Be patient, please as I catch you up on our family happenings over the last few months. I have SOO wanted to write about them, but didn't have the time and this wasn't set up then.

Our family LOVED the show Treasure Hunters. It used actual historical facts and locations as their clues and it was SOOO cool. Lover of History especially was on target nailing the clues WELL in advance of the clues being revealed.

We studied an entire year in the Civil War last year, with the boys being absolutely enthralled in it!! We LOVED IT! Not only did we Lapbook our findings but we also scrapbooked our trip through the Civil War, complete with favorite people, our family in the Civil War, and Field trips to battlefields.

We just recently made the move, after 10 years in AL, to Georgia. (We REALLY miss our friends! We love you guys!!) As we were watching Treasure Hunters, we were shocked, but pleased that there was a Fort that was here in Georgia (near Savannah) that was used during the Civil War and We had NO clue that existed, because it didn't see any severity of battle, it wasn't listed. As we searched, we found not one but FOUR battlefields. SO, off we go on a family trip, to Savannah, Georgia!! We only were able to visit 3 of the 4, but nevertheless, got what we wanted accomplished.

Our first Trip was to Fort McCallister outside of Savannah, Georgia. It was filled with underground bunkers, cannons and hills. It was also off of a river, where the ironclad, the CSS Nashville was sunk and later discovered. They had that on display too. I loved seeing our boys, Lover of History, Traveler and Mr. Athletic's wheels turn and get involved in REAL life history. It was SOO Much fun. Here are some family picts from that trip.

Here is the boys, on top of the remnants of the CSS Nashville, the ironclad of the Confederate Army. L to R, Traveler, Lover of History and Mr. Athletic.




Well, we did take the 6th member of our family with us, Princess Leia. She didn't know what to think, since this was her first trip. We did take her small cage though. I would love to be a mouse in the corner to see the hispanic maids coming in to our room, while we were gone ;o) That would have been fun! The first picture is of Leia and the second one is her favorite position, what we call, "Turtle dog."







Our next day was filled with lots of fun as we travelled to Tybee Island, Georgia to see Old Fort Jackson and Fort Pulaski.
Old Fort Jackson is the oldest fort in the state of Georgia. It is located only about 6-8 miles from Fort Pulaski and is right on the water. The Land was established in the 1740's and used for the American Revolution. Then the fort was built and withstood the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Our dearest Traveler was excited to hear that his Robert E. Lee visited there. This fort never really saw any battle, due to the fact that they were over powered early on and surrendered. Here are some picts from that trip. The first one is of the fort and the second one is of the re-enactor showing how a replication of a real cannon is fired. The real ones are there, but not used to maintain their status of being a real war relic.







The next trip was to good Ole' Fort Pulaski. This was the reason that took us to this location in the first place. Boy it was HGUE and beautiful. The boys were excited, but disappointed. They thought they were going to see a real live re-enactment. Well they did re-enact the guns and the cannon firing but no battle. One funny thing, was there was a moat around the whole fort. As we walked in, there was a sign that said, "Please don't get in the water or swim, due to Alligators." We thought, okay, they are just saying this to keep someone from not making a smart move and trying to swim in the water ;o{) Well, when we were leaving it was close to sunset and we were forewarned of 5 REAL LIVE alligators!! GASP! HUH? Real life? They told us if we just walked around them about 10 feet, they wouldn't hurt us?!? YEAH RIGHT! Luckily, there weren't any, and the only real life alligators we saw were at the Crab Shack, but I will talk about that in a minute. The most memorable portion of this one is that when you walk around the back, there are MANY MANY holes with schrapnel still in them. There was also a portion of the wall that had been shot away by the Union and after the Confederates surrendered after 30 SOLID hours of shooting, they decided to repair it. It was repaired 6 weeks after though. Traveler was excited, because Robert E. Lee had a office there and even planned the drain system for the moat. There was even a REAL picture of Lee there!!Here are some picts of Ft. Pulaski. I will pass along one of the outside and the other of the inside.

After we enjoyed our time there, we spent some time at the Beach at Tybee Island (albeit we weren't prepared, so we got wet) and we ate some of the best seafood, from "The Crab Shack." They also had live alligators that you could feed there too. Here are some picts from that: