Birthday Celebration!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes for my little man! This weekend was a whirlwind and unfortunately did not turn out exactly like we had hoped. The illustrator started suffering last week from some strange sinus stuff, that he hoped would go away quickly, but unfortunately, he woke up on Saturday morning feeling worse. I still have stomach trouble which does not make for a great car ride, but we had already promised everyone that we were coming and Max was pumped, so we went to Tennessee for the weekend.

Max had his pick of meals...so we were making a low country boil and having a cookie cake. The illustrator and I were responsible for the dinner and the illustrator's mom and sister were doing the desserts (which was super helpful and nice of them). Unfortunately, I ended up doing dinner since the illustrator got even worse.

Luckily, we were surrounded by family because Max had a blast playing with his cousins and really that is all that mattered. He got loads of money and the hat that he has been looking all over for. He has a think for hats.

He wore that hat and sweated to death. It was hilarious how many times he said he loved the hat. He is dedicated to style, that's for sure!

He had a great birthday! Hopefully he did not get an extra special birthday gift from his father...the nasty cold!

This is the view of the sunset from the illustrator's parents' house. They have the most unbelievable lake view. This is what it looked like as we were eating dinner...incredible ending to the day!

Low Country Boil:
As far as the low country boil goes, this is another one of those unrecipes that there are a million and one version of it. We put potatoes, onion, corn on the cob, sausage (we used local Georgia smoked sausage), shrimp (again, we went local with Georgia wild shrimp), and sometimes we use crawfish. I started boiling the potatoes and onion in water with old bay seasoning until they were almost done. Then I added the sausage and corn. When the potatoes were done, I added the shrimp and cooked until they were done, which only takes a few minutes. I leave extra old bay on the table to season individually 'cause I love the stuff.

It's a fun meal and it makes the best leftover chowder...that comes tomorrow. I love interactive meals! The kids love grabbing at what they want...it makes eating so much more fun!

So, my valentine is sick (even though we don't celebrate it, it would be nice if he felt well). My gift to him was my early morning run to the store to grab medicine, green juice and Epsom salts for him to take a detox bath. I hope everyone else enjoys the day!

Don't forget about the Bob's Red Mill Give Away!