Memorial Weekend ~ Better Late Than Never!

Hunter and his new best friend!

Aren't we a motley crew?

We had a very busy Memorial weekend ~ my sister called on Thursday because Wilson wanted to invite Hunter to come up and hang out ~ I'm really glad I wasn't face to face when she said this because I am fairly confident that I had a completely dumbfounded look on my face which would have probably hurt her feelings ~ I was taken by surprise by the invitation to say the least. In Lee's world little kids are nothing but walking, talking, petri dishes (although I think I may have to agree with her on this one given the number of times I have been sick so far this year) ~ she is also a NEUROTIC picker upper ~ so the fact that little people leave a trail of stuff everywhere they go does her in! Although big people who leave a trail behind them also does her in ~ so I guess you can't say that is a little people prejudice. Wilson doesn't have kids either, so they're just not accustomed to having them around and dealing with them and the noise that comes along with them ~ they live in a lovely quiet world! Hunter thinks Wilson is the cat's meow, so he was quite excited to be invited! Anyway, we had plans to go to a crawfish boil on Saturday, but said that we would get up and come Sunday morning ~ they live on Lake Livingston which is about 2 hours or so from here. We loaded up in the morning and were there before lunch ~ really a very pretty place. I haven't ever been to Lake Livingston before and it is much nicer than Conroe ~ still pretty serene, where Conroe is bumper to bumper boats, jet skis, and houses. The weather was beautiful ~ Wilson got out and mowed the bocce ball court, and then proceeded to paint the lines in the right places so Hunter could play. Keep in mind that he is a landscape architect so nothing is done half ass ~ instead of just spraying the lines by sight, he pulled out the string to ensure they were straight! Only an architect! Across the street from there house is some vacant property that they lease and this is where Wilson's huge garden is and where Rio (the horse) and his horse friend Winston live. Hunter had so much fun getting to go over there and harvest stuff from the garden ~ we had green beans with dinner that night that Hunter picked ~ Their lot is HUGE so there was plenty of room for the kids to run around. There is also a beach ~ so instead of there being just a bulkhead that drops off into the water there is an honest to god beach that the kids had a blast playing on. Well, Maisie didn't so much enjoy the beach when she toppled off the bulkhead and landed on her head on said beach! We were getting ready to go out into the lake and float so I had put her life jacket on her ~ you know they have that weighted thing at the back of the head on infant vests to flip them over the right direction should they fall in ~ well let me just say that life jacket weighs damn near as much as Maisie does ~ anyway, I had put the jacket on her while she stood in the grass near the edge of the bulkhead and then I turned around to grab something and let her go and over the edge she went! Lee was standing right there too ~ Maisie was in the middle of both of us and yet neither one of us could grab her before she hit the sand! When I say she landed on top of her head I'm not kidding ~ there was a spot in the sand where her head had gone into it! Poor kid! Thank god she wasn't hurt! We went out and floated in the lake for a little while and then came back in because a storm was undoubtedly coming across the lake ~ made it back inside and got everything picked up just in time! It rained for the rest of the night ~ fortunately we had the entire day before it rolled in. Wilson cooked the most delicious meat I have ever eaten for dinner ~ he has a water smoker, something I had never heard of, and used it to cook some back strap ~ now normally I don't eat just plain old game, it has to be cut 50/50 with beef or pork for me to get rid of that wild taste ~ Lee soaks it in water until there is no more blood and then marinates it ~ man it was AWESOME! It surpassed the smoked sirloin at Texas Land and Cattle and that is by far my favorite carnivore meal ever! The next day Hunter had about 16 hours worth of activities planned to cram into about 4 hours! We were heading to Liberty for the day to the place Scott hunts to ride 4-wheelers and attend a party there so we had to get moving. Hunter opted to spend what time he had left at the lake on a boat ride ~ Wilson owns one of every big boy toy there is ~ so we put Maisie back into her death suit ~ let me say that she remembered the traumatic events that unfolded the day before because of that thing ~ and off we went. We packed up and headed off for the ranch when we left there ~ hung out for the day ~ Maisie is a real 4-wheeler riding mama ~ and then came back that night to get ready for life back in reality on Tuesday! Had a great weekend ~ Lee has been on me about not posting about our trip to the lake ~ I think Wilson secretly enjoys being the star of my blog ~ so I figured I had better get this posted before we are never invited back! Maybe we can go back later this summer and spend the entire weekend ~ Hunter would be convinced that he had indeed died and gone to heaven! So Lee and Wilson thanks for a great time ~ we'll be watching the mail for our next invite!