funky fort finds family fun

Now, let me clarify something
before I get started.
The fort didn't find anything.
We were the ones finding the fun
at Fort Pulaski!
Upon seeing that admission would
be free, I'd contacted my first
niece and her brother to bring
the girls for a day in the sun.
He immediately responded with
"Let's make it a picnic!"
What a great idea!
(smile)

Michael arrived a little later than Christina and I, giving Miyah and little Chloe a chance to eat before their cousins distracted them... or should that be before these littler two distracted the twins?
(smile)
Not that it matters, really.
They are all living under the same
roof right now, so there's plenty
of time for the girls to play with
each other.

The point of the gathering was to give them time to interact with
their Great-Aunt Tina -
that's me!
I had taken the three older girls on
a walk to the gigantic fig tree,
hoping for a few ripe ones, but we found only a few green ones.
One of the time-period characters
at the fort had joined us there.
Here's Leila and Alyssa listening as Casimir Pulaski talked about the history of his uniform and his saber!

I made sure the girls didn't wander too close, letting them get near enough to see the engraving, but not so close as to touch it.
How very lovely it was, with the script so flowery!
Thanks, Ed, for being so helpful
and charming... and patient,
so very patient!

Soon enough after the meal, Michael took his two for a tour of the grounds, loosely following behind a bona fide guide.
Eventually, though, they took the stairs to the top, of course.
Christina decided to follow with her little ones, joining my nephew's family on the upper level.
That's all of them, waving up there, in the corner.
I was relieved when they were all back on the ground!

That's when we truly started having some fun!
We had the tour benches to ourselves and were just relaxing, talking about various stuff and nonsensical topics like the baby shark song.
Then, we started in on the sounds that animals make - you know, to educate baby Chlo.
(smile)
Michael pops in with "the fox goes bling bling bling!"
What?! I protested, "That's not

how a fox sounds!"
Apparently, I was mistaken.
(smile)
Google pulled up the silly song and soon they had all chimed in, with Christina bouncing the baby while Miyah and Leila and Alyssa all danced along!
Wow!
If there had been a cloud in that expanse of blue, I'm sure it would have been heart-shaped.
I'm sure it would have been.

There were a few puffy white ones earlier,
like when I was holding Chlo while Alyssa
kept us company.
(Thank you, Christina, for this photo!)
In truth, I had intended to get several photos,
with all four girls and with the two families.
I was too distracted to even think of doing
such a thing.
I'm glad my first niece has taken to being
a shutterbug, too!
Not that this one was posed, mind you.
She said my name and I turned...
and this was the result.
Nice and candid, hair all a-muss,
clothes not neat and tidy.
(smile)

This one, though, this serendipitous shot, is my absolute favorite, capturing the emotions and movements of the day.
I don't have any idea what I was thinking when I snapped it.
Christina was lying on the bench, head toward me, and we were chatting.
She had been working with the baby, to get her to stand, and she had just toppled.
Meanwhile, Miyah had come over to see what was going on.
So, the four of us were frozen in that close bond of family for a brief moment...
then the fox song came up in our conversation and that led to a fun memory...
but I have this photo to mark that blessed time.
I could feel Mama's presence with us.
i thank You, God.