Bubba’s Birthday Weekend 2016

For the second year in a row Amy and Darryl invited us to come up the weekend of Bubba’s birthday to celebrate up there.  We left home on Thursday, September 8, and arrived at Amy and Darryl’s about an hour before Amy and Amelia came in from school.

On Friday we went to Amelia’s school to eat lunch with her since it was Grandparent’s Week.  Sadly, we didn’t take a picture this year.  She was happy to see us and she munched on her lunch from home while Bubba and I shared a bag of potato chips and a drink.  We offered to pick her up something special for lunch as many other grandparents do, but she assured us that her mom would pack her lunch.  We ate outside in a pretty courtyard area.  She was proud of the new chicken coop that would soon be home to some newly hatched chicks.  There was also a little garden that had one plant of many different fruits and vegetables planted.

After leaving the school we stopped at a Steak n Shake where we got hot dogs for our real lunch leaving room for peach ice cream and peach fried pie when we arrived at Jaemore Farms.  Jaemore still had peaches although they were all varieties that we had not tried before.  Most of them had September in the name.  We spoke to a very nice lady working there who told us her favorite and gave us a sample to try.  Once again we got a big basket of sweet juicy peaches.  We also bought a box of tomatoes grown in north Georgia and they were very good also.  In addition to good produce and ice cream and fried pies, Jaemore also has an in house bakery that bakes very good cakes.  We got a small red velvet cake and a strawberry cake for dessert to share with Amy, Darryl and Amelia.  We also got Amelia a bag of boiled peanuts which she loves.

This girl loves peanuts!

Saturday morning Darryl dragged out ladders and tools so that he could get Bubba to help him install recessed lighting in their living room.  It was an amusing process.  Some of the comments heard were:

"I think that's a sewer pipe!" "Did you turn off the water?" "You can't tell the difference in the wire?" "I can feel it and tell." "Be careful Paw-Paw there are actually spiders that can kill!" "Let me do it, my arms are thinner." "Swap ladders!" "Should I measure from the wall?" "You're not putting them the same" "That's not my goal." "Close enough." "There's an air conditioning hose over there, wonder where it goes." "I can guarantee you there are going to be pipes over here." Where is that big pipe?" "Oh boy..."

Be careful!

The project was completed in time to watch the FSU football game. The lights made the room very bright! Now Amy has requested that a dimmer switch be installed.

Let there be light!!

After a light meal Saturday evening, we (the girls) went to the Verizon Amphitheater (an outdoor venue) to hear the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform Star Wars and More: The Music of John Williams. It was a very enjoyable evening. Amelia hated the music from “Jaws” and covered her ears. (It is still scary after all these years.) She loved the Star Wars music. Darth Vader assumed the position of conductor for the march bearing his name and of course there were plenty of Storm Troopers and other characters on stage during this portion of the program. The amphitheater capacity is 12,000 and I didn’t see many empty seats. I was amazed at how quickly we were able to park our car and then how quickly we were directed out afterwards. I assumed it would take forever to get out.

Princes Leila in the middle

Waiting for Mom to return with popcorn!

Sunday morning around 9:00, Darryl put a brisket on the green egg for Bubba’s birthday supper. He offered a choice of several different meats and Bubba chose brisket. We went out to eat for lunch and then around 2:00 our cousin Vicky and her husband, Robert joined us for birthday cake and ice cream. Then around six we enjoyed the best brisket I’ve ever eaten. Bubba chose well!

That's a 73 on that cake!

Between birthday cake and supper time, Amelia and I went to a nearby Dollar Tree to shop for a Christmas Child box. I actually ended up with more than we could get into two boxes so to even it all out, I will end up with four boxes. I explained to her that we were shopping for children in countries that might live in primitive conditions and what was in the box would be all they would get for Christmas. She had a lot of good ideas for what to put in the box and never once asked for something for herself. She has a tender heart and for that I’m very grateful.

When I mentioned to my friend Carolann who is a jewelry designer how much Amelia likes rocks even the ones found on the playground, she gave me a rock to take to her. It looks ugly on the outside but when you break it open with a hammer it is all glittery and sparkly on the inside. She wants to take it to school to show her class. We talked about how sometimes we judge people by their outward demeanor but when we get to really know them they are sparkly and pretty on the inside just like this plain looking rock.

Breaking open the rock

Picture doesn't capture the sparkle well

Love that smile!

Amelia is doing great in school.  She is a member of the Chess Club, the Drama Club, the Chorus and has started taking piano lessons.  (She can play Star Wars music already.)  She seems to have grown a little more every time we see her.  Her little hands are getting bigger and they feel tough from a lot of time on the monkey bars and climbing the tree in her front yard.  She is also excited about Halloween and her birthday and is making great plans for each occasion.

Billy and Bat Girl - Halloween is coming!

We came home on Monday after everyone had left for school and work.  It was a great weekend.  We stopped in Marianna for Popeye’s chicken on our way home.  Tuesday morning will require that I face the scale and I don’t think what I see will be pretty.  I see diet food in my future.