Memorial Weekend Fun with Gramps and Laverne

This past weekend was Memorial weekend.  My husband's dad and step mom drove in from Houston  for a visit over the long weekend.  They arrived Thursday afternoon.  Thursday evening, we all went to Gabriel's last band concert of 7th grade.  I tried to post the video I took of it, but it's WAY too long, so it wouldn't upload.  Gabriel is the one and only bassoon player in the whole school, the whole school district actually!  During the concert, the band director gave out awards.  Gabriel won best in section for the beginning band woodwind section!  He was so surprised when she said, "...goes to our one and only bassoonist, Gabriel Craig."  We are so proud of him!  And he was so proud to have us all there for his last concert.  (His dad was over seas when he had his first concert, back in October, so it was just his little sister, little brother and me at that one.)  He will go on to symphonic band next year, and he's really looking forward to that.  I'm so proud of him, and so happy that he is doing so well and loving band so much. 



They always put him in the corner of the stage, wedged between the wall and the podium. 

On Friday, we went to Daytona Beach. Steve's dad and step mom are big Harley Davidson fans. They both have bikes, and they love them. There is a giant Harley Davidson superstore just north of the city of Daytona Beach, so we took them there. I think they were pretty pleased with it, because we were there for quite some time while they looked around at all the bikes and accessories. After that, we went to the beach. (You can't go to Daytona Beach, and not go to the beach!) The waves were big and wonderful, and even though they didn't have their bathing suits, the kids got in those waves and had a blast!   (Little did we know that the waves were being produced by tropical storm Beryl, who would hit us two days later)

Nathan can't wait until he's big enough to go out there with his sibs!

Soaking wet, and sandy, but it was worth it!

Gabriel with his Gramps and Daddy.  Three generations of Craig men.

On Saturday, we all loaded up and drove up to the north part of Jacksonville to visit The Catty Shack Ranch.  http://www.cattyshack.org/  This place is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!  We were there in the middle of the afternoon, which is to the cats, what the wee hours of the morning are to us.  Naturally, they were all sleeping.  However, it was the seventh birthday of one of their male lions, so they woke him, and the tigers around him up so they could give him his birthday cake, and we could all sing happy birthday to him.  It was fascinating to see the owner of the ranch go into the habitats and wake up the tigers, and a full grown male lion.  Freddy, the lion who's birthday it was, was so funny.  When the owner walked into Freddy's habitat and called his name, Freddy woke up and lazily padded over to him, then plopped down in front of him and turned over on his back so the owner could give him a belly scratch.  I want to do that!!!  The owner was playing ball with one of the tigers, and scratching him on the head at one point too.   Don't get me wrong, he was ALWAYS very cautious in everything he did with the animals, but you could absolutely tell that these animals were not only used to this man interacting with them, but that they loved him too, (and that the feeling was mutual).  Our tour guide made it a point to tell us that these cats are not now, and never will be 'tame'.  There were some habitats that the owner did not enter.  There was a small door in the fencing, big enough for him to put his hands through, and he would scratch the residents head through that.  It's all about getting to know each animal individually, and getting to know their personality traits.  Not unlike dealing successfully with humans.  The next time we go, we are going to go to a night time feeding.  All the cats will be awake and animated at that time.  If you go to the link above, there are videos you can watch of the animals, and you can see how well taken care of they are, and how happy they are.  Each one of those animals was rescued from a place that was not taking good care of them.  If you are ever in the Jacksonville area on a weekend, you really should check this place out.  They only have public tours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and most Friday nights.  Those tours are also fund raisers for the ranch.

This is Freddy

This is the owner scratching a tigers head through the fence.

This is the owner playing ball and scratching the head of one of the tigers.

Playing ball

The only white tiger

The only leopard that's not all black

Sleeping cougar

Tiger cub

Sweet baby!

Look at the size of those paws!

Pretty girl

"Can I help you?"

Black leopard

On Saturday evening, Annalise didn't look very good.  She was running a fever.  On Sunday, she was still running a fever.  There was also a tropical storm bearing down on us by then.  Sunday and Monday were spent inside, playing Mexican Train and monitoring Leesie's fever.  On Monday afternoon, amid the wind and the rain, we decided to take Leesie to urgent care.  She tested positive for the flu.  What a yucky way to end a great weekend!