Party time! Happy 90th Mr Bill!

Despite the downpour that began at 5:26 - in honor of the celebration, there was a huge turn-out at the party! I think Jim & Steph and Liam from San Diego were from the farthest away! But there were people from all over who came - people who used to live on the island and have moved away, people who live here now, and family. The room was packed! The birthday cakes were eaten, and fun was had.

The emcee told the joke: Angel came to a man who had lived a long life and always done right, and the angel said, “You have lived a good life and you have earned one request. What would you like?” The man thought for a second and replied, “Well, I don’t like planes or boats, but I’ve always wanted to see Hawaii, could you build a bridge?” “Well, that’s pretty tough, do you have a second wish?” So the man said, “Well, you know, I’ve always wanted to understand my wife - what she is thinking, what she wants.” the angel responded, “Would you like that bridge to have two lanes or four.”

There was good food and good friends - laughter and smiles all evening. Another excellent Fripp celebration was successfully held!

Party preparations - Pot luck, table cloths, and doodads

Friday night there was a pot luck at the house Beth rented - and the 8mm movies were watched. They are silent movies - but that doesn’t matter - the family remembering fills in the gaps. Sometime later we are going to have to get the movies narrated for posterity - but watching Beth, Melissa, Bill, Ms Chris, and Mr. Bill finishing their brick patio and learning how to operate the pool is fun. There was concern that there wouldn’t be enough food at the pot luck, but there was more than enough - salad, sandwiches, pasta - and Ms. Chris became Liam’s favorite watermelon supplier!

Saturday Morning we were at the community center at 11:00 to help set up the tables, get all the chairs positioned and the table cloths on the table. Ms. Chris knew right where she wanted everything - and I think everything ended up where it belonged… Dad and I went and got some coffee as the final touches were put on the football table and loose knits (golf group) decorations.

We sat at home and wondered if the tornado warning/watches were going to be an issue for us or the party.

House of Mirrors and that table

Mom posed in the hall with the mirrors to help demonstrate the fun house nature of all the mirrors in the house. It has been entertaining with little Liam - he keeps seeing himself. Although it is also a little disconcerting when you are walking along to the stairs - and find yourself nose-to-nose with yourself…

The table has been a challenge to Liam - it is just a little bit taller than he can get his leg up and over - so he has had to lean as far as he can to get the Dora CD to play.

New friend for Goliath?

Stephen said I can't bring home new pets that might some day eat the current pets... but this lil guy was soo cute, he is now my background!

Oh yeah - people played golf too...

Golf and a nature walk on Fripp Island, SC

The first full day on Fripp was of course full of golf. We got up and ate breakfast - I got downstairs a little late - but there was still bacon for me. Tee times were selected and the schedule set - morning visit to my Grandparents’ house with the wireless internet to catch up on things, then lunch and golf.

I didn’t play golf - just took pictures (still recovering from the belly flop over Mark W.) The golfers were Mom, Dad, and Uncle Bob (Aunt Beth’s husband). There were 4 alligators on the first hole! I didn’t remember soo many gators. I took pictures of most of the gators I saw, one little guy in particular was very photogenic - don’t you think!

Mom said it was the best that she had ever played the course. There was a lot of wind, but in any case, Mom managed to get over all the water hazards - even the one ball she thought she had put in the water, was just on the water’s edge. I only found 2 balls in the hazards, which didn’t match the number that Dad lost. Dad almost bought a new window - he was behind a tree off the fairway. He hit that tree good - maybe something else, definitely the house - about 6 inches from a window… He scampered into the yard and retrieved his ball - backed up a little bit from his previous spot behind the tree and safely hit his ball back into the fairway - despite the chuckling from the peanut gallery - Aunt Beth had shown up with an extra golf cart - and she and I were now officially in a spectator golf cart.

There were some beautiful golf shots and some ugly ones - and lots of critters - gators, turtles, snakes, birds.

The condo on the water - practically in the water:

The condo that my parents have rented for all of us is in New Haven Village on Fripp Island. It is on the end of the buildings and it is on the sea wall. Since it is a second floor condo, you can’t see the sea wall, just the sea. It is very cool - as it this table in the living room! It is driftwood with a glass top - I’m going to try and take a couple pictures and do it justice.

Bar-b-cue with a “B“ in Charleston, SC

Arrival in Charleston was uneventful. We found Brissinger’s Bar-B-cue and had some excellent pulled pork! I’m bringing some rub back to CT to be used on my last Waygu briskets or some braised short ribs - mmmm…mmm….good. The pulled pork sandwich came with steak fries and ONE onion ring - “No Substitutions” The ONE onion ring was unlike any onion right I have ever seen! It was battered with hush puppy batter (almost a doughnut batter) with thick Vidalia onions in the middle. It was phenomenally delicious! Dad programmed the location into his GPS and we headed on to Fripp.

We had to stop at the grocery store (PUBLIX) before heading back to the island - had to pick up some Bluebell ice cream and other essentials. We ran into Aunt Beth, and Mom got the plan for the evening. I got Stephen’s gift from the trip - go ahead a guess =P.

The evening plans were to get together at my grandparents’ house for dinner - maybe movies…. My aunt has had all of the family 8mm movies converted to DVD’s! So we eventually met everyone back at the house - and watched the movie of the trains, the pool digging in Birmingham, the Virginia Trip in 1961 - it was all very interesting and entertaining to see the 1960’s home movies!

Dinner was served and it was time to head back home get some ice cream and hit the sack…. Oh, except, I started Twilight in Hartford, and had gotten to a point where I couldn’t just stop, so I stayed up a little late and finished the book.

Whirlyball Video

Whirly what?

One of our friends recently had a big 3-0 birthday. The party was held at a Whirlyball facility. I have heard of this whirlyball activity - the groups at work have gone there for "Team Building". It sounded like fun - bumper cars, basketball, and lacrosse... it was the lacrosse that scared me a bit. I remember watching lacrosse with my mother as a kid. We described lacrosse as - kill the man with the ball, and here's a stick to do it with...

Anyway, the bumper car bit sounded like fun and it was! I never scored a goal, I was able to throw the wiffle ball all the way down the court without hitting the heating vent, and I hit the backboard SEVERAL times from a short distance away, but you have to hit the circle in the middle.

I got rear ended into the wall, and decided that I was done - the boys were becoming overpowered by their competitive nature... The next 10 minute game - the boys ruled the court - all the ladies left and watched from the observation area. They had picked teams and ran plays - well, one team did, they won the match 8-2 or so (2 points per score, there is a 3 point line, but I think getting a 3 point score would be more luck than skill, especially for those of us playing on this day.)

It was a blast, and I would do it again, at least until I started to see the NASCAR - rear end them into the wall - spirit coming out in my competitors.

There is an official web site, with a video of "advanced players".

Here is the video of our crew... The funniest thing was that you have one hand steering, one hand throwing and catching, and one foot accelerating - NO BRAKE! and some times, you loose track of what your foot is doing while you are focusing on the ball and the other people on the court - I captured Marci in this situation, but it happened to me too...