Refueling accomplished here

Back in September, we took a trip to the Alabama coast with our son and daughter-in-law.  It was a MUCH needed vacation . . .and time of refueling.

 

(You can stop at this point if you want . . .family vacation picture overload . . .or you can stay and visit - I would love to share with you!!)

 

Mark and Glenn spent much time on the pier fishing . . .and catching . . .and cleaning fish.

 

That is one clean fish . . .hee hee!  Always makes me think of my nephew, Thomas, when he was a little boy.  He thought Uncle Mark was "cleaning" the fish . . .as in bathing them . . .and throwing them back to their mamas!!  We don't have catch and release men in our family - we have catch and eat folks.

I love getting up and walking out on the pier early in the morning.  The guys are out fishing and the sun rise is always so beautiful.

I was playing with my "big" camera lens . . .this shot of the pier was taken from our condo balcony . . .and it was quite a distance.  You can see Mark and Glenn out on the end of the pier.

I love this shot of the sea oats . . .I was playing with the camera again.  I was on vacation - figured I might as well PLAY!!!  I think it is almost worthy of printing on a canvas.

I love this shot also - you can see his feathers blowing in the wind!!!

Lauren and I would walk out to the end of the pier often and visit with the guys and check out the action.  You can see that Lauren has a book . . .she and I read a lot!!!  Good vacation!!!

Speaking of being out on the pier early in the morning . . .one morning, a wife (not this one nor Lauren), arrived at the end of the pier with breakfast for her husband.  It was early - not long after sunrise . . .and his breakfast was some sort of sandwich wrapped in foil . . .and BEER.  Now I'm not a beer drinker in the first place, but I cannot fathom drinking it for breakfast!!!

More shots as I played with the camera.

This is the very first photo I snapped on vacation . . .this was in our condo.  I think our "homeowner" was crafty because there were several homemade items in the condo.

This is embarrassing . . .but funny . . .this was our fridge at the beginning of the week.  Everything in the fridge is liquid (except for that baggie next to the diet pepsis - smoked sausage that Mark brought from home.)  None of our folks were drinking beer for breakfast . . . .but we did consume some liquids during our week of vacation.

I read this book . . . and LOVED it . . and highly recommend it.  Go out and buy it right now. . . .for many reasons.  1)  It is a good book  2)  It made me laugh and cry  3)  It is written by an author from Alabama  4)  The author lives in Birmingham (or at least teaches school in Birmingham - I have no idea where she actually "lives" . . .I haven't stalked her or anything!!)  5)  Support local!!

This is where we spent the most time.  We could not have ordered better weather.  It was magnificent - sunny skies; a breeze to keep the flies away (they can be horrible in September); warm sunshine - the kind you can feel all the way down into your bones . . .I was DESPERATE for some sunshine.

 

Yeah . . this cup tells its own story.  No more words needed.

 

When Glenn and Mark weren't fishing or sitting on the beach, they were frying fish.  Several times we ate fish . . .30 minutes out of the water.  I'm not a big fish eater but you CAN'T BEAT it when it is this fresh!!

I always take a project to the beach.  Does anyone else do that?  I can't stand to be totally inactive.  Over the years, I have dragged scrapbooking supplies to the beach . . .and one year, I organized all my recipes into a giant binder.  This year, I worked on the prayer vigil poster for a men's Emmaus Walk that was coming up.  The Lay Director's verse was, "Create in me a clean heart O God."  I cut out all the letters and packed them in a baggie.  During the week, I was able to complete everything except the actual names of folks praying.  I typed those when we got home and attached them.

Here is the finished poster -- a friend was kind enough to deliver it to camp for me because we had a death in the family the week of the actual walk. . .made my life a little easier.

No trip to the beach is complete without a trip (or two) to the Original Oyster House.  On my first trip (I was with Mark), we split an order of shrimp . . .and something else but for the life of me, I cannot remember what!!!  Lauren and I ate there on another day when we were out shopping around.  Just let me say that I LOVE shrimp.

 

It was a good vacation - much needed time of rest and refueling.  I told Mark that I was desperate for sleep.  When you are married to a fisherman . . .they get up at midnight sometimes to go fishing . . .or at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m.  We had a three bedroom condo and I told Mark that I was sleeping in the third bedroom so I could rest!!!  Some of our friends have laughed at us but that just goes to show how tired I have been this fall.

 

I'm so thankful that I am married to . . .and gave birth to two others . . .and one of those married another . . ..beach lover.  I would be so sad if we had to spend our vacations somewhere without lots of sunshine.