Jessica in the Woods

Looking through the recent posts on this blog, I noticed that there are quite a lot of pictures of Elyse, and not that many of Jessica. In many ways that's understandable; Elyse is the more outgoing of the two, and Jessica doesn't always like to have her picture taken.

But in an attempt to try to give my older daughter equal coverage--whether she wants it or not--here are some pictures I took of her a few weeks ago--on the same day Elyse went to Tree Top Quest, in fact; that Sunday, Jessica and I went to Vines Gardens and wandered around in the woods for a while (and got lost, and ended up at Grayson High School):

I'm happy to say we made it home (a little later than we'd planned, but with a half-gallon of ice cream we stopped at the store to get) unafflicted by either poison ivy or ticks. The ice cream was really good.

Elyse Atop Stone Mountain

This morning, Elyse and her mommy went to Stone Mountain for a morning climb!

(Anna texted me this picture a little before 10:00 this morning.)

As you can see, Elsa went with them--in her Girl Scout vest. She's working on her Stone Mountain badge.

Vines Gardens Haiku 13

Stairs rather than hills--

easier for some to climb

but not with my knees

Drive Through the North Georgia Mountains

Today I went on a drive to and through the north Georgia mountains.

Except for Suches, I'm not even sure where I went. I missed a turn in Gainesville and from that point on I used my cell phone's GPS for navigation, but it routed me around rather than through Dahlonega (which my printed directions, the ones I was following until I realized I should have gotten off I-985 a few miles back, would have taken me through; I had intended to make Dahlonega one of my stops). Google Maps doesn't show the names of towns on the cell phone screen as you go through them, just road names, so for quite a while during my drive I didn't know where I was.

Well, I knew where I was, of course; I was right there in the car with me. I mean, wherever you go, there you are, as Buckaroo Banzai said (or whoever it really was), but that doesn't mean you always know where there is.

But regardless of whatever there I was driving through, I had a good time in the mountains. I really love them. I need to spend more time up there.

Most of the pictures I took don't look that great, but here are three that are okay:

(That's my little white car parked at the Chestatee Overlook.)

Elyse's Field Day

Today I went to J.C. Magill to spend some time with Elyse for her grade's field day:

Elyse at Tree Top Quest

Today Elyse's Girl Scouts troop had their end-of-the-year adventure by going (for the second year in a row) to Tree Top Quest in Buford to climb around up in the trees. Here are some pictures Anna took of Elyse doing just that:

Green Anole

Earlier tonight Elyse and I were in the back yard taking pictures, and we found this guy on the fence:

He did several impressive throat displays at us; whether this meant he saw us as rivals or potential mates, I'm not sure; probably the former:

Elyse took several pictures of him, even though his dewlap kind of freaked her out:

Easter (and My Birthday)

Today we went to Granny and Pa's house (that is, my parents' house) for Easter, and also to celebrate my birthday. Here's the cake my wonderful wife baked (and my kids helped decorate) for my birthday; you can't tell, but it's red velvet:

Here's the supper table before anyone sat down to eat:

and Jessica's bizarre biscuit and ham and whatever-that-thing-is creation:

The girls talking after the meal:

Though it probably won't be long before she's too old for it, Jessica participates in the Easter Egg Hunt with great enthusiasm:

Annie taking a picture of the girls:

Elyse's haul for the day:

I snapped this selfie to record what I look like at the age of fifty, on Easter:

Before we left, Elyse and Jessica put on a show for us; Elyse was the dancer, and Jessica (unseen in any of these photographs but definitely heard by those who were there) was the choreographer:

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today, much to my own amazement, I turned fifty years old!

Which means that forty-nine years ago, I turned one:

and forty-six years ago, I turned four:

I don't have any pictures of me blowing out candles today, but I do have these of the birthday cookie Anna got for me:

And these pictures of a couple of my presents, a painting from Elyse and a Peanuts-themed present from Pearl (whom I met for lunch today at Lenox):