My Favorite Visitors

We’d been planning on Beau’s crew to visit for the week of the 4th for at least a month. We were all counting down the days and looking forward to some summer fun with them.

I’d gone the Tuesday before the weekend they were due in, to Lowe’s for some flowers for our porch planters. We’d hung up our flag bunting for the first time in two years and I was itching to make the porch festive for the 4th. While at Lowe’s, my cell phone rings and it was Beau… he’d asked where I was and was I ready for his crew to come down that weekend and basically wanted a run-down of the fun things I had planned. Ha. Every family has a cruise director, and I somehow gained the position in ours.

Later that afternoon, I’d planted the new flowers and was putting out the new throw pillows I’d gotten earlier for the rocking chairs, when I saw a car driving up our drive-way. After a few honks, I realized it was the crazy Georgia crew! Apparently, when he’d called me at Lowe’s, he was actually sitting in my drive way and they were going to surprise me but I wasn’t home. Ha.

We were so excited they got to come a few days early and spend an entire week with us!

We were even more thrilled that this trip included my nephew, Jackson! There was lots of catching up for the cousins and playing in the yard at Grammy’s – on the swing, the zip line and even shooting BB guns.

It was way too hot to do a theme park this trip, but we did a few fun day things while they were here…

- We hit “Get Air” the trampoline park

- We took Jax for his first float down Blue Run. It was a fun float, but the Georgia crew was slightly freaked out by the river grass. They ARE my people, though, so I expected they’d be like me.  ;) I think even Beau got more worked up than I do over it. Ha. Ha.

- We went for an afternoon Gator ride and ended up finding some wild blackberries. They were almost all dried up, but the kids picked a few… while they were picking, we found a turtle that was stuck in the fence. Jax was adamant that we save the turtle- we got him out of the fence and back to the limerock pit and nobody ended up turtle-bit. ;)

- We rode around another afternoon, all the way to the lodge, with DW and he let the Georgia boys take turns driving the 4-wheeler. Tucker was thrilled to show the boys around. Jackson loved seeing the buffalo at the lodge and I was super excited to see a baby one, too! I love a BABY ANYTHING. ;)

- We watched fireworks in Williston. We parked at the elementary school and had the perfect spot to see them top the trees.

- We shot off our own ones at home, too. Uncle Van & Aunt Amber bought some big ones, so they all came out and shot them off in front of our house. Pappy, Nie-Nie & Kels joined us, too. Beau had gotten sparklers for the kids and dixie pops and all the fun ones from our childhood and Tucker, especially loved scaring everyone popping them in Grammy’s garage on another night.

- The day before Beau’s crew had to head back, we went out scalloping in Steinhatchee. It was such a fun day and the kids loved it. We didn’t catch near our limit, but we did get 5 gallons to send back to Georgia with the gang. It was just fun being on the water, though. The Georgia cousins are already planning for next summer when they can come again and scallop.  I call that  a success, even if we didn’t limit out on scallops.

After a full week, Beau’s gang headed back to Georgia to spend the rest of the summer. We’re sure hoping we get to see them at least one more time before school starts.

~amw~

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