California Comes to Cairo

As I mentioned before, my sister and her family live on the outskirts of San Francisco, California. My sister and her husband Steve were married in a beautiful ceremony at sunset on a schooner in Key West ten years ago. Instead of taking a second honeymoon to Italy, they chose to spend their tenth anniversary here..in rural southwest Georgia, where my sister and I grew up. I'm not saying those years were perfect, but they were something special, and we had so many good times then that we will never forget. From mama sending us to the field to find colorful arrowheads, to daddy cooling us off with a water hose on those hot summer days when he would come home on his lunch break, they both created rainbows that will forever permeate our memories of childhood. I'm so thankful that my sister chose to bring her husband and two children home to celebrate this milestone with us. Because...although I'm sure Italy is beautiful...WOW what architecture...what history...sometimes being around your own architecture and your own history can really be just what you needed.

We began our vacation at Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA, which brought back memories of the excitement of Six Flags and Disney World from our childhood. Only this time, although Mama and Daddy are a little bit older, and Daddy has a heart bypass surgery under his belt, he still rode a few roller coasters with the grandkids, disregarding all the warnings telling him that this might not be a good idea. Nothing was going to stop him from enjoying this.

On the way home, we stopped at Publix because Mama wanted to get some sandwich fixings for supper. Little did we know that this was to be a 45 minute ordeal. Unbeknownst to us, Sue meant for this sandwich supper to be on a level that would be fit for a king. We had to find just the right kind of bread, just the right kind of cheese, and only the best of the best deli meat. And lets not forget the chips...Lays? Are you kidding me? Ha. These potatoes must have been hand chopped and baked, then delicately placed inside the bag one by one, only after their quality had been scrutinized by a specially qualified potato chip engineer. Sue would have only the best. And I must say, it was absolutely delicious. Mama brought out all of her cooking talents the few days that Livi was here. She made a delicious shrimp bisque that first night, and I swear I could eat that for every meal for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

The next few days rushed by in a blur. We went to Mary Brogan's museum in Tallahassee where the kids had a blast looking at the dinosaur exhibit and playing with all of the hands-on stuff that they had there...but the best times were spent at home. It was so nice just to relax and let the kids play in the yard, riding the lawn mowers, eating watermelon, and just being kids. Just like we used to do. Well, I don't remember us riding the lawn mower, but then Daddy didn't have THREE of them for us to play on back then! But I do remember that one time when we raked the yard-getting every single bit of pine straw up-praying that would keep us from getting in trouble...that one time when Granny stayed with us when Mama and Daddy went out of town...when we were teenagers...and we...need I say more?