Marmalade

Nana makes excellent marmalade.  Pastor Lance had never had this before, that is until a visit with us one day when Nana and Ba-Ba were at the house.  Since then, he's loved it.  This is a picture we sent Pastor Lance with her holding a jar that she made just for him.  

This morning we started out with a huge breakfast.  This is something we always do down here:  eat too much.  But it's all good, of course.  

Today was an extra day in a way, as we anticipated being on the road this morning, having just left a hotel or something like that.  We sat on the balcony overlooking the ocean, reading or writing messages for KidPak.  We still have to write a new "Neverland" skit by Sunday, so that'll probably be written down here.

We did a really long walk down the beach, the three of us, Madison, Mommy and Daddy.

Madison loves this, but so do we.  It's just nice to walk along the shore, looking for shells, feeling the water lap up at your feet, and breathing in the ocean breeze.  It was a stronger breeze than normal, which made going one direction on the beach a lot easier.  Going against the wind was a bit more interesting.  It was probably the strongest breeze we've seen here at the beach.

And look who was blowing up on shore!  Jellies, dude!  There were a few of these guys along the walk, washed up on shore.  It was interesting watching from the balcony as folks would sit and analyze the situation:  okay, there's a big jellyfish.  And then there was the discussion amongst themselves:  what do we do about said jellyfish?  Some would sit there and ponder the situation for a bit, and others would snap a photo and move on (as Daddy clearly did).  Mommy seemed to think it likely that this jellyfish was already an ex-jellyfish (He's passed on! This jellyfish is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker!  He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! If you hadn't seen him on the beach he'd be pushing up the daisies!  His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig!  He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!).  Nevertheless, some folks would attempt a rescue, using flip-flops (no joke) to dig up sand around said jellyfish, and then transport it to the ocean.  Where moments later, it would wash ashore once more.  From our perch up here on the condo, we watched this process time and again.  Yes, we had big entertainment here.  It was that kind of day!

Madison and Daddy spent a long time in the indoor pool today, playing frisbee and the other classic pool game:  "Yes or No."  Yes, I know that this is not a classic pool game.  But for some reason, Madison wanted to play this last time, while in the pool.  And so, when we're in the pool, she thought of it again.  This is the game they played in "A Christmas Carol," and evidently it is timeless, because Madison really likes it.  We hopped in the jacuzzi after this, and went back upstairs, ready for some food and a little rest.  Daddy got way too much sun out on the shoreline, so we'll have to be better about that tomorrow.

To help out with the heat today, we all had... and this is good... banana splits!  Yes, Mommy created these elaborate banana splits for us all.  Mommy and Daddy split a split, and it was so delicious.  

Today though, we tried out Disney Movies Anywhere, which isn't exactly the smoothest service.  I mean, we have a brand new computer here and good internet service.  And still, it took like fifteen tries (no exaggeration) to get the thing moving.  Same thing happened with "Ultron" the other day.  This is all brought up now because of the whole "cloud" thing, where you can own movies "virtually" online.  We have a few that we only possess in theory.  They are online, in a cloud or something, floating "out there" so that at some point we can watch them whenever we choose, provided we have the right internet service provider and electronics equipment that is updated enough to own said movie.  In the old days, you just popped in your VHS or DVD.  But now, there's this emphasis on owning things that are all "out there" on a "cloud."  Our generation will never accept this.  Video game companies are doing the same thing now.  You buy certain games online, and only if you have a steady internet connection can you actually continue to play.  Even though an internet connection isn't necessary for gameplay.  It's weird, and like I said, our generation will never go for it.

We did eventually get "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" going, and the three of us watched it with popcorn and those baked potato chips that Mommy and Daddy love.  Afterwards, it was nearly time for bed.  We read from the devotional, read from the Bible, and also read from our latest Jack Sparrow booklet, "Sins of the Father," which is new for all of us.  In this book, we're meeting Captain Teague again, and discovering that our old friend Fitzwilliam from the last eight books... is not a friend after all.  Traitors.  That's one of Daddy's least-favorite plot devices.  Regardless, we're all enjoying the books, obviously Madison the most.  She loves the whole pirate thing.

It was a nice relaxing day at the beach.  The wind is blowing, and a few storms are brewing out there on the seas.  We're in for some spotty weather tomorrow, and we'll keep an eye on the horizon.  It'll still be a good day no matter what, as storms do pass, and a day at the beach is a relaxing one.