Tybee Island, Day 2

It is sunny and I can see the beach from here, but there is a houseful of sleeping people that I love (9 of them) and I don't want to leave in case one of them wakes up!

Molli arrived safely and on time at 11:55 last night. I told her I would be there to pick her up, but I was in bed asleep. Ray and Amelia went though, and the Captain offered and so did Bonney. They said hi to me when they came in, but I don't expect them to be up for a while.

I told Nate (age 7) he could wake me up when he woke up, as long as it was light out. It's almost 8 now, but no sign of him yet. He is from Seattle, so his body thinks it's not even 5 am. He loves to play games, and so do I. Most of our family does. He knows whenever we get together, I will play as many games as he wants, almost all day every day. I try for a little outside time too.

My Mom will probably be the next one up; she will want to make breakfast for everyone. Good thing, because I'm starving! Yesterday she made bacon and eggs for all takers. And Amelia brought bagels from NY--ymm. I was trying to get a count for her of how many wanted bacon. My sister Polly said, seriously, "why would anyone not want bacon?" Well, of course, Amelia is a vegetarian, but Ray and I don't eat much bacon for health reasons. Polly is skinny and probably doesn't need to worry about her cholesterol or blood pressure.

After breakfast, Ray went back to bed and the 7 of us went out to the beach. It was crazy windy, with rivers of sand blowing down the beach. We walked backwards into the wind and enjoyed the shells and other things on the beach. It was pretty cold. I had brought hat, gloves and scarf, but not a coat, just a sweatshirt. Captain and Vanessa turned back pretty soon, but the 5 of us found a big driftwood tree stump to sit behind and keep the wind at bay for a minute. Sand kept blowing around the edges into our faces, so we headed back before long. We ended up missing the place we had come onto the beach and walking on the roads a ways before we found our house, so got a lot of good exercise.

Vanessa made grilled cheese sandwiches for most of us, with tomato for those who like. We have piles of cookies that she made and froze for weeks. Polly and Amelia and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and then we stopped at Waves for sand toys. This is the same shop Ray went to Friday night to get flip flops and shorts. It is a stereotype of the beach store--lots of really tacky stuff, including hermit crabs with painted shells. I bought Lidet and Nate t-shirts and some outdoor stuff--frisbee, nerf football.

Polly and her kids headed off with Amelia to walk to the lighthouse, but I needed a little down time, reading and knitting with most of my favorite people. When Ray asked to go for a walk, I couldn't say no. So he and I and Bonney walked to the lighthouse to meet the others. Captain and Vanessa stayed in. So I got lots of exercise yesterday.

Dinner was ham with mac & cheese that I had made ahead. Polly made a salad. We managed to fit 9 around the dining table, with stools from the counter to augment the chairs. It was good and popular. Bonney doesn't eat wheat gluten these days, so she had potato and sweet potato instead of mac & cheese. Amelia had a sweet potato too, to add to salad and mac & cheese.

After supper, the big Hearts game. But first, Lidet's birthday party. She was four years and one week old (except that the orphanage just estimated her age). Vanessa had made and frosted a sponge cake and brought it from Athens. It already had 4 candles, but we had a time finding matches. My Mom had some in her purse that were really old. Apparently Lidet doesn't like cake, but she enjoyed the ice cream--and the presents. She and Polly drew with her new crayons and notebook, while the rest of us played cards. Nate held his own. Ray was having a really bad game, but it was still fun. I had to bow out at about 10:30. Must sleep, cannot keep eyes open...

Friday was good, worked hard until 1:30 or so, and then Ray and I drove down. The trip went very well. The last hour is always awful and I think, "this is not worth it." But it is. We were on Tybee by 6:30 and it was still sunny. My parents had beat us by a couple hours. We ate at Sting Ray's, a fun seafood place. I admit to being so radical that I can't really enjoy drinking daiquiri out of a styrofoam cup, but the food was very good. I had low country boil, which I thought was a little healthier than fried seafood, but still fun: boiled shrimp, sausage, potato, cole slaw. In fact, there is still some in the fridge.