Books We're Reading

"To a genuine lover of books no house is completely furnished which has not a good many of them, not arranged formally in one room, but scattered all over the house." Margaret E. Sangster

With that thought in mind, here's the books that have been scattered around our house the past few weeks:

For the Children

Plenty of Mo Willems - Our library holds so many of these hilarious tales.

"Charlotte's Web" - This is the theme for Mattie's upcoming dance recital. We might move on to other E.B White classics when we finish this one.

"The Hardy Boys" Audible Style - Our latest Audible craze is none other then the Hardy brothers themselves.

For Me

My Yearly Re-Reading of Clay and Sally Clarkson's "Educating the WholeHearted Child" - I love the gentle reminders and pearls of wisdom dispersed throughout this book. I'm also amazed each year at something new that pops out at me based on the season of life we are in.

 

Jo Nesbo's "Police" - I'm not sure I've ever been so disturbed by a book. I'm all for a good murder mystery and could stomach "The Girl With..." series, but this was pretty sadistic.

Ben Lerner's "10:04"- I have no idea how to describe this book other than I really liked it.

Jennifer McMahon's "The Winter People" - This is my current read. It's creepy, but in a good way.

Ian McWan's "The Children Act"- This one is sitting on my nightstand waiting to be picked up next.

Cumberland Island

Off the coast of Georgia is an uninhabited island full of wild horses, hiking trails and long Atlantic coastline. When I say uninhabited, I mean for the most part. There are a few people that live on remote parts of the island and visitors can take a ferry to the island year round.

The island came to my attention years ago when John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette married there in a candlelight ceremony in the tiny First African Baptist church. Our one day trip last weekend didn't allow us time to find the church (total bummer for me), but it did give us time to make our way along one of the trails to enjoy a day on the beach.

It is absolutely picturesque being on an island where wild horses roam. You just have to step very carefully, if you know what I mean.

While there is an inn on the island, it is high dollar. It also does not allow guests under six. Because of this, most people stay nearby and take the ferry onto the island. You can go for a day trip, which is what we did, or making camping reservations and take a ferry back to the mainland days later.

We stayed in St. Mary's, Ga., at the Cumberland Island Inn. The suites are basically two connected hotel rooms, but they are clean and spacious.

The Inn also offered two free ferry tickets as well as a $40 coupon for one of three local restaurants. We chose St. Mary's Seafood, which has to be the most popular place to dine. Our whole gang - all seafood lovers - gave it two thumbs up.

First Pensacola, Then New Orleans

Last week we spent two days in Pensacola, FL, before heading to New Orleans, LA. Here's our trip in pictures:

Dinner at McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola 

 Money hangs from the ceiling there

 The New Orleans Zoo

The New Orleans Aquarium

Little people, big tank, glowing eyes

Shark Bait

Cafe du Monde - where beignets and coffee are about the only things on the menu (no complaints from us)

A stop in between destinations at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, AL

And checkers action at a Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way

Archaeological Dig

This week we got to experience something that was truly amazing. A real archaeological dig.

Months ago archaeologists from the University of West Florida in Pensacola discovered what they believe to be the site of the Luna settlement. The research indicates that this Spanish settlement is likely the oldest established European colony in the United States. It is currently believed to predate the settlement in St. Augustine, Florida, which for years was known as the earliest European settlement in the United States.

Matt's grandparents' home, on the bay in Pensacola, happens to be smack dab in the middle of what is believed to be the original colony site, and the generous and exuberant archaeology team from UWF graciously allowed several homeschooling families to tag along with us for an official dig.

We started at the UWF archaeology headquarters with a brief presentation on what archaeology is and what archaeologists do. Jack has been taking an archaeology class this past year, and his archaeology teacher and her kids were with us.

Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the actual dig. Matt's grandmother passed away in August, and a waive of emotion hit me as we pulled up to their driveway.

The archaeology team had two plots marked off in the backyard, so half the kids dug in one area and the other half in another.

We were part of the group that found a lot of glass.

We also found a piece of a Spanish olive jar.

It may look insignificant, but when one of the archaeologists remarked, "We're the first people to hold this in 450 years," I was completely in awe.

After lunch we traveled to a small archaeology museum on the UWF campus.

Our junior archaeologists had a great time. And so did their mommas.