The 4th

Grandma B, the Critters, Rian, and I headed down to St. George Island for the 4th. Thanks Grandma B! We had a little condo down by the state park and I can't think of a nicer spot. We didn't have the crowds down toward our end of the island and we set up our canopy on Saturday morning and didn't take it down until Tuesday. Its nice not having to worry about your stuff being taken.

The weather was perfect and the water was a beautiful shade of emerald green. Brother and Haddie took off for the water as soon as we got down there. CarCar on the other had loves to stay in the dry sand. I was a little concerned with Carson being afraid of the water, but as soon as we headed to the pool she morphed into a water baby. The condo complex that we stayed at had a great pool right in the center. To say Carson liked the pool would be an understatement. Grandma B got them these little floatie devices and they actually appeared to understand the concept of swimming, especially CarCar and Haddie.

We just relaxed all day Saturday. It was definitely needed. We headed over to Apalachicola on Sunday to look around. I wanted to head to The Tin Shed to see if I could find some nautical themed items for Brother's room (when he moves). (I will post boards with how I would like the rooms to look later, similar with what I did for the nursery. The trip was a success as we found some hand painted buoys from Nova Scotia, and a shadow box with nautical knots. Brother did want the life size, well endowed pirate wench statue, but Grandma B and Rian vetoed it.

That nice we were invited over to the Marcus's parents house on the island for a little cookout. It was a great time and a beautiful of the bay. Had some great BBQ and a boiled blue crab. The Critters got a lot of energy out as they danced to the live band there. Thanks again to Holly and Marcus for the invite.

We laid low on the 4th, hitting the beach and pool. Around noon we headed to the lighthouse to watch the parade. We packed our lunch, threw up the tailgate and watched the parade in the jeep. I had forgotten about the whole water gun thing and Rian got soaked. I did remain relatively dry, I guess since I was holding Haddie (somewhat as a human shield). We headed back to Appalach that evening for dinner @ Boss Oyster. Man, that was some good eatin'. Raw oysters, grouper, shrimp, fried oysters and beer, what a combo. That night we headed back to the lighthouse for the fireworks show. It was a neat little show but we had a little too much redneck engineering behind us with the illegal fireworks. These things were zinging right over our head. At that point we decided to call it a night. We exited unscathed. Unfortunately, we had to head home on Tuesday but we had a great time down at the island. Can't wait till next year!

Here are a few pics:

Crits @ the beach. I think this was the great crab episode by the look on CarCar's face.

Dad and Grandma B trying to put the kite together. I was convinced it was broken until I read the directions. I guess they help sometimes.

CarCar with a big smile.

Brother with a smile.

Haddie on the dock @ Marcus's Grandmother's house. (Pic courtesy of Mary.)

All of the kids. (Pic courtesy of Mary.)

The Critters. (Pic courtesy of Mary.)

View from the back of the house. (Photo courtesy of Mary, courtesy of Hillary.)

The start of the parade.

We are still working on the right way to wear sunglasses.

Brother and his flag watching the parade.

Rian after a direct hit from a water cannon.

Brother (Quaalude boy) after the parade.

Haddie on the 4th.

Dinner @ Boss Oyster.

Haddie enjoyed the tartar sauce.

Mom and Dad.

Dad and CarCar.

Grandma B and Brother.

View from our table. Does seafood get any fresher?

Chris