Fish. It's what's for dinner.

We all got up this morning and ate an early lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Moe's.  They have incredible barbeque and vegetables.  After lunch, we took a walk around the alligator and snake park, but didn't see any alligators or snakes.  Then Melissa went home (I miss her already!) and we went fishing again. 

It was another spectacular day outside.

Grace had a full tummy and was in a great mood.

And David caught this big red fish!  He weighed about 6 pounds.

So we took him home, filleted him up, and threw him on the grill.  Mmmmm...good!  We ate him with a side of oven roasted squash and zuchinni.  It was quite the succulent meal.

Not your typical Friday

Today was a busy day.  Melissa and I started the morning off by driving to Fairhope and walking around the Arts and Crafts Festival downtown.  It was a monstrous event with thousands of people.

It was fun and interesting looking at the vendors, but we didn't stay for long.  David called because Grace was having a major meltdown.  He had taken Grace and Chloe out to the pier and was trying out his new fishing rigs.  Grace was tired and cranky.  Then David caught a big fish - a 20 or so pound sheepshead.

The fish was really fighting David, Chloe was going nuts barking her head off, and Grace was tired and cranky and decided to go home by herself.  Needless to say, David had his hands full trying to get Chloe to be quiet, Grace to stop walking home from the pier, and reeling in a fish that was determined to run away with his rod.  Whew!  I'm tired just thinking about it! 

So Melissa and I came home, got Grace and gave her a small snack, and then all three of us headed to Mobile.  Grace fell asleep in the car and finally took a decent nap.  We stopped at two different bridal stores first.  Did I mention Melissa is going to be a September bride?  We were looking for a dress for her and we found a fabulous possibility.  After trying on dresses, we shopped at some other local stores before getting a late dinner and heading home.

It was busy day for all of us but we girls had a good time and David finally got to relax with some peace and quiet after we left the house.

Just another day in paradise with a great friend

This weekend I had one of my best friends come in town to visit.

This is Melissa.  We've been friends for a decade or so now.  She is a fellow blogger of Howard Smith Home Stories and can be found here.  She is getting married in September to her sweetie, Cas.  Cas incidently is also a blogger.  Cas's Crazy Thoughts can be found here.   

Melissa arrived early afternoon today and we shopped for a bit before picking Grace up from school.  Then we shopped some more before heading home and out to the pier.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today.

It was one of the prettiest days we have had lately.

Grace was content to watch the sunset as long as she had her juice.

And then David caught this little guy and the fun really began.

Grace was so excited that her Daddy caught a fish.

So was Chloe.  She went absolutely bonkers over that fish.  Arf!  Arf!  Ruff!  Arf!  Woof!  WOOF!

I'll translate for you.  Oh it looks so yummy.  Please, oh please let me have a bite!

Just one little nibble!  I'll be good, I promise!  I'll even dance for a little taste.  Please, oh, please!

Wait!  Where did he go?  What happend to the fish?!?!?

You threw it back!?!?  Why would you do that?  I was going to EAT it!  Would you mind just jumping back in the water and getting it back for me?  Please, oh, please?!?  I really REALLY wanted that fish!

  Chloe was so upset when David threw that fish back.  Poor Chloe.  All she wanted was a little nibble. 

A few minutes later the sun finally started to set.

And we went home.  Melissa and I cleaned up and went out for a seafood girls night out dinner.  All that fishing made us hungry!

Yook at me! (Look at me)

Grace ran into the kitchen saying "Yook, Momma!  Yook, Da-ee!"  (Look, Momma!  Look, Daddy!)

"Yook at my pri-ee yips!"  (Look at my pretty lips!)

"See my tund?"  (See my tongue?)  "I peent-ed my yips and my tund!"  (I painted my lips and tongue!)

"In my beh-yee bud-dun, too!"  (And my belly button, too!)

"I yook bue-ful!"  (I look beautiful!) 

Spring is in the air!

I went browsing around town today and stumbled upon this lovely planter.

So I bought two of them - one large one (pictured above) and one extra large for a citrus tree.

The local farmers market had citrus trees for sale for only $22 - $9 cheaper than Lowes, Home Depot, or Wal-Mart.  And prettier, too, I might add.  So I walked out with one Meyer Lemon Tree.  I had a hard time deciding between a Key Lime Tree and the Meyer Lemon Tree, but the lemon finally won out. 

Although the more I think about it, I wish I had gotten both.  Then we could have lemonade and limeade.  Cherry limeade and strawberry lemonade, too.  And key lime pies.  And lemon meringue.   And a pretty tree for our master bedroom balcony and family room balcony.  Hmmm...  Maybe I'll stop by the farmers market again this week and see what they have left...

Our Meyer Lemon tree has several buds ready to bloom.

And two baby lemons! 

The Meyers Lemon (and Key Lime Tree, too, I might add) is especially suited for container growing and will reach a maximum height of  8 - 10 feet.  It bears fruit in clusters of 6 after the blooms pass (but you prune to only 2-3 so the lemons are larger and juicier).  The lemon juice is sweeter than that of most lemons because it is thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange.  Yum!

Here she is planted in her new home on our front balcony!  Isn't she beautiful?

For our smaller pot, I selected these 'Homestead Heirloom Tomatoes.' 

I got 9 baby tomato plants for less than $3. 

And here they are in their new home, as well.  I'm afraid they will eventually take over this 20 gallon pot.  But in the meantime, they certainly do look happy and I can't wait to have fresh tomatoes on hand.

When Grace got home from school today and noticed the new plants, she said, "Yook, Momma.  It's uh tee on our howz!"  (Look, Momma, It's a tree at our house!)  And I told her it was a lemon tree for her and we had some new tomato plants, too.  And in a few weeks we would pick some lemons and make some homemade lemonade and lemon popsicles.   Her response was, "For meeee?  Oh, Momma.  Dats so sweet!"  (For me?  Oh, Momma.  That's so sweet!)  But not nearly as sweet as my Grace.

Discovering Columbus' ships: The Nina and the Pinta

We went to Gulf Shores today to explore the Nina and Pinta.  They were docked at Lulu's Marina.

The Niña is a replica of the ship on which Columbus sailed across the Atlantic on his three voyages of discovery to the new world beginning in 1492. Columbus sailed the tiny ship over 25,000 miles. That ship was last heard of in 1501, but the new Niña has a different mission.  It is a floating museum, and visits ports all over the Western Hemisphere.

The Pinta was recently built in Brazil to accompany the Nina on all of her travels. She is a larger version of the archetypal caravel and offers larger deck space for walk-aboard tours and has a 40 ft air conditioned main cabin down below with seating.

We were very excited to explore what Grace called a "pie-rut sip" (pirate ship).

On the walkway to the ships and on the ships themselves, we found interesting tidbits of information.

Some were historical facts.

And were actually kind of fascinating - for me at least.

On the Nina, we were allowed to traverse the upper deck area which was really neat.

There was a shaded area under the upper deck.  David had to hunch over because the ceiling was so low.  He could only stand upright between the beams.

Grace found a "pie-rut piddy bank" (pirate piggy bank) in that area.

This boat looked like a large canoe or rowboat.  I can't believe it was built by a 14 year old!  Amazing!

This led below decks.  It was where Columbus would have slept and today's captain sleeps.

We weren't allowed down there, but that was okay by me.  Sounds really short on space.

This also went below decks to the "hold."  I can't belive that the crew lived and slept on the deck.  Can you image sleeping up there during a storm?  During the tour there was about 15 other people on board and space was at a premium.  I was constantly bumping into other people or the walls.  Makes me really appreciate our large homes on dry ground.

All in all, I thought it was a very interesting and fun tour.

After our tour, we decided to spend the rest of the day at Lulu's.

The kids played in the sand.

And under the picnic tables.

And in the sand some more.

The teenage boys tossed a football around.

And flirted with girls while trying to play volleyball.

The girls just hung out.

And made sand cakes.

And ate them!

Then they said they needed to "eat beck-fuss" (eat breakfast).  That was our cue to order burgers.

After eating an early dinner, all the guys tossed the football around some more before we all headed home. 
 

It sure was a fun day exploring ships and playing in the sun!