Summer Fun

Wow what a summer we have had! We were so busy with the garden that for a while no one heard from us at all. I even had one of my friends call and ask if I was becoming a recluse. The wonderful bounty from the garden has been nothing but a blessing! We have a freezer full of okra, corn, speckled butter beans, purple hull peas and squash. Then there are the jams from the fruit that Bri and I made, blueberry, strawberry, and peach (which actually came from Chilton County). Bri made strawberry jam this year and it turned out better than mine! I think she may be a great cook one day soon. Then we made bread and butter pickles, chow chow, and Dixie relish. Of course we have also been stewing and canning the tomatoes too. That has made for a very busy time.

During the summer we celebrated Brianna's 9th birthday at American Girl. She was so excited! She was even more excited when she found out all the money she had been saving to buy her doll could be used to buy whatever she wanted since dad and I would buy the doll as our gift to her. Her face was priceless.

Also over the summer we went to a really neat place called Shark Tooth Creek. If you ever have the opportunity to go I would recommend you do. There is a creek which is full of shark's teeth from millions of years ago when that part of Alabama was under the ocean. They also have what they call "The World's Biggest Playhouse". It was really cool! It was a two story playhouse that was built around a tree. Coming out of the second story door was a slide into a swimming pool. If you walked across a bridge there was a seat that you got in and with the help of two people one to launch you across the yard and one to catch you, you did the equivalent of a cable car type of ride. The kids loved it, even Alex!

At the end of the summer Alex had the opportunity to go on a backpacking camping trip with his scout troop. His dad was even able to go and that was a very nice surprise for Alex! They hiked on the Appalachian Trail as seen here.

The saw a lot of deer like this. They even had a black bear come very close to them!
They got to go white water rafting on the Ocee which I was told was AWESOME!!!!!! If they look cold its because the water was like ice.
So now it is time to get back to school! I love a new school year, its so full of promise, but it also bittersweet as I realize how fast my kids are growing. I especially think about how Alex will graduate in 3 years and be off to college. Oh well, for now he is here and has plenty of high school work to do!

Until next time may God Bless you!