When school ends, it feels like summer.
When the temperatures are in the upper 90s, it feels like summer
When the heat index is over 100, it feels like summer.
It sure has not felt like spring... but, tomorrow (the 20th) is the official start to summer.
Mercer started his 1st day of work at his new job on my last day of work (Tuesday after Memorial Day). His employer from the Sprayground liked him and wanted him to work there again, but he has less flexibility for weekend hours this season with this travel team, so he really needed a Mon-Fri job. He applied for a different position with the City of Marietta for their summer camp... and - although it took a long time for him to get hired - he was offered the position and basically had to start the next week!
I took him to his training and picked him up, but after that - he's been riding his bike (a bit further than his previous position b/c I want him to ride up to the stoplight / cross the busy 5 lane road at the cross-walk and then ride back down to the Fitness Center where the camp is located. As a crow flies, it's CLOSER than the Sprayground job -- which was only 1/2 a mile away. BUT, it's a dangerous road to cross because the entrance is just below the crest of a hill and you can't see what's coming over the hill.So, he complains that the big hill kills his legs, but..... he's doing it!
They like him. (In fact, they really like the fact that he was a camper there when he was younger and now he's working there.) The kids like him. (He says that the other counselors don't get in there and play with the kids, but he does!)
He seems to be enjoying it. He gets to play dodgeball (PLEASE don't throw too hard and hurt someone!) He gets to go on field trips. Although he acts like that's annoying, he sure does take a lot of pictures to show us! Each week, they go to the Sprayground and they go somewhere else that is farther away.
One week, they went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. He sent us pictures of Chihuly glass art and the current exhibit - topiaries that look like Alice in Wonderland!
The next week, they went to Petit Creek Farms where there was a wagon ride with narration (the videos he sent us sounded SOOO COUNtRY!). But they had different animals that he kept sending us pictures of.
This week, he's on a mission trip (more on that in the next blog post -- will write once he comes back and we can learn about what all he did!) But - the field trip that he missed this week while on his mission trip: the Savoy Car Museum.
As it turns out, I just went there the week before last for the 1st time, so instead of him sending photos of the field trip he was supposed to be on this week, I'll add mine here from 2 weeks ago!
warning: PHOTO OVERLOAD!!
I've been wanting to go to this museum for several years.
I talk about the design inspiration of the building each year in architecture class. (they found an old Savoy car in the clearing of the 30 acre site and decided it was their "mascot" in a way -- naming the museum after it + there are design elements in the logo (like the whitewall tire) + round elements in the actual building.) In architecture, we call this inspiration "Parti"
I loved this sculpture on the outside of the building.
The artist really captured the beauty of movement + the historic hood ornaments that were so popular in early car designs!
I liked the hood ornaments of a number of the cars too.
I wonder why they don't do this anymore? There's not much chrome on the cars now either. I went to a car exhibit once at the High Museum. Cars can be really sculptural!
The way it works at the Savoy: they have 4 separate exhibits in the different galleries. Once a month, one of the four rotates out so there are 3 of the same exhibits + a new one. They encourage people to come back every month of course, but if you wanted to hit the exhibits once every 4 months, you'd be able to see all of their rotating exhibits for the whole year. The cars pictured so far are from the museum's collection in one of the galleries.
I totally lucked out that there was a tour that just started as I was arriving. They're open every day of the month / but they only give tours on random days & times. I just happened to stumble into it - which I'm so glad! They bounced between 3-4 docents who would rattle off different stories. One of the docents told me that the (only) lady who was in the group telling stories volunteered at the tours, but she she was actually on staff and made all of the "reader boards" (informational signs below each car) She was awesome and soooo knowledgeable!
One of the exhibits featured cars in movies. (here's the actual Rain Man car!)
You can look at the design of a car / it's sleek / it's lines... but the stories behind the cars that were on display gave those cars so much more character!
This one was NOT in a movie, but was popularized because of the movie Back to the Future. They told a fascinating story about the the man who wanted to build the DeLorean - started the company in Ireland. and how it ultimately failed / how the cars didn't work well. How the company never really got off the ground / it went under.
So cool to see one of these in person!
There was an exhibit on race cars and female drivers.
(and even young girls driving - there's a racing circuit that is for 5 - 17 year olds!!) eek. This car was driven by an 11 year old. Um.... Isabella is 11. Definite - No!
There was artwork all around too. A couple of pieces caught my eye. This one is made out of Rubric's Cubes!
This one - because I lived in Savannah -I heard about the historic races that were held there in the early 1900s. The Savoy had a poster that an artist made that probably most visitors to the Savoy just pass by / not think about. But - gratefully - it prompted me to learn a bit more...
I had dropped Isabella off at her medical camp in Rome GA earlier in the day, then headed back to Cartersville to check out the Savoy. I am so glad I was afforded the time to go and REALLY explore / listen / learn !
I did a bit of back-tracking / driving that day to visit Cartersville. It's a small town, yet there is a donor (anonymous) who has funded and built three really nice museums in town (Tellus Science Center, the Booth Western Art Museum and the Savoy). It is interesting.... and I'd love to know who this benefactor to this small town is!
I tooled around until it was time to pick her up from her medical camp -- yep -- the same one she went to last year! After picking her up, we crossed the state line (into Alabama) to a nearby lake + a unique rental through Air B&B: a skoolie! (sort of like an RV but a little different!) It sure was unique! This is the photo from their website which is an overall shot. The rest of the pics are mine. Most of of the exterior / lake.
Once we "checked in" (um - no locks - just push the door open)... and we figured out the lay of the land / unpacked a bit, we went out to a nearby bait store for dinner (frozen meals!)
and to buy a little fishing pole + worms (+ hook and bobber and....) had to pause to explain this look on her face... the worms are BRIGHT GREEN and their blood is fluorescent greenish-yellow!
It was worth it though.
Isabella was so seriously focused on the water and baiting the hook, getting little nibbles 'til all of the worm was gone, then re-bait the hook and do it over and over again!
She has always amazed me at how patient she is when fishing!
I read some while she fished.
We both took note of and watched wildlife including a white heron that would visit +
there were gaggles of geese (more than one!) and they had babies!
I kept checking on the sunset while she fished.(this view is from the driveway - not the side of the lake where we can sit and see. The next door neighbors to the skoolie have the prime property with sunset views... their boathouse faces the west.)
The view was still nice facing the west from our dock!
Isabella & I got the fire going (after a LOT of work).
We stayed up waaaay too late fishing and making s'mores.
We were awoke in the EARLY hours with some sort of an alarm that our AirB&B host could not identify -- as I texted them at 5-something AM when it went off.... and mysteriously stopped about 10 minutes later. But - maybe it was good because I couldn't quite tell if it was 5-something AM in Georgia or 5-something AM in Alabama. We were right on the state line and my cell phone would keep flipping between Georgia (EST) and Alabama (CDT) time zones! I had to keep googling "what time is it in Georgia?" I planned for that the 2nd morning we woke up. (Thankfully from my clock alarm - not the mysterious alarm on the bus!)
Our spot on this map is on the right-hand side -- the east side of the lake. (Later in the week, I would travel all the way to the left side of the map - the west side of the lake!)
We got to the 2nd day of her medical camp (after our 1st wake up in the Skoolie). I tooled around downtown Rome exploring a couple of things I had not visited the previous year. One was this elevated walkway with a bridge. I did not know 'til I walked over that it was covered in locks! You can see the downtown area in the background. Later there was a baseball field complex and, a playground / fishing launch site / a hospital and a stadium.
There were some really ornate locks, but most were plain.
I walked for several miles on this elevated walkway. I'm sure this was an old rail line converted to a path.
It was hot and muggy, but glad I finally got to see what was up there and look down across some of the historic parts of the city and the not-so-historic parts too.
The "lock" bridge / levee was the most interesting part for sure! (Now I don't need to see the one in Paris, right?!)
I walked up & down main street (where Isabella and I hung out one night last year) and did go into a few shops - trying to cool down a bit!
Then, I finally visited the "most recognizable" historic place in the city that I apparently missed last year - the water tower / clock tower. It was on an insanely steep hill just a block from main street. How did I miss this last year?!
Neely Hill is also known as Tower Hill or Clock Tower Hill. It is home to Rome’s Clock Tower, the most well-known landmark in Rome. The Clock Tower was built in 1871 to serve as a water tower for the city of Rome, to increase water pressure for the rapidly growing city.
But the views from up there were pretty spectacular!
These excepts are from the website: https://wheninromega.com/the-seven-hills-of-rome-ga/
Rome was established as a city in 1835. The name Rome was drawn at random from a hat. Colonel Mitchell submitted the suggested name because of the seven hills and three rivers like Rome, Italy.
This is the old cemetery that I visited last year (beyond the church steeple on the neighboring hill!)
Myrtle Hill is one of the most well-known hills in Rome. Myrtle Hill sits at the end of Broad Street, overlooking where the Etowah and Oostanala Rivers meet to form the Coosa River. It is home to Myrtle Hill Cemetery, which was established in 1857. It is the second oldest cemetery in Rome. The Rome residents chose Myrtle Hill as the cemetery’s location to protect the graveyard from frequent flooding in the downtown area.
(here is the clock tower / water tower memorialized in a sewer cover.)
There were some pretty unique houses nestled on the hillside next to the tower too.
I picked her up from camp and we headed straight to the bait shop for more worms! This time, we got red ones.
There was more fishing....
and an even more spectacular sunset!It looked like "orange highlighter" writing in the sky!
We (more easily -- on the existing logs that were partially burned from the night before) made another bonfire for s'mores and dinner again.
(here's the neighbor's boathouse for some context of the previous photos.)And... we went to bed REALLY LATE one more time.
with visions of mayflies swirling in our heads! eek.
here's one from the next morning from inside our room looking out! looks like this one was stuck to the window. eew.
There was a swath of these mayflies the previous night... and the following morning. Thankfully the bugs came late into our adventure. We read up on them - they don't bite or hurt, but we were creeped out by them!!!
The next day - after our 2nd "wake up" in the Skoolie - (Friday) was her 3rd and final day of medical camp. I drove into Rome, dropped her off, then went back to the Skoolie to pack up & "check out" (leave by 11:00)
I finished a little water color painting I started the night before before packing up and leaving.
After I was done with packing, I decided to explore a little bit of Alabama as time would allow.
Bye bye Skoolie! (as seen driving out from road that circled the lake. Our place was the one on the right with the teal colored chairs)
There wasn't much do do in the couple of little towns I visited in Alabama (Centre and Leesburg) but I did find a nice restaurant on the west side of Lake Weiss, ate lunch, and read more of my book.
I said good-bye to my mini-vacation and headed back to Rome GA to pick her up.
The lady in charge of the camp shared the web link with us in carpool on the last day so we could see photos throughout the week. Isabella wasn't in as many photos this year as last, but here are the few that I could find.
Here's the writeup for us parents: Students are having a fantastic week at Healthcare Discovery Camp, a collaboration between Atrium Health Floyd, Blue Ridge AHEC and Georgia Highlands College. Yesterday, campers learned about Pharmacy, hands-only CPR, Nursing, Dental Hygiene, Laboratory and Complementary Medicine. Not only did they get to try out their newly-learned skills, but they also learned about the educational pathways required to achieve each degree or certification.
The camp was probably about 75% the same, but Isabella was OK with it. There was a girl behind us when we registered & picked up tee-shirts the 1st day that was there last year too and loved it. Isabella was not disappointed that it was mostly the same and wants to go AGAIN!!
This year, the differences were: there was an acupuncturist this year (who did the needles on a volunteer - not the kids)... and a physical therapist who had some fun educational games for the kids. They had a pulmonologist - and she brought home this device for us to breathe into. I think everything else was about the same. There was a dentist there, she held organs again (this year she said she stuck her finger inside a ventricle of a heart! I asked her why... and she said because her finger fit in the hole! ha ha!) They had the medical helicopter and ambulance again that the kids could go through. They had the microscopes and stethoscopes again. Here she is bandaging up a friend with gauze. It was "real" stuff that they got to do. This is probably why she loves it!
The week before this camp, Isabella had a couple of days of teacher-camp while I wrapped up with some meetings and cleaning up my classroom. On our 1st day "off," she had an appointment that we went to, then we popped into an impromptu matinee to see the movie (Imaginary Friends) - it was cute. It really tugs on your inner child!
Isabella tested the previous week for her Green Belt in Taekwondo. Todd and I both went to the test. She made an error in the routine that we could see / and she kind of shrugged when she did it, but she got right back into it / did well the rest of the time.
I caught this awesome photo --
when you zoom in you can see that Master King didn't even flinch!
We didn't know 'til the next class if she earned her belt or not, but when it was time to do the Green Belt exercises, they called her to join... so we knew she made it!
But they didn't have any green belts to give out....
So, the next time she had practice (Tuesday after Memorial Day) - they presented her with her belt.
The next day, we hopped in the car to head to North Carolina for a few days. We had a small window to pop up to visit my mom, my cousin & his wife, and my aunt. It was sort of spur of the moment, but we are glad we were able to visit - even though it was brief.
My mom is doing well. She is still settling into her house. So is a mama bird on the wreath on her glass front door!
She showed me the memorial that's built in Liberty for residents who have served in the military.
My grandpa (John F Moore), dad (Elliot Moore) and uncle (David Moore) are listed on one of the monuments.
Grandpa "Poppy" served in World War II as a part of the US Army.
My dad was in the service for 5 years in the US Air Force.
My uncle, David, was in the service for 5 years in the US Navy.
My other grandpa (Melvin Nunn) is listed on another one of the monuments.
He served in World War II as a part of the US Navy.
I've seen this before when driving through town, but have never visited. I am glad we went!
Uncle Eddie stopped by for a visit to my mom's house. He introduced us to a creamery that is nearby where he wanted to go get milk & ice cream. They sell products in a refrigerator & freezer case, but they also hand-dip ice cream.
Isabella approved! If we were there in town longer, we should've bought one of their peanut butter freezer tubs!
(just noticed in this picture - behind her is a "barn quilt")
We will be back!
This picture is to document how close in height Isabella is getting to my mom! Snapped this right before we left.
We drove a few hours East towards the NC coast where my cousin Jeff lives. We had dinner and chilled out in their game room when we got there.
The next day, we visited my aunt Becky in the rehabilitation center where she is currently staying (she had a stroke last year in Liberty, but moved to the coast to stay with her oldest son and his wife - Jeff & Virginia) we did not take photos at the rehab center! I can't believe that I forgot.
We were just busy "visiting!" She seemed like she was doing pretty well. It did take a little bit for her to get her words out, but we talked a lot while she ate her lunch and hung out some after lunch too.
So, I "borrowed" these photos that Jeff and Virginia shared of their visit to Orlando a few months ago (back in February) just before she moved to the rehab center.
Jeff & Virginia are travelling a lot now that their kids are living on their own. I love that they took aunt Becky on one of their trips! And I really love that my dad and his sister got to hang out! :)
Aunt Becky's corgi passed away recently. I told Isabella that I thought the dog was still at Jeff & Virginia's, but unfortunately that was not the case.
They had two dogs of their own, however, and Isabella loved playing with them!
I wanted to stick my toes in the water on the East coast, so we had lunch at a restaurant on the beach near Wilmington. Isabella did not want to play in the sand or the water, but I did get her to walk down and stick her feet in the water for at least a few minutes with me.
We ended up in the game room again the 2nd night! Virginia was a good sport to play shuffleboard with Isabella over & over again!
Thankfully, Jeff & Virginia were agreeable to letting me drive back out to the coast in the morning while Isabella slept in. (I went to a beach that was a little bit closer - Holden Beach) I wanted to go chase the light on the water & I made it in time!
I parked / racing against time, found the eastern-most public beach point I could find but then realized, the beach really faces more to the south, so I started walking towards the sun.
I got to a point that was at an inlet to the Intercoastal waterway that faced east. So, there is land across the way, but....it's OK.... I got to watch the sun rise!
I am grateful for that time to decompress and just "be" out in nature with birds, waves and a handful of early-rising people & their dogs that morning.
Panoramic as I was leaving / glad I turned around.
Proof that I got my toes in the water!
As I was walking back to the parking area beyond the dune...
Bye bye beach.... ahhh... soul-restoring even if only for an hour or so!
Virginia and I talked for a long time and then I packed up / we hit the road back to Atlanta. They were so gracious to host Isabella and me. (They said they loved having a little kid back in their house / it was fun and we could go back.)
The ride home was not the best (cracked a tooth on a pack of almonds and headlights went out, but we made it home fine / all was repaired the next day!) Still glad we went for a quick trip!
Isabella had VBS this month too! She's been busy! (a couple of days while she was there, I went to a teacher conference on STEM / AI) The 1st 3 days, she WILLINGLY WENT -- which is not normal! The 4th day - she didn't want to do the water activity, but she still went. Whew! So glad she stuck it through. This is her last time to go as a participant. (I only see one photo with her - back of head - wearing bright headband.) She probably won't volunteer during youth because she doesn't like little kids. She loved one activity in particular: making scented salt scrubs. She has exfoliated Todd's elbow several times with it. ha!
We celebrated Todd's birthday by taking him out to dinner on the Square.
Isabella made him a sweet card (and hinted that there would be carrot cake - which there was).
(there was blueberry pie too - but that was more for Mercer mainly b/c he really really likes it. A couple of days prior, Isabella and I picked A LOT of blueberries from the community garden. Glad she still likes to do that with me and contribute in helping to make the pie (squeeze and zest the lemons!)
And - we celebrated Todd AGAIN... as it was father's day a few days after his birthday. I took Mercer to the church at 7 am for his mission trip, so he didn't get to spend father's day with Todd, so we did stuff that would cater more to "father-daughter" activities.
Unfortunately, we worked hard that weekend - it was his choice to clean out the garage! ... but... we also took some down-time to watch the movie "Inside Out" on tv.... and then go watch "Inside Out 2" at the movies.
It's getting such great reviews - and we agree - it was really good. There were the original emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear & Disgust) but the "construction crew" came out and reconstructed Riley's brain as she was entering puberty and entering the teens. Along came additional emotions Anxiety, Embarrassment, Boredom and Envy). It was so interesting to watch Isabella during the movie and her reactions....she's about to hit this phase and she was getting embarrassed at certain scenes. I hope that she heard the message loud-and-clear about Anxiety and how destructive it is and how to overcome it. I thought that was such an important message!! Definitely - a MUST SEE!
It's so hot - you really don't want to do anything outside, so the movies are getting a lot of our business this summer already!
(Mercer and a friend went to a movie the day before - a Japanese anime that M has been waiting to come out in America.)
And the final thing we did to celebrate him - make dinner with pasta, shrimp and alfredo. Three things that Mercer does not like! But, Isabella loves all 3. Todd likes them too. So, since M was on his mission trip.... we went for it!
Isabella took this "foodie" picture because of the squid ink (black and white) fancy pasta we used.
I took this picture before the sauce went on!
Whew... what A LOT happened the first 2 1/2 weeks of our summer break!
And - there's MUCH MUCH more to come already for the 3rd full week of summer:
Mercer's mission trip that he left for on Father's Day +
The the day after father's day, I dropped Isabella off for her camp.
Mercer's mission trip + Isabella's camp stories will have to be on the next blog as this blog post is already very very long!
(here is the clock tower / water tower memorialized in a sewer cover.) 
So, there is land across the way, but....it's OK.... I got to watch the sun rise!
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