Part II: Under the Weather

Monday night's rain lasted all through the day on Tuesday. We weren't that bothered, since we could see and hear the ocean from our glassed-in porch. All of the adults continued reading the books we had started on the beach, while the kids engaged in their second-favorite vacation activity- watching TV in their bedroom! (We only have one TV at home.)


Cory, Sherri, Chris and I had been looking forward to a big shopping trip at the Silver Sands Outlet Mall in Destin, and our rainy day seemed like the perfect time for it. Oddly enough, every other tourist in Walton County had the same novel idea. We got some shopping done, but we also spent a lot of our trip fighting the crowds and standing in too-long lines. We left, vowing to return on a sunny day so that we wouldn't have as much competition. We never did.

That night, Roy and Sherri made poblano peppers stuffed with shrimp and rice and served with black beans. It was great, and went well with the pineapple-jalepeno margaritas we made. After dinner I cried through the end of Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith, a new entry on my favorite books ever list. I think I'll put it at number three, and recommend it to everyone I know.


Sadly, Wednesday morning did not hold much promise either. It was overcast, windy, and a little chilly, with more rain threatening. We walked down to the beach anyway, only to discover a red flag telling us the water was as dangerous as it was cold. We all resumed our Tuesday morning book/TV posts, but with a little more grumbling. We figured we'd find something to do eventually, right after we sat and did nothing for a little bit. Before you know it, lunchtime was upon us as was better weather. We ate and SPFed and got down those 49 (50) steps as fast as we could.

That night we grilled pizzas and had one of Roy's famous "Dooker Blowouts." This is much more fun than the name might imply.


We thought we had turned a corner, but Thursday morning it was cool and overcast again. At this point, even Connor said, "We've watched too much TV!" We killed the morning by walking down to the playground in Seaside and burning some energy there while waiting on the weather to pick up, which it did by the afternoon.


That night, Chris made crabcakes using his grandmother's famous recipe. (Secret ingredient? Butter.) The 2006 Conundrum was perfect for this meal! OK, really it was perfect for every meal, which is the reason we had at least a bottle of it a day. Before dinner we attempted the traditional family portrait session, which ran into several obstacles. To begin with, only the Memphis Chockleys had bothered to pack any white shirts. But fortunately, we had packed a LOT of white shirts. On to problem two: Chloe. She refused to participate in a productive way at any point in the family portrait process, save for two shots of her and Connor which you will see when you get our Christmas cards.