Summer Family Blog: 2013

Well, life has gotten really busy lately. Because I just didn't have enough to do already (i.e. I'm crazy!), I've started working a 2nd part-time job...so in addition to my job at the N.C. Botanical Garden (which I love!), I am now also delivering produce boxes for a local CSA. And now I've fallen WAAAY behind in my blog posts. I have a TON of pictures to post, so I'll try to catch up in a series of posts.

This first post is from a road trip we took back in April to visit our old stomping ground in southwest Georgia (Ichauway...the ecological research station where I worked after college and in grad school, and also where Will and I met). It was an awesome trip and we had so much fun seeing our old "home" (I can't believe it has been 8 years since we moved away!!) and visiting with old friends.

on the first day of our trip, we drove down to Cordele, GA and camped at Georgia Veteran's State Park...the girls enjoyed seeing these big planes and tanks they had on display

the lab building at Ichauway

beautiful native azalea outside the lab

the girls with a familiar friend, Emily (who they met last summer on our Mentone, AL trip)

wagon ride

the "Big House"

did I mention how much I miss this place???

hunting dog cemetary

Ariana and Jamie in the herp lab

future scientists

Roger and Chelsea's little boy, Michael

Maggie loved all of the "dress-up" stuff in the kid's tent

looking back I wish I had taken more pictures of our friends!

Roger and Chelsea's little girl, Adelaide

after the Ichauway reunion, we camped out in Newton with some old friends (yes, there's now a campground in Newton!) and then drove down to Tallahassee the next day to visit Will's cousin, Clay...the weather was rainy but we managed to get out briefly after dinner to let the kids stretch their legs...this is the only picture I have that isn't blurry of the girls with their cousin Conner

after spending the night in Tallahassee, we drove over to our favorite spot to paddle in north Florida, Ichetucknee Springs...we were so excited to share this place with the girls, and it did not disappoint us!!

sooo pretty!! I think my exact words when we got on the river were "that's it, we're moving back here!!"

got Cheetos?

the highlight of the trip, seeing a manatee family up close and personal!!!

the manatees were amazing (here's the mama and baby)...we took a video that I'll post later

so many turtles!

daddy manatee

how amazing is this water?? this makes paddling in eastern NC seem just plain boring! :-)

after an exciting afternoon on the Ichetucknee, we piled back into the car and headed over to Little Talbot Island State Park, north of Jacksonville while the girls both took a much-needed nap

the dunes at Little Talbot Island

our campsite in the maritime forest at Little Talbot Island State Park


the next morning back on the beach

a rare photo of me and the girls

a crab that Lilly almost stepped on

Maggie drew Rapunzel in the sand

It was such a fun trip, and the girls did absolutely amazing in the car for that long. Maggie loves road trips (and camping too!) more than just about anything else, so we knew she was going to have fun. And Lilly just feeds off of Maggie's mood, so she was happy pretty much the whole time as well. We are so lucky!

Snoopy 2000 - 2013

We laid Snoopy to rest yesterday evening under an old oak tree overlooking a large field where many a bunny was fiercely pursued. His last day included a long wagon ride in the woods, a bacon cheese burger and fries and some quality time laying in the shade with Heather and myself. It was as peaceful and dignified as I can imagine.

If people have souls, it stands to reason that beagles must as well, and perhaps even rabbits. And being rabbit souls, they must surely leave a scent when they move about, if just a faint one, which only the soul of a beagle might detect. And without the hunter present to ruin the rabbit's momentum, the chases must last forever.

- the bible

(...I'm pretty sure that's in there somewhere)

Here's a few pictures to remember ol' Snoop by: