LABOR DAY IN THE USA

I attempted to get your attention with that captivating Post Title.  Too bad I really don't have anything interesting to share.  Oh well, everyone loves pictures, right?  I'm now posting pictures from our Saturday night BBQ feast and card game.

For some reason, Gary seems to think everyone always wants to see his completed quarter collection.  Sheila keeps telling him how cool it is.  He offers to help her Mom find her friend the ones she's missing, and Sheila always says "Oh, she finally got them all."  It happens every time.  At least Gary's consistent.

One good thing about having a daughter, they often do all the dishes while everyone else starts playing cards.

Well, not everyone.  Honestly, Morgan didn't participate.  She stayed home.  She'd gotten sunburned earlier in the day at a birthday party, and she was cranky and OVERLY tired.  We all thanked Angie for not putting us thru that!

 For some reason, I really like this picture of Mark.  Chloe?  She is always looking at the floor.  I just don't include all the pictures.  However, I gather I was looking at the dog, so maybe she was also.

 I just included this cause it's funny.  My camera likes to take random shots.  I really think it's because it has a touch screen.

 Did you realize that there are actually boy lemons and girls lemons?  I didn't but Angie said these were lemon balls.  Who knew?

Makes you wonder what lemon boobs look like, ya know?

Sunday, Gary, Chloe and I went over to Sheila and Mark's house around 2pm.  That gave us a chance to swim in the heat of the day.  According to Mark's thermometer on the brick wall by the back door, it was 116.  I honestly believe it's accurate.  I couldn't walk on the deck without shoes ..... it was that hot.  Since Morgan was so sunburned, Angie didn't want to bring her over till after the sun rays weren't quite so harsh.  They came over a little after 4pm.

I decided to surprise Sheila and Mark, and took Stella with me.  I just hated to leave her alone.  It was not one of my brighter ideas (like a have a lot any way).  It was really just too hot for even her.  She did not want to get out of the shade.  She tried to follow Gary into the house (that's a no-no of course), and she had to keep jumping from one foot to the other on the deck cause it was so hot.  Poor baby.  I finally took her in the pool so she could cool off.

 Everyone tried to stay hydrated.

 Here's Gary's favorite thing to do.  Be a Papa to his girls.

 Check out Sheila's sophisticated shades.  She got those at a golf tournament.  Damn..... I always get koozies!

 Morgan's favorite color is BLUE.  She wears it so well, and it make her blue eyes pop!

Okay, now for some serious blogging.  What is the hell is this creature?  It is about as small as a tiny ant.  It bites, and hurts like crap when it happens, but it quits hurting really quick.  But when it bites, you'll jump from the sudden pain.  They are almost impossible to kill.  Slapping them while they're biting does nothing to them.  If you push on them with your finger and try to rub-smash them to death.... they stop moving for a second... then raise from the dead and attempt to bite you again.  It is ridiculous.  Mark and Sheila cannot kill them with spray, even if it's applied directly on them.

WE ALL NEED YOUR HELP!

By the way, the black dots are eyes.  I'm not sure how many legs it has.  It is really small, and enlarging it this much distorted the picture.  You know what?  Maybe it wasn't biting, maybe one of those appendages is a stinger. 

Ok, enough about the bugs.  We had left over BBQ items, and Sheila made a fresh salad and she grilled some chicken breasts.  We all enjoyed a great dinner, then we headed upstairs for some Pool Poker.  Chloe had played pool some place before, but Morgan hadn't.  Morgan had a ball.  We all did, but especially Morgan.  Mark is soooo good with the girls.  He helped Morgan.  She finally got to where she could stroke the cue to the cue ball, instead of just jabbing and making it hop in the air.  Of course, only the better players won a game.  That would be Mark, Sheila, me, and maybe Gary.  If Gary won, it was luck.  My win was pure skill.  I had to shoot like 3 balls in a row to win.  

 Eric, my son in law, played a respectable game.

 Angie is rusty, but she made some good shots.  Nothing to be ashamed of from that girl.

 Oh, the frustration for Sheila!  This is her when she misses a sure shot.  Sheer agony on her part!

We played quite a while. As we were getting ready to leave, I noticed that Sheila was getting Morgan ready to throw a dart. I didn't say a word. I'm pretty sure she hit the wall instead of the board, but Sheila assured her before she shot that it would be okay. Morgan was maybe all of 3 feet away. If there is a game or sport, Morgan wants to play it. She's doing her first year of football fantasy. She's in 7th heaven.

I am so lucky I have Mark and Sheila for friends.  They are the perfect hosts.  Sheila always makes it look effortless to cook for everyone, and she never seems to get frazzled (like I tend to do).  I don't know how she does it.  I know she works her butt off, and she plans ahead, so do I, but I just don't have that knack for making it look effortless. Mark runs a mean grilling station, and everyone feels like family there. 


Mark and Sheila's house..... it's always like being in Margaritaville.  Fun, Fun, FUN!

I'm probably going to regret it, but I've introduced the g-kids to gambling on slot machines.  I didn't take them to Vegas or WinStar Casino.  Nope, I introduced them to Slot Mania, and iPhone app.  We've all been playing it today.  I'll let you know tomorrow how it turns out.