Monday late afternoon and well into the evening, I entertained my sis-in-law, Nancy, plus her two kids, Tabitha and Uriah. Each had brought along a friend on the big trip from WI, Kim and Cody. They are not staying with me but rather at her older brother's house down the road from me on Fleming Island. That had to be quite interesting having the name "Kim" bandied about those walls during their stay! Much of their time in St. Augustine was interrupted with rainfall and the drive back this direction was in steady rain. They opted to not go swimming so I got out my Apples to Apples game for the kids to play, while Nancy and I visited in the river room. Supper was still baking so it gave us time for adult conversation!
At Winn-Dixie I bought the family-sized Stouffer's lasagna to serve my guests, plus Caesar salad and Italian bread. It was buy one, get one for the Italian bread but I was concerned we would not eat two of those long skinny loaves, but the offer was also for regular loaves. Great! I will have toast for at least a month to come! You cannot really see it but Cody (on the left) is wearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt. At some point his traveling partners had told him about my famous neighbors but I don't think that is why he wore the shirt yesterday. Uriah (on the right) was quite a gifted writer, having been published in grade school after writing a poem about his cousin, Timmy, who had died. Now his interests are in architecture.
Here we are, all squished together into the frame, as I lean over toward Uriah, who is kneeling between his mom, Nancy, and me. Tabitha looks like she is going to burst, must have been some good lasagna! These people, even the children, made me feel like a dwarf, with Tabitha soaring already to six feet tall! Uriah is not far behind her and their mom can hold her own when it comes to height. They told me that until Justin showed up at their uncle's house, Tabitha was the tallest in the room! These poor, pasty Wisconsinites all were sporting sunburns, as runs in the family, not so much sun tan as burning right away. Uriah had attempted to put sunscreen on his mom, but as often occurs, he missed several spots, making for interesting tracks and shapes on her exposed back!
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After our dessert of raspberry shortcake, we quickly cleared the table of dishes and food. I removed the tablecloth to the laundry room and fetched the "Catch Phrase" game from the closet. Well, I will tell you---that was an absolute hoot! The kids really got into it and poor Uriah was so enthusiastic that he was sweating bullets! I DID have the air on!!! (Get it, Mom?) We played several rounds, not keeping score, with me having the most fun watching their faces as they struggled to come up with the suitable descriptions for the word without saying it, and then passing it like a hot potato! I call it "Password and Hot Potato" because that is how it is played! Finally, Nancy said they had to get going if they wanted to get an early start for the Zoo and Kingsley Plantation today. Tomorrow her brother is taking off from work, as will his girlfriend, and they are all going tubing on a river west of here. Joanne always threatened to take me there, but the "constant water temperature of 72 degrees" is not all that appealing to me!
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