Our trip to Rock City Gardens was completely on a whim. It wasn't something we planned on or budgeted for, but I am so glad we went! It was Mr. Mustard Seed's idea, and it was amazing. The place itself is rather historic and has a neat story. It has a nature / troll theme and it's a really neat experience. This was probably the highlight of our entire trip. Have you ever visited a place so beautiful, that the beauty is nearly impossible to catch on camera? That is how I feel about our trip to Rock City. My pictures just don't do justice... it was a wonderland. First, we weaved through some amazing rock trails... up and down... through tiny little squeezes... We saw neat rock formations and so many native plant species. Mr. Sunshine especially enjoyed the plants. We saw neat rock formations and so many native plant species. Mr. Sunshine especially enjoyed the plants. We made it to the Swinging Bridge (which wasn't scary at all!) And the Swinging Bridge led us to Lover's Leap, where we were able to see 7 states! (Tossing a wish into the waterfall) Up next- my favorite part: RAINBOW HALL Each window had a different color pane. When you peek out, you get to see the mountain landscape in each color. So pretty. The next part was a neat little fairyland from the 1940s (if I remember correctly) Everything was lit by a black light, which my camera couldn't quite capture. There were so many fairytales... some were even in their own cave with a glass window. We all enjoyed this! And of course, Night Owl looked for money underneath every soda machine we across! That sums up our time at Rock City.
We hope to visit again someday. Hopefully you can visit too!
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We spent the second half of our trip in Tiftonia, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. We really didn't have much of a plan as to what we wanted to do, so we just took each day as it came. We always seem to enjoy the simple spur of the moment things the most. It really seems those things make for the best memories in the end. (The boys outside our hotel in Tiftonia / Chattanooga, TN) I recently started cooking with cast iron (best cooking decision ever!), so I was excited to learn the Lodge store and actual factory were nearby. To our surprise, the Annual Corn Bread Festival was happening when we got there. We didn't enter the gates, but we enjoyed the free smells! (The annual Corn Bread Festival in South Pittsburg, TN) It must have been our lucky day, because factory only does tours during the festival. The best part?! The tour was free! It was a neat experience, and the boys enjoyed it, too. (They think my cast iron is cool. Ha. Love them!) (The hanging pans were Mr. Sunshine's favorite part) We spent another day at a park near downtown. Mr. Mustard Seed read about it in a brochure, and it sounded like a lot of fun. We enjoyed walking across a bridge that was built in 1908, and also enjoyed some yummy treats from a street vendor. (It was neat to hear this big tug boat pass by!) We enjoyed some street musicians. And some yummy treats... The boys thought the icees were the bees knees, because they got to mix all kinds of crazy flavors. That about sums up our trip to the park!
In my next post, I will share Rock City with you. You don't want to miss it! And, I totally forgot about our surprise trip to the Space Museum in Huntsville, Alabama. I'll be sure to share that in the near future, too! It's been awhile, hasn't it? We are set to finish our school year in the near future. We'll take a mini summer break before starting year round school. I hope to come up with a productive schedule for myself, that allows for blogging time each week. That way, you won't end up missing me when I'm not here. (You have been missing me, yes?!) In April we took a very fun family road trip. We spent a week in beautiful Cape San Blas, Florida, and a few days in Chattanooga, TN. I look forward to sharing parts of our trip with you. Up first- Cape San Blas! Cape San Blas is a very remote area on Florida's "Forgotten Coast." The landscape is made mostly of gigantic sand dunes and palm trees swaying happily in the warm coastal sunshine. You won't find any high rises here! (Just the way we like it!) Our townhouse was huge and beautiful- we hardly knew what to do with all of the space. Our Night Owl got super sick on day 2 of our trip, which resulted in a midnight trip to the ER. (Note to self for future: pack a thermometer and have an emergency plan!) While Night Owl was down and out, Mr. Sunshine enjoyed making a bunch of "Secret Agent" movies on his camera. They are BEYOND cute. I hope to share a few of them in a future post. It was great to see how well he entertained himself (thanks to his amazing imagination) He even made supper one evening, because we were busy tending to Night Owl. My heart is blessed to be a mama to such compassionate and helpful boys. Love them bunches! Some of our favorite moments include: making sandcastles (Mr. Sunshine especially enjoyed this!) exploring the state park (which is known for it's remote beach and huge dunes) flying kites, watching dolphins in the sea (daily!) playing some beachy football, walking the shore... the sand was so sugary white and so very soft... watching beach mice in the evenings (cute little things!) writing postcards while at the beach, eating on our patio nearly ever meal, and watching Netflix at night. Oh, and of course, watching Mr. Mustard Seed attempt to start a fire on the beach. (keyword: *attempt!) The boys were cute in telling him, "It's okay. You're like Charlie Brown when he couldn't fly a kite." But, enough of my chatter! Let's get to the pictures, shall we?! And a few pictures of Night Owl trying to dig to India. He used every bit of might he could muster up. Before giving up, he yelled "HELLO!" into the hole. I enjoyed watching this! Well, thanks for stopping by. I'll be sharing our time in Chattanooga in two parts. The first part will focus on our time downtown, and the second part will be our time at Rock City. (One word: AMAZING!) I also plan to write reviews on our curriculum for the past year, as well as share the curriculum we will use for the upcoming school year. Are ya'll looking forward to any exciting adventures this summer?! Share! |
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