moving in around Thanksgiving.  They don't need us to keep Amelia this time, but I am in charge of shelf paper.  I love doing shelf paper, but this is going to be a huge job.  The house has a beautiful kitchen with lots of cabinets.  I can't wait to get started.  I will tackle the project when we go up for Amelia's birthday in November.

Say goodby to apartment living!

Speaking of Amelia's birthday, she wants a disco ball with lights.  I'm trying to picture that in the new house.  It sounds like something her parents definitely need to okay ahead of time.  She also wants some new "glitter shoes" in a bigger size.  I feel sure we can handle that with no problems. 

It was a good visit.  Amy seems to be happy back in her old high school.  Darryl is happy in his job and Amelia is happy in her new school.  Isn't that what we all want for our children?  We want them to be happy and if they aren't, we can't be.

Eight Nights! Seriously?

We have another first in the life of Bubba and Becky.  We were gone from home eight nights in a row.  I don't know what has come over us.  Have we gotten spontaneous in our golden years?  Let me start at the beginning.

We picked up our new trailer as scheduled and immediately began the process of "nesting".  It needed shelf paper in the cabinets and drawers, pillow shams for the bed, new trash cans, towel rods, etc.  I spent two fun days shopping and furnishing the new trailer for our its maiden voyage.  We had reservations at St. Andrews State Park starting Sunday, September 28, for four nights.  I had reserved site #104 which is not the perfect site, but is on the water and very pretty.

On Saturday after loading the trailer with clothes and a lot of food, Bubba pushed the button to retract the slide that the sofa and cabinets are on and it was coming in cockeyed.  Something was definitely wrong.  Eventually we got it all the way in and after consulting the service manager where we bought the trailer in Dothan, we decided to go ahead with our trip even though we could not put the slide out.  It was a tight squeeze getting back to the bedroom and bathroom, but thank goodness I had lost a few pounds and was able to make it.  It really didn't inconvenience us too much.

We had some rain for the four nights we stayed there, but not nearly as much as the weatherman had predicted.  We went to the pier and tried our luck fishing --- caught nothing.  Bubba was sorry he didn't bring his cast net.  The mullet were jumping all over the place behind us.  I think they were mocking him....  We went out to eat one day (steak, yum!) and grilled some at the trailer.  We rode around the park and walked every evening.  We sat in our recliners and read, dozed, and enjoyed the sights on the water.

On Thursday as we were driving home, we got a call from Joe.  He and Judy were camped at Seminole State Park for the next four nights.  Bubba and I talked it over and then spontaneously decided that we would join them.  How crazy is that?  We went home and washed two loads of clothes, made some tea, and got back in the truck and headed for Donalsonville, Ga.

Joe and Judy had a beautiful spot on the water and had saved the one next to them for us.  Judy provided supper for us that night.  The next day we all went into Bainbridge to pick up a few supplies at WalMart.  Everybody enjoyed walking around in the park except me.  I'm continuing to have problems with my left heel.

Saturday we went to Dothan to eat out and celebrate Judy's birthday.  When we got home that afternoon, we built a fire, roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and watched the Auburn/LSU game on Joe's mini iPad.

The weather was cool and pleasant.  Sunday Judy made chili and we enjoyed it outside by the lake with a campfire.  It was a good weekend.  Monday we all headed home.

We took our camper in to be fixed on Tuesday and on Thursday we headed to Atlanta for Amelia's Fall Break.  I love retirement!!!

The End!

What Else is Happening?

I'm disappointed that Amy has stopped blogging.  She is a much better writer than I, but it does take a lot of time so I understand.  I will try to do my little bit to record some of what is going on with the rest of my family. 

Amelia started first grade at her new school.  She is doing great.  She started first grade reading and has already advanced to reading "chapter books".  This is a picture of her on the first day of school.

Her teacher asked if they wanted her to have more challenging spelling words so she went from a test containing words like "pat" and "the" to a test containing words like "science", "alphabet", "environment" and "attract".  She is doing great.

She and her mom dressed alike for their first spirit day at school.

And they have already been to two musicals, "The Little Mermaid" and "Mary Poppins".  Amelia said her favorite song is "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".

And she enjoys attending the high school football games with her mom.  She told me that she got "Wolfie's" autograph.

She came down with her dad this weekend and spent the night with us Friday night.  She brought Bubba his birthday presents and some Publix cupcakes to help him celebrate.  While she was here for this short visit, we got out the play-doh and made cupcakes and monsters that needed haircuts.

She spent Saturday with Darryl's family and came by this morning to tell us good bye.  When she hugged Bubba she said, "I'm so glad you turned 71 last week!"

Amy and Darryl are in the midst of a house hunt.  They are ready to get out of the apartment, but Amy says house hunting is not as much fun as it looks like on tv.  Their goal is to move over the week she has off for Thanksgiving.  Let's hope they find something soon.