Emergency Alert System

Last night while we were watching a documentary, an emergency alert announcement came on the television for tornadoes in our county.   I had no idea the bad weather was moving into Georgia.   However, the perfect conditions for tornadoes are happening all over the South.   We have had warmer weather:  70s to 80.   With the colder fronts moving in from the North, the perfect conditions have been in place for tornadoes! 
To be honest, being able to identify potentially hazardous weather is new to us.   Yesterday, we went strolling in high winds to a park and played for about an hour and then strolled back.    To our horror, this was about the same time trucks and cars were being turned over just a little northwest of us!   Yikes!
Can't wait for Comcast to reinstate the Weather Channel so we actually have an idea of the day's forecast!  

"I am mad I put the top up my nose"

Normally bath time is a fun time for Sabrina.   She loves playing with her little plastic fish and her little mermaid collection.   Today's fun time was interrupted by a high pitched cry and a plea to "get it out".   She had taken Ariel's bikini top and put it up her nostil where it got stuck.   Try as we could to see the purple plastic small part, it was up too far.   (probably pushed farther by Sabrina's finger trying to get it out).    After a couple of hours of monitoring, trying to blow it out, propping Sabrina up with pillows and praying that gravity would remove the top, we ventured to Urgent Care to have it removed professionally.
We could tell that the nose item was painful as she sat quietly most of the two hour wait patiently looking at a Hidden Picture magazine.   When the doctor finally appeared to look at Sabrina's nose, Sabrina was super cooperative and told the doctor everything about the mistake of putting the top in her nose.    Thankfully, the doctor was able to see the top and remove it with little problem.   Sabrina was super brave and still for the extraction.   On the way home in the car she announced, "I am mad I put the top up my nose."   This was followed by a conversation how nothing will ever go up her nose again.    We can hope!

Muscak

In our household, "music" is pronounced "muscak" by our smallest member of the family.   She loves it and has been playing her cds and singing her songs.   Randomly, she will make up rhymes and songs for everything events such as driving Dad to work and feeling hungry.   My favorite made up song had to do with spiders in their webs, butterflies fluttering and a dog.   Random but very cute!

Another funny saying lately was when she all of a sudden had letter awareness.   She announced at the park, "Mom, letters are everywhere!"    She knows her alphabet and identifies letters in everyday settings.    The park equipment is stamped with "GAME TIME" and Sabrina reads all the letters before advancing to the next step on a suspended ladder.   What a fun stage to see how reading and singing are developing!

Refueling Weekend

Last week our entire household was fighting a cold or allergies (maybe a little of both?).    The pollen has beenvisible as sheets of bright yellow on cars, sidewalks or parking lots.    All three of us wake up and sneeze for a good hour before going on with our day.    That with being tired tricked us into thinking we were sick when in reality, it was most likely our reaction to unknown pollens.
Towards the weekend, we decided to trek up the freeway to see our old community and friends in Daniel Island.  Saturday night felt a little bit like Christmas with the anticipation of seeing friends and going to our old church.   We had a hard time sleeping as we knew we needed to get up at 5am in order to prepare for our 7am departure time.  
At 9am we arrived just in time for the service.   Oh, how it was so nice to be surrounded by friends and sing songs in the contempory service!    The music leader played his guitar and sang with the other singers to bring the congregation to a level of worship that was refreshing and soul searching.   Words really can't describe the experience.    Truly an uplifting experience!
Hugs, laughter, reconnection with people we haven't seen in a couple of years was just fabulous!  (Sabrina loved meeting some of her old baby friends and ran around with them after church.   We also met a new  9 month old boy for the first time!)    We felt blessed, refreshed and so encouraged by our day's journey.   We hope to go up there again and have friends come visit us soon.   Next time we will remember our camera!

Hygiene- Amazing changes

A few weekends  ago we went to Fort Pulaski and saw a demonstration of a rifle firing.  The soldier talked about the importance of soldiers to have at least two front teeth.   These teeth were needed to tear open the powder packets for loading the guns.    Each soldier was issued a little bag and some carried a toothbrush (which was a new invention and often shared by groups of men),  a mirror (shared by many men), soap, and other small items.   Only the bag was part of the uniform.  The men had to purchased the contents.  
When we see these demonstrations, it really makes us thankful for the cleaning products we all have now.   I never would have thought about sharing my toothbrush with several people.    The soldier did not talk about toothpaste.   We will have to look up when it was invented.

Tom Triplet Park

This bar was intended for hopping over.   Sabrina thought it would be great for scooting up!

Another activity is hanging by knees.

Fun hanging upside down.

 

Saturday our park outing was to a nice recreational park named Tom Triplet Park.   Around a lake there is a walking/ running track where aerobic exercise is easy and scenic.   Along the perimeter of the path are strengthening stations for sit-ups, pull-ups, leg lifts, jumps, push-ups.   Sabrina liked these stations but usually would put her own twist on the activity.

Wildlife Park

 

Friday we decided to go to a wildlife park southeast of Savannah.   The park had extensive walking trails with a variety of animals.   The interesting point from the park is that it was owned by the school district and had many stations for learning.    It was easy to see how hands on learning would take place here at this park.  The ecosystems would come to life for the students.  

Cranes.

These bobcats were inerested in us.   The photos don't show how beautiful these cats are.   We liked talking with Sabrina about the markings and how they hid (camoflaged) themselves in the surroundings.

Red Fox.

There were three red foxes with their beautiful coats.

These two bald eagles were some of the birds of prey that we saw.   Others were falcons, owls,and red tailed hawks.

One of the best encounters was in the Grey Wolf exhibit.   Unlike the other exhibits, the wolves could come right on the other side of thick glass.   This pack consisted of five wolves and they were majestic!  Inside the wolf viewing room were aquariums with snakes.   These snakes were common to Georgia and were not poisonous.   One bright green snake looked just like a blade of grass and we watched him digest a cricket.   Sabrina found this fascinating.

The Animal Hospital

When we packed in Oregon, we decided to pack Sabrina's stroller for longer walks.   It has proven to be a useful tool the last couple of weekends as we have walked long distances.   Sabrina likes to walk but gets tired and needs breaks and the stroller provides her a break and keeps our arms fresh and backs strong.    Yesterday, Sabrina and Julie went on a long three mile walk around our neighborhood which included a stop at the park.   
On returning home, the stoller was parked in Sabrina's room where it stays.   Soon it was turned into an animal hospital for big dog and frog.   Big dog (her stuffed pillow) has been sick for a couple of mornings and had been resting in a clinic (her closet floor) which a bathrobe on him.   Sabrina decided it would be better to recline the stroller seat and give him a larger resting space off the ground.   That way also she could nurse him back to health and wheel him around the bedroom.

Random photos from Bonadventure Cemetery

These photos are of the artwork and statues in the cemetery.   The oaks with the Spanish Moss also added a nice softness to this calming environment.

This angel's shell bowl was full of rose pedals.

Reminded us of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.

Two built in benches in this family area.

The Aiken name was famous in Charleston and we wondered how these people may be related.

Bonadventure Cemetery

As with many places in Savannah and in the South in general,  the cemeteries are rumored to be haunted.   Bonadenture Cemetery most recently became famous from the story of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil as it was where the voodoo was practiced for Jim Mercer.   The statue of the bird girl is now in an art museum and a copy greets visitors in the information center at the museum. 

Sabrina looking into a family plot.  

Spanish-American War Veterans

Several graves had ferns or Palmetto trees buried at the headston.

Gracie has a fence protecting her now.

Partly out of curiousity and partly from recommmendation from a website, we decided to take a family walk through the cemetery to see the old graves.   We were pleasantly surprised with the ornately decorated statues and memorials to people who once lived in the area.   One of the most famous memorials is Gracie, a life size statue of the little six year old who died of pneumonia.  Her parents ran the hotel in Savannah and Gracie was a gregarious little girl who unfortunately contracted pneomonia before there was a cure.   It is a reminder to us how life is so frail and how far medical practices have come.

Walking trail behind Fort Pulaski

Between Ft. Pulaski and the river is a wonderful walking trail which ends across the river from a light house at an oyster bed.   The trail is lined with Palmetto trees of various sizes and shaped.

Randy and Sabrina looking at the shells.

The light house.

Holding up a live oyster.

Shells!

Oysters!

 

More shells!

Not picked up by the camera, these little water ways were teeming with little live crabs.   The water looked alive!

Returning to Fort Pulaski, this shows the wter and drawbridge from a distance.

The Waving Girl is legendary and there is a statue of her along River Street along downtown Savannah.  She would wave Hello and Goodbye to all ships with her handkerchief.

Fort Pulaski

Named after a polish general who died in Savannah during the Revolutionary War,  Fort Pulaski was built after the War of 1812 to protect Savannah from attack by from the Atlantic Ocean by guarding one of the rivers that let to Savannah.   It was designed and the construction overseen by Robert E. Lee when he was just a lieutenent.                                         This is a demonstration of a soldier (Union uniform) firing a rifle.  Changing from balls to pointed tips, Ammo changed design during the life of this fort.   The ridges in the casings of the guns caused the bullets to be more accurate than the ball bullets.   The soldier wore a Union uniform on the date we visited as 150 years ago this fort was under Union control.   At one point the governor of Georgia ordered the fort to be under Confederate control and was until the Union Army attacked it from Tybee Island.   The attack blasted at the SE corner of the fort continually until the wall was penetrated.   As several points in this wall were at least eight feet thick of solid brick, this fort was thought to be a solid fortress.

The inner stairs up to the cannons at the top of the fort.

Sitting on the upper wall where cannons onced perched.  (also giving mom a heart attack!)

Past the outer wall was a drainage system which also had a "moat" effect in protecting the entrance to the fort which had a drawbridge on the endtry.

From one side looking at the other side of the extensive forts.   There are no rails on the interior and a fourteen foot drop off.    On the other side of the far wall was the river and Tybee Island on the opposite shore.

In front of each huge cannon was a Sabrina sized shelf.   We are not sure what these were for but I suspect cannons or something that might need to be stored out of the way.

A windy castle like windy staircase on the interior of the fort.

Sabrina found some new wheel barrows in the magazine room.

This fort was given the fame of being part of the Underground Railroad as escaped slaves would come to this fort and the captain in command would usually find them a way out.   They could come to the fort and be given some food and refuge on the property surrounding the fort.   This was happening before the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln felt pressure from the actions at this fort.