There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. ~Celia Thaxter

July 7 ~ such a nice gift

July 7 ~ Knox practicing his catching. And pitching.

July 7 ~ Grandpa=practice coach

July 7 ~ daughter Kelly, lady in waiting

July 8 ~ heading to Bible class

July 8 ~ Sunday morning happy feet

July 10 ~ catch of the day

July 10 ~ our favorite Thai food restaurant, Ocha, reopened after a three month hiatus

July 10 ~ assembling a Lego Star Wars star fighter 

July 10 ~ finished product ~ he's a pro

July 11  ~ Knox, Elijah, Shelby at the pool ~ Knox prepares to be launched

July 11 ~ splash

July 12 ~ Elijah, bff Anthony, and Knox doing their gaming thing

July 12 ~ Elijah and Anthony have been buddies since almost forever ~ they were next door neighbors until Anthony moved far away several years ago ~ he visits when he can ~ this year he came all the way from Alaska

July 12 ~ their friendship has endured the test of time and distance

July 13 ~ my sweet niece Sarah celebrated her 23rd birthday

July 15 ~ Sunday evening

July 15 ~ the 3 amigos ~ we were saying our goodbyes to Anthony that night before he left to head back to Alaska the next morning ~ however, he ended up missing his flight and couldn't get another one until the 20th

July 16 ~ land of the free ...

July 17 ~ 

July 18 ~ granddaughter Shelby celebrated her 17th birthday ...

.... with a birthday lunch at Ocha ....

.... and ice cream at Cream City

July 18 ~ you can't go to Cream City without crossing the street afterwards to climb on the train cars at the depot

Elijah ~ photo by Shelby ~ she was having fun trying out the camera on her new phone

July 18 ~ checking out the depot museum

July 18 ~ photo by Shelby on her iPhone X

July 18 ~ photo by Shelby ~ (I think I have iPhone camera envy)

July 18 ~ Shelby and her mom Holly ~ birthday hug

July 19 ~ upheaval in the living room ~ Neil is busy pulling our ancient carpet back and tearing out the particle board which is nailed (oh so many nails!) to the original wood floor so he can repair some floor joists and level the floor ~ after all that we hope to lay a hardwood floor. In the meantime ....

.... demolition ....

.... and upheaval. It'll be worth it. 

July 19

Hey! It’s summer! Be free and happy and danceful and uninhibited and now-y! 

~Terri Guillemets

AT THE BEACH ~ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10 ~ THURSDAY, AUGUST 11 ~ FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2016 ~ DESTIN, FLORIDA

Wednesday brought us cloudy skies, choppy seas, and rain. And more rain. Storm swirling around in the Gulf has been persistent to say the least.

Captain America  Grandson Knox wearing his new hoodie from Target

Son in law Kerry came prepared for rainy days ~ Putting together Avenger Lego sets is a great way to pass the time ~ Knox is supposed to be helping but he's busy fighting bad guys

Empty beach chairs ...

... as far as the eye can see

Crab legs at the Back Porch ~ a one time indulgence this vacation week ~ so good

By evening the sky started to clear after a torrential rain ~ we kept thinking maybe the rain is over ~ not

Wednesday was some pool time under cloudy skies

Knox is an expert at making new friends ~ Another abbreviated outdoor time as the rains blew in again and drove us back inside

Thursday began with fair weather but the rains kept on coming ~ we'd get ourselves ready for the beach or pool but by the time we got settled in the rain would blow in again

A refreshing beverage at the Back Porch

Since the Fisherman's Wharf restaurant closed two years ago, we look forward to having some meals at the Back Porch ~ such good food ~ Crab cakes were excellent

We walked around Thursday evening at the Harbor Walk Village ~ a nice diversion from the clouds and sitting in the condo

Neil and moi ~ thanks for the pic, Kelly!

Knox got his face painted

Captain America, of course! 

Family Kimbrough

Friday morning looked promising for some time in the sand ~ we rode out some sprinkles and thought we were clear ~ got in almost two hours and the sun actually came out for a few minutes ~ but the wind blew in a hard rain and back inside we went

Back down to the pool for a few minutes

Kelly watching for the next round of showers ~ we finally gave up and headed back inside when the rains came down

Mexican cuisine this evening ~ Knox amusing himself with a video on the iPad

I've heard about Whole Foods Market and how great it is ~ we stopped in at the newly opened one here and browsed around ~ very nice grocery store/eatery ~ expensive ~ bought yummy looking cookies for a buck each ~ now I can say I've shopped at a Whole Foods Market ~ we'll never have one in Cookeville ~ couldn't afford it anyway

The sunsets here so far this week have been subdued ~ no sun to set the sky ablaze as it sets ~ but the moon is visible along with a few stars tonight ~ is it too late to see the Perseids? We've kept an eye on the Olympics, especially the swimmers, watching USA win the gold. Here's hoping for a sunny weekend.