And Then There Were Three

Yesterday, Ginny, John Michael, and Baby Tillman arrived. It has been a few months since I have seen Tillman, and even though I knew how big he was getting through pictures, I was shocked at how big he had gotten in real life! Holy cow!

He recently learned to crawl, and he is into EVERYTHING! But see those cheeks? That’s what keeps him out of trouble. Those chunky, tasty little jowls are the softest, squishiest, mushiest little pods of mush! I can’t be around him without nibbling them!

Gracie wanted to make sure that her Baby Tut Tut met the original Baby Tut Tut. Unfortunately, the Original ate the doll. He’s hunky and he’s hungry. Baby Tut Tut didn’t stand a chance against T-Man.

First, he poked the babies eyes out with his giant paws…

…and then he ate Baby Tut Tut’s head. It was sad. Sorry to have sacrificed you, Baby Tut Tut.

The Beast Baby showed no signs of remorse.

Aside from the tragic death of Baby Tut Tut, vacation has been getting better and better. I’ll admit that with Chris having strep throat, it’s been a lot of work. It’s basically like going on vacation by myself with them, but I’ve got a lot of good family members here who have pitched in and helped out. The first few days that Chris was laid up, it was rocky while I figured out how to handle two little ones on vacation, but my mom and I have gotten a grip on it a bit and the past day or so has been a lot of fun.

Yesterday, we went to Joe Patti’s Seafood to get fresh fish and shrimp to cook at the condo. Grandma and one of the old fisherman at the shop convinced me that it was the right thing to do to get the kids free ice cream at 10:00 in the morning. I’m still not sure about that, but the kids seemed to agree…

After that, we got on our bathing suits and headed down to the beach. Unfortunately, I did not take one picture while we were down there. But, let me tell you, having one parent and two wee ones at the beach is no small feat. I chased kites down the beach so many damn times I lost count. I also could not get our umbrella to stay anchored, and the wind kept knocking it down the beach. Oh, and Gracie hated the sand, so she refused to stand up or sit down on her own, which meant I was doing all of that running with Gracie on my hip. Come to think of it, I am probably lucky there aren’t pictures of any of that. It was not my finest hour.

After the beach, we headed up to the pool which was much better. The kids loved the pool, and so did Bubba Man. They swam for a long time together!

After a fun swim, we headed back over to our favorite lunch spot, Peg Peg Pete’s, and I ate fried shrimp until I couldn’t ate fried shrimp no more. Fried shrimp is a personal strength of mine. Or weakness, depending on where you grew up. I happened to grow up on the Gulf Coast, and here shrimp is a strength. Yet another reason why I love my hometown.

So, in other words, we are having a blast. Every couple hours, I poke in to check on Chris and make sure he is taking his medicine and is, you know, like, alive. I keep shoving chicken noodle soup and saltwater rinses down his throat when all he wants to do is sleep. I can’t help it. I’M A NURTURER, DARN IT! I MUST NURTURE! NOW, DRINK THIS GATORADE AND GET BACK IN BED!

In other news, my kids are growing up right before my eyes on this trip. So, if they could stop doing that, that’d be awesome.

We’re headed to a Wahoo’s baseball game tonight (sans Chris). I’m pretty sure if Bean looked any older, they’d try to draft him. He’s got a killer curve ball.