Celebrating the 4th

Monday, July 4, 2011

This day was spent at the beach, back home for a wonderful dinner of grilled pork tenderloin and lots of great side dishes, then back to the beach to watch the fireworks after the sun went down. 

Our double-wide tent/home for the day

The guys got up at the crack of dawn to set up our tents that marked our territory on the beach.  Unbelievable commitment...hauling all that out there for us.  Thanks Ch's....Chip and Chuck...and Scott, Chip's buddy.  I love those guys but I cannot think of one thing I would get up at the crack of dawn for.  Glad they weren't counting on me. 

Lots of seaweed washed up overnight. So while the water wasn't at clear as it had been, it was still a fun day at the beach. I have a compulsion to pick up stuff and clean...so you can just imagine how hard this was for me to look at and relax. I literally sat there and tried to think of a way to get it scooped up out in the water.  ha.

The marrieds.

Tricia, Jordan, Chip, Blake, Faith, Chris, Will, Chuck, Cameron, Taylor, Debbie, Me.

The other Blake left early that morning to head back to his job. 

Jordan's friend Tricia drove over from Alabama to spend the day with us. She is from Phoenix but now living in Alabama and was at Jordan and Chris's wedding. 

Small world story:  When Chip and Debbie flew out to Phoenix for Jordan's wedding, they arrived a little early for the ceremony.  They went to the resort bar to wait.  They sat beside a girl at the bar and struck up a conversation that went a little like this....

Hey..where are you from?

                                   From here....  I'm waiting to go to a wedding.

       Ah, so are we.  

                                                   Whose wedding?

A girl I work with.     

                  What's her name?      

                                                          Jordan.

                                                     That's whose wedding we're going to.....

And just the day before, Debbie shared that story with me....just telling me that she and Chip had sat at the bar while waiting to head over to the site of the wedding.  She said we met some girl that worked with Jordan but couldn't remember her name.  No way did we think it would be this same girl.

Then Jordan gave Tricia directions of how to find us on the beach and as Tricia was walking towards us she recognized Chip and Debbie .... before she saw Jordan.

So they had met one brief time but she recognized them right away when she saw them.

Tricia's husband is in the Army studying to be a pilot so I'm glad she was able to spend the day with us.

Will decided he wanted to take some seaweed home...dry it out and put it in a jar.

Why? 

Free souvenir?

Who really knows how Will's brain works?

I said no....he threw it up in the air...and I caught it with the camera.

He then gathered more and we did put it in a zip-loc....but on packing up day, it was thrown out because of the smell.  Imagine that.  It smelled.

Debbie insisted it be thrown out. 

I said I promised Will I wouldn't.

She said it smelled like dead fish, vomit and diarrhea.

I said throw it out.

 I study this picture because it's so hard for me to believe

my children are all grown up. 

It happened when I wasn't looking.

 Debbie, Blake, Taylor and Chip.

Chip and Debbie's good friends, Scott and Jodie. 

We met last year and enjoyed their company again this year.

I suspect they're giving Chuck a hard time for sitting.

Surfer Boy:

Dear God,  Please do not let him get hurt. I would hate to go to the ER in my swim suit.  Amen.

Dear God, Thank you for protecting him on that little surfboard.
  And please continue to do so. Amen.

This guy walked up and down the beach in a red body suit.

Maybe it was a costume.  Maybe he's a super hero.

For sure he had to be hot.

 Blake plays for Georgia Southern.  Go Eagles!
He's #77 and I would tell you his position but I would get it wrong. 

I believe it's offense but then again, it could be defense.
I know it's not first base.

The centerpiece for our 4th of July dinner. 

Buckets from Target Dollar Spot....sand courtesy of the beach.

I won't bore you with lots of fireworks pictures....but Jordan took her camera out to the beach and got lots of great ones...Will says this is his shot.  I just want you to see how close we were to the show.  The buildings on the left are part of the Hilton Sandestin Resort...and that's where the fireworks were set off.  We were just about 75 yards down the beach watching from our comfortable chairs with the breeze in our hair.  The fireworks would reflect on the water so it was like a double show of color. I have never enjoyed fireworks as much.  The perfect place to see them.


The highlight of the day was the remake of the infamous Banana Boat Picture, taken in 1997 while visiting this family in Florida...at Dog Island. 

The original Banana Boat Picture, Circa 1997:

Blake, Will, Jordan, Taylor and Cameron

And The Remake, Circa 2011:

Taylor, Cameron, Jordan, Blake and Will

We contemplated renting a banana boat to make this more authentic but it was $20 per person for 15 minutes....suddenly the yellow canoe leaning against the tent next to us looked like a banana. Debbie was voted to be the one to go ask if we could borrow it for a few minutes for a picture....because she's Debbie...cute and sweet and funny.

Score.

And another pose...with me on it.  Why I got on it the first time, I'll never know. 

 But they insisted I get on it again for the remake.

This was pre - lasic eye surgery for me and without contacts or glasses, I was blind as a bat.

If for no other reason, you should get the eye surgery so that no one ever takes of a picture of you squinting like that again. 

 Funny to see the babies, Blake and Will, turned out to be the biggest. 

We must have fed them lots of crackers to keep them quiet.

Honey, I Blew Up the Kids.