Ribs!

After our hike, we lounged around the house and got ready to dig into Chris' ribs. Uncle Roger had to head to the airport around 6pm, so we decided to eat around 4:30 so we could enjoy one last meal together. I was super excited to have homemade smoked ribs and they turned out to be even better than expected! They were a bit overcooked, which was upsetting to Chris, but they really did taste great! My Aunt Cathy made a chili relleno casserole and an arugula, watermelon, and feta salad. It was all delicious and went so well with the ribs.

After enjoying such a delicious meal, Sofia asked if she could feed Mertle the Turtle watermelon. Primarily Mertle eats grass in the summer and hay in the winter, but loves watermelon and carrots as treats. Apparently they should be given to him sparingly since they are very sugary for a turtle. Aunt Cathy gave Sofia a chunk of watermelon and she and Briella headed outside to feed Mertle and watch him eat. Tater follows Sofia everywhere since she is one of the few who consistently throws the tennis ball for Tater. He loves chasing the tennis ball and could do it all day long! He's such a sweet dog and the girls really love him. After Mertle was done eating, Sofia, Lincoln and Olivia headed down to the basement to continue playing. They have enjoyed hanging out together so much and it's great to see them spend time together. I really figured Sofia would pair off with Leah or both girls would follow Leah around, but now that Leah is 14 years old, she is beyond pretend play and it seems like the difference between Sofia, at nearly 10 years old, and Leah at 14, is pretty big at this point. Since Lincoln is 8 years old, he seems like he's game for anything the girls suggest, so they get along great. Plus, he loves to pretend as much as the girls so they had hours of playtime. At times, he would bring out his iPad and they would take turns playing a dinosaur computer game. So they all had a lot in common.

We said our goodbyes to Uncle Roger and wished him well. Hopefully we'll see him again soon and I told him we'd love to see him in Texas or would visit him in California next time we are out. Hopefully we see him soon!

Chris cutting ribs

Getting all the food ready to be served!

The kids table

Feeding Mertle watermelon

Sofia really loved hanging out with Mertle and feeding him watermelon and carrots

Tater waiting for Sofia to throw his ball for him

The adorable Tucker!