She's Aliiiive!

So, I bet you guys thought I'd dropped this blog like a big ol' hot potato, huh? Au contraire, mon frere! You should be so lucky. But no, I was merely in a prison called Dupre Library being the **tch of my cellmates named Textbook, Binder, and Notecard. Perhaps you remember them from your own stint in a similar institution? Mmm-hmm, I thought so. For me, there's a major difference between the end of finals undergrad style versus grad style. Namely that I did not go out and get completely **it-faced. I celebrated with a piece of pizza and promptly collapsed into a coma for the next ten hours. Not even a glass of wine because I was too tired to stop off and get a bottle on the way home. Yes, I know, all together now- LAME! But, the point is, it's over, and I think we can all agree that the fact that I survived is a minor freakin' miracle. And I gotta give a shout-out to the Big Guy (or Gal?) upstairs for seeing me through. That'd be God, not Ray Authement, just in case there was any confusion on your part. "Uncle Ray" is da man, but he ain't that good.

Anyway, when last I left you, dear peeps, I had promised a rousing post about the Annual Mottram Thanksgiving Shindig in Gulf Shores. Well, luckily for you, I suffer from a chronic case of CRS (Can't Remember **it); therefore, you will be spared the misery...somewhat. Unfortunately for you, I did take pics. So, while you won't have to slog through a reading of my prolific prose, you will, if you choose to conitnue, have to endure a mind-numbingly inane photo essay. Oh yes, it's a classic. And we're off!

Here's some of the insane traffic we encountered along the way. This is a shot of the tunnel in Mobile. This is at the point in the trip where we were tantalizingly close to our destination of Gulf Shores only to encounter the fourth traffic jam. This is also where I started wailing and just generally having a temper tantrum to rival that of two-year-olds everywhere. Sing along time! Alex loves me, this I know, 'cause...he didn't kill me on the way to Gulf Shores for acting like a brat. 'Kay, so that last part doesn't really go with the original song, but you get my drift.

Once we finally arrived, this was the crib my in-laws hooked us up with for this year's festivities. My reaction? A variety of age-inappropriate slang, like Niiiiiiiice! Sweet! and Hollah! At this point, I am pretty sure Alex added Taser to his Christmas wish list.

Here's muh Zandy doin' what he does best. And this was pre- Thanksgiving gorging.

This act of perfected lounging is apparently a family trait passed down through the DNA. Witness the stunning visual evidence above.

We enjoyed this every day. Niiiiice! Sweet! Hollah!

I got to force Alex out onto the beach and make him pose for pics. Thought running through his head? Prolly something along the lines of Hmmm, could I reach her with the Taser from this distance?

And more posing on the beach.

Our cutie-patootie niece Hannah enjoyed the beach. She is the happiest kid EVER! Like every day is a day at DisneyWorld happy. She's fun!

We don't get to see Hannah that often, so Alex made sure to get in some quality "uncle" time with her. They're so cute together that it almost makes me want one of my own. I said almost.

The whole fam enjoyed the beach. Check out Alex's dad. We often marvel at Paw's ability to promptly pass out and catch some Z's in any situation. I want that super-power!

Sarah, our other niece, was in charge of Bingo. BTW, she's gonna make someone a great babysitter. She played with Hannah like a champ.

Stephen, our nephew, is now a teenager, so this Game Boy-obstructed view was pretty much the status quo for the weekend. Not that I blame him. He had seven adults and two little girls for company. Not a lot of Wheeeeeeee! moments for him, know what I'm sayin'?

My darling brother and sister-in-law Chris and Pam are the parents of Stephen and Sarah. They reside in Atlanta and told us some pretty funny stories about dealing with the water shortage there. Chris is hilarious.

Two words- tryptophan overdose. Let this be a warning to you, kids. (And more evidence of why I think he really wants that Taser. I know I'd freakin' kill him if he took a pic like this of me. Forget the posting, just the taking would result in a beat down. And, no, I don't know why he puts up with me.)

Just before we left I took this picture... then began screaming NOOOOOO! You can't make me go! and was drug (or is it dragged?...ah, forget it!) off to the car by Zandy.

That's the tunnel in Mobile again. The traffic on the way home was blissfully non-existent. Lucky for me. One more "incident" and that Taser might still be on the Christmas list.

And that's it. Like a modern day family vacation slideshow, eh? Mmm-hmm, I agree, they are just as boring now as back when they were projected onto the wall of the living room. Look on the bright side, if you ever have trouble sleeping, you can forgo the sleep-binging Ambien and just come here; you'll be lulled into REM in no time flat! But I'm not paying for any keyboards ruined by drool, just so ya know.

Hope you enjoyed the post or at least got a well-deserved nap out of it, and have an awesome weekend, my peeps! You know darn well that I will! Where the heck is that corkscrew?