Family Visit

I have been absolutely terrible at blogging these last two months...going to try to get back on top of it!

My parents, Granny and my mom's sisters (Becky, aka Aunt Honey, and Debbie, aka Aunt Mimi) came for a visit on September 2. More fam was coming to town so it was a reunion of sorts!

Here are the sisters looking at stuff online...it wasn't anything crazy, promise!

 

 We had a good time while they were here...we went to the beach, ate a lot, relaxed. A kid stayed home from doing school supply shopping, while the other joined me (kind of a nice thing occasionally to be with one babe!). One day I had gone somewhere (maybe school supply shopping) and another group left for the beach (maybe) and Gran stayed at my house. When I got back I found this note on the counter in case Gran needed something...

 Super funny because it wasn't my dad's number! ha! I won't say who wrote it, though!

On Friday night, all the grandmammas had a sleepover at Linda's house (bear with me for the family tree here - Linda, Bonnie, Dixie and Sewanee's (who was not in attendance) dad was Gran's brother). Gran's sister's daughter, Sandra, and DIL Patty, also joined them.

 Like the rest of the week, I think they talked a lot and ate some yummy things...and stayed up past their bedtimes. Shame, shame!

They came home the next night, and Major introduced Granny to Angry Birds! Here she is playing a few rounds on my iPhone!

On August 5 we went to Bonnie and John's. The kids started out eating and playing in the hot tub (minus the hot).

This is mom and Becky on 8/6.

And on August 8th we hosted a shrimp boil at our house. Wouldn't you know it poured when we started cooking, like as in a flood! No problems with the food, though. It was absolutely delicious. Shout out to the Lamberts for giving us the play-by-play! I think there were about fifteen of us for dinner that night and so much food left! We didn't  mind the leftovers...we handled them quite nicely.

Everyone gathered around the table, stuffed!

It was so nice to have lots of people around, sitting around the table eating and talking, seeing Gran play Angry Birds! We enjoy the company - so, if you are visiting Orlando, give us a call!

Road trip Part VII - Tuscaloosa & north Alabama

Our night in Tuscaloosa was spent with the sweetest folks from our previous church - Mrs. Sandi and Mr. Brown. We have stayed with them before, and they are always so kind to open their home to us. We all adore them, and it's nice to be able to visit.

After playing in their yard Monday morning and taking some cute pictures of the kids, we headed out to wrap up our Tuscaloosa visit.

 We saw our old house...it was easy to say things looked mainly the same...we never let our shrubs get out of control like that, though!

We visited with the kids' last teachers at their preschool. This is Ms. Debbie. She just loved Major. He used to say they had the same haircut! When someone announced we were there, she really thought they were kidding her. Surprise!

 Major and his friend Drew Lee.

 Ella Grace and Mrs. Rhonda

One corner in Tuscaloosa when the damage and evidence of the storm is still so real.

 

 

The following day (July 24) we headed out to the lake with Pop & Nana. The kids rode the tube together (and yes, I know now that they were not supposed to wear those life jackets on the tube...)

(This is my favorite picture from that day, just the way they are both holding their hands the same way!)

 

Ella Grace rode the tube with Nana, and we swam, too.

Then, on Wednesday, July 25, Jeremy arrived! It was so good to see him, and I know he was excited to be in Alabama for a few days. We picked him up at the airport and then stopped for lunch at CFA. This was right after all the support/criticism  they were receiving for voicing their beliefs on marriage. The CFA we were at was soo packed. However, I think that is the norm for that particular restaurant, but good to see it was as heavily trafficked as ever.

After lunch, we visited with Mee Maw again. The kids had fun showing Dad how her chair works and playing in the exercise room again.

Next we visited with Granny.

Ella Grace wanted a girls-only picture!

Granny's mailbox was experincing some problems. Jeremy tried to fix it, but as he thought he was progressing, hit a nail and whack! That whole thing was so rotted it fell apart! We left Gran without a mailbox! But, thanks to her wonderful neighbor, he got her back in shape to receive mail again.

Alright, I think one more post and this trip will be recounted!

How I've missed them!

Today has been so busy. I took Major and Ella Grace in to "town" to run a little errand and get Major's hair cut. Afterwards, Mom, Dad, the kids and I loaded up and went to visit MeeMaw and Gran.

It was so wonderful to see them both! It made me miss being able to see them more often. I visited them both lots while I was in college and traveling through, and would take the kids for visits later on. I just want my kids to have fun with them, remember them and things they did together or had. My favorite is MeeMaw's junk. She was telling the kids today how she had gotten rid of the junk (which is just random plates, chains, jars, eater eggs, etc.). Oh, my! I thought Major was going to break down crying! He didn't, but he did ask for it a couple of times. Major cuddled with her and that made me really happy. I know she enjoyed it a lot, too! MeeMaw turned 90 back in March.




We ate a great lunch at a Mexican restaurant and went to visit Gran. Ella Grace and Major love playing with some old coins (aka poker chips) and dropping them in all these little dishes and baskets. They wore us out with this game. Gran just eats them up!

Major was tired before we left and really wanted his cup of water out of the car...more than he wanted his picture made!

It was a great day!