Delivering on the promise!

A post and some pics!

So vacation was WONDERFUL! It was touch and go last Friday as it rained all.effing.day and Callie just about killed us trying to rip the rental house apart. LMAO We just didn't have enough for her to do, I guess and well...who could blame her. We were bored too! One doesn't really go on vacation to watch Law & Order reruns all fecking day! LOL I digress on that one....

Anyway...the first couple days were total beach days. We went out for 2 or 3 hours and then came in for Callie to nap. Then we would go out for a couple more hours or get an early dinner and then back to the beach.

One day we went to the Dauphin Island Estuarium. It is like a miniature aquarium with local species of fish, sharks, other water stuff. HA! I don't know what all of those things are called. And we went to Ft. Gaines. Cool enough but it was HOT AS ALL HELL and that made the whole fort experience less than enjoyable. There was going to be a second battle there if Michael hadn't agreed to get the hell outta dodge after about 30 minutes. I was DONE! So was Callie. We took a couple pictures and you can tell by the looks on our faces that we weren't having fun! HA!!!

Another day we drove onto the ferry and rode it over the Fort Morgan. Yes, another fort. This time we didn't stop there...we jumped on the road and drove into Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. I have been to Gulf Shores before but it's been a LONG time. So it was nice to see how things have changed. We also drove on into Foley, AL to eat at Lambert's Cafe. If you have never experienced this....it is a must! It is the home of the 'throwed rolls' afterall!!! Callie got a huge kick out of that. They don't just give the rolls to you at your table. They freakin throw them at you. I had already decided we were going to eat there but a couple weeks before we left we were watching the Travel Channel and they were listing the top 10 places to pig out. Guess what was on there!!! OMG! It was sooo good! I got chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and green beans and corn. Michael got fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. The kicker to this though is that they constantly walk around offering you 'extras'. These extras are fried potatoes with onions, of course the rolls that they serve with apple butter sorghum molasses and something else....And no, they don't throw the apple butter or molasses at you!! HA! Anyway....they also bring around macaroni and tomatoes, cabbage, black eyed peas and maybe another thing or two. All of your typical southern favorites!!! It was definitely a highlight of our trip that day! While in Gulf Shores we also visited a place that Callie could ride some rides and do bumper boats and stuff like that! She had a good time there too!

One other day we went to see the USS Alabama. Very neat place. I think it would probably be neater if it wasn't so hot....at 90% humidity...well....it doesn't take long to get swamp ass!!! And we all know that is not pleasant!

Callie was a fairly decent traveler...Thank God for that!!! Here's a few pictures...if you are my friend on facebook then you've probably already seen most of these! I'll include one that I didn't include on FB because Michael didn't have a shirt on and he would die if he knew I was showing off his farmer's tan...but it is just so so sweet!!!! I couldn't resist!!!

Back from vacation...

We are back physically but mentally is another story! I just now got caught up at work with emails and other crap. I will post tomorrow about the trip and upload some pics!!!

As of today I am back hardcore on WW!! I will do this again. I have to!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Kid free weekend...

So this weekend Callie is gonna be spending a couple nights with Michael's parents. This is a good thing and while I'll really miss her sweet little face....we're going to be leaving for vacation in just about a week and I'll get my fill of her then! HA! Plus, it's good for kids to spend time with grandparents, right? Someone please tell me that is right!! HA!

We've actually left Callie with them a couple times before but it's usually been when we were going OOT for the weekend. It will (and already does) seem odd to think about her not being at home when we aren't technically going anywhere or doing anything special. I guess we should just enjoy the quiet and relaxation.

Plus, who are we kidding? She will have a great time and will be exhausted when she comes home! WIN WIN! LOL

I'm sure Michael and I can think of things to keep us occupied. We are debating going to a drive in movie. It has been FOREVER since we've been since Callie goes to bed so early. That might be fun. Maybe Winston could even go if he wouldn't bark at every single sound or person!

Callie's 2 year well baby visit was yesterday. She got a glowing review. Well, the doctor would like for her to gain some weight but what can you do other than force feed her? She is 35 inches tall and weighs a whopping 22lbs!! *le sigh* LOL The doctor looks like she is fresh out of medical school and she is really really nice and sweet. I told her that Callie would eat a few bites and then want down so she could keep playing. I told her that I (giving myself the obvious onceover so she would know what I meant) didn't comprehend someone never wanting to really eat!! She laughed and said it sounded like she was a typical snacky and sometimes picky toddler! :-)

Oh...and we did ask about nosebleeds. Callie has them a lot. The doctor wondered if she had been picking her nose at night!! LMAO How did this never occur to me? Of course I had thought of every other ridiculous explanation. I am not sure the nose picking explains it....cause I've never really seen her pick her nose...but it's an idea, I guess! We'll just keep an eye on it!!!

I am so ready for the weekend!!! Only 7 (!!!!) more sleeps until we leave for vacation!! Michael was supposed to work next Friday for 24 hours so he wouldn't get off until Saturday morning. He has swapped with someone though and he'll get off Thursday night at 11pm. So we are thinking we'll leave Friday afternoon late and get 3 or 4 hours on down the road - get a hotel and sleep and drive the remaining 4-5 hours from there. At least it won't be a whole stinking day worth of driving that way.

Toodles!!! Have a great weekend to anyone that might be reading this!

The fruits of our labor...

I now know how much hard work goes into a garden! But when you are rewarded with things like this....it makes it all worthwhile! YUM!!!! Now to learn the art of canning from my dearest Suz Q!

Another thing that I learned is that gardens aren't just for veggies!! You can throw some beautiful flowers in there and they will make the whole place a little more colorful!

Here is a picture of Callie in her new playgym that she got for her birthday! It was the first night that she saw it. We got the initial excitement on video and I'll try to post it sometime when I figure out how to do that! HA! She is enjoying it immensely and so are we! Now if we can just get her to come down the big slide without holding our hands so we can sit on the back steps and drink ice cold adult beverages!! We need a deck though....Sitting on the back steps is hard on the toosh! :-)

Couple birthday pics!

Here are a few pics...I won't even bore you with a 500 word essay! :-)

Giving Elmo the 'what for' - You can tell by the look on his face that he isn't taking it too well! LOL

FOOD!!!! And plenty of it!

Gift table before everyone really arrived! That is the table/chair set that my mom got her. Everyone wanted to know where it came from. It was totally cute!

Fun in the bouncy house!!!

Elmo cupcakes for daycare! I don't have a good pic of the actual party cake!

Playing in the water at the aquarium! Trying to pet some sharks but she was nowhere near tall enough!

Short and sweet...

This post will be short and sweet!

Callie's 2nd birthday party was a great success! Probably 30+ peeps there and way too much food and loads of fun. The kids LOVED the bouncy house and Callie went up and down the slide at least a hundred times. I am so so happy that she enjoyed herself. I will post pictures later! We even got video of her sliding. So cute!

On a sour note though....My aunt has been really really sick and in hospice care for the last month or so. She died just about 2 hours before Callie's party on Saturday. So that did change the mood of the party a little, I think...and also a few people didn't come. I guess they just weren't in the partying mood after all of that and I completely understand. We did really appreciate the people that decided to rally around us and put on a smiley face even if they were hurting! MY.FAMILY.ROCKS!!!!!

I will be out of work tomorrow for her funeral and then Wednesday is Callie's actual birthday so we are taking her to the aquarium. So I won't be back at work until Thursday. I will try to post some pics and/or video from the party then!!

Toodles!!!

One more thing....How could I forget?

I posted this on E...so those of you who may have seen it there can probably skip this one!

I know my commute is hell but sometimes I do see entertaining things.This morning I was coming up on a small town (you know...the kind you blink and you miss it) and some oncoming car was flashing his headlights at me. I figured it was a cop so I slowed down. I got on up the road and could see a slew of cops and rescue trucks, fire trucks etc but still couldn't see any type of incident. It was sort of around a curve...so I got up there and I see a tractor trailer layed over on it's side. GREAT! I look to see if it is bad and it doesn't look too bad so I just assume he missed the curve or something.

Here's the good part. As I got to the back end of the truck I could see these white things laying all over the ground. FINALLY a little bell went off in my head and I realized they were chickens and they weren't moving. Oh.My.GOD! DEAD chickens laying all over the road! I called DH and of course he had to crack a joke and say that I should have grabbed a couple for dinner! UGH! LOL Things like this made me so sad anyway. I am sure they were headed for a processing plant but still....What a way to go! LOL How many chickens you know that die in car accidents? LOL Not many, I would bet!But talk about a mess!!! I could not peel my eyes away from this sea of white feathery little lifeless bodies laying all over the road.

Should I admit that at first I thought they looked like soccer balls? LMAO