That Nasty Four Letter "B" Word

It's been six months since Christmas.  Hard to believe this year is already half over.  Time really does go faster as you get older, and  I don't like that at all.  Another thing I don't like...I haven't visited with my family since Christmas.  It's not like we live on different sides of the country or anything!  There is really no excuse.  Even that nasty four letter "b" word (busy) that we all use as our excuse, doesn't make me feel any better.  When I realized it had been six months since I saw my Dad, I looked at my calendar pages from December to May and analyzed what I had been doing.  Yes, I had been "b*#!", but not necessarily doing things that are as important to me as spending time with my family.  Facebook's good, and we're all on there enough to have some idea of what's going on with each other.  If it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't even know what the newest member of the family looked like.  I have a cute little great nephew that I've yet to meet in person.  So, I'm thankful for social media, but it sure doesn't take the place of  real "face" time.  Before Iphones, that actually meant physically being in the same place at the same time.  A few weeks ago, I decided enough was enough, and took off to do some old fashioned visiting.   First thing I did was meet my sister for dinner in Winston-Salem.  We ate and talked and talked and talked.  We had a lot of catching up to do.

Then I spent a few nights with my dad and stepmom.  I got to see (and eat from) Dad's garden.  He sure has a green thumb and I'm always picking his brain to figure out how he does things so well.

On this trip he gave me this little tip -plant radishes around your squash plants.  Apparently, squash bugs don't care for the company of radishes. Who knew?   Not me, but now I do and  hope it's not too late to plant some, because I had a heck of a time with squash bugs last year.

Dad and I took a hike at Stone Mountain State Park.   I love this place!   The trails are nice and

what a great reward when you get to the end.

I coaxed a nephew into coming along with us.  Okay, so maybe I didn't have to do too much coaxing.  Jackson had a blast hiking and playing in the water.

After watching for a few minutes, I decided to shed my boots and join him.

Unbeknownst to us, this little guy was sunning on the rocks, while watching us wade around him in the water.   I really appreciated the nice man who came over to us and said, "ugh, you do know there is a snake on that rock don't you?"  Well, duh.  Of course we didn't!  We came out of the water PDQ (that's "pretty darn quick" for anyone who wasn't raised in Yadkin County) and Dad and Jackson commenced to do what boys will do,

throw rocks at the snake to try and get him to come out.  It worked.  Boys will be boys.

After a quick change back into dry-ish clothes, we started back up the trail.

The return trip was a tad bit harder...

and we stopped once in a while to rest.

I couldn't help smiling as I watched this little guy romping around, enjoying the great outdoors.  This had been his last day of school and we decided he had started his summer off with a bang.  Hiking, playing in the water, seeing a snake and a deer (which he was the first to spot )

and this big cone of ice cream on the way home might have helped a little too.

We enjoyed a wonderful cookout later in the day.  Dad was the burger chef.  Do you think maybe he  got the hint, when I gave him an apron, oven mits, a new spatula and grill basket for Father's Day that maybe I wanted him to put them to immediate use?  

The smell of burgers cooking on the grill rock my world.

I got to spend time with more nephews (sorry for the blurry shot, but this kid doesn't slow down much)

and my brother too!

Unfortunately, I missed one of his boys who was sick at home with mom.  Next time Cortland, it's you and me buddy.  Let's plan something really fun!  I don't know how I managed not getting any pictures of my stepmom, but as always she was the ideal hostess and I enjoyed spending time with her too.  That lady can cook up a breakfast that would rival any Cracker Barrel and I always appreciate being the recipient of her efforts.  So yummy.  All in all, it was a great trip and I feel better having spent time with some of the family.  I'm still working on seeing the rest of them soon.  Yes, Facebook is alright, but nothing like the real thing.  I sure love my family and I don't want to be guilty of being too "b*#!" to let them know.