Grandmother’s Birthday Dinner January 25, 2007

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we had a special dinner to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. Many of her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids were able to be there to wish her a happy birthday. Here’s a picture of Grandmother in her birthday corsage.

Here’s a photo of everyone who was able to be there, except for my sister-in-law, A, who was actually taking the picture.

Here’s Grandmother with the three great-grandchildren who were there. H is on the left. C is sitting in Grandmother’s lap, and M is on the right. You can see my cousin, A, on the left, and barely see me on the right, waiting in the wings to corral H and M if they decided it was time to run off and play some more.

M enjoyed visiting with her Aunt C who sweetly held cups so M could fish out ice chips to munch on. M’s little hands were so cold, but she just kept dunking them in the cold water for more ice.

My Aunt B made Grandmother’s birthday cake. It was delicions. M turned down a bite when I offered it to her, but later helped herself to her Auny A’s piece when no one was looking. Luckily, Aunt A was happy to share, and we got some good photos out of it.

Lots of Cousins September 17, 2006

Here’s some of the photos we took at my cousin, B’s, house at our family get together.

All the little girls together.

All the April 2005 babies with their mothers.

Aunt B with her granddaughters.

B, H, L, and E.

M, A, and C.

A and H.

T, M, and me.

Family Photos at the Beach September 17, 2006

Here are some photos of everyone at the beach. T, M, and I didn’t get the memo about bringing a white shirt for the photo, but it turned out great anyway.

Photos of the whole family.

Here are Gran and Paw.

This is Uncle C and Aunt A.

This is Aunt C.

Here’s photos of T and M and me.

The Mellow Mushroom September 17, 2006

One night while we were in Gulf Shores, T and I left M with her grandparents and aunts and uncle and went out to eat on our own. We decided to eat at The Mellow Mushroom in Foley which was about 5 miles north of Gulf Shores.

The pizza was really good. It was extremely filling. We had to take most of it back to the resort with us to eat the next day. If you’re ever close to a Mellow Mushroom location, I’d recommend it.

M and the Dogs September 17, 2006

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, M really seems to love animals. My Aunt B has a little poodle that gave M hours of delight when we stayed the night at her house. It wasn’t too long after we got there that Morgan found Tootie in her kennel and plopped herself down in front of it to look at Tootie and laugh.

B got Tootie out of the kennel so M could pet her. M really liked it when Tootie would lick her hands. She spent quite a bit of time sitting in front of Tootie’s kennel. Unfortunately, she started banging on it trying to play with Tootie. Apparently, this is not a new experience for Tootie as B’s grandkids do it too, but I didn’t want M to think it was okay to do that. I think we’ll have to work on this some more when she’s around dogs again.

B had dogs at his house, and M went right up to the fence to see them while we were there. When my parents arrived with their dog, she got to pet her too. M was in dog heaven. We’re defintely going to have to get a dog once we have a yard.

Hmmm….Lemons September 17, 2006

On Tuesday evening, we all went out to eat seafood at the Shrimp Basket. The food was great. Everyone said that their dish was excellent. We may have to eat there again sometime.

Since seafood is usually served with lemons, we put a wedge of lemon on M’s plate to see what she would do with it. She picked it up and put it in her mouth, and a few seconds later came the sour face. It was quite funny.

I expected that that would be the last of the lemons. But M suprised us all, as she kept picking the lemon back up and chewing on it some more! It wasn’t long before she was gnawing on it like it was any old piece of fruit and not even making sour faces any more.

I guess she likes lemons!

The Blue Angels September 17, 2006

The National Museum of Naval Aviation is the home of the Blue Angels. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, they practice next to the museum. If you get there about 8:30am, you can watch them.

T and M and I didn’t get to see them in person since we left a little later than everyone else and took the wrong road to Pensacola at first. We had to turn around and go back. But Paw and Uncle C took a lot of photos and video of them practicing.

If we ever get back that way, we’ll have to be sure to show up in time to watch them practice.

Future Fighter Pilot Perhaps…. September 17, 2006

One of the most interesting things we did on our vacation was visit the National Museum of Naval Aviation on the naval base outside of Pensacola. It was amazing to see all of the planes and there was no charge for admission…you just show up and walk right in.

We spent several hours looking at all the planes and displays. I didn’t ask but it seemed like a lot of the museum docents and staff were retired military who had either flown or worked with some of the aircraft on display. They were wonderful sources of information.

The museum had one area full of cockpits from all types of aircraft that you could sit in. M got to check out a number of aircraft up close. She really seemed to take to it. She was adjusting the flight controls and maneuvering the flightstick like she does it everyday. T was especially excited when she automatically pressed the trigger button in the cockpit of the F-14 Tomcat.

We ate lunch in the cafe there which is a replica of the officer’s club at the base in the Phillipines. It was a really nice day. We would have stayed longer if M hadn’t needed a nap and was not cooperating with going on to sleep while we were there. She conked out in the car fairly quickly on the drive back to the resort.

Hopefully, we’ll go back one day to see more.

On the Ferry to Dauphin Island September 15, 2006

After we visited Fort Morgan, we all decided to take the ferry across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island. We didn’t get off and explore the island, but just rode the ferry there and back. It was 45 minutes each way, so the trip was a good hour and a half.

It was nice, but would have been much nicer if there had been a shady spot to sit on the ferry. Although the weather channel had predicted thunderstorms that day, the sun was out in full solar force while we were crossing the bay. We were all feeling the effects of the sun by the time we got back to Fort Morgan and piled in the car for a little air conditioning.

Luckily, My sister, C, had sunscreen in her purse, and I had sunscreen in M’s diaper bag which made the rounds. That kept us from getting broiled on the trip. It worked great too, since M wasn’t even pink. I think the fact that I coated her in it more than once helped too. The last thing we wanted was a baked bean.

Despite the sun, the views from the ferry were wonderful.

Eaten Alive at Fort Morgan September 15, 2006

One of the things we did on vacation was visit Fort Morgan, Alabama. There is an actual Fort Morgan that was used by the military from 1833 until 1946. Since it was less than 10 miles from where we were staying, we decided to check it out.

They had a little museum that told about the history of the fort and had a good number of artifacts on display. We were not able to spend a lot of time in the fort itself due to the mosquitos. We were inside the fort for about a minute when we decided that it wasn’t worth fighting them to stay and explore more. I would have liked to see more. But I’m glad we left when we did since M ended up with 5-6 mosquito bites in just that short time. I’d hate to see what she would have looked like if we had wandered around for 30 minutes or more. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it there and took some pictures outside.

The rest of the family (my parents and siblings) took some great photos of the fort which they shared with us. Next time we go, we’ll be prepared with some insect repellent.