My husband and I stayed with the boys while mom and dad were gone. We all had a good time together. We were very happy there were no broken bones or any mishaps as we gave the boys back to mom and dad in the same condition as when they left them with us.
John Scott 16, Will 13, Preston 10, Lawson 7
We slowly adjusted to our new schedule with the grandsons. It was just like old times with our children, as we drove the grandchildren to and from school each day, made lunches, did homework, fixed meals, did the laundry, and just made sure everything was going smoothly in their lives. My husband took the two oldest, and I drove the two youngest to school each day.
My husband enjoyed teasing the boys and often told them, "Wash behind your neck and keep on a fresh change of underwear." Where have we all heard that before!
After about three days getting adjusted to this new and very busy schedule, I finally had time to think about grabbing the camera and trying to capture some of the beauty around us on the drive to school.
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Hawk's Rise Elementary School is located in the subdivisions of Ox Bottom Manor and Summerbrooke and is the centerpiece of the two subdivisions. Summerbrooke is named after Summer and Brooke, daughters of the subdivision developer. I have searched and searched to find out where Ox Bottom Manor got it's name and no one seems to know .... Who would think of such a name - there must be a good reason!
Some have said that Norman Rockwell would have wanted to paint Ox Bottom Manor, a small-town neighborhood where many children literally walk to their elementary school.
This community is located about nine miles north of Florida's downtown area, and Capitol Building, in the rolling hills, and canopy roads of Tallahassee.
I never get tired of looking at these beautiful old Live Oak trees. The developer of this area did a great job keeping the landscape as natural as possible. I would imagine all of this surrounding land was probably old plantation land, since there were originally so many plantations in this region.
In the below picture we would see this water tower as we drove by on the way to school each day. After I dropped the boys off at their classrooms, I circled back and snapped a photo of this interesting water tower. It reminds me of a hot-air balloon.
Don't you wonder how old this tree is? I sure would love to know. And, it was full of Spanish Moss. For some reason there seemed to be a lot more Spanish Moss on the trees this year
In the below photo, each day as I drove by, this pretty white house would catch my eye. I love the beautiful yellow Chrysanthemums on the porch. They reminded me that Fall is almost here.
In the above photo you can really see how dense the Spanish Moss is hanging from this tree, and it is like this all over town this year. I guess there is a good growing season for everything ... even Spanish Moss.
Spanish Moss is an air-plant and gets nutrients from air and rainfall. It is a Southern plant and from what I can find out, does not seem to survive too much north of south-eastern Virginia. Isn't it pretty the way it drapes itself all over the tree branches. It almost looks like someone went to a lot of trouble to decorate these trees.
Some have said that Norman Rockwell would have wanted to paint Ox Bottom Manor, a small-town neighborhood where many children literally walk to their elementary school.
Each day as I drove the boys to school it was not unusual to see the school buses coming and going.
This community is located about nine miles north of Florida's downtown area, and Capitol Building, in the rolling hills, and canopy roads of Tallahassee.
I never get tired of looking at these beautiful old Live Oak trees. The developer of this area did a great job keeping the landscape as natural as possible. I would imagine all of this surrounding land was probably old plantation land, since there were originally so many plantations in this region.
In the below picture we would see this water tower as we drove by on the way to school each day. After I dropped the boys off at their classrooms, I circled back and snapped a photo of this interesting water tower. It reminds me of a hot-air balloon.
Don't you wonder how old this tree is? I sure would love to know. And, it was full of Spanish Moss. For some reason there seemed to be a lot more Spanish Moss on the trees this year
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In the above photo you can really see how dense the Spanish Moss is hanging from this tree, and it is like this all over town this year. I guess there is a good growing season for everything ... even Spanish Moss.
Spanish Moss is an air-plant and gets nutrients from air and rainfall. It is a Southern plant and from what I can find out, does not seem to survive too much north of south-eastern Virginia. Isn't it pretty the way it drapes itself all over the tree branches. It almost looks like someone went to a lot of trouble to decorate these trees.
While Spanish Moss is pretty and graceful to look at, one would never want to let children play with it or even touch it too much. I have learned from experience, it is full of red bugs and chiggers. It is also home to lots of other critters, like snakes and spiders.
This tree in the below photo is about the largest one I saw during my travels through the area.
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Driving out of the school subdivision and heading back home, I spotted this grouping of wildflowers. They bring back memories. When the children were little we enjoyed taking walks, and would often spot these wildflowers with the fun to pop pop-beans attached.
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I don't know the name of this pretty wildflower, but they remind me of Sweet Peas.
One day after picking the boys up from school, Preston the 10 year old, asked me how fast I was going. I told him I thought I was going about 20 miles an hour. He then told me the speed limit was 30 miles an hour. Picking up on the fact that he thought I was going too slow, I explained we had just left a school zone, and I wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen, such as a child darting out in front of the car. Lawson who is 7 and seated in the back seat then said, "Preston, it's OK if she drives slow ... she's a grandma!"
Well! I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit, and a little bit of Tallahassee sightseeing. I do hope you join us again, and I hope you had a wonderful week too!
Pat, I loved reading about your week with your grandsons (they are all so handsome!) ... and enjoyed sightseeing with you. Those grand old oaks are truly majestic ... especially with their mossy "curtains." I'm sure your daughter and son-in-law had a good time on their trip knowing their boys were in such loving and capable hands.
ReplyDeleteJanie ~ How nice to hear from you. Thank you for stopping by. Yes, it was a fun week with the boys. We sat out on the back patio and watched mom and dad's plane fly over on the way to the airport as they returned home....we knew approximately what time they were arriving, so we knew when to start looking. Actually it was just the lights of the plane.
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