We had such a nice time having Ryan's parents come visit us at the beginning of March
They arrived on March 5th, and on March 6th they helped get the kids ready for school and on the bus so Ryan could take me to the doctor. As I mentioned in the previous post, I was expecting to have a D and C to remove any remaining tissue from the miscarriage, but it turned out that there was nothing left to remove, so a D and C wasn't necessary. That was a huge relief and blessing.
We spent the rest of the day mostly at home. Ryan and his dad went to get a ladder so Ryan could clean out the gutters and some supplies to fix the ramp on the shed. They also brought home this pot of geraniums, which were a gift for me from all the Tanners. I love them. I keep deadheading them and they keep producing more flowers.
Ryan's Tuesday and Thursday labs were cancelled, so we took Ann and James to see the Phinizy Swamp. This was my third time going and it looks different every time. This time the water was lower, there was more green, and we saw a lot of wildlife, including ducks, a heron, several turtles, and a 9-foot alligator.
This is the osprey tower with a big osprey nest at the top of it.
A guy we passed asked if we wanted to see an alligator, and when we said yes he told us where we could find a big 9-foot-long one. It was a bit farther than we had planned to walk, but we did find the alligator and watched it for quite a while. It would float barely above the surface and slowly approach the birds floating in the water, then as it got closer the birds always realized what was up and would flap their wings and "run" on the surface of the water to get away.
After seeing the swamp we stopped at Augusta University and Ryan showed off his office and we looked around the campus a bit.
Wednesday was my birthday. Ryan had to work most of the day, but Ann, James, Ann Marie, and I went to see the locks at the Augusta canal. It's always fun to see the different locks that people leave at the locks.
In the evening Kevin had piano lessons and then we had a birthday party. Ann made cake (which the kids wanted) and brownies (which I wanted), and we also had ice cream. I got Turkey Hill Black Raspberry ice cream because it's my new favorite. Ryan gave me grass seed, which I never thought of asking for but was awesome to get because our lawn in the backyard is pretty patchy. He also got me some cumin and the book A House Full of Females, which I've been wanting to read. It was a really nice birthday. After the worries and miracles of the previous week, my birthday was just so peaceful and happy.
While we were all working on something else, Ann Marie apparently got a hold of the birthday candles. When I asked her what happened to the 9 she said, "Oh, it was yucky, Mom." It cracked me up!
Thursday we went to the Augusta Museum of History. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this museum. I was expecting a dinky little museum with a few replicas, but they actually had some really well-made exhibits and a lot of original artifacts, including a real train which had been restored and was on a real track.
This corn was interesting. The explanation says that when corn was first domesticated in Mexico 6000 years ago it was only an inch long, and when Europeans arrived in America it was six inches long. Pretty amazing how much corn has changed over time!
An old pair of scissors:
An old compass with levels:
A locket with a picture of George Walton, one of the delegates from Georgia who signed the Declaration of Independence (there is a street here named after him called Walton Way):
Pretty copper pitcher:
This uniform was worn by a soldier during World War I, and at the time the soldier's height was considered average. Ryan is standing right next to it.
Ann Marie and Ryan in front of the train:
The other car on the train was a refurbished passenger car. When it was found it was a rust bucket, but now it's shiny and you can go inside to see how it might have looked, and the inside also has several display cases with pictures about trains in Augusta.
They had a display about toys from the mid-1900s. My mom had a barbie we used to play with that looked like these (she was always the witch . . . ).
We also used to have a View Master:
This girl was the first black child to enter a white public school in Richmond County:
Ann Marie enjoyed the trolley car:
Upstairs they had a huge exhibit about James Brown, who grew up in Augusta. They had a lot of his personal items, including several of the suits and shoes/boots he wore at concerts and a display case with all of the items that were in his bathroom when he died (which I thought was a little excessive). In another room they had some really interesting displays about the University Hospital and the history of healthcare.
In the evening Ryan and I went out for dinner at Red Robin (the first time we've been on date since last summer) and the kids and Ann and James had pizza at home.
On Friday Ann and James packed up and left to go to the airport. It was such a blessing to have them come see us, and especially after losing the baby it was a comfort to have them here.
