Ben, Jessica, Amanda and I went to Port City Community Church this morning. It was the start of a new series about how everything is made up of individual moments. It was good. After church we headed over to Sweet & Savory. Jessica in particular wanted to go there and she and Ben hadn’t been there since it was renovated and enlarged. We sat outside and were entertained (or at least I was) by the birds that would find scraps of food and dip them in the fountain to wet them before eating.
After breakfast we headed on out to the beach. We asked Bonnie and Dave Narron, our across the street neighbors, to let the dogs out for a bit sometime during the day so we didn’t have to worry about when to come back and let them out. We spent most of the day out there and played Ladder Ball or Horse Nuts, whichever you want to call it, which was the new game the Lambeths got for Amanda’s birthday.
I’ve never seen that part of the beach so crowded. Most people go to the area around Johnny Mercer’s Pier, which is about in the middle of Wrightsville Beach. We park at Anna and Barry’s of course, which is within easy walking distance of the very north end of the island. Anyway, there were people stretching out on both sides, which even in the summer is a rarity. When we went for a walk to the point of the island there were people all the way up to a little past the jetty before it tapered off and looked about like normal.
Anna and Barry came out and hung out with us for a bit and Michael, who had been working, came out too. We all played some Horse Nuts (my preferred name for the game) and packed it in after a bit. It took us almost 20 minutes to cross the second bridge and get back on the mainland proper from Anna and Barry’s with all the traffic. I was able to play the Alphabet Game with myself to completion twice in that time.
Yesterday we stopped by Walgreen’s on the way to the movie theater to get some candy. Jessica had seen some Dr. Pepper popsicles and wanted to get some, but he nixed it. She kept bringing it up to nag and tease him (all in good fun of course) so on the way home from the beach I stopped by there and they bought two cases of it.
We were going to stop by Trolley Stop so Ben could get a hotdog, but since it was nearing dinnertime anyway we decided to do that tomorrow. Instead we made plans to grill some pizza and stopped by Lowe’s Food to get what we needed for that. We got the dough from Hoobie’s Pizza, which was better, unfrozen and cheaper than what we’d have gotten at the grocery store. Ben went out to get some Starbuck’s liqueur and Bailey’s Irish Cream, but Starbucks didn’t have any and the ABC store was closed so he just got some beer. Michael came by and Ben got back just as the pizzas were finishing so we all had salad and pizza.
After that we had a rematch in Settlers of Catan. It was a really close game (except for for Michael, poor guy) but Jessica won, so the Lambeths were undefeated this weekend in Settlers.
Michael had put on the Lakers game and we finished our game a bit before halftime. At halftime, he, Ben and I went out to play some 21. Oh yeah, at some point earlier we played HORSE. I think I won one and Michael won one. Ben killed us at 21 though. He handles and shoots pretty well. I was tapped out I think on my very first shot in the first game. In the second game we kept tapping each other and getting the scores reset, but I was eventually tapped out again. I think Michael won that one, but Ben was definitely the better player in both games.
Once we finished that up we had some s’mores at the firepit. Michael went home after a bit and the rest of us sort of watched Knocked Up and dozed off on the couches before all heading to bed.
Zach Dotsey