Madness in Mobile!
Our day today started with an early wake-up call and an organized panic to get on the road as quickly as we could. We were on the road to visit Cindy, Craig, their daughter Stacy (who we had the pleasure of spending the day yesterday with) and her daughters Kaitlyn and Kylie.
Buc-ee’s or Bust!
I programmed the Buc-ee’s into Waze and started down the road. Before we made it to the bridge across the bay, we found that there was a wreck on I-10 causing a huge backup. Waze pointed us down the interstate to a highway that would direct us around the 2-hour detour and bring us right into the Buc-ee’s parking lot. It did add a good bit of time to our route though.
Everyone seemed to be using Waze today, because there were a LOT of people on this tiny two-lane road. After seeing a good deal of the Florida-Alabama state line area, we finally got to the line to the stoplight to Buc-ee’s. We waited through 5 cycles of this light just to get through it and then waited another 10-15 minutes to get to a gas pump.
Get Me Outta Here!
I filled up while the girls went inside to go to the bathroom. I topped off and hung up the nozzle, then made my way into the fray. And what a fray it was! There were at least 400 people inside the building, which is roughly the size of a football field in total. There was a line to the bathroom at least 30 feet long – and these bathrooms are the size of a normal gas station each! Then I noticed that this was the line for the ladies’ room only! The men’s room had absolutely no line at all.
I passed by Amy and the girls to relive myself, then exited in time to see them make their turn into the ladies’ room. Amy asked for a few items, and I pushed my way through the crowd to get them, only to finally find what she wanted just as they joined me. We finished the shopping and got in line to go out a completely different door than what we came in just to get out of the building quickly. This was one of those times I wish I had just peed on the side of the road.
You spent HOW MUCH?!
We finally rolled into Craig and Cindy’s driveway at about 12:30 to enjoy the rest of the day with their family. Cindy provided some lunch and we scarfed it down as quickly as possible to get on with the swimming. Craig (aka – Poppy) arrived soon after and prepared himself for the day in the pool. He had left work early to pick up some sausage and a $50 per pound brisket he had spent a total of $500 on.
Next to arrive were Stacy, Kylie, and Kaitlyn. Poppy told us all about the $1000 brisket he bought for us that we were having for dinner. Kylie told him that her boyfriend was coming over to meet everyone. Poppy asked if the new boyfriend was aware that everyone was looking forward to meeting him, especially Poppy.
Diving Divas
The girls then started having a diving competition. It was quickly noticed that Cooper was not good at diving, so all the girls worked on teaching her to dive. Within minutes, they had her looking like an Olympic diver that prefers bellyflops. The diving competition continued but at some point, a giant flamingo joined them in the pool, and it became the focus of entertainment. They now hold the unofficial world record for the most people on a giant flamingo in a pool without it sinking.
Cindy decided it was time for the first planned activity. The girls formed into two teams for a scavenger hunt. Cooper and Kaitlyn on one team and Emma and Kylie on the other team. Once they were set off, they frantically followed one clue to the next until they had to get one from Poppy. In order to get this clue, they needed to do ten jumping jacks then ask him for the clue. Craig razzed every one of them as they did their jumping jacks, then gave them the next clue. The final clue led them to their prize, a new handmade quilt. Cindy also brought out a pair of quilts for Amy and me also.
Sundaes on a Friday
Cindy then opened the afternoon snack. An all-day ice-cream sundae bar. The spread here was way too much. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream, M&M’s and Reese’s Pieces, brownies, sprinkles, strawberries, marshmallow cream, cupcakes … the list is nowhere near complete.
The girls then moved to a craft. Cindy had some wooden mermaid cutouts that the girls were to decorate however they liked. While the girls were working, the adults talked about life, the beach and Craig’s $2000 brisket. Soon, the girls had completed the mermaids. Each one of them had done an excellent job on them but they wanted to get back to the pool again.
Will the Thrill
It wasn’t much longer before Kylie’s boyfriend William arrived. Kylie introduced him and Poppy asked if he could call him Will – Poppy still didn’t feel like that worked right though. Will said his middle name was Edward, and that made Poppy’s day. “That’s it! From now on you are Eddy!” And so, it was.
Will is a senior this year. He plays football (middle linebacker) and soccer (goalkeeper). Cooper was over the moon with him! She asked him about soccer, then talked about goalkeeping then asked more about soccer… then she let him and Kylie hang out a bit. Poppy asked if Will was going to stay for some of the $3000 brisket he had bought.
Waki-Laki-Looki-Waka-Looki
Will did stay, and they started up another diving competition in which the adults judged, and everyone won a trophy for some piece of the dive. Next, Cindy had a program for the girls. Kylie, Emma, and Poppy all participated while everyone else watched the show.
The trio went into the house and soon came back out with grass skirts, leis, and coconut shell bras – only Poppy’s kept falling. While they didn’t ever put the show Cindy had in mind on, the show we were watching was hilarious! Emma turned twenty different shades of red, Poppy kept pulling his coconut bra back up and Kylie kept finding different songs to dance to, but nothing that really worked with the type of dance they were going to do. Then it just turned into a dance off, with Kylie DJ’ing and Poppy wanting her to find something he had heard before.
Golden Brisket
Soon it was time to eat dinner. The $5000 brisket Poppy had brought home was very good, – but the andouille sausage was phenomenal! Poppy explained that the sausage was something you either love – or you don’t like it. He was right. Not everybody felt the same way as I did. The $7000 brisket was so good that I felt the barbecue sauce took away from the taste, so I just ate it plain.
We sat around and talked a bit further. Will took Cooper out to teach her some soccer goalkeeper moves, then they ended up playing volleyball for a bit. Eventually, it grew late and time to go shack up at the hotel. We cleaned up a little bit and talked a bit more before leaving. By the time we did leave, the brisket price was up around $9000 someplace.
Thank you, Craig and Cindy for hosting us. We all had a wonderful time!