Happy 9th, Josiah

Some kids love an elaborate birthday with fancy balloons, cakes, gifts, friends, games, and other such snazzy energy zappers for the parents, but Josiah prefers a more sedate and simple celebration with nothing homemade and little fanfare. And for that, we are only too grateful. He usually gets a simple store bought cake or cookie and just a few gifts and a card or two, lest he becomes overwhelmed and unable to relate the rest of the day.

This year, Hope wanted to make him some simple cookies with a simple stuffed animal. He was happy the rest of the day.

Middle Georgia

Kids on tractors. Such a common theme in the south.

Ah, another kid on a tractor. Get mowing, kid!

We decided to visit Valdosta, Georgia, just south of us and look what fun swamp land we found. It felt like Gollam would arise out of the murky depths of this place. We did spy a handful of alligators and turtles lollygagging around the area.

The murky swampy areas are simply fascinating.

A friend mentioned how green  Georgia was. We can confirm that Georgia is indeed a very green and lush state.

Gollum Gollum!

Rock Ranch, Georgia

Rock Ranch is a ranch that the late Truett Cathy of Chick Fil A founded. It's kind of like a ranch/adventure park/fishing pond/outdoor fun place. We wanted to go strawberry pickin' and enjoy a day out.  It's another Georgia thing to do.

At Rock Ranch, there's a huge bubble that anyone that jump on. It's seriously huge. It's like a trampoline that 50 people can jump on at the same time. Huge fun!

Of course, in the south, everyone has a tractor, so at Rock Ranch, the kids get to "ride" on their own foot powered tractor. Very southern

At the end of the day, we got to pick our own strawberries and stuff our mouths. 

"Gone Strawberry Pickin"

Here's the reaction to the first strawberry we had at home. They were seriously sweeter than any store bought strawberries we've had. Or maybe the fun from the day brought out the sweetness.

Homeschool Field Day

The Homeschool community had a fun field day at the only park in town (40 minutes away from home). The kids had a great time running around and winning bracelets. Lisa got to meet a lot of new people, and Hope made some new friends.

Hope is getting ready for the potato sack race. The timer lady forgot to set the watch as she was so excited for the kids, so they had to race twice. It was so fun. Lisa got to be the nurse and ended up having to bandage up a few bumps and bruises. No one got seriously hurt.