Relearning skills of the past..

We have completed half of our time looking after our grandchildren Victoria and Nico. It has been lots of fun, very tiring, and occasionally requiring the patience of a saint.  Perhaps the hardest part has been the need to be on a strict schedule.  This is not something that we are really use to anymore.  We certainly have been reminded of our childrearing years and, as I have noted before, it is a young person's job!

Much of the time has been pretty routine stuff.  Feeding and changing Nico and trying to keep  Victoria entertained. 

There were lots of things to keep everyone busy.  First it was the Halloween event at the local zoo.

   

Then is the visit every Thursday to the library for story time and the weekly selection of books.

There was, of course, the occasional directions to not completely clutter up their parents house. 

We did a tour of the Fort Pickens historic site. We even went to our favorite fish restaurant in Pensacola Beach with their mom for lunch.  It turns out that Victoria loves Grouper bites with fries.

One of the big hits was a visit to the Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island.

On one slow day, Victoria and I went to Hurlburt Air Force Base and gave the outdoor aircraft display a close examination.  For some reason, she was not interested in my explanations of the importance and use of each aircraft and gave each a different amount of scrutiny based on a system I failed to understand.

Finally, as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, Victoria, with a little help, built her own ginger bread house.

So it has been for the last weeks!

Veteran's Day

Today is set aside to remember those who serve and have served their country by military service.  Many of these men and women had paid a terrible price for that service. Sadly, in our world, a strong military is necessary for our future as a free nation.

Ironically, we currently face a new thread to a strong military by our own government.  First they create a doomsday scenario  to force themselves to do their elected job.  Then they are so self-involved that they would rather eviscerate our military than face the tough choices they should have dealt with years ago.  No business in the world could survive with this kind of management team. 

  

Happy Veterans Day.

 http://goldenshoervtrip.blogspot.com/2010/11/veterans-day.html

FDR in Warm Springs, GA

After the Good Sam rally, we wanted to spend some more time in a GA state park.  I found one not too far from the rally site: FDR State Park.  I noticed that there was a nearby historic site called FDR Little White house.  Until seeing that on the map, I did not know anything about FDR's relationship with Georgia.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family and became interested in politics at an early age.  While still a young man, he was stricken with what was thought to be polio.  One of the few things that seemed to help the pain was exercising in warm water.  He heard about the springs in GA and made his first visit in 1924.  He was so impressed with the area, he purchased the run down springs and 1700 acres in 1927.  The resort and springs would later become the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation. The institute and springs were eventually turned over to the state. The springs pool is now closed but can be visited as part of the historic site. The institute structure is currently being used for another purpose.

In 1932, after being elected as President of the United States, he had a six room Georgia pine house built along with a small house for the servants and another for guests.  It was dubbed "The Little White House" and immediately turned the town of Warm Springs into a major tourist attraction.  The town today still survives on its history with FDR.

The historic site has a great deal of FDR history in Georgia.  He came to the little white house sixteen times during his presidency, spending 2-3 weeks there at a time. He became involved in farming to show that with proper methods it could provide a profitable operation.  With his privileged upbringing, he was shocked at the living conditions of rural farming including a lack of electricity. This was a major factor in the start of the massive rural electrification program.

FDR's death has made the little white house a lasting historic site. The combination of FDR's history making tenure as president and the long struggle of WWII made his death on April 12, 1945 a major shock for the entire nation.  While sitting for a portrait by Elizabeth Shoumatoff , he suffered a stroke.  He died in his bed later that day.

The portrait was never completed.  The unfinished work hangs at the historic site along with a completed portrait that was completed by the artist over a year later.

This is another great historic site that we just stumbled across.  For this those interested in presidential history and FDR in particular, this is a must see place.