This year we had good weather (some of the time) for our visit with Linda and Tony. It was fun and good exercise to walk to the pier and see somebody catch a Spanish mackerel.
The wind was blowing out of the west but we still had a nice walk on the beach.
This is one of the nicest sand castles I've ever seen. We had an excellent seafood dinner at a local restaurant and were lucky enough to be eating (indoors) when it rained.
We're having a wonderful time visiting Aunt Jinny and Carmen. The weather is great - high in the low 80s (much cooler at night), sunny, not windy.
This morning we walked all around her property as well as the neighbor's.
We saw: quail, a great blue heron, several turkeys, a hawk, turtles, alligators, and wood ducks. There were many, many turkey tracks as well as deer tracks.
There are two 'gators in this picture! The biggest one is swimming from right to left close to the lily pads in the distance. The smaller one is closer.
What fun to startle a covy of quail. They flew up right next to us, much too fast to get a picture.
The neighbor put some chairs out near the big pond so we rested here about half-way through. Aunt Jinny snapped this good one of us. It was a wonderful walk and an excellent visit. Oh, and Aunt Jinny walked the ENTIRE way!
We had a wonderful visit to Amicalola State Park. The waterfall was spectacular! It was sunny, in the high seventies, just ideal weather for an outing.
The falls were so pretty we decided to walk down a ways.
The falls continue below this bridge but this is as far as we went.
The past two days we've seen some beautiful early Georgia wildflowers. This is trillium.
I took this picture when we got back to the top. Whew!!
There were lots of people hiking here, especially because it's the start of the A.T.
On our way out of the park we were able to view the waterfall from the base. It was nice to picnic here.
This snake was swimming in the pond.
If you click on this pic to enlarge it you might be able to see the stairs to the left of the waterfall.
Our second day brought us to another scenic overlook on the Appalachian Trail on Wildcat Ridge. Once again it was warm and sunny. Our picnic up here was relaxing.
On a clear day you can see Dahlonega way off in the distance.
The ham was studded with cloves from Grenada thanks to Jim and Sheryl!
We feasted on ham, fresh kielbasa, potato salad, spinach/strawberry salad, orange/pineapple gelatine salad, Irish soda bread, g-f hot cross buns, chocolate chip cookies, and of course chocolate candy. Unfortunately Oliver was sick and Sheryl was home with him. We missed them greatly as well as Bryan who is working/studying at Disneyworld.
Dutch Mill made the kielbasa, potato salad, cole slaw and Irish soda bread. We are fortunate to have such an excellent and consistently fantastic deli nearby. Jim ran 18 miles at Round Valley Reservoir in the morning while Jay and John walked 8 miles. It's a steep, rugged trail that provides Jim with excellent training for his upcoming run.
Trenton just felt like dancing!
Trenton had fun all day - first with just me and then with all the family. Since it was a nice day (the first of many in the forecast) he and his cousins played outside after dinner. Everyone loves daylight saving time!
A happy, well-fed, tired group ranging in age from 88 to 6. Thanks for coming everyone.
We all had fun celebrating Trenton's 6th birtday!
Trenton had a big kids' party earlier in the day and then a family and friends party in the late afternoon. See Sheryl's blog for great pics and the whole story.
Even though they're sitting quietly here, the Georges had fun playing many things with Trenton and Oliver.
Trenton's theme was Wii. Sheryl made two Mario cakes!
This is one day when desserts are not limited!
Oliver's having a little chat with Aunt Carolyn. It was difficult to get a good pic of him as he was always in motion :-)
Here they are in motion, playing Wii.
The boys watched videos of dominoes falling down with Uncle Jay while they were here recently so Uncle Jay had the bright idea to give Trenton some. They were a big hit. Everyone got in on the action, setting up towers, mazes, lines, and all sorts of creations. It's noisy when they all tumble down!
Thanks, Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Dino for the Giant's t-shirt and Yankees hat!
Grampack's gift was very special. While walking off the trail in the woods recently he discovered this box turtle shell. It had been in the woods for a very long time. The color was bleached out of the shell by the sun. Trenton loves the natural world.
