Little Guy

Amanda acquired a new "pet" at the beach this summer...a shell that she named "Little Guy."  The only problem is that while she was giving me the full story of Little Guy's life, she kept referring to him as a "her."  I asked if Little Guy should actually be Little Gal, but she was firm on the name.

We brought him home in his habitat that she created for him.  He lives in a cup with sand and water.  

Occasionally she moves him to dry ground, an area that she calls his "playground." 

Currently, Little Guy is living in a special place in our carport.  I suspect that he will move to the water table soon.  Then maybe we will "release" him from captivity and let him go back into the wild.  I'm sure he could find a nice home near the creek (or in the creek.)  The river rocks might make nice friends for him.

Back to School Shopping

This is what back to school shopping looks like at our house. 

After almost 20 years of teaching, Derrick has acquired more pens, pencils, erasers, scissors and other school supplies than most people get in a lifetime.  So, rather than buying new every year, we sort and regroup to see what we can send from home.

Derrick is in charge of this entire project.  Bless him.  He downloads the lists, checks them twice and fills the back to school bags.  When this stage is finished, he even fights the crowds at the stores to buy the new supplies that we need.  It is such a gift to me.  

Summer Traditions

We can't have "summer" without certain traditions...

*roasting marshmallows after a summer grilled supper

*picking buckets of blueberries at Lily's house (and admiring her horses)

*picking strawberries at Washington Farms

*Plenty of time for Lego creations

Flood!

It would be an understatement to say that we have had a wet summer.  Actually it has been a wet year.  We've had over 31 inches of rain through the end of June.  Normal rainfall for this time is closer to 23 inches.  

The ground is saturated.  Derrick hasn't been able to mow for a few weeks because his mower gets stuck in the muck of our backyard.  

When we went to bed last night, thunderstorms were rolling around us.  I laid awake for a long time watching the lightning show out of our window.  Around 2AM, I was awakened by more thunder and rain.  

But the real rain came just after sunrise this morning.  The radar showed just a small cell over our county, but buckets of rain fell.  It rained and rained and rained for over an hour.  

The result...a flash flood covering our backyard.  

Below you can see the water pouring off of the road into our yard.     

Here is a picture of the water coming over the bank from the creek.

An early picture of the flooding, taken from our bedroom window.

The water rushed out of the culvert.  It is an 8 foot pipe running under the road.  Water was pouring through it and the secondary pipe that they installed for times such as this.

The water continued to back up in our yard.  This is probably my favorite picture because it shows one good thing that came from the flooding.  You see, Derrick cut down a large tree in our backyard several months ago.  He cleared all of the branches but was waiting for the trunk to dry before cutting it.  In this picture, you can see the water carrying the trunk away.  It settled just on the back side of our creek...exactly the location where Derrick would have deposited the cut trunk.  The water made it look easy to move a tree 24 inches in diameter and 20 feet tall.

Amanda will use any excuse to wear a bathing suit.  Don't worry...we did not let her near the water, even though she thought it was great having a lake in the back yard.  On the contrary, we spent quite a bit of time pointing out the dangers of flood water...displaced animals (snakes), rapid currents, uncertain water levels.  The deck was a really safe place to be.

A view of our shed and compost bin.  Luckily, we saw this coming and were able to move the mower to higher ground before it flooded.

This was about as close as the water came to our house.

The water receded as quickly as it rose.  The rain ended around 9AM and the yard was clear by noon.  We have a bunch of silt coating the ground and I definitely don't think the mower will get through the muck any time soon, but there was no real damage.  For that, we were thankful.  

Mid-point of 2013

June 30

I love this day...mostly because it is Derrick and my wedding anniversary.  But also because it is the mid-point of the year.  It's a great day to look back at the year so far and look ahead to anticipate what's to come.

And, since Derrick is at Cub Scout camp with Scott today, I've had time to do just that.

It is always amazing to me how much we pack into a year.  All the events...all the stories...all the fun.  Blogging helps me remember.  So I'm going to go back and blog 2013...and remember the events and stories and fun we have had so far.   I've finished June tonight and will work in reverse.

And I hope to work quickly...because I anticipate that we will have many more events, stories and fun in the months to come...like roasting marshmallows over hot coals after burgers and corn for dinner.

Summer Swim Team

Scott has just finished his first season of swim team.  It was a fast season and he enjoyed every minute of it.  

The final meet was rained out, but while we were waiting in the car for the meet to be called, we saw a full rainbow across the sky.  I have never seen a full rainbow in Georgia.  Often there are trees and hills that block it, but our pool is across from a pasture and there was space for the rainbow to stretch.  It was too big to capture in one frame.  

Lake Burton 2013

One of our favorite summer traditions is spending time at Lake Burton at a little cabin built by our friend's grandfather and great-grandfather.  No A/C, no TV, no privacy, and really good friends...it's wonderful.  

The children outnumber the adults...it's been that way for several years now.  

And our four-legged, furry child is always invited.  He loves it as much as we do.

This year was our most active year yet. The kids are older and able to do more.  The Jet Ski was a big hit.  Derrick gave rides to each big kid at least three times each...almost 20 rides around the cove made for sore muscles.   

Those who weren't riding organized a pretty fierce water gun battle with the driver and rider.  While they did a great job defending their fort...

 

...they were no match for the power of the jet ski.  Derrick was an expert at shooting the water across the dock as he sped by.

Everyone also had several turns to ride behind the big boat in the "Monster Mania."

(proof I was there...Scott took this picture of me skiing.  Normally I'm the one behind the lens, but he is always eager to take the camera.)

We had a few quiet activities.  I especially love this picture of the boys during "nap" time.  They are relaxing and reading on the porch, with the gun ready in case of an attack.

Farley, worn out from a day of fetching the ball in the lake

These two are a little young yet for all this activity, but it won't be long before they will join in on all of the action.

Oh, did I mention that we only had 29 hours together this year?  Yep, all this activity in a day and a half.  The kids (and adults) were sad to leave, but we had three sleeping, worn out children for the car ride home.

Biking this summer

We are on the move this summer...biking every morning while Scott swims at swim team.  

Amanda has a special way to keep up with the family.  She has a bar that hooks her bike to Derrick's (called a Gator Trailer).  

It is so much fun watching this duo tackle the hills in our neighborhood.  They pedal hard to get to the top and sail downhill at top speed.  Derrick gets a great workout!

A Cookie for Breakfast

Isn't that is what summer is all about?