One More Time

We said goodbye to summer the other night and Daddy came with...



 

 

And just like that, August is gone.  When they blew the whistle five minutes early that night, Kekoa was next in line.  He tried so hard not to cry that he didn't get to go one last time.  He's just like his Momma.  Oh well.  There's always the possibility of Labor Day.  And if not, by that time, he'll have forgotten.  Possibly.

Llama Llama

 

 

The first library book Gavyn brought home from school was Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama.  When I asked him about it, he said he liked it because of the mad face on the front.  Figures.  We do like the "Llama, Llama" books around here.  Supposedly baby llamas don't spit.  Here's Kekoa's close encounter with one this summer.  And then Gavyn's turn...

 



Sometimes Friends Just Happen

Sometimes friends just happen like you've known them all your life.  This one happened like that for me this summer.  She was mutual friends of mutual friends.  We chatted briefly on Facebook.  She was coming back through my neck of the woods to home and stopped off to visit on what happened to be a very busy day for me this summer.  I would venture to say one of the busiest days I've experienced in my whole life.  We hugged.  She walked into my house.  I put her to work chopping up fruit for the fruit salad I was taking to my son's birthday party at his cousin's house. 

We talked and laughed like sisters - she cut up all my fruit and I bumbled my way through decorating my son's 8th birthday cake - a decidedly last minute endeavour that involved cake mixes and lots of Duncan Hines frosting. 

 

All of the sudden it was late, and I was feeling sorry she still had six hours left to home.  Oopsy.

 

Would you guess we hadn't known each other our entire lives?  Me, either.  And the very next weekend, as luck may have it, we were paying her an unplanned visit of our own to her beautiful place south of St. Louis deep in vineyard country.

Meeting Valerie's Mr. Baby Llama for the first time.

 

 

 

And since then?  She's moved.  That girl gets around, I tell ya.  Now, I find myself envying her for her fabulous "laundry out to dry" pictures.  I hope she doesn't mind that I borrowed one of them.

In the sixteen years I've been married, one of the main things I've always wanted is a clothesline.  Sounds simple, right?  But somehow I still don't have one.  I've got one clothesline pole to taunt me.  Or for birds to sit on and taunt me.  Time to make a visit to South Dakota.  After the way I treated her on her last visit, she chose to take a different route when she moved.  I wonder if she'll let me use her clothesline?

If You Will, I Will

We went to the pool for one last hurrah last night.  Even though Kekoa had earned his "Deep Water" pass, he still hadn't gotten up the courage to go off the high dive.  I made the mistake of telling him "If you will, I will."  This, of course, before I had fully realized I'd bit off more than I could chew.  Before I'd climbed up and looked down.  Gulp.  Apparently I have become, somewhere along the way, a much more calculated risk taker.  I even got schooled by the life guard that if I wasn't going to go I needed to move down to the lower level and let others go.  AND he called me, "Ma'am".  I don't know which was more insulting.

Let's just say I did it.  Once.

Maybe It Was Memphis

...maybe it was southern summer nights...

I can't believe I didn't do a blog about my visit to Memphis with work at the end of March.  It's been a busy summer, I guess.  We visited the infamous:

There was a wait, but the atmosphere was unique, the servers were friendly, and the food was good.  I find it interesting how different geographical areas have their own unique barbecue flavors.

Robert, Jr. (yes, the Robert, Jr. you see on this menu) was our server.  He ordered for me.  Each server has their own wall to decorate, so I had my picture taken with him to add to his wall (see above). And no, I haven't mailed it yet.  I'm not kidding when I said it's been a busy summer.  I'd say more, but since I can't share flavors with you, I'll let the pictures do the talkin'.  I'd go again.  Anyone else been?

 

 

 

 

There's also something about going "south" in the early spring when you're from the Midwest.  Nice to get a breath of "summer is coming" and renew hope that winter, indeed, will once again come to an end.