jellybeans and pumpkin for Ally!

After the visit in Summerville, I headed to Louisville.
Georgia, that is, not Kentucky.
My dear great-niece had turned six and I was late for her birthday.
Very late!
LOL!
Her birthday is in the beginning of June and I was already in attendance at an out-of-town birthday party. No clone, as of yet, so I can still only be in one place at a time.
(smile!)
Once I finally made up my mind to go to the wedding in Tennessee, I contacted my niece in Louisville.
me: "I am going to a wedding in Tennessee, then visiting Tony on the way back. Would it be possible for me to stay with y'all on Sunday night?"
her: "Yes! That would be awesome!! You can have Ally's room!! What time do you think you would be in?"
Good! I should have done that earlier!
Especially as this visit with the Blackmons has been not only long overdue, but such a blessed experience for all of us!
I came laden with gifts for Ally, from Christmas, for her birthday, and from the baseball park in Daytona.

We all started with the book I had written, the book which was directly inspired by her.
Got Pumpkin?
Her cover, like that of the other great-niece who has been with me at pumpkin-carving parties, is lilac.
So very lovely!
We sat right there and read it, too, with me pointing out my outlaw Bunny's presence with the ghost pumpkin. Hahaha haha!
(For those keeping count, that means four of the books have ventured into the world now! As well as the ones to the two girls, one went to my older nephew in Beaufort for his birthday and one was bequeathed to the hosts of the parties I have attended with Ally.
[I gave it to her at the Soup Party, in thanks for her allowing my bfe to tour their Halloween-bedecked yard in October. Read the story here.]
I still have my copy and I have one for my great-niece Carissa. I hope to see her for Christmas this year!

Next up?
The elephant in the jellybean jar bracelet!
You know, from the little shop in Ormond Beach?
Miss Ally immediately used it as an anklet! She is such an -outside-the-box girl - how fabulous!

Then it was time to spread out all the gifts from Daytona!
Since the boys of summer there are now known as the Tortugas, I simply had to get her a membership in their Tiny Tugas club!
(Hey, love of turtles is an inside joke with us, just so you know!)
In addition to a cool (and official!) T-shirt and membership card, she also received a pack of baseball cards and some other cool treats! Some of those cards really caught her dad's eye, too.
Nice!
Then we all had dinner and a long talk on the front porch, with me getting the porch swing, sometimes with Ally right by my side.
THAT is how you know they are in a good space. Their house may be near the road, but it has a front porch that gets used for socializing.
Yep, even in the summer.
Life is so good!