More Fun in the Sun

Monday afforded even more fun in the sun with the Willis family. Carter slept in until almost 8:00, but once he was up, he was raring to go!

Reading the Dora books that Bamma got him
(Carter LOVES a good book!)

Having some juice by the pool with Mom

Checking out the security of the ladder

Waiting my turn to sit in the Aloha chair

Taking time out for a yummy yogurt snack

The Willis's Are Here

Yesterday afternoon, after much anticipation, the Willis family arrived! After a requested lunch of "chicken nuggets" and strawberries, we headed out to the pool.

Yum!

Carter LOVED the pool! He splashed and jumped and swam all afternoon. He even played a new game involving his golf ball, golf club, and jumping in the pool.

The new "pool-golf" game

Even Wrigley got in on the action.

Wrigley learned to use the ladder

Jumping with Dad

Jumping off the ladder

Bamma teaching Carter to jump off the step

After spending several hours in the pool, it was time to eat dinner and get ready for bed. But, no bedtime preparations are complete without a few stories being read.

Button reading a Dora book to Carter

Preparation for Family and the Fourth

So far this week, Mom and I have been in "high gear," preparing as much food ahead of time as we can before the rest of our family begins to arrive this weekend. Here are just a couple of things that have been done so far:

Hens cooked on the Big Green Egg

Mom announcing that she's glad she doesn't "pick chickens" for a living

Spaghetti sauce for Manicotti

Mom also smoked a pork shoulder, made a hashbrown casserole, and we breaded steak Tuesday afternoon. (That's an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back, but, BOY, is it good!) I still have to make fudge under the watchful eye of Mom (the last three times I've made it, it's never solidified) and at some point, we're going to go over to Joe Patti's in Pensacola and get some shrimp and jumbo lump crabmeat (for West Indes salad) before everyone gets here.

With thoughts of family on the brain, we've also "adopted" a small family of ducks--a male and female mallard and a baby. We noticed the little one Monday and when they came by Tuesday, I fed them crackers. They came back again yesterday for another snack. I don't mind feeding them, but I don't want them to become completely dependent on us, so they get one snack a day and that's it, no matter how many times they return. The little one is so fun to watch. He zooms around trying to keep up with his mom and she, of course, doesn't let him get to far away from him before she's calling him back.

The "Little Family"

Mama and Baby after their cracker snack

I'm really looking forward to very own "little one" getting here this Sunday! Carter will have all kinds of people to play with and take him swimming--even before breakfast, if he wants to go!

Father's Day

We had a rather low key Father's Day here at LBF. It started with a message from Sue and Carter wishing "Bi' Pap" Happy Father's Day, followed by a call from Steve doing the same. Then, Mom, Dad, and I had a nice breakfast of fruit, bacon, and beignets from Cafe Beignet. After breakfast, I took it upon myself to run to "Wally World" and purchase a new wireless router. (The one we have been using up and died on us the other day, and I wanted to be sure that a new one was in place before next weekend when the family begins to arrive. That way, anyone who wants to can use his or her own computer whenever he or she wants to without having to wait in line for the one wired computer.)

When I got back, Mom, Dad, and I trooped out to the pool and spent a few relaxing hours soaking up the sun and trying to stay cool. Staying cool proved to be a rather difficult feat, specifically when we were dealing with 90+ degree temperatures and head indices over 100. Even so, Dad enjoyed his time in the pool.

One of the few times this weekend Dad didn't have a project going

Mom & Dad

We are now all (im)patiently waiting for Sunday when our family begins to arrive, which will be in stages. Sue, Nick and Carter will arrive some time Sunday, after attending Stacy's (Nick's sister's) wedding Saturday. Steve will arrive later in the week, followed by Ken either the Thursday or Friday prior to the Fourth. We are all looking forward to a long visit and a great celebration of Dad's birthday on the Fourth of July!

Happy Anniversary

Monday, Ken and I celebrated our seventh anniversary. (Yes, I'm wondering how he's put up with me that long, too!) We wanted to go to Hot & Hot Fish Club, but they aren't open on Mondays. So we settled for going Tuesday night instead.

The food was delicious, as usual, but the highlight of the meal was the tomato salad. It had heirloom tomatoes, butter beans, corn, fried okra and a balsamic vinegarette that pulled it all together. It was FANTASTIC. So much so, in fact, that I felt compelled to take a picture of it.


Towards the end of dinner, Ken said, "I think Taylor Hicks is sitting over there." And it turns out that he was! It looked like he was having dinner with some friends and just generally relaxing. Ken and I leisurely ate our dinner and were one of the last tables to finish. When we left, it appeared that Taylor and his party had already left, but it turned out that they had only moved outside. We introduced ourselves and told him that it was our anniversary and he graciously agreed to take a picture with us.


It was an exciting end to a wonderful evening!

The Epitome of Summer

Hanging out in the "Aloha Chairs" in the LBF pool

'Nuff said!

Gran Visits LBF

Last Monday through Friday, my almost 92 year-old grandmother, Louise ("Gran" to those of us who are her grandchildren) visited us at LBF. Mom and I drove to Selma early Monday morning, picked her up and brought her down here to stay with us. She brought her "go cart" (walker) with her and could get around quite well with it.

She thought the house was beautiful and definitely liked the woven dining room chairs from Pottery Barn that my mother had picked out. As a matter of fact, her exact words were, "I really like these chairs. I don't think I've ever seen anything like them before."

We sat out on the deck and beside the pool for several days. We also took her for a ride along the beach road so that she could see just how much things had changed from the time that she brought her children, and later her grandchildren, down to Orange Beach.

Steve came down late Thursday afternoon, so he was able to visit with Gran as well. It was nice to have her here and I enjoyed visiting with her.

Here are some pictures from her stay at LBF:

Sunning on the pool deck
(She's using her "go cart" as a foot prop)

Enjoying the breeze on the deck

Drinking lemonade on the deck as the sun sets

Steve, Gran, and Button