Birthday Wishes: Thirty-Six Amazing Things

After wishing our amazing Papa a joyous thirty-sixth trip around the sun last Tuesday, we loaded up for the weekend and headed north to celebrate in South Georgia. This was Papa's only wish. In his honor, here is the list we came up with on the way home: thirty-six amazing things we did over the long weekend.

1. Received nourishment from Grandma and her garden
2. Watched a mother whipoorwill protect her baby
3. Saw three deer
4. Saw two rabbits
5. Saw one fox squirrel
6. Saw one enormous red-tailed hawk
7. Saw one gopher tortoise
8. Saw one water turtle laying eggs
9. Found two nests with baby birds
10. Fed chickens and saw day-old chicks
11. Saw lots and lots and lots of butterflies12. Opened our camper door each morning to the sight of Grandma's flowers
13. Took a sunrise walk14. Tried to catch minnows in the pond15. Saw new quilts in progress
16. Shared freshly boiled peanuts in the sunshine
17. Picked blackberries (both in a garden and on a pond bank) and ate them off the vine18. Drew water from a well19. Caught frogs
20. Called to a bob-white bird and were answered
21. Went blueberry picking (and blueberry eating)
22. Played kickball in the rain
23. Got stuck in the mud
24. Gathered wildflowers in the fields
25. Went searching for interesting mushrooms
26. Caught a grasshopper
27. Held baby kittens
28. Welcomed a full moon
29. Stayed up late, roasted s'mores, had sleepovers
30. Went searching for arrowheads and found flint
31. Built fires
32. Revisited a goose nest we discovered on our last visit
33. Went swimming in the Altamaha River
34. Floated a watermelon in the river and ate it while swimming
35. Hiked to rock caves
36. Spent a long weekend with four generations of family