Happenings

We've had a lot going on lately, none of which is really worthy of a whole blog post soooooooooo here's a little update!

1) Ben's Birthday -- although this is totally worthy of a whole blog post, I'm nearly a month late on this.  SORRY!! (I did manage to post a FB shoutout to him on his b-day so I'm not on the shit-list entirely)

We spent the Saturday before his birthday at a beer tasting and after that we all went to Mom and Dad's house for a little pool party/cookout.  It was a busy and fun afternoon and then we prepared ourselves to spend the end of his b-day week in St. Simons! 

2) Tomatoes! -- a few days after we returned home (i think), i had a few tomatoes FINALLY turn red.  I thought these things would never get ripe.  Here are 2 from my very first harvest!! I've got lots more on the vine but it seems that there is a little varmint after them too so I better be quick!

3) Meals on Wheels -- One of the many awesome things about our neighborhood is that (mostly) everyone is just so kind.  Every time someone has a baby, surgery, etc many of the ladies rally and organize a meal calendar.  Sooo, I'm always on the hunt for new recipes to take to people.  I took these beef enchiladas to a new mama last week along with Mexican rice and candy brownies and made a second batch for myself.  They were amazing.  And even better re-heated ... so if you're on the hunt for a new enchilada recipe this one is easy and SO DELICIOUS! (even though this picture isn't all that pretty you should trust me on that)

4) Sunflowers -- ahhh ... who knew a few packets of seeds could make me so happy come June/July?  I loved these so much, but they were tall and got pretty scraggly about 2 days after blooming.  I cut off all the blooms from this mutant that you see (they're only supposed to have one flower head), then ripped them all out of the ground.  I figure we'll have another 2 months of summer most likely so I planted some new seeds.  These will be MUCH shorter ... tallest are supposed to be 5 feet as opposed to the first crop which were 10-12 feet.

5) Birthday/Anniversary gift -- I got Ben a big green egg for his birthday / our 5th anniversary.  We bought a charcoal grill right after we moved in the house, and he just absolutely loves it and has really learned to do a lot with it.  He has been hinting around about an Egg for a while though, so I figured this would be a good combo gift.  I think he likes it?  

St. Simons Island

This is about 2 weeks late, buuuut better late than never, right?

We spent the end of the 4th of July week with Ben's family down in St. Simons Island.   We try to get down there each summer with Ben's family and I have to say this year was probably the most fun any of us have ever had.  (A certain little 2-year old boy may have something to do with that??)

Wyatt loves everything about the beach -- playing in the sand, jumping the 'big waves', "pinding" shells ... everything.  We took him out to the beach first thing each morning and it just flat wore him out by lunchtime each day.  

We had several un-successful attempts at getting a family picture.

We practiced jumping in the pool.  Despite several swim lessons each week, he has just not entirely warmed up to the pool.

Wyatt played in the waves with Lolly ...

He also built sand castles with Great Aunt Susan.  There were 2 buckets and if Susan made the mistake of going to the ocean with only one of them, Wyatt would hand the other bucket and tell her to go get "more"

We did go out to dinner a few times.  Its always dicey with a worn-out Dubs .... some days he'll do great out to eat and other times it is just too exhausting to do.  I have to say that this particular night at the Crab Trap got interesting after he threw an empty water glass across the restaurant.  But other than that he was really good!

I love this picture - my camera had fuzzy lens here but he you can get the jist.  He was driving his trucks up and down my arms.

Obama says Wyatt didn't build this Lego tower .... but Great Aunt Susan saw him do so

 I love this picture too!  He was dipping his head in the tidal pool and then slinging it back up

Pops burried Wyatt in the sand!  He loved this

Wyatt helped out the King and Prince by watering their gardens each day.  And, um, also by putting a little mulch in their pool.  Sorry!

 He swam with Lolly

Another favorite photo of Pops helping Wyatt 'jump' the waves!   This got exhausting for Pops, I'm sure but Wyatt sure did love it!

We had a fabulous time.  Wyatt keeps asking when we can go back to the beach!