Florida

Frisbee, originally uploaded by medusahead.

So there was the original plan, that we would spend the weekend together in Florida for the family reunion. Then we would return to Memphis, some of us staying put, others getting the hell out and cooling off in Colorado.

And it just can't be a trip to Florida without my dad deciding to stay an extra day. And can you blame him? Do you see the view? There we were with an hour before the shuttle was to pick us up. Neil and I are were still in disbelief that we were actually leaving when it was suddenly revealed we weren't. We were going to stay for the week, welcoming our newly married uncle and his family for a joint 4th celebration.

Good times.

Then the night of the 3rd arrived as did a phone call from my uncle. Turns out there was a bit of a communication breakdown, where the headcount that sounded like 4 was actually 10 and they were a couple of hours away.

The morning of the 4th we found ourselves unexpectedly packing up and headed back to Memphis. It was only fair to relinquish the house as it had been promised to my uncle, and we tried hard not to cry over the gorgeous beach fireworks display we would be missing. My uncle's homemade pancakes helped sop up the bitter.

It was hot and humid but that ocean breeze made for some oh so lovely nights on the balcony. I powered through books 2 and 3 of the Stephenie Meyer Twilight trilogy and spent the rest of the week unconvinced that I wasn't 14. Harlow and Avery hugged and mugged and fought and snoozed away on island time. We played in the sand, ran from the water, kinda sorta dug the pool, fell in love with our first snow cone and wondered why mom suddenly slipped into the collective "we." Mama found some cute dresses, some wonderful relations (Bon voyage, cousin Matthew!) some killer BBQ (thanks cousin Charlie) and about 10 extra pounds (thanks Donut Hole!)