A Rabbit Tale

Of all the things the kids yell as they come running into a room I've never heard "Mom! There's a bunny in the garage!"

Until yesterday.


Sure enough, there was a bunny in the garage.

A very pretty little bunny.

Immediately the kids started asking if we could keep him.

As cute as he was I was positive that the last thing we need around here is a rabbit.

I think bringing a rabbit into a house with a boatload of cats, a Rat Terrier and a Beagle is not really a good idea.

But what to do with the rabbit? How did he get in the garage? Did he come in on his own? Did the cats bring him in?

There was nothing wrong with him but he seemed a little small to be away from his mother.

And if the cats brought him in the garage I didn't want to put him back outside for them to mess with again.

We put him in a box with some water, lettuce, apples and carrots and I called the Wildlife Rescue group here to see if they'd take him.

I was told that they would only take him if his eyes weren't open yet or if he was injured so the lady told me to put him back outside and then shoo him off and that he'd go find his family.

I asked about the cats messing with him and she said the rabbit would know they were around and dangerous and wouldn't stick around.

So I made sure the cats were secured and then let the rabbit go.

But he didn't run off.

He started nibbling on the clover and grass in my yard.



And wouldn't leave.



I watched him for a while and then went back inside, hoping he'd eat his fill and then go find home.

He was gone a little later when I went out to check on him so I went about my day, happily thinking that he'd find his way home.

Wrong.

A few hours later there he was outside my window.

But...

The little girl down the street saw him, came running over and made instant friends with him.

And was positively beaming when I graciously gave the bunny to her.

Off she went, home with her new rabbit.

I haven't heard from her Mom yet. She's probably not too happy with me right now.

Yep, It's Broken

The Oldest Island Boy was out riding his bike last Sunday afternoon and around 5:00 he came into the house crying.

He wasn't sobbing or screaming but there were tears and I could tell by looking at him that something was wrong.

He said he'd hurt his shoulder and after we took his shirt off you could look at his shoulder and tell something wasn't right.

The Island King took one look at it and said "He's got a broken collar bone."

What?!

The Island King was a paramedic for 12 years and immediately his training kicked in so he got out some gauze and made a sling to hold the Oldest's arm still.

And off to the emergency room we went.

The Oldest was really brave and once his arm was in the sling seemed a little more comfortable.

We passed the doctor on our way to the exam room and he took one look at the Oldest and said "I see you've got a broken collar bone."

An X-ray confirmed that he did indeed break his collar bone.

Snapped it completely in half.

They sent him home with a sling, some pain pills and instructions to chill until we could see an Orthopedic doctor.



How did this happen?

Him and some buddies built a ramp and they were jumping it on their bikes.

The Island King saw the ramp a little before the Oldest fell and tells me he thought they'd be fine.

It was in the grass and he says he thought that if they wiped out they'd be fine.

He's still in trouble for that.

The Oldest says he jumped the ramp three times going kind of slow and that he did really well so the fourth time he got going really fast and then hit the ramp.

He told us he went over the ramp and was real high up and then once he hit the ground his back tire slid out from underneath him.

Then he says "It gets sorta fuzzy after that."

When the Orthopedic doc asked him about it he asked if the Oldest had gone really high and the Oldest got a huge smile on his face and said "I caught a LOT of air."

Even with a broken collar bone the boy is remembering his moment in the air with glory.

Boys.

The first three days were rough but each day after that he's gotten better and better.

He's able to go to friend's houses and he wanders around the neighborhood some but he also spends a good bit of time resting in the recliner.

The hard part now is keeping him from running and riding his bike and skateboard.

He has a broken collar bone but he also learned that he has good friends.

They sat with him after he fell and then when it didn't stop hurting they helped him home.

And three hours later they were sitting on our porch waiting for him when we got back from the ER.

Which means he's a very lucky boy.

Wordless Wednesday

Swimming In The Green Water

The kids have developed a new hobby this summer. They call it swimming in the green water.

There is a house on one of the canals in Destin that sits right out on a point and out in front of their sea wall they've put in an underwater light.

Which turn the dark water neon green.


We pass this house whenever we leave the dock in my BIL's boat and the first time the kids saw the green water they wanted us to stop the boat so they could jump in.

We did and from then on if we come back to the dock after dark we have to stop and let them swim in the green water.




It's not just the kids either. The Island King and I like swimming in the green water too.

There's just something about that bright neon water surrounded by the dark water of the canal that makes you want to jump in and swim around.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

As part of our area's "The Coast Is Clear" campaign Lynyrd Skynyrd put on a free concert Sunday on Okaloosa Island.

I'm a die hard Skynyrd fan and as soon as I heard they were coming I decided that come hell or high water I was going to be there.

The high water part of that thought turned out to be almost prophetic.



A few hours before the show it started raining and for almost three hours we were pounded with torrential rain.

Lucky for me I have connections.

My BIL has the contract to clean our County's beaches so as part of the event he had to be there with his crew to keep the trash cans empty and clean up the beach after the show.

Which meant he had a roped off, covered pavilion for his staff, and the parking lot in front of the pavilion was blocked off for his ATVs and the big trash truck.

So even though it was pouring rain we were able to hang out under the pavilion and wait - hoping the rain would stop and the concert would not be cancelled.



EMS had the other side of the pavilion.



We were happy on our side with sub sandwiches, chips and boiled peanuts but those EMS people were really happy.

They had a grill set up and were cooking burgers and dishing out potato salad and baked beans.

The Island Girl was as excited about seeing Skynyrd as I was but the Youngest was more excited to have an "official" ID tag from Sandman.




The torrential rain stopped a little before the show was to start and even though small cells of light rain kept coming no one cared.

As soon as the rain slowed down the beach started filling up.

I wish I had pictures but because of the rain I left the camera at the pavilion when we headed down to the beach for the show.

The newspaper has some pictures today but the rain kept them under cover a lot too.

The rain finally stopped and out onto the stage came Lynyrd Skynyrd.

I realize that only one of the original band members remains but I didn't care.

Lynyrd Skynyrd was on the stage 100 feet from us and they ROCKED.

I'm sure you could hear the crowd from miles away after they played Sweet Home Alabama.

They played for about an hour and then said their goodbyes and left the stage.
Even though I knew they'd do an encore I panicked for a minute and told the Island King that I wasn't leaving until they came back and did Freebird.

I wasn't the only one.

The crowd started yelling "Freebird" and it got louder and louder and louder until you couldn't even hear yourself think.

Back onto the stage they came and the crowd went absolutely wild.

Dancing in the sand, the waves behind us and Skynyrd rocking Freebird in front of us was an incredible experience.

It might have been rainy but it was a day we'll never forget.

600 Feet Up

The Youngest Island Boy spent last week with my parents and the first thing he wanted to do was go parasailing.

His brother went last summer and parasailing is all the Youngest has talked about since then.

Now it was his turn.

My parents took him to Pensacola Beach and he and my Dad were off to sail through the sky.


Their parasail was a giant smiley face, which the Youngest really liked.


Up, up


And away they went.

They sailed through Santa Rosa Sound with Pensacola Beach to the south



And the Naval Live Oaks Reservation to the north.


The boat captain dipped them when they were coming in which he loved almost as much as he loved being up in the air.

He called me when they got back to the beach and said "I was flying high Mom!"


I'm glad he had fun and thanks Mom and Dad for taking him. His mother is too chicken to fly higher than the third rung of a ladder and his father won't admit it but he won't go higher than the roof.

Wordless Wednesday

Jimmy Sums It Up

I didn't get to see the Jimmy Buffett concert in Gulf Shores but I have fallen in love with this song.

Yep.

Boy's Weekend

My trip to Indian Pass started as a boys only fishing weekend for the Island King and his brother.

They were on a mission to catch some tripletail and maybe a red fish or two.

Tripletail like to hang around buoys so my BIL designed what he calls a TAD - Tripletail Attracting Device.


Some Styrofoam blocks, rope, weights




And he'd created his own tripletail reefs.

Too bad that after all that work the only thing he caught was this sailcat.



The Island King landed the only tripletail.


It was too small so back it went and they returned to camp empty handed.

Saturday afternoon brought stormy skies, wind


And lots of rain.

The Island King said the camper was rocking and the wind was blowing but they were well prepared to ride it out.


The storm moved on through Saturday evening and they were able to do a little fishing from the beach.

Where the Island King caught this.


He let him go but stingrays taste a lot like scallops and would have made a great meal.

After spending Friday and Saturday together they decided they'd had enough brotherly bonding time and called me to come over on Sunday.

I'm glad they had fun and I was happy to go over and keep them company for the second half of their trip.

Hanging With The Guys

It seems like I've spent most of the past week with these three guys.


My SIL and her kids are in Ohio visiting family, the Oldest Island Boy has been on his summer visit with my parents and the Island Girl doesn't like to go outside. Ever.

So this week it's been me, the Island King, his brother and the Youngest Island Boy.

Hanging out.

And what I've learned this week is that these three are even odder than I thought they were.

They like to pose for pictures and pretend their male models.




I think the little one is beautiful but I'm pretty sure the bigger one has no future in the modeling world.

My BIL spends all of his time daring the Island King and the Youngest to do stuff.

I dare you to jump off the tower in the dark - naked.

I dare you to pet that shark (big, live, Blacktip shark that had just been caught and put on the beach)

I dare you to go stand on the beach and sing Brick House real loud.

The sad thing is that they take the dares.


It should be noted that my BIL loves to hand out dares but to date has never taken one himself.

The worst part about hanging out with them is their mutual love of disco.

I am a firm believer that disco died for a reason.

We rode around the harbor Thursday night with We Are Family turned up loud and them singing and dancing.

This poor guy stared at us like we were from another planet.


I tried to ignore them and enjoy the sunset.


Admire the boats.


Stare in awe at the clouds.


It was beautiful but I could have done without Disco Inferno blaring from the speakers.


I'll be glad when my SIL gets home - I'm not sure how much more of these guys I can take by myself.