A little project...

Seth had two tests last week...which meant that Saturday he had to study all day long.  I tried to keep busy and not distract him.  I baked 2 loaves of bread, buns, rolls, carrot cake and turkey enchiladas.  Then I moved on to checking emails, cleaning the house etc.  By earlier afternoon I had done everything I could possibly think of.  I was bored out of my mind and decided I needed a project.  That is when I remembered the sewing machine that my mom had insisted I bring out to South Carolina with me.  We have been back to Utah twice and each time I have taken items for Mom to mend.  I know she was starting to think I would never pull out my sewing machine.  Well desparate times call for despearate measures.

Mom had bought me a cute Dick and Jane quilt kit a couple of years ago for Christmas.  It came in this lunchbox tin which I was quite excited about.  Well I pulled it out started reading through the directions and then I started cutting.  

Several hours later I finished cutting and was able to pull out the sewing maching and begin assembling.  I called Mom to ask her a few questions...after recovering from the shock of the whole situation she gave me a few tips and I started sewing.  I got a little frustrated at first...things didn't line up as nicely as I would have liked.  I knew that if my mom was putting this quilt together it would be perfect...then I reminded myself that she has been sewing since she was six years old and she didn't sew perfectly when she started.

I ended up finishing the top part of the quilt on Thursday night.  I loved the experience overall.  It was nice to be able to start a project and see it completed.  I can't wait to show it to my niece Jane.   Here is a picture of the final product.

I couldn't get a picture of the whole quilt...so here is one that I found on the internet so you could get an idea of the whole quilt.

Battle of Aiken

Seth and I went to a Civil War reenactment this weekend.  We consider it another check off our Southern bucket list.  This was a full day adventure as Aiken is just over two hours from our home.  We woke up early packed a lunch and hit the road.  We arrived at the battle field around 10:00 am.  The first exhibit we saw was on firearms from the Revolutionary War through present day.     

We expected more exhibits but found lots of vendors selling period clothing.  They had hats, boots, dresses, petticoats, gloves, trousers, etc.  Many spectators of the event were actually dressed up in period clothing.  Imagine a Star Trek convention for Civil War buffs.  After checking out some of the shops we hit the battlefield and camps.

We met this nice Confederate solider.  In real life his son is the reason he became a reenactor.  They travel to events together and enjoy the camping aspect as much as the reenactment.
 

All of the reenactors had period tents and camping equipment set up.  We found that there were more Confederate soldiers and we guess it is because we are in the heart of the South.  We talked to one reenactor that has 13 reenactments scheduled for this year.  He was close to our age and said he got into it because he enjoys history.

Can you imagine eating with wooden spoons all the time?

By noon we had seen everything there was to see.  The battle was not set to begin until 2:30 PM.  So we scoped out a spot, ate our lunch, and soaked up some sun.  Just before the battle started this firetruck came through and hosed down the area just in front of all the cannons.

At last the battle started. 

This poor girl fell of her horse at least twice.  I think she finally gave up and walked him back to camp.

The cannons were probably my favorite.  I was suprised by how much smoke came out out when they were shot.

The cannons were loud.  Here you can see the reenactors covering their ears.

 

One cannon kept sending up circular shapes in the smoke.

 

Check out the fallen soldier.  We asked one reenactor if they had a set script or time when they were supposed to die.  He explained that they just play it by ear and die when they felt like someone on their side needed to die.   

There were also scavengers on the Union side.  They were not associated with the army but worked along side the Union.  They would take weapons and items of value from the wounded and dead.

The battle was almost an hour long.  We didn't get to see the end of the battle because they saved the end of the reenactment for the following day.  History tells us that the Confederate soldiers pulled off a victory.  Overall Seth and I agreed that a Civil War reenactment is an essential Southern experience....but we don't know if we would want to experience it again. 

After the chaos of leaving the event we went into the city of Aiken to the Thouroughbred Racing and Hall of Fame Museum.  Aiken is apparently the place in South Carolina to have your horse trained.  Here we are having a race of our own. 

 

The museum was in the middle of Hopelands Garden a true Southern gem.

On our drive home we made a stop in Edgefield, South Carolina which is the home of 10 Governors and at least 10 of these huge turkeys.    

NEXT BUCKET LIST ITEM:  SOUTHERN HORSE RACE.   

Atlanta: Part IV

We finished up at the Aquarium earlier than we had expected so we decided to start with our list of activities for the next day.  We headed to Sweet Auburn.  Here we are in front of a beautiful mural depicting the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

We went on a tour of the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  We learned that the King family ate dinner together every night.  The children came to the table after memorizing a verse of scripture to recite to the family.

The Ebenezer Baptist Church is the church that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his father both preached from.  I didn't realize that it is also the place where his mother was assassinated.

After touring several of the museums on site in Sweet Auburn, we made a stop at Thelma's Kitchen for some Southern cooking.  We didn't realize it was just a lunch place but made it in just before they closed.  We got some friend chicken and red velvet cake to go.  We drove over to Piedmont Park and enjoyed our dinner on a park bench.

The next morning we decided to go to the Atlanta Cyclorama.  They cyclorama is the world's largest oil painting and it depicts the Battle of Atlanta during the Civil War.  We entered a theater to view the painting, as the battle was narrated the seats moved in a circular motion so we could see all 360 degrees of the painting.   We toured the museum after and saw one of the trains from the Great Locomotive race.

Our next stop was the Atlanta History Center located in the ritzy Buckhead suburb of Atlanta.  We visited the Smith Family Farm an 1840s plantation house.

Here Seth is checking out the well.

Check out the cotton growing in the background.

This place also had a triple seated outhouse...a huge thing in the 1840s

Our next stop was the Swan House a mansion built in 1928 for the Inman family.  We couldn't take pictures inside...wish we could so you could see the amazing black and white marble floor and the woodwork in the library.

This is a shot of the front of the house...it was a grand entry with fountains and gardens.

We also found a house we would like to purchase.  We know it's not much but this little house is about all we can afford right now.  It looks bigger from the inside, you'll just have to trust us.  Seriously...I always wanted a little playhouse like this.  I know our nieces and nephews would have loved playing in it.

They also would have fit into the chairs a little better than Seth did.

We also visited several museum displays inside the Atlanta History Center.  It was a lot to see and we became slightly overwhelmed.  We visited the Centennial Olympic Games Exhibition, Down the Fairway with Bobby Jones Exhibition, The American Civil War Exhibition, Metropolitan Frontiers Exhibition, and Southern Folk Art Exhibition.  Then we drove home...after sitting in traffic.

We both agreed that Atlanta was fabulous...as long as you didn't want to be where everyone else wanted to be.  Which often involved getting up early and going home late.  We will see if the traffic treats us any better on our next trip to Atlanta.

Atlanta: Part III

After a quick trip to the car to eat lunch we headed to the Georgia Aquarium.  We started off with a trip to the sting ray tank.  These guys love to be touched...they are super squishy too.

We also touched sea urchins, shrimp, star fish and many other sea creatures during our visit.  I was impressed with how hands on all of the exhibits were.  This is definitely the place to take kids in Atlanta.  We couldn't help but visit the play land.  Here is Seth coming down the whale slide.

All of Seth's dreams came true when he found yet another penny machine.

They had not one but two white alligators.

Seth got very close to the penguins.  These little guys were very friendly.

I had no idea there were sea dragons.

One of my favorite things was the huge tank with the tunnel.

Check out the huge guy behind me.

These garden eels really grossed me out.  Yes it just looks like weeds but those are eels that move up and down out of the dirt.

One of my favorite things was the seahorse exhibit. 

We even caught two giving each other a little smooch.