Fernbank Museum

Thursday Nana and I decided to take the kids to the Fernbank Museum.  Greg and I bought a membership in January and haven't used it in a while.  They have a new Gecko exhibit that the kids thought was super cool.  So did I.  Who knew there we so many different types of Geckos?  Very neat.  If you have never been here, it truly it an exceptional place. So many things to see and learn about and really keeps the kids attention. Plus, it's inside, and when it's 900 degrees outside like it is here in Georgia, that's a good thing.

  Seeing how much bigger a dinosaur footprint is than their hands.  Much, is the answer. 
























In front of the Stegosaurus.  Parker brought "Stomp"  on this field trip.  Appropriate, I thought.

We watched the Imax movie "Bugs" before we left.  Very cool. And educational.  Love that! 

We had a really great day and will have to go back very soon.  It always seems like we don't have time to do quite everything there.  Next time we will have to take a trip to the Planetarium also.  It has been a while since we took them there.

I hope we can make time to go on many more trips this summer.  Sometimes it feels like we have to many other things to do, but maybe we can use one day each week to do something different.

By the way, Brynn isn't crying, the sun is in her eyes.  :)

We're Back!

We had so much fun on our camping trip this past weekend!  It was a little wet, but having the camper helped out tremendously.  Not so much on laundry though.  Friday evening we just ate some hamburgers and hot dogs and relaxed after setting up.  Saturday we decided we would go to the Laser Show but went with the reserved seating since it was going to be CRAZY packed that night.  Well worth the money and no chairs to carry. 

Sunday we went for a drive to feed the ducks at the covered bridge.  It is such a special place for us since that's where Greg asked me to marry him.  We try to visit each time we go.  We hiked through the trails that were there  all along the lake. The kids really enjoyed that.  I think they investigated every hole on every tree and every rock they came across.  So cute! We stopped at the Mill and the kids played in the water for quite a while.  I normally would have had them in bathing suits, but it was a spur of the moment idea. Those are always the best.  :)

Parker thinking this is pretty cool.

Brynn getting completely pummeled by the waterfall.  She loved it!

All done and ready to go.  They had a fantastic time.  We are going to have to make time to do this often during the summer. 

We packed up to come home Monday, but made some amazing memories over the weekend.  I can't wait to go again!

Packing Up

We are getting everything ready to head out for a Memorial Day mini vacation.  Everyone is going on this trip, including my mom. Today we are working on getting the camper packed up, food prepped and clothes washed.  It's always so busy the day before a trip even if you are just going down the road a bit like we are.  I try to plan ahead and make sure we have everything taken care of, but there is always last minute stuff that has been forgotten. For the record, we are headed here:

That's Stone Mountain.  A beautiful picture I found somewhere on the web.  I have always lived close enough to go here everyday if I wanted to, so it is surprising to me that people plan actual vacations to visit it.  Greg and I were just talking about how we almost take it for granted.  I wish we didn't since it truly is a beautiful place with lots to do.  We do purchase an annual pass every year so we can take the kids and let them do all the activities they have to offer.  Plus we get all kinds of discounts by being Mountain Members. It really does pay for itself. 

Anyway, I guess I need to stop procrastinating and finish getting everything together so I don't have to do it all at midnight.  Right now my house looks like this

Again, not my picture, or my house....But I would prefer my house to look like this before we leave

Completely doable, no?  When I get back I will post how I pack and make sure I remember everything before a trip. I love me some organization! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

I'm Back! (Again) and A Romantic Weekend In The Woods

I decided I am going to try to keep up with this blog again.  I have started a new homeschool blog and have put most of my posts over there, but I think I will try to keep general/family posts here and school related posts there.  Hopefully it will work out and I won't neglect either one.  :)  So, last weekend, my sweet hubby and I took off with our new camper and no kids to Stone Mountain for a much needed weekend alone. Greg had taken the whole week off to use up some vacation, but we didn't head out until Thursday.  Now, by his own admission, my darling husband was a bit on edge in the beginning of the week (or as he put it, "shouty and stabby") so I wasn't real sure I wanted to be cooped up in a camper with him for four days if you know what I mean.  Well, it turns out that the time away was just what we needed.  We were both a little stressed me with the end of school stuff, him with work stuff, but in the end being together always helps us focus on what is truly important.  Unfortunately we both realized as soon as we got there that we had forgotten the camera.  We had so much fun relaxing, feeding squirrels and ducks, walking around the campground, taking short naps during the day, cooking together, playing games.  Just quality time being together.  I honestly think it was better than staying in a hotel for a weekend. Now, I am a luxury girl through and through, but when you are camping there are no distractions like TV, we didn't answer cell phones and  didn't use computers.  Hopefully we will get a chance to do that again sometime.  I love having time to completely focus on my sweet hubby. 

Halloween 2009

We had so much fun this year for Halloween! I think because it was on a Saturday and we could just enjoy the day together instead of rushing from work, practice, errands, etc... It started with us decorating pumpkins. Yes, we waited until the day of to do something with them. How lame.HA! The kids couldn't make up their minds about how they wanted to make theirs and I wasn't pushing the issue. Finally, Brynn decided to paint hers and Parker wanted to paint and decorate with felt. I got the idea from Living With Lindsey. So cute!

Our little town had Trick Or Treat on Main Street on Halloween night as well. We went there first and it is always so much fun. It's like a costume parade because everyone walks in a line to each of the businesses and you get to see all the cute and creative costumes. Brynn was Tinkerbell and Parker was a chicken. He was so adorable (if I do say so myself). He has such a sweet personality and just loves to have fun. The costume couldn't have been more perfect for him. And my sweet Brynn, she was so beautiful as Tinkerbell. I can't believe she is going to be 7! this month. My heart aches that my sweet baby is growing up so fast, but I am so proud of the beautiful girl she is becoming. What a wonderful heart she has. Afterwards we went to a huge neighborhood not too far from our house to see if we could pick up some more goodies. We ran into some friends and had an awesome time even though it was raining and quite chilly for Halloween in Georgia. We walked and walked and Greg went back to get the car to pick us up so we didn't have to walk all the way back to the clubhouse. Even though the kids were worn out, they still didn't want to stop when he picked us up! They had him drive us to the last few houses in the neighborhood and poor Parker was dragging his chicken self up to the doors. It was too funny! When we got home, they asked for 1 piece of candy and went right to bed! I know, I was thinking who are these children? Obviously not mine! LOL! After Greg and I had a taste of their candy we went to bed too. I think we are getting old. HA! I look forward to all of these holidays now as they are getting older and understand more. It is so fun to watch things through my children's eyes.