We had a grand ole time.
I sent Lovely and Little Bear down on Sunday, the 9th to the Grand Gulf of the Shores. They rode down with Gruff and Nani. They swam and played. We found out that Little Bear wants nothing to do with the sand or the ocean.
I finally joined on Wednesday. I drive down in the Gas Saver after work. With all of the lines of storms passing through that area I finally arrived a few minutes after 11 p.m. (It was intense and the Gas Saver only has a radio so music was slim pickens. Mostly country. But, hey, it kept me awake…nauseous, but awake.) Cousins Collin, Steph, Caleb, and Aunt Judy M. all joined in by Thursday.
Thursday was a breath of fresh air. We hit the pool like there is no tomorrow. Played and swam until Little Bear was nearly falling asleep. We went in and grabbed a nap, got up, got ready, and off to Lambert’s Restaurant (where I proceeded to gag over the taste of the mashed potatoes and most everything else on my wife’s plate.
Friday was kind of odd. I woke up fairly late (thanks Lovely for letting me sleep in some). I sipped on some coffee and chewed some breakfast after Noni and Gruff headed back home. Within minutes of getting my swimsuit on Lovely announces that we have entered the Nap Gap. We were stuck. Little Bear wasn’t havin’ any kind of activity other than a huge nap. So later on, after Bear woke up, we got ready and had a little family evening. We hit the Original Oyster House where we proceeded to not have one oyster. They had great fish, so we ate that. Earlier we jetted around town to see what all was around. We hit the Souvenir City and picked up a few…souvenirs.
Saturday. It was our last full day of vacation BUT IT WAS JAMMED PACKED!!!! We swam a minute. Got ready. Hit the ole Starbucks. Woo Hoo!!! Grabbed some local pizza at Crico’s Pizza. And then off to the Alabama Gulf Zoo for a whiz-bang of a time getting up close and personal with the animals. We later joined Munk, Glammie, Uncle Fris, and Aunt Laura at Lulu’s. (And yes, Lulu is Jimmy Buffett’s sister or something…some relation.) We had some kickin’ food and then off to Munk and Glammie’s condo rental for some Guitar Hero fun and visiting with family.
Sunday was rushed. Everyone trying to clean up and get out of the room by the 10 a.m. check out time. We spent some time over at the Tanger Outlet but ended up leaving. (I had hurt my back on Friday and was hurting too badly to keep walking.) So around 12ish, we load up for the slow journey home. Back to the routine. Back to the crazy hours and all.
I was grateful for the break. It was much needed and I think well-deserved. Thanks Noni and Gruff for the week on the Shores. And thanks Munk and Glammie for pickin’ up everyone’s tab at Lulu’s. And thanks Kris for the intro to Guitar Hero…
But more importantly, thanks family for being awesome and wonderful. You all are beautiful people and while we are all still family and get on each other’s nerves…I love ya.
And by the way…there were a lot more stories that could’ve been told, but I refrained to keep the anonymity of some.
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Prodigal Thinker 