To welcome 2009, we took our second annual trip to a cabin at Pickwick Lake with The Other Marshes (as we affectionately call Pete's brother, his wife and their 3 girls, who live two blocks from us). In general, a rousing success. One slight disappointment was that the inn on the lake had closed their indoor pool--a highlight from last year--for renovations or some such nonsense. However, Dad/Uncle Peter made up for the crushed spirits of the big girls by taking them bowling in Savannah. We played games, took a chilly "hike" (okay, mostly on the paved roads, but we were toting 2 kids under age 2 and half the kids [mine] didn't have sufficient coats!), made 'smores, stoked fires in the pot-bellied stove, did sparklers, had makeovers (six girls--what do you expect!?), watched the ball drop in Times Square, wore party hats, and drank sparkling AJ/champagne. The grown-ups played a midnight game of Pictionary--come-from-behind victory for Laurie and Matt--and dreamed of building our own cabin and buying a boat.
On New Year's Day, our little family visited Shiloh, the Civil War battlefield that is close to Pickwick. Since Rebecca loves all things gross, she was REALLY looking forward to seeing the "Bloody Pond" which turned red from soldiers' and horses' blood during the days of the battle. Although the lack of actual blood in the water 150 years later was a little disappointing for her, she remained fascinated. Note the picture below at the restaurant after lunch, where she is proudly holding the postcard of the Bloody Pond; there are approximately 6 pictures of her posing with that postcard! :) Molly liked the log church and the peach tree orchard. Amelia slept through pretty much the whole thing. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at Hagy's Catfish Hotel on the Tennessee River, recommended to us by the guy in the Shiloh gift shop.
Happy New Year, Y'all! May 2009 bring blessings to us all!
