Summer Update

It's been a long time since I blogged. So much has happened since my day in the airports on July 12 that it almost seems too much to recount. Rather than attempt a post for each day, I'll just make a "digest post" of the major happenings.

Monday, July 14 - Ichetucknee Springs

We packed a picnic lunch and drove to the north end of the river. At the midpoint, we ate lunch (BLTs) and then Elena and Brendan left (Brendan had an appointment). The rest of us continued on down the river. Overall, we got a little too much sun, but the water felt great and it was a fun day.



Thursday, July 17 - Drive to NC

We stopped in Valdosta and got our annual family picture taken at Portrait Innovations. Then we made it to Macon for lunch. We were attempting to eat at an old fashioned lunch counter place we read about in a book called Roadfood, but it was closed. We settled for "White Lightning BBQ." Tasty.


Made it to my parents' house in Canton around 8 and had a late dinner with my parents and Lynn.


Sunday, July 20 - My Birthday

Dad, Lynn, Alex, and I went shopping for birthday stuff. At the farmer's market, I bought a box of beefsteak tomatoes and a basket of fresh peaches. Man, I miss fresh tomatoes that are actually red on the inside.


I wanted chicken wings for my birthday dinner. Lynn and Evan came over, as well as Beth, Gabe, and Aunt Anne. We had some other stuff, but the wings were the star of the show (for me). My dad has a deep fryer, so I was able to make them the best way they can be made (although not the healthiest...but chicken wings aren't supposed to be health food). They were borderline perfect.

Cake and ice cream completed the birthday celebration.



Monday, July 21 - A Date with my Wife

Sofia went to Dollywood with Mary and Sara. Bonnie took Alex and Bella for the day, so Cristina and I were free for the afternoon. We went to Amazing Savings (a little grocery store that has a lot of discounted, organic grocery items) and then went to the movie theater that Evan works at (he's a manager at Beaucatcher Cinemas). We were in between shows, so after a tour of the projection booth for old time's sake, we watched the last half of Wanted. Then we watched Get Smart. Even though I had seen it already, I thought Cristina would enjoy. Evan's theater is a relatively small one, so there weren't many choices. We enjoyed the movie.

Tuesday, July 22 - Looking Glass Falls

We met the Beaudets at Looking Glass Falls near Brevard. We played around in and near the water (too cold for my liking). Alex went in all the way and swam to the falls with Brian and Forest. We had lunch at a little picnic site and then explored another little creek that had a high rock ledge for jumping into the water. Alex made a few jumps before we loaded up and moved on. We were going to go to Sliding Rock, but it was closed due to lightning in the area. We settled for an hour at a place called "Cradle of Forestry," which was kind of like a museum. The Beaudets followed us back to Canton where we made a big bowl of California Tuna Toss for dinner.

The Beaudets

Wednesday, July 23 - Guitar Hero

After breakfast, we played Guitar Hero on the Wii. It was more fun than I epected. I even got Cristina to play it. Here she's playing "Barricuda."

Bella, the Cereal-head

Thursday, July 24 - Health Adventure

That afternoon, we met Tina Beaudet and her kids at "The Health Adventure," a science museum exploring the human body. They had a traveling exhibit about how toys work. I particularly liked seeing what the inside of an etch-a-sketch looked like. They also had a jack-in-the-box with a video camera inside, so you could see in close-up detail what was going on when you cranked the little crank.

After Health Adventure, we checked out a gem and mineral museum next door. We only had an hour before closing, so it was a quick pass through.

Friday, July 25 - My Nephew's Baby

Drove down to Landrum, South Carolina to visit with Andy and Jessica. Andy is my sister Bonnie's oldest son. Andy and Jessica just had their second baby a week ago, the day after we arrived in North Carolina. He's a cutie.

Bella and Lola

Andy, Jessica, Lola, and Staten

After our visit, we went to Bonnie and John's house for dinner.

Bonnie and John (photo by Bella)

Saturday, July 26 - Final Potluck Get-Together

Roll call: Wayne, Cristina, Sofia, Alex, Bella, my mom and dad, Mary, Jimmy, Patrick, Sara, Carmel, Aunt Anne, Beth, Gabe, Lynn, Hunter, and Chase. Food was plentiful and tasty. After breakfast, Alex found a bird on the back porch. It was alive, but was not moving. We thought it had maybe gotten too wet (it had rained all morning) so we put it in an old bird cage and kept an eye on it. Eventually it became more active, so we let it go. It flew off into the trees. Nice.