Eeeeewwww!

So, on the Monday after the Savannah trip, I went to pick up Harley from the vet where she had boarded over the weekend. I got there at noon, closed everything out, and they receptionist told me I coudn't take her home yet as she had...

TICKS! Eeeewwwww! They asked me to come back at 5:30 to pick her up, and when I did, as she jumped in the van, I saw something dark hanging off her back leg. I pulled it off, and needless to say, marched her right back inside for another full body search. After the techs pulled off two more, and after I had an interesting conversation with a man in the waiting room whose house and dogs were infested with - you guessed it - ticks, I took Harley home and proceeded to pull 9 more ticks off of her, combing her with the flea comb every hour on the hour. Luckily, my vet's pest control company is owned by none other than my wonderful brother-in-law. He came and treated our house as a preventive measure, and luckily we have seen no more. I won't say I'm scarred for life, but it was pretty damaging.

One night in Savannah

We used our night in Savannah as a "getaway" without kids. We stayed at the Hamilton-Turner Inn,

a historic bed & breakfast that doesn't allow young children, so we'd never be able to stay there otherwise. We had made reservations a few days prior, and the only room available was a carriage house room. When we arrived, they had upgraded our room to one of the rooms in the main house, and it was beautiful!

We relaxed for an hour or so in the parlour where they served brownies with lemonade and sweet tea,

and then went out to find some dinner. On the way, we stopped into the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - literally next door to the Inn.

It was lovely. Then we made our way to the Olde Pink House where they weren't serving dinner yet, but they placed us in the Arches lounge area. We ordered off the afternoon "snack" menu, and I'm kind of glad we chose that because the portions were just enough. We started with an appetizer of Fried Green Tomatoes with Applewood Bacon over Sweet Corn Cream

and moved on to Shrimp and Grits (George)

and the Applewood Bacon Cheeseburger (me)

with Peach Sorbet for dessert.

Can you say "delicious?" On the walk back, we passed by one of the historic fire stations just as the trucks were pulling out with lights flashing and sirens blaring. George's adrenaline spiked as only a first responder's can, and he got some good shots of the action.

Back at the Inn, wine and cheese were being served, so we stopped downstairs for a bit. The Inn was featured in the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, so we decided to be little cheesy and rent that from the library downstairs. After the movie, the innkeepers again had a treat for us...after-dinner port! We had a glass, and then went back out to the streets to find Leopold's ice cream shop, a historic shop that actually serves old fashioned ice cream sodas. Between the awesome ice cream and the movie memorabilia inside, we spent a good amount of time there. We strolled back past all of the ghost tours stopped at the cemetery, and had another glass of port before collapsing on the best hotel bed ever.

The next morning, after taking a "shower" (read as dribble through the atique pipe attached to the clawfoot tub), we went downstairs for coffee and newspapers in the parlour. We then moved to breakfast in the dining room. It was such an experience that George ate zucchini and squash in the vegetable frittatta. AMAZING! 

After our stuff was packed, we headed out to meet the parents and kids for lunch in Jacksonville. Though the occasion was sad, it turned out to be an OK weekend after all.

July recap...

July was just as busy as May and June - actually more so because it was the end of the fiscal year at work. Every day was spent trying to avoid fiscal disaster, and it turned out ok in the end. The fourth of July holiday was spent at the Country Club pool during the day and in our usual spot at the Summerbrooke golf course for fireworks that night. The next couple of weeks were business as usual while we waited for Megan and Danny to visit Grandma and Paw paw in Jacksonville. In the week before we left, we learned that George's Aunt Wanda had died. We altered our plans, and left a day early to attend the funeral in Pooler, Ga. after dropping the kids off in Jacksonville.

The funeral was very moving and George got to see a lot of family that he hadn't seen in a long time. After the funeral, we all went to Gran-gran's church for a reception filled with awesome Southern dishes made by the women at the church. By about 2:30pm, everyone was exhausted, so we said our goodbyes and went down to Savannah for the night.

We love you, Wanda, and we miss your smile and your laugh! Your name means love to a lot of people.

Fathers Day Car Show

Our church usually has a car show on Father's Day, and this year they decided to hold it on the night before due to the usual extreme warmth of June afternoons. So on the Saturday before Father's Day, we went out to the green space next to the church and walked through the largest show they've had and voted for our favorites in each category. We all enjoy this event, and the relative coolness of the evening made it even better! George got some great shots of the cool cars and even cooler kids!

Even though it has been a month and a half, and I've already said it to the dads in the family - Happy Father's Day!

 

Our family vacation, Day 5

Day 5:

Our last day of vacation was spent much like the first. Hanging at the resort, watching the gators get fed,

and eating ice cream. If it wasn't for the neighbors next door partying until all hours of the morning, we wouldn't have wanted to come home. As it was, we were glad to get into our own beds and go to sleep the next night!