Howard Gilman Memorial Waterfront Park

Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill met us at our hotel this morning to spend the day with us exploring St. Marys, Georgia. St. Marys is the ferry departure point for Cumberland Island.

During our visit to St. Marys, we visited Howard Gilman Memorial Waterfront Park. It was opened in 2001, and it is a beautiful park.

Annabelle spotted the playground instantly, so she spent most of the time playing on the playground. Go figure!

Here is one of my favorite pictures from the day. She has recently (over the past few months) learned to swing like a monkey, so here she is at her best.

The little girl in the background is actually home schooled. Aunt Mary and I spent some time talking to her mother while we were at the playground, and we learned that they have been traveling on a catamaran for the past 6 months. Her husband and her are retired police officers. They had worked for the police department for 20 years, and they are now both retired. They were very young too (probably in their early forties)! They have three kids (ages 4, 10 and 17), and she home schools them all. She said that the girls were very easy to home school, but the boy was apparently a challenge for her. It sounded like he had a hard time staying focused. I've always heard that is pretty typical of boys though.

But, anyhow, it was so very neat to hear their story and how she did it. She used the Calvert School for her 10 year old son, and something different for her 17 year old daughter. For the 4 year old, she said she just made stuff up since her studies are very basic right now.

Some of you may know that thoughts of homeschooling have crossed my mind for Annabelle (and any future siblings). However, I just don't know if I have it in me. I know it has got to be a lot of work! And, I just don't know if I have it in me.

The argument (for most) against homeschooling is that home schooled children are "weird" and don't receive the socialization skills that government educated children receive. I'm not so sure I buy that at all! There are other ways for children to learn to be social, and much is learned from just watching their parents. Those children today were very interactive!

So, I'm off on a tangent now, but their lifestyle just seemed so neat to me. How cool would that be for both parents to be retired at such a young age to enjoy their children and travel wherever they like? I would LOVE to be able to travel with Annabelle all the time, but at a much more leisurely pace! However, I would prefer to travel in an RV versus a boat.