Caroling on the town green on Christmas Eve. We set a record with the temp in the 60s.
Excitement with the gifts
Hmm, Band-Aids in the stocking again
There was a toothbrush to go with the candy
Clothes for Caroline
Erin got Julie's first book!
Tessie got her own big Teddy
Christmas Day we flew into Charleston, where the temp was in the 80s
We met Nana, Grandpa Mike and the entire Gray family in Rock Hill, SC for a brief get-together at the local McDonald's. (somehow more photos were not taken)
In the inflation over the years of National Park statuses, Congaree is now a full-fledged National Park
At least they're honest about the mosquitoes
The main attraction in the park is a boardwalk system through the swamp. With the water levels at 17 feet above normal (3 feet above flood stage), we knew that we were in for some wet walking.
Tessie liked the giant tree exhibit with realistic bird sounds piped in
Eyeball bender: what is this? Hint - I guarantee it is touching your body right now.
Cotton!
Charles Pinckney played a leading role at the Constitutional Convention and his house outside Charleston had beautiful grounds
Erin signs the document
The live oaks were massive
Fort Sumter out there in the mist required a boat trip, whereas landside Fort Moultrie did not
On the drive Heather searched the web for restaurants with good Southern food. Fried chicken and collards.
Hush puppies were a hit
Grits were not
More beige food for Tessie
We played lots of hangman, although sometimes Erin's words were unconventional
Fort Pulaski east of Savannah had a real moat
and jail (dungeon) to climb around
It was the girls' favorite stop
Fort Frederica on St. Simon's Island, GA, was established by the British in the 1700s. It had an elaborate Junior Ranger program with a haversack full of props
Colonial Tessie
Having recently visited Cape Cod and seen where cold-stunned sea turtles were collected, it was extra cool to see their final destination, a rehabilitation facility on Jekyll Island, GA.
Tessie recognized this guy from Finding Nemo
This one's easy...
... so is this...
...but can you figure out this one?
Cumberland Island National Seashore used to be owned by the Carnegie family and still has their mansions on it
In school we learned that the Spanish and English established the first permanent settlements in the New World in the 1500 and 1600s. It was a surprise then to learn that the French established Fort Caroline in 1564 near Jacksonville, FL. They lasted less than a year before being slaughtered by the Spanish at St. Augustine.
Shorts and T-shirts on December 28th!
After three days of hugging the Atlantic coast, we finally made it to the beach at Palm Coast, FL.
The girls tried their first Shirley Temple
Now in Atlanta, Tessie loved riding on Grandma Lu's lap
At the MLK National Historic Site, the girls marched for racial equality
and visited yet another Civil War battlesite at Kennesaw Mountain. Their year of being dragged to National Park sites is finally over: the final tallies: 100 sites, 84 Jr Ranger badges, and 20 patches.
Tessie saw her first in-theater movie, the Good Dinosaur, while the older girls saw the new Star Wars
We had a great visit with Joe, Tracy, and Jenna
Grandma Lu's facility had some bookcases filled with unusual nonfiction. Apparently it's all about the hocks and the topline.
It was dancing weather on Christmas
The silence at Congaree was eerie
The instructions were to play with games and make a lot of noise
Erin's birthday meal wish was for dim sum, to stuff herself with ship rools
Grandma Joan and Grampa Ed visited and helped Erin make her cake
Can you tell that she iced it herself?
A couple of weeks later Erin had her friends party at an indoor playground
The day after Thanksgiving we visited the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy
Completing the Junior Ranger book
the girls received their final badge from the 14 Massachusetts National Park sites
Since we had so much fun at Mt. Wachusett we decided to tackle Mt. Monadnock next. As we learned, "moderate" is a relative term, especially when going out on a rainy day in late November.
After 30 minutes on a forest trail, we faced scrambling on the wet rocks for another half-hour
Then another hour of slow climbing on the rocks above the tree line until we reached the cold, windy, fogged-in summit. Going down was far slippery than coming up, but to the girls' credit they marched cheerfully with wet hands and feet all the way down.
We had the lucky coincidence of running into Santa at the Christmas tree nursery. Sadly Caroline and Erin did not find the coincidence so extraordinary.
For the first time in the history of our family, Tessie did not freak out when receiving her gift from Santa at our day care
We piggy-backed Tessie's birthday party onto Erin's
On her big 3rd birthday Tessie was all smiles
and she wore her crown all day
Caroline's exhibit on water resources
and remember that concert in Symphony Hall where Erin heard the Planets? We can't forget it because Erin has been humming the Jupiter theme day and night, and especially at bedtime. Poor Caroline has had enough.
2nd piano recital
Is this anyway to treat an old lady?
Sorry Clio
Finishing this 1000-piece puzzle was a team effort
Foolishly, we thought that having Alex play upside-down with arms crossed would be a fair match for Caroline's recital piece
