Savannah Day 2 - Tybee Island

We had Monday to enjoy as a family before I had to start the conference on Tuesday morning, so with alot of rain in the forecast, we planned to visit the Tybee Island Lighthouse in the morning, then make our way to the beach at noon.   The boys will probably remember a handful of beach trips in their entire life, and now with the girls, this is the 4th trip to the beach in 12 months.   Not my favorite place to be, but the girls and Davis seem to love it.   

We climbed all 178 steps to the top of the lighthouse as our first activity of the day, and that was good, because that place was already starting to heat up.   We really had the top all to ourselves, and while it always turns my legs to jelly being up that high, it was a cool lookout.   Magan and I had visited this lighthouse on our 2nd anniversary trip to Savannah in 2003.   Going up was just a pain in your legs and test of your lungs.   The spinning sensation going down was probably why they had puke bags at each major landing.   And while we did not need them, at the bottom, I probably did need some advil for the head spinning.   

The lighthouse also has a really cool museum in the buildings that have been preserved around the area.   It still has the house where the family maintaining the lighthouse would live.   Me and the kids had fun taking some silly pictures with the stuff from the olden days.   And before we left, we had a nice lady take our picture as a family with the lighthouse behind us.   And bless her, I don't understand how some people don't understand how to capture a photo.   So Davis helped us get a timer set up for the first picture below that actually got the lighthouse in it.

We made it to the beach a little before noon, and took awhile to get dressed and get all of the gear onto the wagon to drag out to the beach.   Ruby decided she did not want to use the restroom that had a large hole in the door.   I kept looking at the clouds dreading having to spend a full day at the beach.   And it looked promising for some rain soon, so I was hoping this day could be a little shorter on the beach.   Magan walked off from the van without her water, so asked if I would go back to get it.   And I got the wrong one of course.

Then we finally made it to the ocean, almost, Magan forgot her pool noodle, so I had to go back and get it.   The Beach is a lovely place, and I am sure that I could like it, but it just is hot.   And you get burned.   And you basically sit and sweat all day.   Oh well, I think I have made my point that I did not like the beach, but I did enjoy being with the kids out in the water.   Everyone had a good laugh at my whiteness blinding everyone at the beach.   In the ocean, we saw dolphins swimming about 100 yards from us.   Then we had schools of jumping fish around us, which was pretty cool.   And there was no waves for most of the day, which was kinda nice, but you miss out on the fun wave punching.   

Magan enjoyed her day in the sun underneath towels so that no part of her actually ever saw the sun.   Davis just started randomly digging.   And the girls hung out in the ocean for most of the time.   The new tent Magan bought was very nice to stay out of the sun.   But I must admit that I got a little stir crazy and some of the inner dislike of the beach finally bubbled out, and I think at a good time, we decided to finally pack up from the beach to go get a late lunch at Fannies.   It was also good to leave a little early because we got to go over to the pier and get some ice cream.   

After leaving the beach, we visited the Bonaventure cemetery to see some of the old graves from the 1700s.   Belle called the mausoleums the "dead people boxes", which seems fitting.     But we finally made it back to our hotel for the night.   Ordering a Mellow Mushroom pizza for a late dinner.   We all played a game of Cataan, which was fun, but that game lasts a lot longer that we were all expecting.   Magan and Belle were the winners.   Davis bought a new traveling turtle at the lighthouse, that ended up being in a few pictures.   Ruby was a little deliriously silly on this day with random comments about billboards with a random reference to Mr. Rogers that made us all laugh because we had no idea what she was talking about.   It was a really fun day.   Magan understands my love/hate relationship with the beach, so she helped me through my anxiety.   :)   

Savannah Day 1 - The Drive

After church on Sunday, we began the 6.5 hour drive to Savannah, stopping at Jacks in Childersburg for lunch on the way.   It began as a normal drive day with good weather, but quickly turned into miserable driving for most of the day with horrible rain for a large portion of the drive.   We were basically on backroads through middle Georgia crossing over I-75 near Macon before finally arriving at I-16 for the last 2 hours into Savannah.  

We stopped at a fun restaurant just on the outside of Savannah called Tacostache, and they had a large menu of different tacos to try.   We all just laughed and laughed at Magan, who has a strange habit of getting food and sauce on her no matter where we go.   Every time we looked at her she had a new stain on her shirt from where she spilled something else, then we watched as she reached for her drink and got queso all over her arm.   Later in the week, Belle cracked up telling me about Magan at a mexican restaurant getting rice on her arm before the food had even arrived.    

And another story I shared with the kids here at Tacostache was Mom randomly blurting out things in the car while I was driving.   I am focused on the road and the rain, and random questions about wedding stuff just comes rushing forth from her at a high volume.   "What are you talking about, and why are you shouting" I asked.   We love her, but that brain is going 90 mph all the time, and I really think it is not my old man ears every time I don't hear her...sometimes she just asks me 15 questions in her brain, and wonders why I have not responded yet.   Anyway, it was nice to get out of the rain and laugh a bit on a long rainy drive day.   

One More Visit to Peavine Falls

I will have to admit that Peavine Falls was not on the agenda for my Friday off before July 4th, but when Anabelle said "yeah, we could go back to Peavine Falls", it jumped on the agenda quickly.   It has always been a little adventure that I have taken all the kids on for many many years.   I know these opportunities are more and more rare, but Anabelle's voice was music to my ears.   

But we had also planned to visit Joe's Italian that day also, as we had not been there in a long time.   So there was a little concern with plates full of pasta, a steamy hot July day in Alabama, and a 1 mile hike to the falls, but we decided to try.   At Joes, we had so much food...we shared 4 entrees amongst us with a couple of appetizers...and while the new owners have moved Papa Joe's seat at the front of the restaurant, we know he would have smiled at our happy faces.   Then Magan for some reason asked the guy to tell us about all the desserts, while me and the kids just laughed.   We will get the piece of strawberry cake, we know that is what Magan will pick....then she said "Wow, those sound great, we'll take a piece of the strawberry cake".   

We left Joe's with a bunch of extra cake and a little bit of Italian...Anabelle made fun of me for keeping a half a meatball for later.  And that meatball moved to about 4 plates before finally making it into the togo plate.   We drove up the long long hill to the Peavine Falls parking lot, and found the small geocache at the top before heading down.   It was extremely busy at the beach area, but pretty empty for the Peavine Falls hike.   

Once down at the waterfall, we all (except for Magan) got into the super cold water coming down the falls.   It does not make for the best hike back to the car, but that cold water feels great on a hot hot day.   After the hike we visited the bird refuge center 3 minutes after it had closed, then me and Davis and Ruby walked along the treetop trail.   I put a picture of Sam and Davis the first time we went on that trail.   Oak Mountain has a treasure trove of memories within its gates, and I am glad we are still adding to it.   

Fly me to the June

This month Magan and Denise Vinsant have been teaching the JrSr High girls about being Godly women, and I think she has enjoyed it as much as all the girls.   They have been talking about the different women leaders in the Bible, and helping the girls see these qualities in others.   Also trying to get them to see those qualities in themselves.   There have been a lot of activities connecting them to the other women in the congregation, and it has been wonderful.   

Lots of pictures of Ruby at John and Shay's house with their girls.   John and I had been trying to make that happen for months, and then we happened to be together at Sam and Noel's wedding, so we sent her home with them.   I think they may have spoiled Ruby and let her do whatever she wanted...hibachi, bowling, and bracelet making!   Ruby and Ellie are the best of buds, but I heard that Ruby gained a little tag along with Laney.   I am so glad all these cousins are so close, and I know Ruby had a blast being the big sister for a few days.   She also got to ride into work with John on the following Tuesday to work in my office until lunch.   She immediately went to work organizing her bracelet beads, making Ms. Deidra some earrings, and wandering a little around the 4th floor, getting questioned by the infamous Rod Cude on her reasons for being at the office.   Then we grabbed lunch at Tazikis with John, and she left all the fun of the weekend to go get the braces tightened.   

Davis fulfilled his dream of installing the subwoofer this month after the $1000 gift cards arrived from his CocaCola grand prize.   I am so scared when I see him down there, as usually the seats are completely removed, dash is completely removed, and that just gives me a panic attack.   To him, it is just fun trying something new.   And well, I can tell you by the the shaking of the entire house that the subwoofer is fully functional.   

Ruby has done amazing with her Strawberrys and tomatoes, but when we got home from Dothan, it looked like the deer had gotten ahold of the tomatoes.   So we did get one red tomato, and working on a second, but the deer destroyed that bush, so that may be all for those.   On the strawberry side, it is going well with many many eaten, and now both bushes are spitting out berries.  

And the last picture shows a funny story that Lisa told us happened while traveling to the beach.   She stopped at a Target to grab a few items, looked to the next line over and saw Noel.   She had stopped at the Prattville Target, and Noel happened to be out and about that day.   So Lisa got to visit Sam and Noel's new home before making it down to the beach.   

What else happened in the pictures below...I joined Davis and Granddad for lunch from Macs, finally getting the amazing burgers and fries him and Sam always told me about...Magan was able to join Katie and Granny for a visit at Aunt Carol's to see Haley's little cutie twins...Me and Davis staying for 2 hours at Mellow Mushroom hoping to win Singo Bingo...Push mowing my entire yard, when the riding mower died (fortunately just a spark plug, so up and going by end of month)...Too many crazy girl gatherings with Ruby and Belle...Card games ruling the table this month seemed to be sequence and Nines...Ruby was the only one of the Junkin Bunch crew to make it to the Big Kaboom this year (Yes, it was in June in Chelsea)...Davis at Six Flags with some college buddies...A Honduras work day at the church, those guys did amazing prepping all of the backgrounds for our skit in one day...And while Mothers Day probably get's a blogpost of its own, Fathers day is just some random pics, altho Magan did great this year with a snoopy hawaian shirt.   I also got a Pickleball bag Davis picked out, and my normal Bottled cokes....Magan and the girls went to the Helena VBS this month, and brought me some of the best fritters I have ever eaten from Donut Joes.