Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Clarence's Birthday and Weekend Getaway

Last weekend was the best weekend we have had in a long time. A little spontaneity goes a long way. Saturday was Clarence's birthday. We knew we wanted to go on a little mini-vacation, but the weather was supposed to be pretty bad all over the South. So when we woke up Saturday morning and checked the weather, the outlook for Mobile/Fairhope was the most promising. We took off in that direction with nary a hotel reservation in sight;)

I have Teacher's Retirement through UAB, and we get a very good discount for hotels on the Robert Trent Jones Trail. These deals are only on special days, and Clarence's birthday happened to be one of those days, so we called on our way down and booked a room. Boy what a deal it was! More on that later.

First we stopped in Elberto, Alabama for the German Sausage Festival. The festival itself was not too impressive, but the sausage was pretty delicious, and the apple dumplings were the best I've ever had. Delicious with some vanilla ice cream on top!

Here's a picture of Rowan and Clarence at the festival (but you can't really tell where they are).


When we arrived at the hotel, we were immediately surprised at how beautiful it was. The RTA rate was $89 per night at the Marriott Grand. This is the website for the hotel, and I would totally reccommend doing this for those with the discount! http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ptlal-grand-hotel-marriott-resort-golf-club-and-spa/

When we walked into our room, we were very pleased to have doors that opened out over the marina. It was so relaxing sipping our wine later that evening listening to the clang of the sailboats and the waves lapping the rocks.







The grounds are very lovely. You can rent bikes and ride all over. They have kayaks to rent for the bay, several restaurants, bars, a very nice-looking spa, and a walkway all along the bay.


Here is the pool -


Rowan touched the sand for the first time. He seemed to enjoy wiggling his toes in it.




We spent most of Saturday afternoon strolling around.



Beautiful Live Oaks with Spanish Moss -



























Too bad I didn't get a picture before we cut into it. Happy Birthday, Clarence!! I love you so much!

Fun in the sink

Sunday (March 22) Grandaddy and "Granny T" let Rowan play in the kitchen sink, and boy did he LOVE that. He was running in place in the water and splashing like crazy.



Monday morning, Rowan woke up running a very high fever. But he was still in pretty good spirits!
So Daddy took him to the doctor and stayed home with him while I went to work. He had a cold which caused an ear infection. Poor baby.But he still felt good enough to play when I got home from work.


Last weekend (March 20-22)

Last weekend Clarence had to go to Savannah for a very sad occasion, a funeral. We would've liked to have been able to go and be with family, but that was a long way to go in one day with Rowan only 6 months old, so we were sorry we couldn't be there:(

Rowan and I headed up to Mom's house on Friday after work and "school". It is a pretty drive. This was the view out the window of my car (yes, Mom, I did pull over - I promise I don't take any pictures while driving;).
Saturday we relaxed around the house, enjoying the view. We went to the fabric store, went to downtown Gadsden and had some desserts at a little coffee shop.

Before we left, Rowan had a nice time hanging out on Mom's bed. Check out how good he's gotten at sitting up all by himself.




Blue eyes. My baby has blue eyes. You can see them in the picture below. Actually they are sort of gray, green and blue. I don't know if they are going to change now.



Look at this chubby face and those chins! But all he really wanted to do was to see what Grandmommy was doing.
Saturday afternoon we left Mom's house and headed down to Oxford to see Dad and family. We had a lovely dinner outside to enjoy the warm weather. Then we went inside for another riveting game of Scrabble. It was lots of fun.
Sunday Daddy came home, and we spent a lot of time outside.
Signs of spring...

FIVE
FIVE DOLLAR ;)



Aww, two of my sibs:)

Rowan was happy to see Daddy... and his sunglasses.







Emily was so colorful!

This one looks like the pose for a senior portrait.