Cousins in Georgia & Jacksonville/St Augustine, Florida!

We got to Georgia and stayed at a campsite on Friday night. On Saturday, after doing laundry and fixes and such, we drove the rest of the way to Winder, GA. As we got the trailer hooked up, and I was driving the car, to load it on the trailer...I just looked out and appreciated my family. The best husband and kids that don't complain, and just go and do what needs to be done, even in the pouring rain!

So...we were headed to Winder for a brief visit with family. We have been to Georgia before, when we lived in Kentucky and had friends that lived there. But we made this stop specifically to visit family. My brother's kids live there, with their mom. My sweet brother went through a hard divorce earlier this year--and though he is doing GREAT and healing well, it is SO hard to not be with his kids every day. He arranges to see them as often as he possibly can, and he talks to them every day...but we really wanted to stop and see them! We didn't get to see the oldest, but we saw the younger three. And Noah (who is Ryah's age) was in a community theater play! So, we all got tickets and got to see him perform!

At the play--

The play was "The Nutcracker"--they started with Christmas carols, which was very fun.

(Noah is the one with the curly red hair, second from the right):

There he is, on the end!

Sierra was mesmerized with the ballet dancers!

Noah played The Prince/Ned--

(in the green vest, to the right of the Christmas tree)

It was fun to get to see him in his play--what perfect timing!

We made sure to get a picture all together, 5 of us and 3 of them (Noah, Ian, and Ivy)--

Sierra was ecstatic to get a picture with Ivy, because they had the same shoes! :)

We went with Noah, to let him grab a bite to eat in between performances. And then we went to a library, to hang out (as it was still really wet from rain).

Getting into their books--

Ryah and Noah are good buds, and they got to go off on their own and have some time to just talk and catch up--I was so glad. There was some difficulty in the visit with their mom...some expected, some not--but I was grateful we made that effort, could see Noah in his play, see the kids, and let Ryah and Noah have some time together....

We then traveled on, stopped for the night in Brunswick, GA, attended church in the Brunswick Ward on Sunday, then went on to the Jacksonville/St Augustine area in Florida. This is where Jonnie's company is based and would be having company-wide meetings over the next week, so we made it in time!

On Sunday, we got to have dinner and an awesome visit with the Jeppsens!

They are good friends of ours from our days in Kentucky. They were in our ward there, and now, Matt and Jonnie work together for Campers Inn! It was fun to see them again! They only have one at home now, Parker. But the kids remembered how Janaye had taken them and watched them all day, on the day that I was in labor and Sierra was born! :) They are wonderful friends and we had a wonderful time with them!

Sierra with their dog, Gus! :)

Jonnie had a hotel room, for the meetings and conferences, and so we decided that we could all stay with him for those few days, while we had one of the company stores look at our RV (the "house-part")--to see if there are some parts we want/need to have replaced, fixing it up before we will head back to AZ.

On Monday, we went to the MOSH! (Museum of Science and History in Jacksonville). It's included in our Science Passport Program and we loved it!

They loved running across the slanted wall before we even got to the museum!

And Janson found his twin! Happy! :)

Daxton's new pet (well, he wishes it were...)--

Sierra getting swimming tips from the whale's form!

Daxton's art creation--

And Sierra's, too--

Colton helping Sierra get high enough to take a picture WITH the dolphin!

We were impressed with the size and activity of this snake, native to Florida! It is the Eastern Indigo Snake, the longest snake in North America! (8 feet)

And the activity of this tortoise--WOW! It didn't stop moving the whole time!

This Great Horned Owl was a favorite. I'm telling you, I couldn't stop giggling.

We turned the corner and looked up, and he was peeking around, just glaring at us. We are talking a total STARE DOWN! It was hilarious. Apparently, they can be pretty nasty. They are the biggest owls in the world. They can defend themselves against eagles! But, man, he just kept making us giggle--totally staring us down!

Janson was in a staring contest with the Great Horned Owl--

Learning all about the human systems--

(including the fact that the body produces over 4 cups of mucus/snot every day!! AND we swallow about a quart of snot each day. Good to know, huh??)--

We all crammed in the Hurricane Simulator--my hair was best at showing how 70 mph looks! :)

Row, row, row your boat... :)

This was definitely their favorite! A submarine learning tool! It was huge, and let them explore all the various parts--

Janson "steering" the submarine--"underwater"

Colton and Daxton, checking on things above the water--

Sierra loved the moving animal shadows and was especially excited about the sea turtle!

Colton providing the music for the crew!

Submarine bunk beds!

We had a great afternoon exploring the museum.

That night, we got to join Jonnie and attend the dinner for people from work, at the home of the CEO (who we have met before, when he and his family came to Arizona).

Their neighborhood had some pretty cool Christmas light displays!

On Tuesday, we drove over to the Fort Caroline National Memorial. Unfortunately, it was closed, which it did NOT tell me online...bummer. However, it was mostly the visitor center that was closed. So, we still walked around and explored it.

So...Captain Rene de Laudonniere arrived here in "New France" with his 3 ships on June 22, 1564! Wow!! They found a site for their settlement, and the Timucuan natives seemed friendly and were willing to help them in their new world. They established their fort (in the shape of a triangle) and built homes.

Walking down to the fort, we saw a huge ship passing!

The fort--

Sadly....on September 20, 1565, about 400 Spanish troops stormed the fort, which wasn't very strongly defended--they weren't ready. And the Spanish massacred 130 people, while 70 of the French escaped into the woods or to the ships, and they headed back to France.

So sad.