Graduation Day!

We started our day with a delicious breakfast at Another Broken Egg in Fairhope.  Bananas foster French toast for me!

Karen and I left early for the 2:00 graduation as Morgan asked me to take some picture of her with her friends.

We were the seat savers for graduation.  The rest of the family came later.

She spotted us in the bleachers!

There was a crowd outside after the graduation.

Fortunately we had planned a place to meet!

A few more pictures.

We all had dinner at an Italian Restaurant in Fairhope. 

Ronald gave a very sweet toast to the graduate.

And just like that Morgan's graduated and in the adult world!  She has a job in Muscle Shoals and will be starting in just a couple of weeks.  So proud of this girl!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend.  We went to Como, MS on Saturday night with several friends for dinner.  It was a new dining experience for us.  It's about a 2-hour drive for us and Doug made the comment that we spent 6 hours getting to dinner/having dinner/getting home!  We made a quick stop coming and going at beautiful Sardis Lake. 

Como Steakhouse is in the tiny little town of Como, population of less than 1,300.  We had heard about this place from many friends but decided it was time for us to try it out.  There were 8 of us so we had reservations and good thing as it was very busy.

Our steaks were cooks while we watched.

The steaks were huge but the potato was a complete meal in itself!

Delicious dinner and fun times with friends!

Ben, Cameron and Heather came over for lunch on Memorial Day.  Randy was working and Emma Taylor and Harrison were at their dad's.  Ben cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill.  He also made this sausage and cheese tray which was as delicious as it was lovely!  He's so domestic!

My grillin' team!

Just a relaxing day and good to spend time with the kids!

Graduation Dinner

Friday evening was a special dinner for the physical therapy graduates.  Tickets were bought quite a while in advance and I missed out on getting a ticket.  I had intended to stay at the rented house with one of the babies but we decided that it might be best that I go along and stay in the lobby in case one (or more) of the kids needed to be taken out and I could stay with them. 

The dinner was held in a ballroom at the beautiful Renaissance Hotel in downtown Mobile.  Tables were reserved for families that had purchased tickets.  As luck would have it, Bailey, Morgan's friend that lived with us for several weeks, had an extra ticket and invited me to sit at her table with her family. 

Here the girls are before dinner. 

The dinner was actually very good!

It was so nice to meet and get to know Bailey's family.  Seeing these sweet girls gives me renewed faith in the youth of today!

With only about 40 graduates, the program was very personal.

Just a few pictures after the program.

They kids were all good during the program so my services weren't needed after all!

A birthday and anniversary!

Wishing Doug a very happy birthday!  He's out and about today doing what he enjoys most which is car stuff with his friends!

It's also Heather and Randy's one-year anniversary.

It's been a fast year!  The whole family will be going on a cruise in 9 days so guess they'll all get to celebrate this first year together!

Wishing happy days for all of them!

Morgan's Graduation

My niece Morgan graduated from the University of South Alabama in Mobile with her doctorate in physical therapy a couple of weeks ago.  I'm just now getting around to posting about it but I certainly can't let it slip by!  We made it a fun family affair!

Karen rented a house in Fairhope, AL.  I rode down there with her and Ronald.  She rented the house through one of the VRBO type sites and got a great deal!  There were 7 of us that stayed there plus baby Duncan.  He counts too!  It was the perfect place for all of us so we could be together.

It had a really big, open kitchen which was open to the family room.

And a large family room.

There was a large living room also but I didn't get a picture of it.

The pool out back was beautiful, though it was too chilly for any of us to get in it.

There were four bedrooms but I didn't get pictures of them.  They were pretty standard.

It was great for us all to get together and it was especially convenient having the baby there.  We all had plenty of times for snuggles with him!

We arrived late Thursday evening but Friday morning we were up and ready to go for our spa appointments at the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort in Point Clear, AL.  Talk about pampering!  I think the graduate needed this relaxing time.  This was taken in the "quiet room" right after her massage.

I had never been to a spa like this.  There were six of us, three scheduled for facials and three scheduled for massages.  I was one of the facials.

We were given robes and locker assignments.  When everyone was dressed in their robe, we were ushered into the quiet room where we waited just a few minutes for our appointment. 

The facial was excellent and such a treat!  At $140 though it's not something I could afford to do that often!  I thoroughly enjoyed it though!

After the facial, we put on our swimsuits and got in the hot tub.  The quiet room is dimly lit with very comfortable chairs.  Several women were reading in there.  They offered hot tea, cookies and other snacks.  After getting in the hot tub, we were given a champagne.  There was also a steam room and sauna but I didn't get in either of those.  I was hot enough by this time! 

What a fun experience! 

After our pampering, we had lunch at Shux right out in the Gulf.

Delicious seafood!!

After lunch we walked through the cute little town of Fairhope.  There are lots of cute shops and beautiful flowers everywhere.

It was quite a cool and windy day but we enjoyed this little town!

More later.

Last week

Last week was busy, as usual.  I had Harrison and Cameron on Wednesday afternoon.  We went to see Boss Baby.

It was a cute movie...we all enjoyed it.

That evening was messy game night at church and messy it was!  The had water balloons, shaving cream and slime.  The boys had to be hosed off at church before they left.  Look at those lily white feet!  You can tell they don't get much sun!

They had a great time though!

After coming home, showering and putting on some clean clothes, we had a fire and made s'mores.

They played a little night basketball with a flashlight strategically placed.

Thursday I took them to Ballard Park where they played for a few minutes.

And then fed the ducks.

A food truck happened to be at the park so I bought lunch and we had a Chicago dog picnic.

They were delicious!

We hit the snow cone place before leaving.  Blue Hawaiian flavor for both of them.

Very refreshing on this hot day!

I know it won't be long until they think they're too big for this, but I'm enjoying it while I can!

I dropped Harrison off at home, then Cameron and I came home for a visit with Karen, Courtney and baby Duncan.

That evening was Emma Taylor's awards night at school.  She received a history award for having the highest average of all the eighth graders in history.

She also received a trophy for having all A's this year.

With her friend Lexie.

So proud of them!