Holiday Highlights - Part Two

On Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, I picked up Dan and we headed towards Atlanta as soon as Ron got off work.  It was quite a journey, but so worth it!  Not long after we arrived on Thursday, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast with both my entire family and most of Sally's as well.  It was quite cold outside, but we all just bundled up and enjoyed being together and the delicious food Sally had prepared.

On the following days, we joined Jana, Rob, Callie, Jordan, Luke and Toby for a walk at Piedmont Park, went on a 6-mile run/walk there the next morning, worked a puzzle, hiked up Stone Mountain with David, Leslie and Laura and played with the new baby in the family.  It was the first time all of my family had been together since my dad died in 2009 and it was wonderful!!!

(don't worry, he didn't really do it)

Fall Memory

Fall FUN 2014 - Day 29 - FALL MEMORY

I have several fun FALL MEMORIES--some from my girls' childhoods and some from my own. I remember raking leaves into big piles, shaping them into forts and having leaf battles with my brothers.  I remember LOTS of games of "tag football" in the backyard with neighborhood friends (one in particular that ended with a pair of teeth in my scalp and a bit of blood on both of us).  And I have some vague memories of trick-or-treating with my brothers.  The only costume I really remember was the year I was a "hobo", when I was about 6 or 7 years old.

But, I remember almost every detail of my own children's costumes, whether it be for Trick-or-Treating or for a school play.  There was a witch, Dorothy, a Madeline, clown, a candy fairy, Laura Wilder (from Little House on the Prairie), a jester . . . the list goes on and on.   In fact, I still have many of them.  The one pictured below is from Jana's 3rd grade Halloween play---as you can tell from her sign, she was Mrs. Pumpkin Eater.

What is your favorite FALL MEMORY?   Is there a something today that brings it all back to you like it was just yesterday?  Or maybe you can capture something today that will become a FALL MEMORY in the future.

Happy Fifty-Seven!

I have 3 older brothers, the youngest of which is Dan.  He was born in 1957 and today he is 57 years old!!  Ron and I drove down to Cheneyville yesterday to help him celebrate his birthday.  He chose to go to Pizza Hut for lunch, where he opened a few small gifts while waiting for the pizza.

He loved the Birthday card.

After lunch, we stopped to pick up a few extra goodies to take back and then headed to the Chicot State Park.   I've often seen the exit off of the interstate, but never stopped to visit.  We explored a little bit first and found some wonderful cabins that we hope to return to at some point.
Dan loves dogs, so we brought Joy with us for him to meet.

We found the trail that goes around the lake and set out on a short hike.  

She's getting much better at walking on the leash.

The lake at Chicot State Park looks exactly the way a Louisiana lake is supposed to look---lots of large cypress trees covered with Spanish moss.

I took this picture with my phone right before it died---turned out pretty well!

The day was warm and the trail was a little muddy, but we had a good time walking through the woods.

Some feet got muddier than others.

We even saw this critter scurrying through the leaves.

We headed back to Dan's home just about the time the rest of the guys were finishing up dinner, so it was a great time to have cake.   Dan had requested (at the last minute) a "white cake with blue and white icing".

Everyone sang "Happy Birthday"

and then it was time to blow out the candles.

hmmm---

Let's try that again.

One more time perhaps?

Well, perhaps blowing out candles gets harder the older we get?  Or perhaps those were trick candles!
Happy Birthday, Dan!!