Fun Fall Weekend #6

For the past 6 years it has been a somewhat new "tradition" to take a weekend in the fall and get away together as a family. We have stayed in state parks and mountain rental cabins. This is the first year we have gone to a place where we've been before. We went to F. D. Roosevelt State Park in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The reason we went back there is because of the things there are to do nearby. When we were there in 2005, we went to the Wild Animal Safari park. Emery was just a baby and Savannah was not quite 3. We all liked the park and knew the kids would really enjoy it at the ages they are now. And they did. Emery, especially, loved feeding the animals from the bus. He didn't mind holding the food in his hand and letting all kinds of yukky tongues lick it from him. We all enjoyed the giraffes putting their heads right into the bus windows to come for the food. Jodi had to finally pull the hood up on Emery's sweatshirt because the giraffes were drooling all over him! Savannah just wanted to watch from a little safer spot inside the bus.

When we were there 3 years ago, we noticed that we missed the opening of the Fantasy of Lights at nearby Callaway Gardens by just a few days. So we went a week or so later this year and included that. It was wonderful. They had just opened a few days before we went and since it's early and we were there on a Monday night, there were no crowds and the weather was cool but not terrible. It put us in the mood for Christmas which is, after all, just around the corner. The next day, on our way home, we went to Callaway one more time and went to the butterfly house.

When we weren't out enjoying these activities, we were at "home" in our 3-bedroom cabin. We built a fire and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. There was no TV (oh, my!) but luckily Jeremy (who was going into withdrawal) had his projector in the car and when he hooked it up to his laptop was able to show movies on the wall. "The Artist" -- formerly known as "Savannah" -- recorded it all in drawings. If you give her a blank piece of paper and a pen, you have a happy child. And she's very good at remembering and recording what she has seen.

And each year I draw someones name and they win a Christmas quilt. This year's winner was Emery! I posted a picture of this year's quilt on September 21st, when I finished it...but here it is again.