The Pumpkin Patch

I am sitting here with the kids, for the 10th year in a row, watching The Great Pumpkin. You know the Charlie Brown cartoon. Including my childhood, I have no idea how many times I have watched this.

So, while watching it, I decided to post about our trip yesterday to our pumpkin patch, with the exception of last year, we have been going to it for the past 10 years. We have downsized a little bit. It use to be the kids could each get a pumpkin. But, starting last year, we just decided on a great big one. Then the kids each got a litte bitty one.

Here are some pictures from year number 10. . .

Amazing Book Club

This month our book club read Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille. It was a really good book. It gave the basic story of how Louis Braille invented the Braille writer. And it was great for all the varied ages we have in our club.

For this month's get together, I thought it would be a great idea to get a Braille Writer and some Braille books for the kids to look at and touch. When I contacted our homeschool group to try to find those items, a fellow homeschooler had an even better idea.

This particular homeschooling mom had a friend who has been blind since she was 9 years old. She felt sure her friend would enjoy coming to our club meeting and giving a little talk. I was so excited!

So, this past Thursday during book club, Ms. M come to talk with us about Louis Braille, being blind and some of the ways she deals with her blindness. She was super sweet and loved talking with the kids.

She had a project the kids could work on. A display that the kids could see and touch. And, she helped them type an alphabet letter on her writer. The kids were also given an opportunity to ask her questions. And they had some really good ones.

My favorite question was "Which sense do you rely on most?" And her answer was "her God sense." When asked how she finds things that she misplaces in her home, she told us she stops and prays "Lord, what ever has been hidden from me, let it be revealed." based on a specific Scripture verse. And she said it has worked every single time.

We learned so much from her. She was such an inspiration to us all. And, it was so great for the kids (and adults) to hear her testimony. Many of the kids were still talking about her later on in the day.

I love our book club. The moms. The kids. The books. And all the unexpected blessings . . .

Boop and BBall

I love Boop. And I love basketball. So, can you imagine how much fun I am having watching Boop play basketball!?!

He started about 3 weeks ago and we are just loving the experience. It is through the Upward program which we have never been a part of before. It has been such an organized, fun, educational, and instructive experience.

Boop is having a great time, too. It really seems to be his thing. According to hubby he is much more agressive in basketball then he is in soccer. Boop's skills are improving with every game. Learning to dribble with one hand. Learning to dribble instead of traveling. Learning to pass to other teammates (little bit harder lesson for him to learn.) He loves to get the ball and to shoot it. Last game he made at least three baskets!

He keeps moving. He pays attention. He hussles.

His game is at 9AM on Saturdays. They practice for 20 minutes and then they have a half court game for 40 minutes. Just the right amount of time for a bunch of 5 and 6 year old boys and girls.

Part of the program is a devotion time before the games. The kids were given a mega scripture verse to memorize before the "end of the season" which is only like 6 weeks long. Anyway, Boop's is Ephesians 6:1-4.

We memorize scripture almost every morning as part of our family devotion time. So, to encourage Boop to memorize his, we decided to learn the verses together. When we arrived for his very first game he asked if he could tell his coach his mega verse. I told him he didn't have to. He had the whole "season" to memorize. But, if he knew it, he certainly could recite it to his coach and teammates.

So, when the opportunity came up during their pregame devotion time, Boop told the coach he knew his mega verse and recited it. I was so proud of my boy. I did not push him. If anything I gave him an out, in case he wasn't ready. He is so determined to do things his way, in his own time.

Yes, he is learning the skill of basketball, which I personally love. But, he is also learning the skill of hiding God's word in his heart, which will be with him for a life time. . .

A Day At The Beach

One thing I love about camping is, our days start out slow. No rush. And no real agenda. So different from life at home! I love, love, love camping! Anyway, hubby relaxing around the morning fire with great instant coffee.

We love lighthouses. And this is our third one to visit. Kind of an unexpected surprise because, honestly, I didn't know there was one until we arrived in Savannah and decided to visit Tybee Island.

It is a historical site on the island so they had a lot of history to share with us. They have restored many of the out buildings and we were able to see what life was like for the lighthouse keeper and his family.

We climbed up (and down) about 150 stairs. EG made it the whole way.

Rough seas and incredibly strong wind. The observation deck on the lighthouse was closed due to the strong gusts!

At the top.

Picture of me just to prove I was actually there! ;) Obviously EG wanted no part of her picture taken. Again.

Spectacular view from up top. We had to take pictures out of the windows that were on every other floor.

After our trip to Tybee Island we realized we had not had lunch. Can you think of a more perfect lunch then world famous ice cream from Leopold's? It really is world famous. The trolley driver had told us the day before that it was ranked number five in the whole world. Who could resist?? While we sat there eating ours, the door never stayed closed. In fact, the line was practically out the door. I guess everyone had the same idea for lunch! Hubby is kind of an ice cream snob (he actually likes our local grocery store's the best) but he thoroughly enjoyed his!!

So did EG.

After our ice cream lunch we made a trip to Bass Pro Shop. What is a family vacation with out a stop there! The kids love the stores with their huge fish tanks and all kinds of out door paraphernalia.

We made it back to the campground in time for a dinner of chicken chili and for the kids to play a little with their new found friends. Have I mentioned I love camping? We had toyed with the idea of staying an extra day, but wet weather or more strong winds were predicted. Hubby did not like the idea of driving 4 1/2 hours, in the driving wind and rain, pulling our camper. I guess I couldn't blame him.

Anyway, we had a fabulous time. And, it was a great trip to start our camping season. Unfortunately we don't have another trip planned until February. Lots of other exciting trips to take, in the meantime . . .

Last Half of the Day

A few short blocks from where we got off the trolley was City Hall with its gold dome. Behind that is River Street. We wanted to end up on River Street toward the end of the day. But, we needed to get our car and the trolleys stop running at 4:30. So, we had to walk to the Trolley Stop.

EG napping on our way back to catch the trolley.

Classic EG. Sticking her head between the bars to look down the stairs. Eventually she got her head caught! Slight twist of the neck and it came right out. Must have a little excitement.

Passing time waiting for the trolley.

Palm trees on top of a hotel.

We made it back on the trolley. We had a few more stops until we got back to the hub. At the trolley hub we were the last people off and the very kind driver asked us where we were going. We told him back to our car and he offered to take us there on the trolley. We were so grateful and relieved. His name was Michael and he was from England. He knew that if the kids weren't having happy and having fun, then mom and dad weren't going to be happy and having fun. So, it gave us all a little more time to relax, stay off our feet and gear up for our dinner and sightseeing on River Street.

On of the first sights we saw on River Street. It belonged to someone. It was huge.

Big ships coming up and down the river. We learned about river pilots and had fun identifying the flags of the country of origin, guessing what was in the containers and figuring out how the big containers got from the ship to their ultimate destination.

River Street filled with all kinds of restaurants and quaint little shops. We ate at a place called Spanky's. Kid friendly, reasonably priced and good food.

The Waving Girl. True story and one of the things we wanted to see.

Honestly not sure what this art/statue was about. If I remember correctly it had something to do with the Olympics.


EG being EG.

Little Mama being Little Mama. She thought it would be funny to take her picture acting like the dog was biting her hand. She is quite the character.

This was the coolest candy shop every. The above are pictures of taffy being moved along a conveyor belt, over head and then slid down a ramp into a revolving candy display. Then when you turned to the right, there was a man wrapping fresh, hot taffy and throwing it out to the kids. There was a train over head and a display case of the biggest candied apples ever seen. In the candy case were marshmallows dipped in all kinds of things, chocolate, carmel, you name it.

Talmadge Bridge. Very cool. Wondered if it is a Figg Engineering Bridge where daddy works security sometimes. Sounds like a research project to me. . .

Trolley Pictures

This is the first leg of our trolley ride. There was so much information that the driver gave out. I just don't remember all of it. Which is kind of a shame. But, I have picked out pictures that I really like and pictures about things that I can remember. Don't quote me on any of the historical stuff though. Also, the pictures are backwards (the things we saw last are the first pictures - too lazy to change them.)

Georgia was the 13th Colony. The English sent its prisoners there. The Georgia Colony had five prohibitions. Only two I can remember. The first was no slaves (obviously they changed their ways). The second was no Catholics. The Spaniards were their enemies and many were currently living in territory of Florida.

The house from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Need to read the book again. Talking about books about Savannah, Eugenia Price's books are awesome.

The streets, back in the day, were made out of oyster shells.

The pirate house was built in 1754. Rumor has it, it had a tunnel dug in the ground for pirates to escape out the back of the building.

Birthplace of the Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts, every summer, make the pilgrimage to Savannah.

I took random pictures of houses that I thought were really pretty or loved the way they were decorated or had some historical story. Most of which, I can't remember.

Savannah graveyard dating back to before the Civil War. When either the Confederate Army or the Northern Army camped there, for entertainment, the solders thought it would be fun to remove gravestones and change dates on the tombstones. When the graveyard was cleaned up, they did not know where many of the stones belonged so they are attached to a wall at the back of the cemetery.

One of the oldest church in Savannah. It has recently been restored. Even sending the stained glass back to Austria to be fixed.

During the old days, women were very modestly dressed. Arms and legs covered. Barely any skin at all showing. Some families went so far as to have separate staircases that led into into their homes so men and women could enter separately.

Old English pub. Complete with Old English phone booth.

There are many more photos. These are just some of my favs. We got off the trolley at the pirate house and then got back on at The Trolley Stop near the market area. More pictures soon . . .