Family BBQ

Wildman’s elementary school hosted a family BBQ a couple of weekends ago.  The PTO held a poster contest to advertise the event.  The photo above is the winning design.  It will be put on next year’s family BBQ t-shirts.

Fun contests and entertainment filled the afternoon from noon to 4 PM.  When we arrived we bought our tickets and headed to the food pavilion to have lunch!

After we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves with everything from hot dogs and pizza to cookies and watermelon, we decided to check out the raffle baskets and silent auction items.  Each grade collected money and put together a themed basket to raffle off.  Tickets were $1 apiece and you could put as many tickets as you wanted into the drawing for the baskets.  Kindergarten did a Lego theme.  It was adorable!  Sadly, we did not win a single thing…

J took the kids to the playground while I went to photograph the watermelon-eating and jump rope contests.  My boys were hot and tired from their morning t-ball game and refused to participate in any of the contests…  Oh, well.  I understand that.

I joined everyone back at the playground after I’d taken a bunch of pictures.  The kids were even more hot and tired by that point so we decided to call it a day.  We ended up taking the boat out for what ended up being one of the most pleasant island trips we’ve ever had.  I so wish I had brought my camera…

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4th of July Party Weekend Recap

It was an atypical 4th of July holiday for us this year as we normally host or attend a family party.  Since Steph was in Mexico and half of our relatives are divorced we ended up going our own separate ways to celebrate Independence Day.  I have to say that it was a pleasant change of pace.  No stress.  No drama.  Just good times with good friends.  That is how it should be!

We went to a small barbecue at a friend’s house on Saturday to say good-bye to Geeg and her family (again).  They were officially moving out of state on Monday so we tried to squeeze in as much time with them as possible over the weekend.

J entertained everyone with his whale riding skills.  Is there any doubt why I married him?  Don’t be jealous.

I was asked to participate as a guest instructor at a Zumba Jam on the morning of the 4th.  I was happy to help out since I knew I’d be gorging myself later on some yummy food.  It was so much fun and a great workout to boot!

We headed over to another friend’s house for a get-together late in the afternoon.  I brought some sassy, patriotic watermelon to share 🙂

The weather was pretty crappy all day.  The constant drizzle did not stop the children and the kids-at-heart from going bananas in the street with fireworks.  Some of us chose to watch the activity from the safety of the dry living room.  As you can see from the smoke cloud outside, there were quite a few fireworks being lit that afternoon.

We left the party after a couple of hours so we could light some of our own fireworks on our driveway.  J donned his Viva Mexico sombrero for rain protection.  Again, don’t be jealous!

I sat on the front porch in my lawn chair alternately watching the rain fall on my flowers and the fireworks display that J and the kids put on.

Eventually we packed it in and headed over to the causeway to watch the various fireworks displays on the river.  I was surprised that they were not canceled on account of the rain.  I chose to sit in the car and watch them.  J and the boys, however, ventured out into the drizzle and mosquitoes.    Brave souls.

All in all, it was a great 4th of July weekend.  Hope you had a great one too!

Mark’s Melon Patch

We stopped by Mark’s Melon Patch in Georgia on the way home from visiting J’s grandparents.  It is a roadside stand to beat all roadside stands!  There was so much to look at that it was a bit overwhelming.  The boys liked play ground and outhouse complete with girly posters…  I liked the flower gardens and mountains of fresh produce.

Have you ever seen a yellow watermelon?  I hadn’t so I made sure to buy one for us to try.  It tastes just like red watermelon to me.

I couldn’t resist the fresh Georgia peaches either.  We bought a basket of beautiful peaches that I turned into this:

The peach cobbler was heavenly when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  Yum!

Peach Cobbler

1/2  cup  unsalted butter
1  cup  all-purpose flour
2  cups  sugar, divided
1  tablespoon  baking powder
Pinch of salt
1  cup  milk
4  cups  fresh peach slices
1  tablespoon  almond flavoring
Ground cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)

******

Melt butter in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir).

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and almond flavoring in a medium bowl; pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

Bake at 375° for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.