Playing Catch-Up

Get ready for an epic (and rare apparently) blog post today. I have lots to catch up on ! It's nothing too exciting. Just a few pictures that I had on my phone.

1.  My nephew celebrated his 6th birthday. I can't believe he is that old. Time surely does fly!

2. I never shared my Halloween decorations. Not that it is anything special, but I did add some LED stick lights to my ferns to add some extra light out there for the trick-or-treaters. 

And speaking of those massive ferns. I had to bring them in when it turned a little bit cooler and it is like a jungle in my kitchen. 

Please ignore the plates on the wall. I am missing one that I need to hang and some other stuff that needs to go up there as well to balance everything out. But seriously- look how big those ferns are and how they dwarf that bench! Thanks Miracle Grow. 

3. Oyster weather! I have really taken advantage of these cooler temperatures and the fact that it is perfect oyster weather. The other weekend, David and I went and grabbed 1/2 bushel and went to town! We set up the TV outside to watch some football and it was perfect. 

This past weekend, my brother, his wife, and Barrett came and stayed with me and we got some more oysters and watched some more football on the patio. 

In other oyster-related news: David and I were invited to an oyster roast in Savannah a couple of months back. Guess the Charleston/coastal/northern communities don't eat raw oysters, they roast them. I'll take mine raw. Thank you very much (or fried of course, I am still a southern girl!). But it was in a great place on the marsh on Wilmington Island. 

David wanted to stay on the dock forever and watch the sting rays. It was pretty fascinating to watch them. 

4. The other weekend we had a girls weekend in Destin. My mom, her sister (whom I refer to as Birdie and you can too), and my cousin Stacey had a great time soaking in some south Walton County, FL goodness. 

Now living in Georgia, I really miss being able to slide over to Destin anytime. I used to sneak off to Destin during college on my breaks to do a little shopping. It was great! Or Stacey and I would meet up there to do our annual Christmas shopping together. Sigh...dang you , Georgia! :-) 

On Saturday we drove over to Seaside for lunch and ate at Bud and Alley's. It's great if for none other than the dachshund on their sign :-D

We ate up on the top deck and the weather was absolutely divine!

5. Now for the one thing I have done that I was truly the most excited about! First off, there was a whole lotta documentary watching this last couple of weeks. 

That's right!!!! SQUEAL!! The Eagles concert was this past week!

Image via

My brother Brad and I drove up to Birmingham, AL to meet David. We stayed with David's sweet, sweet sister, Frances. We had a blast! It's always fun to be in the car with your sibling for 5+ hours, right? Ha! He's a mess for sure. I brought my ipad with me so that he could watch the Eagles documentary on the way up there (it is almost right at 4 hours long) to get him pumped up. We got to Birmingham in the middle of rush hour. I was driving. He looks up does, a little scream, tries to push his imaginary breaks and then proclaims that he is just going to focus on his movie and not look up. He didn't want to see death before him on the road. Ha! I'm not that bad a driver I assure you. 

Frances took us for a little tour of Birmingham while we were there. We went and saw the Vulcan, which was pretty neat. 

The views were absolutely stunning from up there. We had a fabulous time and I was so happy to get to see the Eagles before they break up again. Ha!

6. I decided that it wasn't too early to start getting into the Christmas spirit. I pulled out my Christmas wreath. It looks so itty bitty in this picture. Thanks iphone :-)

7. And just because it wouldn't be a post of mine until one of my little boys showed their face, here is JJ and his special friend. 

He and Brutus have fought over this stuffed dachshund more than anything else. Guess they just love him that much. 

Well- here's to the weekend! Hope it's a great one!

Wakulla Springs

It has been a super busy summer. This was the first weekend since perhaps April that David and I spent a whole weekend in Thomasville. It was nice not having to drive anywhere for a change! We have planned to go to Wakulla Springs ages ago and this weekend it finally worked out so that we could go. I went to Wakulla Springs about 2 years ago with my girl Stacey. You can read about our adventures here. David hasn't been since our Science Club took a field trip there when we were freshmen in high school. So, it had been a minute for both of us going. Every time I go to Wakulla Springs, I am reminded how much I love it down there. It is so pretty and just reminds me of home and the Chipola River that is so dear to my heart.

I had no clue that Wakulla Springs was so popular. I guess the only times that I have really gone were during off-peak seasons. As in going for school field trips during the school year, or like Stacey and I did when we went in March. I was shocked when we pulled into the gate and had to wait like 15 minutes to just pay to get in. Crazy! I was also shocked at the amounts of foreigners that were there. It made me question how they found a place that seems so obscure to me like Wakulla Springs. But I'm glad that so many people get to experience such a beautiful natural Florida landscape.

There were so many people there, that it took a while before we could do the Riverboat Cruise. While we waited, we checked out the lodge/restaurant. I still love going in there. It is so pretty.

The murals on the ceiling are gorgeous. This picture does not do them justice. After looking at a few exhibits, it was time to head out!

And for fairness sake, I was there I promise. Just usually on the other end of the camera!

Hey! I'm a hot mess in this heat!

It had been raining and it was really humid. So it made the water have a fog over it. It was beautiful.

Wakulla Springs has been the site of many movies and television shows. Many Tarzan shows were filmed right here. As well as the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

We encountered lots of wildlife. Many birds, a few alligators, turtles, and even some manatees.

Nesting site

Peek a boo!

Mama with her chicks

Manatee. Wish I had gotten a picture of the calves that were with them...

I believe that this is my favorite picture from the whole day.

I had no idea that David had such strong feelings about birds before. When the bird was spotted David points at it and says "look at that bird up there looking all disgusting." Granted the bird is malting, so it's feathers are falling out. I guess David dislikes this bird due to many encounters in the swamp. They are really oily and greasy and will eat your fish. I think I am going to have this picture blown up and framed for him to hang over his couch. I think he would love it!

Well, that's my adventures at Wakulla Springs.

It was beautiful and I enjoyed every minute.

See ya later, alligator!

Last Post About the Beach

...I promise! This will be a quick post about my last day at Indian Pass. I'm sure everyone is tired of this by now! I am anyways. On Monday, Brad, David, and I went out on the bay to go fishing. We only "fished" for a moment, then got caught in a rain storm, and then finally got in the water so the guys could spear fish. I occupied myself by gathering sand dollars and other creatures. We had a fabulous time and I was glad that I got to spend the day with two of my favorite men!

That evening, the family hit up the beach with the kids in search of crabs. They had a blast chasing them down. Rendi even got brave and held one. They were adorable and we had so much fun doing it!

So that wraps up our beach vacation. We had a great time and if you are looking into a low key beach vacation off of the beaten path away from a bunch of tourists, check out Indian Pass.
Told you this would be a quick post! Happy Friday, ya'll!