Me? I have lots of interests. That's because I'm an interesting person.

A few posts back I asked you to comment on my interests, and then I would tell you about them. (Don't worry if you didn't get a chance to comment with an interest- go ahead and pick one and leave the comment under this post.)

Stacey's picks:
1. Chocolate
Seriously tasty stuff. I'm a dark chocolate girl all the way- none of that pansy milk chocolate stuff for me, and white chocalate is just nasty. I always thought my SIL Beckie was more than just a little nuts when she PURPOSELY didn't eat any chocolate for something like two years. Life is just better with chocolate!

2. Dr. Pepper
I won't lie- I love me some Dr. Pepper. I'll grudgingly drink a Mr. Pibb in a pinch, but it doesn't taste the same.

Katheryn's picks:
3. Harriet Vane
Harriet Vane is a character from one of my favorite books, Busman's Honeymoon, written by Dorothy L. Sayers. I love Sayers' books, and I especially love Harriet. Harriet is what Anne Shirley would have been had Anne been born 30 years later.

4. Paper Art
I am fascinated what can be created with just paper. Some of my favorite children's book illustrators (Lois Lenski, Denise Fleming, Leo Lionni) use nothing but paper. I love origami, but I don't have the patience to do it myself.

Both my mom and Beckie asked about

5. Broadway Musicals
I love musicals. I remember when mom used to let me stay up past my bedtime to watch musicals that came on TV- Camelot, The Sound of Music, Brigadoon, Gigi- the list goes on. For Spring Break during my senior year of High School, I went to New York for a week. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing to shows- Miss Saigon and Crazy For You.

I've seen lots of local productions, and been in a few myself, but there's nothing like seeing professionals bring the story to life. The list of things I want to see is a mile long, but I'll stick with three currently running shows: Wicked, Spamalot and Guys and Dolls. And man alive, I'd give my right arm to have seen Julie Andrews in her prime.

Part Two to come later. You're on pins and needles, I know. :P

Be like all the cool kids!

I've added some favorites to the sidebar. I plan on changing them every so often. So charitable of me, don't you think, bringing my favorite things to the masses? A bit like Oprah, in a way.

Don't I know it

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Social Nerd   You're interested in things such as politics, psychology, child care, and peace. I wouldn't go so far as to call you a hippie, but some of you may be tree-huggers. You're the type of people who are interested in bettering the world. You're possible the least nerdy of them all; unless you participate in other activies that paled your nerdiness compared to your involvement in social activities. Whatever the case, we could still use more of you around. ^_^
Drama Nerd
Literature Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Musician
Anime Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Monday, Monday

I don't know if anyone knows this, but I have a somewhat dramatic personality. You're shocked to find this out, aren't you? It's true, though.

You can imagine the internal dramatics that kicked in when Madeline woke James and I up at 3:00 am to tell us that Isabella was throwing up. The drama then returned at 6:45 when I went to wake Madeline up for school and she started throwing up, too. All of this was after the decidely external dramatics that occurred last night when we discovered that Madeline has lost her $250 retainer.

In other words, I'm drama-d out.

Thankfully, I don't have school today or tomorrow. (The preschool follows a different school system's calendar than the calendar the girls' school system follows.) I'm going to spend the whole day thinking positively. The girls don't have a stomach virus- they are simply exhausted from all of the 'fast living' of the past week and weekend!

Now I'm off to coat every surface in our house with a layer of Lysol.

One thing down, one hundred things to go...

Today was our Primary Program. It's probably my most favorite Sunday out of the entire year. To top it all off, we got done FIFTEEN MINUTES early! YES!

Both Madeline and Isabella gave talks, and I was so proud of them. They had worked very hard on the talks, and they were well-prepared (moreso than some adult speakers I've heard! :P). They are both growing up to be so confident and well-spoken.

Out of my seven Sunbeams, only two participated. Two twin brothers were sick, two little girls were no-shows, and one little boy did a great job all through the practices, but got stage fright when he saw all the congregation filing in and made a beeline for his mother before the program even started! But the two who participated did a great job, and I'm proud to be their teacher.

PS- It's not too late to respond to my last post! I won't respond to it till later in the week, so join in the fun!

Taking the easy way out

Go to my profile. Look at my interests. Pick two and I'll tell you about them. :)

So Far, So Good

1. Madeline seems to be doing fine- no more throwing up after the bus incident, no fever, sore throat, upset stomach, etc. So I think we can rule out stomach virus. We started back on the antibiotic last night, so we'll see if anything happens with that. *FINGERS CROSSED*

2. The weather? GORGEOUS

3. We've entered into the most fun, but also the most stressful, time period of the preschool year. It starts a few days before Halloween and ends somewhere around January 20th. With the holidays approaching, there's a ton of fun activities to do. But I think some parents forget that little children DO NOT need to be out a every party/fair/church activity/get together until late at night, nor do they need to eat absolutely every piece of candy/cake/pie/goody given to them.

In the past week in Albany we've had Halloween, huge Fall Festivals, church revivals, football games and the fair. And this is only the beginning! I'd love to send a note home to some of the preschool parents saying "DO NOT EXPECT A GOOD BEHAVIOR REPORT ABOUT YOUR LITTLE DARLING IF THEY'VE BEEN HOPPED UP ON SUGAR AND OPERATINGON FIVE HOURS OF SLEEP! SHOW SOME COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE!!!!". ;)

4. The girls are off to Tifton tonight for Caitlin's birthday. James is going to pick them up after work tomorrow, while I go to a wedding. Mmmm...wedding cake!

5. I'm VERY EXCITED to be out of school Monday and Friday.

An Unexpected Holiday

About 3:45 yesterday, the bus driver called the house (actually, it was the bus driver's helper) to make sure someone would be home when the bus came by because Madeline was throwing up. (As Bella told us later, "They had to use the Body Clean Up kit!") We're unsure whether it's a reaction to her antibiotic or a stomach virus, so she and I are home today.

My excitement for the day includes paying bills and figuring out what that gross smell is in the refrigerator.

The only thing I'll say...

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends, though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn. I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

-- President-Elect Barack Obama
November 4, 2008

Today....Did Not Go As Planned

I had plans for today. Oh, did I have plans.

I planned on waking up early so as not to be rushed today. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I do "Early Birds" at school- it's basically an early drop-off time. The preschool is affliated with a church that is also a voting precinct. I needed extra time to make sure I got a parking spot and had enough time to get all my stuff inside before the kiddos arrived.

I had also planned to teach my preschool kids all about the election process by reading books like Duck for President and If I Ran For President and Arthur Meets the President. Then we were going to vote on our snack today, complete with a ballot box and hand drawn ballots. I even had official, state of Georgia "I Voted" stickers to give to each child.

After school, I planned on picking Madeline up for a doctor's appointment, maybe picking up a prescription, then heading home to wait for Isabella to get off the bus. Then I planned to spend a quiet evening at home watching the election returns while James took the girls to their team party.

I still have hopes for this evening, but my morning plans were disrupted pretty much from the get-go.

I did wake up early, so that was good. (Too bad it was 5:30 early as opposed to the alarm set 6:15 early.) Unfortunately the girls' bus driver must have *also* woken up early, because I didn't hear the bus until it was already pulling away from our house, a good 5-10 minutes BEFORE its scheduled arrival. Luckily, the same bus also picks up children in the next neighborhood over, and the girls have friends over there. So I hustled the girls into the car, drove them to a friend's house and begged the mama to let them catch the bus from there.

In all of the hustle and bustle I went off and forgot the special snacks I had purchased for preschool today, so I had to make an extra stop at Publix. When I arrived at the school, the voting line was out the door, which meant I had to park around back and haul my 87 bags the long way around. I made it in time, though just barely.

About 9:30, my cell phone rang. It was Madeline's doctor's office. The nurse had talked to the doctor about Madeline's "bump" (a bump which is on her lower left abdomen, about the size of a nickel, and also hurting quite badly). She said they didn't want me to wait and bring her in at 2:15, they wanted me to bring her in NOW. They felt the bump might be a Staph Infection and they wanted to ummmm, excise it, and they were calling in a prescription for Tylenol with Codeine right then that I should give her before she arrived at the office.

*blinks*

Okay. So no teaching young minds about democracy for me today! I explained the situation to my preschool director, grabbed my purse and headed up to the school to get Madeline. I called James on the way, and he decided he should meet me at the office.

After waiting for a bit, we finally see the doctor, who decides NOT to try and excise it right then, but instead decides to start her on a major antibiotic and send us home with a swabbing kit in case it heads up or starts to ooze. The kit is complete with swab, specimen container, gauze and gloves! YAY for medical fun!

By this time Madeline is about ready to pass out from the Tylenol with Codeine that we gave her, but at least she's not in any pain, right??

*sighs*

So now we're home. Madeline took a nap and is now in a vegetative state on the couch. I'm thinking about joining her.

Modern Guilt

Things I Should Be Doing Instead Of Thinking Of Things To Blog About:

1. Working on lesson plans for next month
2. Taking a nap
3. Vaccumming (or is it vaccuming??)
4. Enjoying the beautiful weather outside

But as you can see, I'm doing NONE of those things. This week is going to kill me, I just know it. I hate being this busy, especially since it will be dark by 6:30! I want to be at home, in my jammies!

/whinging

Monday- Last football game for the girls- YAY!
Tuesday- Doctor's appointment for Madeline; Team party for the girls' cheerleading squad; staying up late to watch election returns
Wednesday- James had YM, the girls have Activity Night
Thursday- Award Banquet for cheerleading squad
Friday- NOTHING YET!!
Saturday- We have a wedding to attend
Sunday- Primary Program at church, where I will get wrestle with 7 Sunbeams for three hours straight! :\

I really should go take a nap.

Drawing a blank

Now I know why I've never signed up to do one of these "make a post everyday" challenges, because I'm a just drawing a HUGE blank here. I used to have a site bookmarked where it gave you ideas for blogging, but I deleted it awhile back and now I can't find it again.

So today you get Random Pictures From Jennifer's Hard Drive:

NaBloPoMo Starts

For the rest of the month you'll be treated to a daily blog post by yours truly!

Maybe. :P

I'm gonna give it my best shot. But as I've never been very good at following through on arbitrary commitments (although I did stick to my book buying fast last June, and it even went on through July!) so we'll see what happens. On to the Halloween pictures!

This was the first year the girls have ever Trick-or-Treated in a neighborhood! When we lived in Tifton there was no neightborhood to Trick-or-Treat in, and since we've lived here we've always had to go to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat because the youth were in charge. But this year the girls said they wanted to go around our neighborhood, and James and I were more than happy to agree.








Madeline dressed up as a witch and Isabella went as Cat Woman. I think their costumes were adorable. James took them around while I held down the fort and handed out candy. It was a light group- maybe thirty kids total over the course of an hour. The girls were back by 8 pm, and we didn't have anymore knocks at our door. I can't really complain though. It had been a LONG week, and we were all ready for bed by 9:30.

We lead *such* an exciting life, don't we??

The Doctor has left the TARDIS

David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who.

*WAILS*

*SOBS*

*RENDS CLOTHING*

Are you in?

So....NaBloPoMo is quickly approaching. Is anybody interested in taking the challenge?? (I hear some of you asking, "Just what *is* NaBloPoMo???!?!?" Well, my friend, it's National Blog Posting Month! Basically you post one blog entry a day for a month.) I'm thinking about doing it. I'm not going to sign up at the website, because well, I just don't want to. :P

I know November's a busy month, but all that busy-ness will give you something to write about!

Anybody up for it????

Mom?
Katheryn?
Beckie?
Shauna???

How awesome is J.K. Rowling, Part Deux

I just finished reading this book, and it's pretty awesome. It's the story of the Harry Potter fandom, and it's written by Melissa Anelli, who is the webmistress for The Leaky Cauldron, a Harry Potter news and fansite.

It's no secret that I love the Harry Potter books, and that I love J.K. Rowling. I'm also pretty involved in the Harry Potter fandom, which is why I read the book in the first place. I'm sure it seems weird to some people, but I honestly don't care. I've made some amazing friends over the years- yes, real honest-to-goodness friends. It doesn't matter that I've never met most of them "in real life". Actually, my involvement in the fandom is why I started blogging over at LiveJournal in the first place. It was an easy way for everyone to keep up with each other.

Another reason why I loved the book is because it really brings back such amazing feelings for me- like when I first started reading the books. Unless you're a reader, I don't think you can fully understand the effect a book can have on your life. It can be life-changing. The Harry Potter series was like that for me.

After I read Book 7 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) I remember telling someone at church about the experience. Poor soul, she had made the mistake of asking me how the book was. How was it???!?!?!?? It was wonderful, amazing, gut-wrenching, and a hundred other adjectives. I told her that I had to stop reading every ten minutes or so because I was crying, literally sobbing, at so many different parts in the book. At one point, I had to put the book down and walk away from it for about twenty minutes or so, because it was just all too much.

The lady looked at my like I had lost my mind and said, with some disbelief, "Really?"

Umm, yes, really.

Maybe it *is* a little weird to get so emotionally caught up in a work of fiction, to consider 'Harry Potter' a hobby. to spend hours and hours on a message board discussing plot points and character motivation and thinking about what exactly that gleam in Dumbledore's eye meant. But is it any more weird to do this than to spend hours and hours on needlepoint, fly fishing, scrapbooking or acting in community theatre? I don't think so.

I kind of felt sorry for the lady, actually. She was missing out on so much! I didn't even try to explain it to her, because I knew she just wouldn't get *it*. The anticipation, the excitement, the realization....everything.

I wrote the following for a friend's website prior to the release of Book 7. (Yep, she's a friend I met through a Harry Potter online community!) I got a lot of compliments on it then, and every time I've read it since then, all of those feelings come rushing back. I'm sure they'll dull over time, but I sure hope not.




Love at Third Sight: or How Harry Potter Made Me Late to My Brother’s Wedding Reception


My first encounter with Harry Potter came by way of the Rosie O’Donnell show in 1999. I was the mother of a 13 month old girly, and five months pregnant with girly #2. Still in the throes of terrible morning sickness, I didn’t move off the sofa all that often. I read a lot of books and watched a lot of TV. During this time, having been inspired by Oprah, Rosie launched her own “book club”, this one being aimed at children. On this fateful day, (the date of which escapes me, because, let’s face it- it was eight years ago and I was pregnant! It’s a miracle I remember anything at all!) Rosie’s guest was a British author named J.K. Rowling, and she was talking about her latest book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed.

Well, that’s not exactly the truth. I was impressed with J.K. Rowling. Her life story was inspirational- a single mother, living on welfare, writing out her story on bits of napkins and paper in a coffee shop, all while her small daughter napped in the pram.

I wasn’t impressed by anything else. I’m the first to admit it; I often will judge a book by its cover. As Rosie held up the American hardback edition with Mary Grand Pre’s artwork on the cover, all I could think was, “Urgh!”. Nothing about it appealed to me. Not the drawing, not the colors, nothing. That was the first strike.

The next strike was that the book was being promoted as ‘Children’s Fantasy’. I’ve never considered myself a fan of the fantasy genre, and in my mind, a book about a boy wizard certainly fell into the category. Strike three was that I was the mother of a toddler and pregnant. I didn’t get out a lot. Even if I had been desperate to read the book, it would have taken time and effort to track it down, and I just didn’t care that much.

My next encounter with Harry came about nine months later. My husband and I had moved in with my parents and younger siblings. I was now the mother of a 20 month old and a three month old. To say it was a stressful time would be an understatement. One day in June 2000, amid all the chaos, my 11 year old brother Matthew reminded my mom that she had promised to purchase him the new Harry Potter book when it was released in a few weeks time. Harry Potter? That name sounded familiar. Oh, that’s right! I saw a Harry Potter book on Rosie. Evidently the author had done quite well for herself in the proceeding nine months, and now a new release by her was quite a big deal.

The release day came and went.

I still felt like the books wouldn’t be my cup of tea. Matthew raved about them, and told me I just needed to give the books a chance. Finally, I gave in- I decided to read the books. I went to Matthew and asked to borrow his copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Huh. He had loaned it to a friend who hadn’t given it back yet. I wasn’t about to start a new series without reading book one! So much for that idea. About a month later, I volunteered at a school book fair. A paper back copy of Sorcerer’s Stone was for sale. I picked it up for $5.99 with the idea that I would put it away and give it to Matthew for Christmas.

Encounter number three happened in Early November. I was cleaning out a closet and came across that paperback. I was at loose ends, book-wise. I put it on my nightstand with the intention of starting it that night. This time, I actually followed through. I think you can figure out the rest of the story.

I was hooked, big time.

I flew through the first three books in two days. I finished Prisoner of Azkaban late on a Thursday night. As luck would have it, Matthew had loaned out his copy of Goblet of Fire to another friend. Starting that book would have to wait until I could get to the store the next morning and buy myself a copy. This posed another problem. We were supposed to be on the road first thing that morning, on our way to Florida to attend my brother’s wedding reception.

Talking my husband into stopping at the store on the way out of town wasn’t a big deal. The difficulty came in trying to meet the needs of two small children while trying to read this amazing, inspiring, jaw-dropping piece of fiction, all while traveling in a car. Luckily, it all worked out.

We were only moderately late the reception.

Thus began my obsession with Harry Potter. It’s been seven years now, and we’re almost at the end of the adventure. My girlies (now 8 ½ and 7) have grown up with Harry Potter as a part of their lives. My husband has been drawn into the world, as well. I discovered the amazing Harry Potter fandom that exists online. The movies have added another exciting dimension. I’ve planned vacations – nay, entire summers – around the release of a new Harry Potter book three times. And now it’s all coming to a close.

It took my third encounter with Harry Potter to finally discover the magic. It seems fitting in a way that this will be the third book I anticipate, and it happens in the year that I will turn 30. Surely someone out there could find significance in all of this through arithmancy or divination. I can only hope that I get to spend my next thirty years enjoying Harry, Ron, Hermione and all of the other magnificent characters J.K. Rowling has created just as much as I have for the past seven.

Something tells me that won’t be a problem.

I Voted Today, And So Should You

And now my dirty little secret is out. We have voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden to lead our country for the next four years. Yes, 'we'. In our home, voting is a family affair. Madeline cast my vote during the primary, and Isabella cast my vote today in the general election. James will also vote for the Obama/Biden ticket next week.

I'm sure that many of you are now shocked and dismayed, and questioning my sanity/upbringing/patriotism and wondering when I turned into a Pinko Liberal Tree-Hugging Granola-Eating Hippie Commie. None of this is news to my immediate family, having seen the Obama magnets on my minivan back in the spring. Since Dad hasn't committed Seppuku in the front yard yet, I assume he's come to terms with my decision.

So why Obama? Because.

Because I want Universal Health Care.
Because I want the public schools in my country to be the best in the world.
Because I don't mind paying higher taxes if in doing so we accomplish those two goals.
Because I think we're fighting a losing war on terror.
Because I believe we need to take responsibility for what we are doing to the environment.
Because I believe the government should stay out of my bedroom and out of my church, and vice versa.
Because I want leaders who will think first and then act.
Because I am tired of living in a climate of fear and scare tactics.
Because I am willing to take a chance and HOPE for better things rather than keep the status quo.
Because I agree with Benjamin Franklin when he said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety".

I have voted according to the dictates of my conscience, and I hope you will too. I'm sure I have changed no one's mind, or even swayed your opinion a little. (Maybe just your opinion of me, perhaps.) I'm okay with that. I was okay with that when I voted in the primary; when I donated money to the campaign; when I volunteered my time; when I put the magnet on my car for all the world to see.

So at the end of the day we'll just agree to disagree and be happy that it's okay to be different and not be a part of some scary Group!Think experiment, because, what would be the fun in that?

Now go and vote.

My signs are vital

1. This picture is from last Saturday. We went to a park and I thought I might try and take some pictures of the girls for our Christmas card this year. I don't know if I'll use one of the shots, but I like taking pictures of the girls just talking and hanging out.

2. So what's been going on around here? Not much. Loving the cooler weather, even if the drastic seasonal change has brought on a cold. Looking forward to rolling the clock back an hour in a few weeks.

3. The girls have been listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on CD in the car when I drive them to school in the mornings, or even just around town. We're almost at the end. Last night they decided they couldn't wait until the next time they were in the car to find out what happened (we were at a *very critical* point- Dumbledore, Harry and Draco in the Astronomy Tower! *sniffs*), so I read until my voice gave out. I think we'll probably finish it tonight, then start on Book 7.

4. Today was a preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch. It was a smashing success until I realized I couldn't remember the door code to unlock my van. And yes, my keys and phone we're locked inside! I had to send the one child I had with me back to the preschool with the other teachers while James came and rescued me. (When I called him, he couldn't remember the code either!) I felt like such an idiot. *headdesk*

5. Cheerleading is almost over. Two more practices, two more games, a banquet and then a team party...wait, I thought it was almost over???

6. The girls are super excited to see High School Musical 3 on Saturday. The local theatre is doing a special screening *just* for their school's drama club! How cool is that?? I'm super excited to have 2 1/2 hours to myself on a Saturday morning! :P

Heartwarming and Sweet? Creepy and Disturbing is More Like It!

Lora tagged me for the "Seven Random Facts About Me" Survey a few weeks ago.

1. I hate, hate HATE this book. It is incredibly creepy and disturbing, and I am immediatly suspicious of people who get all misty-eyed and weepy while talking about it. The writing is terrible and the illustrations are even worse. With all of the WONDERFUL books out there for children why a parent would subject their poor, innocent child to this tripe is beyond me.


2. While on the subject of things that creep me out, let me add to the list Conjoined Twins. Seriously scared. I was browsing through a coffee table book about twins the other day while at the library. Half-way through there was a picture and story about some conjoined twins, and I couldn't get away from the book fast enough.
Just...No.

3. I do most of the coding for my blog posts myself.

4. In the past year I have had email correspondence with Lois Lowry, Clay Travis and Amy Krause Rosenthal. I was also a featured reader on USA Today's Pop Candy Blog, and a featured caller on the November 11, 2007 episode of the Pop Candy Podcast.

5. I like the smell of Vicks Vapor Rub.

6. I hate basketball. Watching it, playing it, whatever. I hate it. (Sorry Tahmi!)

7. I think if you combined J.K. Rowling, Julie Andrews and Sheri Dew you would probably have the perfect woman.

Our Trip to the Okefenokee

Since we had to cancel our trip to Disney World, James and I decided that we just COULD NOT spend our Fall Break at home. After tossing a few ideas around, we decided we needed to go camping! Our last camping trip was in February 2006, and we ended up leaving early because of BITTER COLD RAIN.

We decided to camp at Laura S. Walker State Park in Waycross, GA. I've driven past signs for the park probably a thousand times, given all the trips my family made from Jacksonville to Tifton while I was growing up, but I'd never been there. The park is just a few miles from the headwaters of the Okefenokee Swamp, so we planned a visit there, too.

We stopped in Tifton on the way to Waycross for our niece Samantha's first birthday. We were having so much fun watching the GA-TN game that we left later than we wanted. This meant it was after dark by the time we checked into the park. It was also raining. Heh. Luckily the rain was mostly a drizzle, and it wasn't constant. We had everything unpacked and set up within an hour, and we tucked in for the night.

Here's our camp. Doesn't it look homey??


Anyone who knows me knows that I don't "do" primitive camping. I want running water and preferably a flushing toilet. Ideally there would also be a shower somewhere close by, too. It's just not my idea of a good time to worry about digging myself a hole in the woods in order to take care of business. ;) Laura S. Walker is a really pretty park, located right on Lake Laura Walker. It also has very nice bathhouses, complete with flushing toilets and showers! Two thumbs up!


Mmmm...Bacon.


I realized as I was cooking breakfast we didn't have any forks in our camp box. We had spoons, though. It was easier to eat our pancakes with our hands.


After cleaning up from breakfast and heading to the showers, we left for Okefenokee Swamp Park. This is a private, not-for-profit park located within the National Wildlife Refuge. It's seriously cool.


The park itself is basically in the swamp. It's not like walking into a zoo where the animals are in cages or behind fences. You're on their territory. Luckily the park has placed helpful signs all over the place to remind you of that fact.


The first thing we did was take an hour long boat trip deeper into the swamp. Again, seriously cool.




Our boat was about five feet across, and for most of the trip, the swamp lanes weren't much wider than that. Since I was in one of the outside seats, I got whacked in the head by tree branches more than once.

We saw loads of spiders, huge vultures


an alligator nest


and, oh yes, an alligator or two.

(Notice the white part at the bottom of the picture? That's the edge of our boat. I was about three feet away from that guy.)









After the boat trip, we took a train tour. Part of the tour included a stop on Pioneer Island, which was the "living history" part of the park.






After the train tour, we got up close and personal with some of Georgia's native creatures.











All of this took about five hours, so we headed back to camp for a late lunch/early dinner. We then discovered we had also neglected to buy any charcoal, so we really did have to cook over the fire. But it was still pretty tasty.



After dinner, the girls and I went up to the park office for what we thought was an evening nature watch. Turns out it was the highlight event of a Bird Watching Conference that started over in Jekyll Island earlier in the weekend and then culminated in this little adventure we were about to embark on.

We drove a few miles to the other side of the lake, through the woods and ended up on this observation deck that jutted out over the water. There were telescopes set up and everything! There was group of about 15 other people with us, and they were serious birdies- High powered binoculars, tapes of bird calls, dressed like they were going on an African safari. Luckily they were also all very nice, and more than happy to share their equipment with the girls and myself.

We spent an hour spotting various birds, which was really cool. Then when it got dark, the real fun began! We broke out the flashlights and starting spotting alligators! When you shine a light over the water, their eyes reflect like little red lights. I told the girls it was like spotting for Voldemort. We saw several pairs of eyes, much to our delight.

After another hour or so, the girls and I headed back to camp. We were exhausted, so we showered and called it a night.

About 4 am, James and I woke up to the sound of torrential rain. I then rolled over into a huge puddle. Our tent had started to leak! We debated whether or not to try and pack it all in and hit the road, or take our chances and wait it out till morning. We decided to wait it out. As soon as it was light out, we packed up and hit the road for home.

So now it's back to school and work tomorrow. Wish we had another day or two, but Thanksgiving Break will be here before we know it!