Family Visit With the Hurricane Evacuees
September 1-5, 2008
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With approaching hurricane Gustav large enough to show distinctly on a view of the whole globe and headed straight for New Orleans, there was a mandatory evacuation of the New Orleans area. Darla and the girls plus Dave and Judy and Diane, Robby and Caleb came to visit us.  |
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The weather was good here for outside play, so Jordan organized a bug hunt. Elyse had spent some time turning over rocks at Bent Tree during our May visit there, so she and Caleb were enthusiastic abou the hunt. Then Elyse and Caleb thought playing on top of the playhouse was more interesting than going in. September 1.
The kids kept wanting to go to the creek, so finally Rod and Darla took them. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy just throwing rocks and playing around the creek. Finally they decided to build a monument to the occasion. Caleb, Elyse, Ashleigh and Jordan with their sculpture.
 | Elyse strikes a sweet pose on the creek bank, especially for someone who has just fallen in the creek and is soaking wet. But she didn't seem to mind.  |
Our next adventure was a trip to Sweetwater Park. The kids walk along the lake to see the geese and ducks. Then we hiked the trail shown above. September 2. |  |
The water was low enough in Sweetwater Creek at the shoals that we could climb out on the rocks in the creek. Ashleigh enjoys hopping around on the exposed rock.
 | The woods were lovely and there were rocks to climb! Ashleigh reaches the summit.  |
 Elyse reaches the peak of the rock formation. Jordan tries the climb the hard way. |  |
 |  Jordan, Caleb and Elyse continue their nature study. They found a small toad along the trail and had a close look him and released him. |
Their nature search was pretty productive. They found a water snake, an interesting lizard, and an ornate bloom of what we locally call a maypop.
 Caleb and Jordan try one path across the rocks, and Elyse, Darla and Ashleigh try another. We had fun picking our way almost all the way across Sweetwater Creek on these exposed rocks. |  |
 | Ashleigh takes a wade in a shallow area at the side. At least up here she doesn't have to worry about alligators like she might if she did this around her home. Elyse likes jumping around on the rocks.  |
Diane gets adventurous, tripping along on the rocks of the shoals and climbing out on a tree overhanging the water.
We made it to the "factory", the Manchester Mill ruins from Civil War times, burned by Sherman during his assault on Atlanta. Darla with Elyse, Ashleigh and Jordan, Robby and Diane with Caleb.
After the Mill there was another area where Jordan and Elyse could get out on the rocks.  |  |
Ashleigh bounds across the rock like a young deer and gets all the way across the creek above. All of us got out on the rocks and played around. |
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Jordan moves all the way across the rock pathways to a cascade on the far side of Sweetwater Creek. Robby, Caleb, Ashleigh and Jordan climb around the large cascade. It was a great time to visit Sweetwater Park.
 | We gathered the whole group together on Thursday, September 4 as Darla and the girls and Dave and Judy were ready for their return trip. Diane took the picture above, so we took the one at left with her in it. |
| Diane, Robby and Caleb stayed over Thursday night to visit with some friends. Caleb and Rod work on construction with Calebs magnetic construction kit. |  |
| 4th Anniversary Hispanic Celebration |
2008