Let Freedom Ring!

We always ring in the 4th around here with a massive amount of pork. As my friend Matt Hodges likes to quote often, "let it rain pork up in here!"  

Daddy grilled Boston Butts and ribs. Mama made her famous potato salad and we all ate ourselves into a food coma. 

Since we've had so many babies born in the last couple months, we decided to postpone our family get together until Labor Day this year. Hence, no smuggled fireworks from South Carolina or Florida. Just lame Georgia duds..

Daddy promised Mama he'd have the swimming pool finished by the 4th. He cut it AWFULLY close, but with a little help from the grand-daughters, he made it just in time!

Ali Grace helped shuck the last of the corn. She'd much rather be doing garden work than operating heavy machinery. That's Addie's area of expertise. One day she will either be a ballerina or a backhoe operator. Not sure which.

As they started to pump water into the pool, Pete let Ali, Addie and Rubi put their toes in. They were so excited!

These girls are definitely water bugs!

The really awesome thing about a pool is that it completely wears kids out! I am an anti-tv, anti-video game, anti-indoors kinda Mama during the summer.  Unless your hair is melting off your head, you gotta put on some sunscreen, put on some bugspray and get outside and do something! Luckily with the swimming pool, that's easy to do.

Between spending the day with BOTH sets of grandparents, and swimming non stop for hours, the kiddos were sufficiently worn out. 

I hope everyone had a fantastic Independence Day!

A Zippy Story...

Since Addie Belle was born, Papa has always told her "Zippy stories". I have no idea what they are or who they are about but Addie loves a good Zippy story. I think Zippy is a monkey but I'm not sure. After spending a week with Gran and Papa, Addie had a hard time going to sleep at night without a Zippy story. I thought I was going to have to CALL Papa one night so he could tell Addie a Zippy story over the phone! So tonight while we're waiting on Gran and Papa to get here, Addie tells me she's so excited to hear the next chapter of the Zippy stories. This has been going on for almost 7 years! Addie says " I hope Papa remembers which chapter we're on because I don't but I DO remember that Zippy got on bad drugs and stole a motorcycle." Uhhh... I gave my husband the look that said "Tell your father that the next chapter of the Zippy story better be where Zippy finds the Lord, settles down and lives a clean Christian life!!"  We both got a good laugh out of that. Aren't grandparents the most awesome wonderful things ever? Addie and Ali struck gold when it came to grandparents. 

Meanwhile on the Ponderosa, Poppy has ALMOST finished the pool. I am so happy! Addie, Rubi, Ali Grace and Emily had a blast today in the pool even though it's only half full. The guys are still working on the fountain and some fancy spray thingies that I don't really understand. Yes, my daddy can do anything. 

Tonight we had a great fish fry! Fish given to us by one of Daddy's cousins, potatoes freshly dug an hour before frying....ahh now THAT is living.

Sadly, Daddy had to make a trip to Plains this morning. My cousin Jay (Daddy's 1st cousin's son) was tragically killed in an accident at the family peanut warehouse in Plains. He was 31 and quite the adventurer. He biked, climbed, kayaked, canoed, hiked, ran and was a free spirit it seemed. He loved marathons and orienteering competitions. Recently he'd biked across the country to raise money for the RideWell organization that helps fund wells in Africa. What a fine example of Christian faith. Not pompous. Not a facebook "slacktivist". A real live example of what one man can do for another in need. Today the church was packed. The former first lady, Rosalyn Carter was in attendance as well as a huge number of Jay's friends. He inspired many people and although his life was cut seemingly short, what an adventurous life it was. Happy trails Jay... until we meet again on the other side. 

Jay Williams 

(July 11, 1980-June 30, 2012)

 

We had a great day today! I froze bell peppers from the garden this morning and Ali Grace shucked corn  with Mama most of the morning.

Addie Belle would have no part of the "kitchen work". Of course she had to be in the middle of the men working on the swimming pool! 

She can host a tea party and drive a tractor. What a gal!  

It's supposed to be a scorcher today outside and so the crew is starting work early this morning. They have worked so hard to have the swimming pool finished by the 4th of July holiday. The liner is going in this morning!  I can't wait to post pictures of the finished project. I'm not making this up y'all- my daddy really can do anything.

High Tea

I just realized my last post before I left for the kayaking trip never posted. 99.9% of the reason I blog is to remember things, events, people, etc. This was an event I did not want to forget. 

Addie and I were walking home one afternoon from Nanny and Poppy's house. She was filthy. She had torn up one of her flip flops in a mud puddle so she was limping around in one shoe. Her hair was matted to her head with sweat. She looks up at me with this precious face full of freckles and dirt and says "Mama I want to have a tea party" I wanted to say- honey girls with Georgia red clay in their ears really don't do tea parties but I didn't. I figured she was kidding. She was not. She finally hounded me enough to where I knew she was serious. Since her sister and her dad were gone to 4-H camp and I knew she was lonesome, I decided we would have a tea party. My friend Beth had to come over to make some final kayaking plans and so she ended up right on the tea party list. She's about as out of place at a tea party as Addie Belle is! Beth brought her sweet as can be mama, Ms Linda. Addie Belle Bennett was beside herself! We served cookies and banana bread made by my favorite Italian ever, Maria. Addie picked fresh magnolia blooms to decorate the tea room with and she gave me one for my birthday. As is always the case, when it was time for our company to leave, Addie disappeared. She does not say goodbye well. Unfortunately, she'd wanted to give Ms Linda a magnolia bloom to take with her and had forgotten it. She was in a tizzy. I called Beth and they turned around to come back and get the magnolias. Such sweet friends they are. Blessed is she who can play hard in the mud and the next day host a perfectly perfect tea. Just love that girl to pieces.

Darien or Bust.. The True Story

Pete and I signed up for this trip on a whim really. We both got teacher scholarships to become certified in the Adopt a Stream program which allows you to monitor local waterways and report data to the EPD. Although, we were technically "in class", our adventure turned out to be much much more.

         There's no way to really prepare for a week long trip down a river like the mighty Altamaha. I love the outdoors but I'm not a camper. As my friend Cathleen said "camping is for those who like to pretend they are homeless." I'm not really into that. But I must admit, it totally allowed me to leave the world's worries behind. I did not worry about anything bugging me back home and I needed the break. What I needed most of all though was to see if I could do it. I did y'all! I did! The most difficult day of the trip was a 22 mile paddle. We fought a headwind most of the day and I was tired by the time we reached Penholloway Creek. We had to make a hair pin turn and then head UPstream for 2 miles. At first it wasn't so difficult, but the creek narrowed and the current got more and more swift. Midway through you could not stop paddling or you would be swept backwards. Imagine your arms screaming for rest but you cannot rest or what you just accomplished will be wiped out. It was terrible but I kept at it. Everyone was struggling up the creek. No one was talking. Everyone was fighting the current. Little did I know, Pete had gotten ahead of me a good ways and could not see me when he looked back.  He was worried and turned back downstream. Bless his heart. I couldn't have paddled upstream twice. I barely made it once! He paddled a good portion twice though since he came back for me! He told me where to go to avoid the worst part of the current and showed me where to pull off and catch my breath.

        I paddled that damn creek by myself but I don't know if I would have made it if he hadn't come back for me and talked me all the way up the creek. It was awful y'all!  After reading Bear Grylls new book "Mud, Sweat and Tears" I remembered a verse from Isaiah that Bear recited to himself during his SAS selection when he was waist deep in snow and trying to get back to ranger camp. "I am with you, do not be dismayed... I will strengthen you and help you... I hold you in my right hand." I kid you not- the last half of that creek, I just said to myself "He has me in His right hand.. He has me in His right hand over and over.. It was quite funny when I thought about it later. We were all so tired when we took out of the creek that we hardly said a word. The words that WERE said aren't suitable for young readers. I will say this though- for the first time in my life I totally understand what runners feel when they describe "runner's high".

               I was amazed at the ages of people on the trip. There was an 80 year old woman who paddled with us. AMAZING woman! My 37 year old body just about gave out and she was pressing on! She got into some trouble on that horrible Penholloway Creek and someone went ahead of her and told the DNR she needed help. When the boat came for her, she said "do NOT touch my boat. I made it this far and I'm going to finish this creek." Finish, she did. How inspiring. If the DNR had offered to drag me and my boat up the rest of that creek I would have taken them up on the offer! I'm glad they didn't though. 

Top Ten Things I Heard During Paddle Georgia:

10. One mile my #$#!

9. I really hope that is a stick floating by...

8. I don't care if my hoo ha shrivels, I need to go to the bathroom!

7. I lost my hoo ha in the Altamaha

6. If that #$%% rams my boat like that again, she's gonna be floating face down.

5. I have blisters on my butt, so Paddle Georgia officially chaps my behind!

4. Would you all like a surgical mask to wear today? Response from one great guy behind me- "No ma'am we would not and please don't go out and embarrass us on the river today. We are guests here."

3. There's no dignified way to walk into the woods with a roll of toilet paper.

2. Charles, Charles, Charles.(waterguns pointed)..we heard you tell that little Georgia joke back there. 

1. The takeout has GOT to be around this bend. 

oh and there is ONE more quote from a non-southerner I must mention- "If I learn to yell that Gooooo Dawgs Sic 'Em thing, can I have a Riverdawgs shirt?"

So there you go... a wonderful trip with wonderful people and memories I will not soon forget. 

"Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side"

I knew I'd make it down that river one way or another. In fact we promised each other we'd make it out each day even if we had to drag each other! It was a wonderful experience going down the river with friends, playing on the sandbars and teasing each other at every turn. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I will be back next year with the Riverdawgs on the Geech!! Gooooo Dawgs! 

Clawing my Way Into Darien...

This 105 mile trip down the Altamaha was such an adventure, it's quite difficult to put into words. I'm so tired from the trip, I just don't have the words. So, I decided to share a few pictures with a few short captions and I'll write a few stories from the trip in the next blog. Below are a few of the pictures I took. All of them look quite leisurely because when I was paddling for my life, I couldn't get to the camera!

Beth and Timmy make a great team. They were great boat buddies. I could always spot Timmy a half mile ahead because of his red cooler on the back of his kayak!

Some of the bluffs were so high it gave the appearance of a canyon.

There are leaning trees all down the Altamaha.  I thought it looked interesting when Candy passed under the tree since it appeared to be falling into the river.

I met Candy on this trip. She was hysterically funny and after a couple days of TOUGH paddling, I surely enjoyed her comic relief.

My favorite stretch of the trip was Rifle Cut. It was toward the end of the trip, the last day to be exact. I wish I hadn't been so tired and could have enjoyed it more. Rifle Cut was cut out by slaves in the early 1800's to make a shortcut to the Darien River for turpentine ships.

In front of me, is Christine, from Effingham County! It really is a small world and I was amazed at the connections some of us had even though we were strangers.

Becky and Timmy and some woman with a wopped up kayak paddle. I don't know how she paddled with this oversized pencil looking paddle.

My prince, who was such a good samaritan on the trip, helping everyone onto the river each day, got on my last nerve the last day. I just wanted to paddle to the take out and see my babies. I really wasn't in a charitable mood.

The tall cypress trees around the Altamaha are just gorgeous. At times I felt like I was kayaking down the Amazon.

This cypress tree had turned over in the river and the roots were all exposed. So cool!

All our kayaks hung out on the sandbar while we took a swim break.

When I go places, I always like to get a picture of my feet there. I don't know why. It's one of my quirks. So here are my feet in the dark tannic waters of the Altamaha.

Pete was standing almost in the middle of the river in this picture. Although the river was VERY wide in a lot of places, it was usually quite shallow. However, the current was somewhat fierce and could sweep you down river in the blink of an eye.

Thankfully Becky found a shady spot for lunch on this particularly hot afternoon on the river. This is the Riverdawg crew headed up the sandbar with our sack lunches.

I was so happy to finally see the marsh grasses as we approached Darien on the Georgia Coast.

Loved these Osprey nests.

And finally in the distance I could see the tops of the shrimp boats and knew I was getting close...

and finally made it to the takeout. It was so phenomenal to hear other paddlers and onlookers cheering us on as we paddled into Darien.

Special thanks to "The Teacher of the Gifted" for convincing me that I could do this. I am proud to call her my friend. Also a special thanks to my sweet husband who turned back on Penholloway Creek to look for me because he was worried. A prince he really is....That story in the next blog...