Mother’s Day…

For Mother’s Day this year we had a lovely dinner for everyone, including shrimp and salmon with all the sides. We also had some humorous Mother’s Day cards – the dollar store never lets us down for these cards. 😊

Nana got a new computer as her old one was on it’s last legs, so we all chipped in to help with the cost. The new laptop is 17″ (old one was only 14″) and much faster and after a little bit of setup we got everything running for her. Alex and Sam chipped in and bought Mom the new rain barrel and all four us went down to Pawley Island, SC for a couple of days. We chose Pawley Island because it was suppose to have some good shelling, but alas there was almost none to be found. We did still have a great time as we spent most of the day at Huntington Beach State Park (https://southcarolinaparks.com/huntington-beach) which had a very nice beach and large salt marsh with turtles, alligators and lots of birds. Mom and Sam took a lot of photos! The next day we stopped at Home Depot in Mrytle Beach, SC (Mom found another tropical plant!) and then took off for Holden Beach, NC. Holden Beach has been our best location so far for shells and fossils and this trip we got some of our best fossils and Mom and Sam got to try out the new shell scooper she got for Christmas.

Since the rain barrel didn’t arrive until after Mother’s Day we didn’t get it installed until this last weekend. There was only a 40% chance of rain on Saturday with some possible scattered thunderstorms after 4pm, so Mom was anxious to get it installed. Well, as has been the case a lot lately, the weathermen blew that forecast as it poured for about 3 hours straight and dumped 2″ of rain on us in that time. The rain barrel is 60 gallons and was full within the first hour. Unfortunately we didn’t get a hose attached to the overflow valve so all the remaining water just dumped out the side. We dodged the bullet the rest of Memorial Weekend as most of the rain missed us. This week we hope to dry out and get that overflow hose attached.

Sam’s very Early/Late Birthday present….

A few years ago, Sam expressed interest in going diving at the Georgia Aquarium (https://www.georgiaaquarium.org) and we were all set to go, but things came up and we couldn’t make it that year. Covid came and we kind of forgot about it after that, but this year we decided that now was a good time. Luckily everyone was willing to chip in for his present since it had gone up quite a bit since the last time we looked… Alex even chipped in and bought him the official dive video.

Of course, Sam’s birthday isn’t until June, but since hotels are quite a bit cheaper now and the crowds are obviously smaller with school still in session, it seemed like a great time to schedule the dive. So last week we took off for Atlanta – about a 6.5 hour trip from home… or at least it should have been. Traffic, thunderstorms, construction and several stops along the way delayed the trip a couple of hours both ways. We did, however, get to stop and see our first Buc-cee’s mega Gas Station/restaurant/destination location in Florence, SC. If you haven’t heard of Buc-cee’s – it’s kind of a big deal (https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/11/22/why-are-buccees-gas-stations-so-popular/71342752007/). They have over 100 gas pumps and it’s well known for it’s brisket, beef jerky and pulled pork sandwiches.

After leaving at 5:30am, we finally made it to Atlanta around 1:30pm and had about an hour to look around and see some of the exhibits. Sam’s dive lasted about 30 minutes in the water, but he had to get suited up and get some instructions from the dive master. While he was getting ready, Mom and Dad were given a behind the scenes tour that was pretty cool too – they got to see the wave machine and filters, the water testing rooms, and hospital for the animals. Eventually all the divers were in the water and the guides took the guests back into the aquarium to see them. We got a few good shots of Sam and took some additional video too. Overall, it was a great visit and something that none of us will soon forget.

After the dive, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Chick-fil-a and went back to the hotel to rest up for the return trip. The next day, we did make a quick pit stop at a Lowes, so Mom and Sam could look at the garden section (they ended bringing back several flowers) and then another quick pit stop at a local architectural salvage shop (https://www.architecturalaccents.com) before heading home and collapsing on the sofa.

Here is the official video from the team at the aquarium…

Here is the video that Dad made…

Happy Birthday!

May 5th was Gung Gung’s birthday, but do to everyone’s work schedule we celebrated it on Saturday the 4th. This was one of the rare year’s that Gung Gong was actually in town, so we brought out the big guns for dinner. Grilled Trout, Grilled Salmon and slider hamburgers. Of course, we had quite a few sides and 2 different kind of cakes for dessert with some homemade strawberry ice cream (strawberries were fresh from the Farmer’s Market). Everyone had a good time and we were all quite full. David received quite a few cards and a new backpack for traveling. Contrary to what one of the cards says – it’s not his 100th birthday! 😊