I am obsessed with holidays. You probably already know this. When I was a kid I thought even Earth Day qualified as a gift giving occasion. However, I'm now obsessed with holiday home decorations and festive foods. Ryan and I hosted a family 4th of July bash at our house this year, and it did not disappoint!
Eating watermelon is fun. Eating patriotic watermelon with blueberries is even more exciting!!!
American strawberries (white chocolate with blue SPRINKLES- my favorite!) Remember, I eat those by the handful. Many sprinkles were harmed consumed during this preparation.
Let them eat cake! With stars and stripes, of course.
A few little touches around the house.
Note: Katharine was not allowed within 10 feet of the grill.
Oh, and if you heard a loud noise that afternoon, I'll explain why. It poured rain the night before, and when my Mom stepped on the door mat, it moved, sending her sailing out of the house with her arms and legs twisting like pretzels. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously hurt and lived to tell about it.
Pretty soon, we had a house full of nuts family.
Uncle David gave me an apron!
It read:
Kitchen Hours
Monday- closed
Tuesday- no service
Wednesday- half day
Thursday- out shopping
Friday- day off
Saturday- eat out
Sunday- day of test
I couldn't agree more!!!
Jay and Mesha prepare healthy concoctions.
Keep your eye on the grand old fries.
Behold the famous Robin Moody chili recipe. PHENOMENAL!
Come and get it!
Game playing is a must. Catch phrase is even more entertaining when your family members have trouble seeing the words and claim to not hear properly. The game timer simply adds to the confusion.
And to continue our snacking...if you've never had homemade popcorn, go buy one of these NOW. You'll never buy the microwave kind again!
We had a BLAST on the 4th! : D
While my family was here one of our outings included a trip to the gas station that turned into a behind-the-scenes crime encounter. Out of probably thousands of gas stations in Columbia I chose the one with FIVE police cars arresting people at the gas pump and causing quite the scene. I can sure pick 'em. I ended up pumping gas right next to the criminals.
Ryan and I spent the previous weekend in Murrell's Inlet with his parents. We began our trip with dinner at the delicious Hanser House!
And slept like Lucille Ball and Ricky Ricardo in our cute little room.
Highlights of the remainder of that weekend include:
Ryan going for a dip.
What? They sell 'skeeters?!!
Sorry, buddy, false alarm.
Sweet Ryan with his purchases.
One of the world's greatest cooks.
This meal was made completely from scratch- including that box of Bojangles chicken.
Ryan and I also went to the beach and got in the ocean. That lasted about only an hour for two main reasons:
1) It was absolutely, miserably hot. Even walking on the sand was painful.
2) While in the water a huge wave knocked into me like wrecking ball. This resulted in a hurtful burn/cut on my leg, followed by a sympathy trip to Baskin Robbins.
"I'll cure anything!"
Aunt Missy also graced us with her presence : ) It's always great to see her!
We also went to the Marsh Walk. I was hoping for more marsh and less walking.
Not sure what those symbols mean... probably some sort of hunting jargon.
Poor guy is probably going to turn into a plate of fish sticks. Make that a platter; he's pretty big.
I did of course find my way to the souvenirs. Check out that Super Mario ring. I later told Ryan that he could have proposed with this instead, hahaha.
The earrings are an added bonus.
We also took a trip to the Coastal Grand mall. One missing cell phone and a store page for Debra Moody later, I emerged with a few goodies from Dillards.
Ryan said that I should be the owner of this shop. Ha!
We stopped in Dillon on our way back to have some fun. Battledome is a pinball-like game that Jay and I had in the early 90s. The original one we had was either broken, left at Goodwill in one of my Mom's cleaning sweeps, or perhaps sadly buried in our attic, never to be found again.
Leave it to EBAY to have one of these available!!! We've enjoyed our resurrected game so much!
No trip home is complete without a visit from the best pizza delivery man in town. Be forewarned that if your house is hard to find, your food may be cold upon arrival.
Fast forward to this past weekend, which was full of fun! Ryan and his brother spent some time together in Columbia, while I had many things on my agenda, including:
- Spending several hours in the recording studio (I cannot WAIT to finish the new CD!)
- Visiting the Shuttleworths
- Shopping and eating at King's with Meagan and little Noah
- Catching up with Karen and James, and having a little dance-off in the process...
Karen will always be significantly taller than I am...
And, church on Sunday of course : D I LOVE MY CHURCH!
There are many exciting things coming up in the next few weeks. I can't wait to keep you informed!
Have a simply wonderful week, my friends!
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