As I mentioned last month, we had a big trip planned for March. We drove down to Alabama to visit my sister and her family and we saw some other relatives and did some sight-seeing as well, going through thirteen states in all over two weeks. You’ll find the recap below. We’re now a quarter of the way through 2024 and I’ve completed eleven items from my 24 for ’24 list. (Let’s hope I’m not leaving all the hardest or most boring ones till the end!)
Read
For my Book of Centuries reading challenge I read The Romance of Tristan by Beroul, which dates to the 12th century. It is very different from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th century) and I would love to discuss it with someone (hint, hint, Mom).
Speaking of discussion, I saw a Facebook post about a new book club called Classical Inklings at the public library and since the first book was Sir Gawain I went over to check it out. There were three other people there and we had a good talk, so I hope to go back (I thought they might have a reading schedule already, but it’s completely open so I need to come up with suggestions).
I reread The Tech-Wise Family, this time aloud to Andrew; I recommend it for sparking discussion even if it doesn’t drastically change your life.
Eat
I recently bought Dinner a Love Story from Thriftbooks. Besides the pork ragu that I made last month, I also tried kale, sausage, and white bean stew, and some fun pizza toppings including zucchini/feta and sausage/ricotta.
In February the themed fellowship dinner at church got snowed out, so we were happy when the third Sunday rolled around again and we got to decorate the tables with origami and ask everyone to bring something starting with the same letter as their name. (For example, Ralph brought raisin bread and Juliet brought jam and biscuits.)
Eleanor made a baked Alaska for her birthday and I think it was everything she dreamed of. (She also made a triple berry lattice pie for Grammie’s birthday, which looked and tasted great.)
Do
Although at first the idea of driving 40 hours with the kids was daunting, I’m so glad we made the trip to Alabama! Here are some of the highlights:
- Peruvian food, playgrounds, church, and bonfire with my sister-in-law’s family in Philadelphia
- Herr’s Snack Factory Tour where you get to taste potato chips hot off the line
- Driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia
- Spending the night with relatives in Charlotte, NC
- Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center where we got to see reptiles inside and outside and walk around with binoculars
- Staying with the friend I visited last March
- Landmark Park, a unique venue with playground, historical village, walking trails, reptiles, planetarium, and more!
- Staying on my sister’s new property for nearly a week (she and her family are living in a rental house while they convert a barn into a house… it was great to spend time with them, including visiting their church, having a bonfire and a tea party, and helping paint wainscoting)
- Ponce de Leon and Morrison Springs for swimming and a picnic
- Emerald Coast Zoo which has an impressive array of animals for a small zoo, including giraffes you can feed and a zebra foal born the day before we visited.
- Peach Park, a market with slides, pond, benches, etc. outside
- Parnassus Books (owned by Ann Patchett — I wandered around and finally bought a deck of Agatha Christie-themed playing cards) and Aquarium Restaurant (the huge tank even had stingrays and sharks) in Nashville
- Cincinnati Observatory, which I already described
- Richland Carrousel Park (we needed to stop for bathrooms and nursing the baby, but it was raining so I found a fun indoor spot)
We got home midway through the month and soon settled back into our routine. At the Remington art class last week the kids made watercolour paintings of birch trees, which turned out very nice. I stopped by the St. Vincent thrift store and got a navy J. Crew dress and some exercise shirts. (By the way, Andrew and I are into doing exercise videos from this channel.)
On Saturday we walked a couple of trails at Indian Creek Nature Center, which is just 20 minutes from where we are living. I especially liked the elevated boardwalk that takes you by the water; there’s also a nice observation tower. We’re planning to go back at other times of year.
Listen
I found a song to send to Andrew for a change!
Meditate
In my Bible reading plan I finished Numbers, Deuteronomy, Colossians, and Hebrews in March.
“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.” – Deuteronomy 4:32-35