Thursday morning finally arrived, and the anticipation for the weekend's activities was swelling in each and every one of us. I must say, it is very exhilarating seeing the whole family so excited about something. On Wednesday night, I had already loaded the car with about half of the items that we were taking. Bright and early Thursday morning I was out there again, loading the vehicle with the precision of an artist. I always knew that my truck loading days at Western Auto would finally pay off one day, and let me tell you, everything I learned about loading freight was used that day. By 10:00 am. every last thing was loaded in the vehicle, and the luggage carrier attached to the roof rack was stuffed to the gills. Whew........let's roll.
We left home at 10:30 am., and to be honest, even though that was 30 minutes past our original goal, I was still happy. Traffic was sparse at that time, and we cruised in comfort as the CX-9 ate up the miles. My original plan was to make it to Corsicana before our first stop, but the town came and went, and everybody on board was still happy. We traveled all the way to Fairfield before we stopped at the Golden Arches, and we all partook in the fine cuisine from Mickey D's. I said all, but in actuality it was just 3 of us. Christopher preferred his Cheerios, peaches and formula over the stellar fast food morsels we consumed. We were back on the road a half an hour later, and only made one more "get the stinky poopy diaper off the boy" stop right outside of Huntsville. As you can all probably understand, a more important stop has hardly ever been made.
We arrived in Houston waaaayyyyy earlier than expected, and got to our friend's (Ken and Hailey) house about 3:30 pm. We were actually expecting to arrive at least an hour later, but traffic was kind. Ken and Hailey got off work at 5:00 pm, and after picking up their daughter and packing their vehicle, we set out for our sandy destination about 6:30 pm. Again traffic was light, and about an hour later we were pulling into the driveway of their beautiful beach house in Sea Isle. mmmmmmmm.........smell that sea air.........ohhhhh yeahhhhh baby!!!!!!!
We had a quiet dinner Thursday night and after putting the kids to bed, we made a few tasty margaritas and started officially "visiting" with our great friends. It's been too long since we have seen the Canon family, and words have never flowed any easier between friends. It's always been that way between me and Ken, and this year marks the 20th year of our friendship. They are just a wonderful extension of our own family. Well as most of you know, when great friends, great spirits and great conversations are flowing, it's easy to lose track of time. That is precisely what happened with us, and the next thing you know, I was crawling into bed at 4:45 am Friday morning. Lori at least had enough sense to go to bed a few hours earlier, and she did not suffer nearly as much as we did the next morning. You see, Aidan and Carley got up at the crack of dawn with eager anticipation of going to the beach. When they are up, one has no choice but to join them. So, Ken and I were up just a couple of hours after we went to bed, and Mrs. Hailey got to sleep in because it was her birthday.
When "where's the Advil" is the first words you speak for the day, things are not off to a good start. After a great breakfast and a couple of sports drinks to shake the dehydration, things starting looking better, and we could all hear the beach calling. By noon we were enjoying the surf and the sun. We are starting to believe that Aidan is part Dolphin, and he and Mystic were both born to swim. We were not stopped for more that 10 seconds on the beach before I see nothing but a rooster tail made of sand making a bee line into the waves. Seeing Aidan's huge smile and hearing his joyous screams is pure bliss for both me and his Mom. Christopher's squeals were equally as satisfying, and the look on his face when he was standing in the sand and the water hit his legs was magical. As a parent, it rarely gets any better.
We spent about 4 hours on the beach, and retired to the comfort of the air-conditioned home that afternoon. We made hamburgers and Chicken and Apple sausage for dinner and washed it down with some tasty JW Dundees Honey Brown Ale. YUMMY! We followed up dinner with some tasty Chocolate birthday cupcakes that Lori made, and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday".
After getting absolutely stuffed, we called it an early night for two reasons. First, we were dead dog tired from staying up so late the night before, and secondly and most important, Ken and I needed our rest for the BIG Horseshoe tournament on Saturday. Horseshoe Tournament you ask? Oh yeah.....and believe it or not, it's a really big deal down there.Ken enjoying Christopher's company, with Major keeping a watchful eye.
After a good night's sleep, we woke up to a beautiful day. I must have lived especially good last week, because all of the rain that was forecasted for Memorial weekend was now a distant memory. I am quite sure that my good, clean living was solely responsible, and I am taking full credit for the turnaround. Every year the Tournament begins at high noon. We got to the beach about 11:45 am and the teams were drawn. There were 24 people entered, for a grand total of 12 teams. It's a double elimination tournament with the winner's being named "KING OF THE BEACH" and their names being inscribed on a Trophy bearing the same title. Like I said, it's a big deal to these guys. I was partnered with a guy named Matt, and lucky for me, he was part of the winning team 2 years before. He asked me if I played very often, and after my "ummmm not really......only once a year at this tournament" response, he was not feeling nearly as lucky as I was.
Saturday was super hot day, and after winning the first game, we lost our second. That loss put us in the loser's bracket, and a virtual lock to be eliminated. We pressed on, and after sweating off what seemed like 5 pounds, we somehow won our next 5 games. I must admit that I was a bit surprised at myself. I was actually contributing to our success, and for as little as I had played, I starting feeling pretty good about our chances. We finally made it to the finals and we were facing the undefeated team that won the tournament the year before. Hmmm..facing the champs and having to beat them twice in a row to win....yeah, I liked the sound of that. I especially liked the fact that one of my friends (Keith) was part of the other team, and I would be tossing against him. The first game was back and forth, and after we were down 15-10 I really though it was over. Matt and I both hit ringers in the next couple of turns and within a few minutes we were back in the game. The score was now 19-18 them, and on his final throw, Matt hit a ringer to win the first game. There was much rejoicing. The second game was equally as challenging, and both teams had battled to a 20-19 score. Keith got both of his shoes next to the pole, and two points were virtually guaranteed if I did not hit a ringer or a leaner. First throw.........close, but not as close as his. DOH! Second throw seemed like it hung in the air forever, and the silence was suddenly interrupted by the shoe hitting the post. It made a 180 around the post, and finally came to rest leaning vertically against the post. 2 points to us....winner...winner...Chicken Dinner! Cheering erupted from the crowd, and yours truly and Matt were now KINGS OF THE BEACH. Wow.
It took almost 5 hours from the start of the tournament to the end, and during that time, Aidan stayed in the water about 4 1/2 of those hours. He met a boy named Kyle, and those two spent the majority of the day body boarding.
Lori and Christopher visited with some of the other wives and children that were attending and staying under the canopies in the shade much of the time. Here is a picture of Lori and Christopher enjoying the beach. "Hey mom, put me down, I want to get in the water"
Christopher was a big hit, and everybody commented about how good a baby he was. Even in the stifling heat he never complained or cried. When the tournament was over, almost everybody was burnt to a crisp and ready to go home and relax.Saturday night was spent visiting with our friends and eating BBQ. Our friend Larry brought 26 pounds of brisket he smoked and everybody feasted. Many of the people from the tournament stopped by the beach house to visit and once again, I received a lot of congratulations. Lots of drinks, stories and laughs were shared, and being the gluton for punishiment I am, I stayed up entirely too late. I paid dearly for it on Sunday morning, and my buddy Mr. Advil introduced me to his buddy Mr. Alka Seltzer and all three of us held an emergency board meeting.
Sunday was spent at the beach house and the kiddos enjoyed a slip and slide for hours. While Christopher enjoyed playing with some of Carley's old toys,
Kenny set up his horseshoe set in the vacant lot next to his house, and we played some sweltering hot games of shoes. Lori, Aidan, Christopher, Mystic and I slipped off to the beach in the late afternoon. We only stayed for a little over an hour, but that was enough time to do some serious body boarding and to thoroughly enjoy each other's company. When we returned to the house, Kenny and I started to prepare some fresh Shrimp for the night's feast. We made boiled Shrimp for cocktails, grilled shrimp for an appetizer, and BBQ'd Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Cream Cheese Shrimp for the main course. We added a batch of fresh roasted corn on the cob and we were in culinary heaven. Wayyyy.....tooooooo many Shrimp were consumed, but no one cared. They were "melt in your mouth" good. With a huge meal in our bellies, we called it an early night, and all were in bed by 10:30 pm.Monday came in what seemed like an instant. Time absolutely flew while we were there. We were all sad about having to leave, but made the most of our morning by making one final trek to the beach. How could we possibly leave without breaking out the body boards one more time.
Christopher decided not to "hang 10" but instead to "hang butt".
Ken, Hailey and Carley
joined the Thornton Clan and we stayed at the beach for a little over an hour. We had a blast, and it was all over far too quickly. We made our way back to the beach house, and I began loading up the CX-9. It was much easier loading this time with much less to take home than we brought. Every thing was loaded up by 12:30 pm. and after eating lunch and saying our sorrowful goodbye's,
we left the beach house and headed back home about 1:45 pm. We made two stops on the way home, and we finally arrived at our house about 7:40 pm. We were all really beat, and after we unloaded the vehicle, I cleaned the inside and washed all of the sand and salt off Lori's vehicle. None of us had any problem sleeping last night.It is amazing how much a person can enjoy something. Watching Aidan at the beach is like watching pure joy. Seeing that really makes Lori and me wish we could get him there more often. I would be lying if I said that Lori and I don't feel the same way about the ocean. There is just something about the waves rolling, the sun shining and the breeze blowing that is very intoxicating. Addicting if you will, and it definably leaves us longing for more. I am sure that Christopher will feel the same way, and right now Mystic is in the other room pouting about our having to come home.
As for the Canon's......well you will not find any better people or better friends anywhere in the world. It is an honor and a privilege knowing them, and we are very fortunate to have such a strong bond. They are family, and it is very comforting knowing that we will share our family bond for the rest of our lives.
Well that's it. I'm sorry for being so long winded. Thanks for sticking around to the end. I hope you enjoyed the story and the photos.
William
