Eggcellent Eggstravaganza

Todd, Rollie, Tiller, and I spent the weekend with my parents at the Lake. We drove down on Friday, put the kids down (Rollie didn't stay down, and was, accordingly, rewarded with ice cream by the grandparents), and my parents stayed with them while Todd and I went into town for dinner. We tried to get dinner at The Brick (can't even find a website for this place - middle Georgia, people) and ended up at the bar at Buffington's. We blew my diet (you should see the size of the blue cheese chunks in their dressing,) watched the Braves beat the Padres, checked out the locals (What's up, Pops?) and saw a short set by a not terrible jazz band. All in all a good evening, and we were home by 11 pm. We retired to the porch for another beer, and to listen to the raging kegger across the cove from us: "Peter, get up here! FUNNEL!!!!!!!!" We almost hopped in the boat and headed over, but they would have wondered who the old folks were.

On Saturday, Todd and Rollie hung out by the turtle pool (that's Rollie showing off his muscles at the left), and Matilda and I ventured into the center of Milledgeville society, also known as WalMart. This is one of a very few WalMarts, as far as I know, in all of four or five surrounding counties. I think there is one in Eatonton, one in Madison, one in Macon, and one in Sandersville. When you get there on a Saturday, the parking lot is usually 3/4 full, and full of cars from Jones, Baldwin, Putnam, Greene, and Hancock counties. It makes for great people-watching, especially on Easter weekend, when people are all decked out in their Jesuswear. My two favorite t-shirt sightings of the day: "Public Display of Affection," and "His palms were read to tell your future" shirt, which shows a cheesy painting of the stigmata. (Unfortunately, I could not find a picture of this online. It must be made by a really subversive God Squad group. ) On a side note, do not stand anywhere next to Todd, as he is sure to be struck by lightning any day now for coming up with the rebuttal t-shirt idea, "He Dyed for your sins." We bought lilies for my Mama, Easter egg dye, eggs, and candy for the big kids (a.k.a. Grandparents and Annie and Todd). My mom had already taken care of the little ones.

We got home, joined everyone at the pool, and Matilda debuted her first swimwear. Unfortunately, I could not find a hat to match, but I am sure you will agree that Rollie's Diego safari hat looked smashing on her.

After our swim, we convened to the screened porch for egg dyeing. Rollie loved putting the dye tablets into the vinegar and watching them fizz. He also liked to pull the eggs out of the cups with his hands, rather than the little metal egg holder, and then would drop them back into another cup with a plop!, splashing dye all over himself and everything around him. He cried when we cleaned up and told him he had to leave the eggs in the tray to dry.

After the egg dyeing, Todd watched Matilda while Rollie and I went for a short boat ride with Papaw. Rollie had not been in the bass boat before, only on the pontoon. I wish I had pictures, but suffice to say that Rollie thoroughly enjoyed "driving" the boat with Papaw, and his eyes were big as saucers when we actually sped up enough to create a wake. It was really cute and I was a nervous wreck the whole time.

Mama fixed ham, potato salad, and baked beans and i pigged out. This meal never fails to remind me of my Grandma Palmer, who loved a ham, and could just about eat her weight in it. (She used to fix the same thing, but her beans were different - Mama's have bacon in strips on top, cooked with the beans, but Grandma's used to have green peppers diced throughout and pre-fried, crumbled bacon on top. I like Mama's better, but I sure would love to have a bite of Grandma's again.)

We put the little ones down to bed, then relaxed, played Easter Bunny, and then went to bed. Rollie woke up some time before six (it was dark) and Todd kept him occupied while we made coffee and hid his Easter basket, or as he calls it, his "batshit." He totally didn't get the concept, and proceeded to throw a tantrum when we tried to get him to look for his basket. This rapidly disappeared when he realized that the Easter Bunny brings CHOCOLATE.

Toddlers have no off button, and this applies to anything that they love. We finally had to sneak behind his back and hide the remainder of his candy after he consumed about 25 bite-size Reese's cups
in the span of approximately three minutes. We also had to endure his pleas for "chocolate chocolate chocolate" the rest of the day. Total success!