The Best Neighbor!

Cooper loves to create.

Mr. Crowder does as well, and offered to help Cooper with his new scout requirements.

Beautiful key and napkin holder!

It surely takes a village to raise a kid.

At least the local neighborhood.

Finally Another Driver!

Two permits for 16 months = $46

Driving education classes for 28 hours = $290

Adding him onto the insurance policy = $336 a year

Finally getting his license at 17 1/2 years = $priceless

Dog Days of Summer

Long, hot days, lots of running and games, full bellies = can't make it to bedtime.

Cleaning up Good

Summer's here and it's time to tackle cobwebs, spider webs, and anything else that collects in cracks and crevices!

This includes window sills, window ledges, fifty hour explosion in the van, and three destinations worth of dirty clothes, sleeping bags, suitcases and souvenirs.

So who decided to play instead?
Mom wants to know.

Savannah, Georgia

This is my third attempt to portray all of the charms of Savannah.

Fort Pulaski was another stop.

Mr. Brown Sign stuff here.

In the Civil War the range of cannons was fairly limited.

Because Fort Polaski was over a mile from the closest land point, they thought they were impregnable.

Then the Union Army fired their first rifled cannons at this fort, and caused a breach from over a mile away.

After the 30 hour siege, the Confederates surrendered the fort, and the United States military has never built a masonry fort again.

It even has its own alligator.

On the Union side of the battle is the island of Tybee.
Loggerheads lay their eggs here, and the town is fully decorated with turtles.

We were thankful we didn't have any storm surges while visiting.
The pole shows the five hurricane categories of storm water levels.

We didn't come prepared to fish,

but we know how to borrow a fish!

Low tide means the creatures are out!

The shell is alive!

We left our mark on the beach.

We'll definitely be back.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives!

I know that my Redeemer lives.

What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

He lives, he lives, who once was dead.

He lives, my everliving Head.

He lives to bless me with his love.

He lives to plead for me above.

He lives to comfort me when faint.

He lives to hear my soul's complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives and grants me daily breath.

He lives, and I shall conquer death.

Baby Ben's funeral

Savannah, Georgia

While Dad is away, in the pool we play!

It was close to 100 every day, with 105 heat index.

HOT! HEAT! HUMIDITY!

We walked on the river front.

Savannah, once they figured out how to anchor ports,

became a major waterway,

and as evidenced by Ever Dainty out of Singapore, is still busy.

(Each of those boxes sits on a semi truck. Can we say GIGANTIC?)

The shady trees, dripping with spanish moss,

provided us with cool shade.

Plenty of anchors to climb on, and play pirates!

Sidewalk sampling is a plenty.

Here we're being offered "grouper" nuggets!

Two of our favorite shops:

Peanuts of Savannah,

and

Savannah's Candy.

Lots of candy making on site.

This was the taffy machine.

Hunter was partial to flavored crickets.

Sawyer really liked 36" of candy.

We had to stop at the local cemetery to see the above ground crypts.

Founder of the Methodist Church,

John Wesley settled here.

"Among all the fake options,

there is a real one!"

Jarrod's speaking of me, of course ;-)

Leopold's Ice Cream is a must see stop!

Four generation business, with an interesting link to Hollywood movies.

Cooper was the only interested one in getting wet.

Savannah, Georgia

Beaming a light for all World War II planes,

at the Walterboro Army Airfield,

was this 1933 Westinghouse beacon.

I often think of Hunter as a beacon for our family.

In honor of the Tuskegee airmen of World War II.

Because of their heroic action in combat,

the Germans feared them, calling them " the black bird men."

In reverence, bomber crews referred to them as their

"red tail angels"

because of their identifying red color and

because they lost no plane in combat.

Men like this in our history

allow us to impart to our children

those characteristics that make men honorable.

Tanner is a work in progress!

(We're all in Georgia for one of Jarrod's work conferences.)

Gettysburg with the Boy Scouts

What better way to visit Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, with 20 scouts and leaders, than as camp cook? It was a delicious experience!

Miller was a real soldier, perservering through camp with lots of scouts of the BOY variety.

They all brought bikes, and even Sawyer made the 10 mile course.

Statues from states honoring civil war soldiers, on both sides, fill the fields.

Cooper was an honorary scout, days away from turning ten.

The boys earned five merit badges, including Sculpture, American Heritage, Pathfinder, Signaling...

and Horsemanship, one of the scouts' favorites.

We didn't think an expensive trail ride was possible, but everything fell into place and the boys got to ride!

We worked on the genealogy merit badge, and researched family members who had fought in the Civil War. Porter is named after a union soldier, Rufus Porter Glass. This is a monument to his Maine regiment.

There were lots of hikes and battle grounds to visit.

Scoutmaster Jarrod

Even Ranger got to come!

Hershey, Pennsylvania is nearby, and was a favorite stop.

Most of the motley crew!

Missing are all of the great leaders who made this trip wonderful!

Thank you to all for your hard work and efforts on behalf of the boys.