"Isn't this so fun?"

We took the boys mini-golfing with Nana this evening. I know we have taken them in the past, but it has been years and neither boy could remember having been on a mini-golf course. They were extremely excited. By the third hole they were doing a kind of gallop/skip around as they moved from hole to hole and as they waited for their turn. K came up to me and excitedly inquired, "Mama! Isn't this so fun!?!"

This course was apparently destroyed in Hurricane Katrina and has been recently rebuilt and reopened. The owners were thrifty though, the course while neat and tidy is extremely basic. No animated windmill, no moving crocodile mouth. Just some indoor/outdoor grass arranged around a few small rocks. But if it is your first time mini-golfing the bar is not very high. The boys love, love, loved this. K marvelled, "This is getting complicated," as we stared down a lumpy 10 yard stretch of indoor/outdoor grass carpet with the hole arranged in a mound like a volcano at the end.

One thing I truly appreciate about the south is the sound of "Y'all." It has this smooth ring to it when delivered with the southern accent. Love it! You could say just about anything to a group of people when it is directed at "Y'all." We let a group of people play through, as we were permitting mulligans and generally taking our time. They all uttered, as only a southerner can, "Thanks y'all." It sounded so genuinely thankful. If this Yankee had tried the same it would have sounded harsh and nasally.

We did get passed by a group of serious golfers. In this shot we posed K so that we could covertly get them in the background.

Yes, they are carrying a real golf bag, and no they are not using the rubber putters provided by the mini-golf course. Oh no, no, they are all using real putters. And, gem, not sure if you can see it, but one among them does have real golf gloves hanging out of his pocket. In fairness, they could have lapped us on the golf course, the mini-volcano thing that took me 8 strokes was nailed by each of them in quick succession in just 2 strokes...no mulligans. And, as they passed they offered a friendly, "Y'all have a good night."