black history month and the civil war :)

no matter what people say, i think florida counts as part of the south. some people here try to say "oh, it's not really the south. it's FLORIDA." whatever that means. and granted, there are lots of northerners here (the infamous snowbirds, for starters), but whenever we venture outside the city, it gets rural really fast. 

so this past weekend there was a civil war reenactment at fort desoto (voted a few years back as the best beach in America or the world, i can't remember now). the weather has been glorious here lately--like a new england summer, 70s during the day, 50s at night. (and don't be hatin', because in a couple of months, i'll be sweating and suffering in 90+ degree weather while you are all bragging about how your plants are blooming and you are opening all your windows to air out the house!)

i have never been to one of these civil war things, but apparently lots of people gear up ALL year long just to participate. i snapped some pictures before the actual "skirmish," and then several during the "show." we lasted only about 10 minutes before the kids got bored and tired of the smoke smell coming from the cannons and guns. 

just days before going back in time at the civil war skirmish, gillian had her first experience with public speaking. she and the rest of the 1st grade at her school performed in a sing/speak show about important black figures in celebration of black history month. she got up to the mic and said a whole sentence about mary mcleod bethune and did a great job! the hilarious part was that about halfway through the thing, she started mouthing words to me like "this headband is hurting my head" and "i am tired" or "i am cold in this dress." like i could do anything about it. i kept wondering if other parents were noticing or what they were thinking. and during the whole thing, rhys kept yelling (and i mean YELLING) because he saw a bunch of balls and hula hoops and he wanted them NOW. oh, the complications and joys of motherhood... :)

i still owe you a review of that book eve that i finished about a month ago. it was so great. if you haven't already read it, please get a copy and read it. and i'll start working on what i want to say about it in the meantime...

happy thursday!