4th of July Weekend Recap

We made it back from our 4th of July excursion in one piece.  We had a fabulous weekend with my BIL and SIL in Orange Beach this past weekend.  We had great company, delicious food, and lots of fun!  If we had not had to drive back home yesterday in the giant mess that was I-65 N yesterday the weekend would have been perfect, but we made it in one piece and I am now wishing I had another day to recover.

We headed out of town late Thursday morning and pulled in at the beach early afternoon.  It was beyond gorgeous at the beach.  The humidity decided to leave for about 36 hours, which made for absolutely perfect weather.  My SIL and I spent the afternoon putting our 4th of July dishes together so we could enjoy ourselves all day on Friday.  On the 4th we had an impromptu reunion with the boys' cousins.  Several of them were on vacation in the area so they came and spent all afternoon with us.  They said it had probably been 15 years since they'd had that many of them together, and we had a great time. We decided to forgo battling traffic to see fireworks because the boys got up at 2AM the next morning to go fishing.   My SIL and I were not feeling an all day boat trip, and opted to go blueberry picking instead.  I have not been blueberry picking since I was a kid and it was a great trip...hot, but fruitful (pun intended). Between the 2 of us we picked 14 pounds of blueberries in 2 hours.  I have already made a cobbler and I have pinned about 6 other blueberry recipes I want to try.  We got back from picking and spent the rest of the day in the pool....seriously, like 5 hours outside either next to or in the pool. It was glorious!  The boys finally made it home around 8PM.  If you're counting, that's 18 hours of fishing, but they caught a bunch of mahi mahi which made it totally worth it! We cooked those puppies up for dinner last night and it was delicious!  Of course we had to wash them down with a big bowl of blueberry cobbler and ice cream, because apparently one 9' x 13" is not enough, so I made one as soon as we got home.  =)

1. My little snuggler and I one the ride down.  This dog is the BEST car-riding companion.  He curls up either on me or on the center console and sleeps the entire ride.
2.  The boys cooling off in the pool after getting the boat ready to fish.
3. Puppy cousins.  This was as good as it got....at least they're all looking the same direction.
4. My Patriotic DIY Manicure.
5. Our 4th of July feast: ribs, Boston Butt, potato salad x2, pasta salad, broccoli salad, and baked beans.
6. Eric and his brother checking out the garden in the backyard.
7. Our Sunday night mahi mahi dinner...fried and grilled with the best squash casserole you've ever eaten.
8. Hawk of course made good use of the pool while we were there.  He even went for a dip one morning at 6AM when I let him out to go to the bathroom.
9.  If the puppies weren't playing, they were snoozing.
10.  4th of July Mimosas (Mommy mimosa for my SIL)!  

1. All of the Cagle cousins who were at the house for the 4th.
2.  Eric and I at the pool.
3. The 4 and a half of us! First picture of all of us with my little nephew!
4. My SIL and I (and my nephew).  Doesn't she look gorgeous!?
5. Eric and his brother with one of their mahi mahi on the boat!

Blueberries, Blueberries, Blueberries!

Don't worry the cobbler recipe will be posted this week...