June 17th

My little sister turns 27 today! Happy Birthday Beth!

China or bust! Beth has received a contract to teach in China - school begins 15Sep & so she'll be flying over in late August.

My Mom & youngest sister, Sarah, have spent the last 10 days in Italy - they fly back into Atlanta tomorrow evening - I'm excited to see how the trip went - they've been 'incommunicado' the entire time - I'm missing my daily phone call to my Mom - I hope they have stuffed themselves with luscious foods & wine

After 2+ years working part-time on a graduate entomology project, tonight I completed my last sample! Now I'm wondering what's next....

Summertime...

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

We couldn't resist getting out on the Ogeechee yesterday. It was Levi's longest canoe trip thus far - over an hour & a half on the water - made possible by toys & snacks. We dropped the Mazda off downstream - so it was a lovely paddle/float with no back tracking upstream.

putting our gear in

the put-in had really been washed out - quite a drop down - along the edges of the water you can see how tannic the water is - beautiful

an old river soul

the Ogeechee River - we spotted 3 gators along the way - many, many birds - and got right on top of a riverside doe before she startled away

the crew

keeping busy in the middle

my sexy river guide - after working three years as a guide, I'm always amazed by Joe's ability to securely tie down any craft with the meerest bits of rope - our trusty Toyota, enjoying the easy days of its retirement as our river/hunt vehicle

June Visit

My dear friend, Angie, and her family came this last week to visit... several beach trips, lots of walks, a great seafood dinner out, crazy chaotic kid time, and the zen after all the kiddos were down for the count.

Angelina

Jack, 4

the view from the deck at the Sunbury Crab Company - dinner out...

the crew out shopping - Levi's first ride in the 'car buggy'

playing pigs - similar to dice

handmade yarn & mug

Levi & Jack

Nesta, 1

Angie, Nesta in his pram, Levi

John, Nesta, Jack, Levi

Automatic

Our new ride! It was about time we got a new 'family vehicle' - as we're always making long weekend roadtrips. It's the first automatic we've had in 9 years - it took me several days to keep my left foot still & stop going for the clutch. I love it though! It's a 2006 Mazada Tribute.

Wow!

Check out this amazing local cypress tree - It measured in at a whopping 43 feet 3 inches!! - Joe and a colleague took a 'base-line' survey of this property a couple months back - since then another group went in & found this beauty

Preposterous

I saw this at Lowe's in Savannah & couldn't resist snapping a shot. This is akin to selling bags of sand at the beach.

Memorial Day Weekend

Joe and Levi on the pier at Sunbury :: On Monday we went & explored Fort Morris State Historical Site :: it's located 15 minutes south of us in the community of Sunbury, Ga., which was established in the 1750's

Sunbury Crab Company is located right on the water in the sleepy community of Sunbury - this is an incredible find for us - the most awesome restaurant (expect to be brought here if you come to visit) - wrap around decks built around giant live oaks - a perfect view of the water - and Sweetwater 420 on tap!

walking the trail at Fort Morris :: the fort was originally built to provide protection from the British :: we encountered re-enactors in period dress :: they set off a cannon which sent Levi into a screaming fit - it scared him terribly

a massive magnolia in bloom :: every flower had visitors inside

this is the view directly behind the remains of the earthen fort :: a look over St. Catherine's Sound

Levi is always running in the backdoor with a discovery to share :: this time it's two slugs slithering down his arm

Joe and Levi had a quiet afternoon by themselves fishing a nearby pond

nice catch

Rainy Day Child

It's been raining everyday for the last 10 days here - I pulled up the recorded rainfall for the airfield a few miles from us & they've had 9.5 inches in that time. It feels like it - the yard is spongy and there's standing water everywhere. The mosquitoes will be hell in a week or so.

Mr. "Outside" (literally the first word out of his mouth most mornings) hasn't been deterred - he's out the door as fast as I can open it & puddle jumping in seconds flat. He loves the water & just getting wet in general. I took him to the park this last week, on the really cold day we had - he was bundled in lined pants & a jacket. I get on the phone with Carrie & turn around to find him lying chest down in a huge puddle taking a long slurp... Oh well, you're only 2 once.