Lessons

So we've been home for about 2 weeks and we're fully back into the family groove.  First, I'd like to tell everyone thank you for reading.  Even though there weren't many comments to the posts this year, I heard from many of you that have been reading along our journey.  Just knowing that helped me feel a tab bit safer. And a big thanks to the Georgia State Parks.  I thought we were pretty spoiled touring some of the incredible national parks last year, but Georgia has put a lot of effort into making sure there are plenty of things to do and places to see in their state.

And last, thanks to family of course.  Without my grandparents, my mom, and Dave this trip would have been difficult and exhausting to say the least.  They were there to hold the hand of a child who lost the race to mine, kiss a scraped anything, listen to silly stories, and be the extra parent that was such a nice break from being solo.

And so on to our lessons:

• Forget painting your toenails before camping for 3 weeks.  You know you will forget extra polish, remover or both and they will look downright scary within a week.
• Always use bug spray when hiking in the Georgia wood.  I still have areas healing on my overbitten shins.
• On all future trips, make sure our visitors drive and stay separately to give the children that oh-so-important and treasured one-on-one time with them.
• Wait to buy fruit at the grocery store until you have passed the local farmers market or fruit stands.
• When moods shift, find water.  Any water.  A puddle, a lake, a pool, a hose, just find it and get them drenched.
• Ants, mosquitos, and gnats are extremely determined, I'll give them that.   
• It's ok not to be the helicopter parent in the middle of every argument and struggle.  Let them figure it out and be quiet until they ask for help.
• A glimpse into a grandparent's life so long ago may inspire you to dig deeper and find out where you really come from.
• Sometimes Georgia rain smells like peaches!
• Many of Georgia's roads are not marked well.
• I can learn to tell the difference between peanuts and cotton bushes, pecan and maple trees, and blueberry and blackberry bushes before the first hint of any fruit.
• No matter how many times I sneak a peek at wildlife beside me, I always jump and gasp with excitement.
• Laughter can diffuse even the angriest child.
• I know how to identify and deal with poison ivy.  It's everywhere in Georgia!
• Trust my instincts and listen to them.  Don't worry about appearing silly or possibly offending someone.
• If someone behaves negatively toward me, remember they are a human being just like me.  Take a step back to draw the line between the action and the person.
• If I wait on the world to tell me when to stop, I never will so get out of the race sometimes!
• If I wait for the perfect moment to take a break, I never will so just find a moment!
• If I wait to live my life until after the duties are done, I never will so just settle for good enough right now.

As you can imagine with spending so many hours on the road with 3 semi-occupied kids, there is some time to think.  The past two years I've spent thinking about so many different things I can't even remember them all, but I finished something important to me on this trip.  I finished my rules to live by.  There are only 10 and they are only 2 words each!

1. Be kind.  I was raised this way (thank you, Mom) so this is not an effort for me, but I do have to be careful about being too kind.

2. Be honest.  Enough said.

3. Be helpful.  This rule was brought to my attention just this morning as I was walking home on a bike ride with my kids. The entire shifting mechanism broke so it was unrideable. More than 15 vehicles drove past me, 9 of them trucks and one with an empty trailer.  Not one offered to help at all.   So my somewhat patient kids did loop after loop coming back to see me as I walked the mile home.

4. Be resilient.  At first this rule was "be strong", but I changed it this year.  I do want to be strong, but I also realize it's okay, even necessary to let yourself be weak sometimes then be strong enough to bounce back.

5. Be brave.  I am the biggest chicken sometimes, but I'm learning.  I'm learning to be cautious, but brave.

6. Be forgiving.  I struggle with this especially with those closest to me.  This also includes refraining from doing anything for revenge, no matter how small it seems.  Grudges are hard to drop.

7. Be generous.  I was also raised this way, but I can always do more.

8. Be respectful.  Everyone deserves it.  Especially me.

9. Be present.  If there is one thing these summer trips do the most, it is to remind me to be present. Be present with the earth.  Be present with my family.  The shared experiences with my children when I am fully present are and will be some of the best memories of my life.

10. Be happy.  It's up to me.  I tell the kids all the time that people can't make you feel something.  It's all how you choose to respond to the situation.  I am choosing to be happy.  And if you don't want to hang out with someone who is happy, find someone else to hang out with.  I say that with the utmost respect!

And so another year on the road is closed.  It was not without its' struggles and challenges, but we are home looking back through pictures and journals with wonderful memories and chatter of "Remember when...?" that's just priceless.

See you here next year!

Day 19 - Home!

The kids must have been excited about going home as they were all up very early!  We were able to pack up, find a cache and see the military tanks all before 9:00am!

The kids had fun trying to move and crank all the different guns.  Brayden was our personal tour guide reading about each of the tanks - how lucky we were!

This Russian gun was captured in Vietnam and still had the original tires with Russian letters on it!

All the guns had the original manufacturing information on them too - very interesting.

While we were looking around some deer were watching us - always neat to see.

The whole time as we looked at the DOD pictures of the tanks in action, Brayden kept looking for Grandpa to see if it was the tank he got stuck.  We never did find him.

We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel one last time and afterward the girls and I played Brayden in checkers. We surrounded him & dominated!!

We drove next to Seminole State Park and showed the staff the kids' geocaching books.  They received the vouchers for the first level prize after finding more than 15 - a bronze coin.  So far the kids have been impressed with the state parks, so I hope these prizes don't disappoint.

We stopped in Crestiview for a snack before heading for home and would you know who served us one of our appetizers?  Dave!  While I was expecting them to scream and jump on him, the kids just sat there in shock.  Ryan finally attached herself to him and we enjoyed being around dad again.

Dave treated me with a drive home without kids in his car while he took mine for the hour drive home.  I giggled as I drove away in his nice, quiet car while he was driving my noisy and exceptionally stinky one!

We were welcomed home with a big thunderstorm and had a fun family night playing games at home and sorting through the piles of mail and laundry.  Stay tuned and after I make it through both piles, I'll post our lessons learned and thank yous.

Day 18

This morning we headed out early on the way to Providence Canyon, otherwise known as "The Little Grand Canyon".  I was anticipating this hike to be the toughest yet so I packed extra snacks and sandwiches for the hike and the trip.  The interpretive center was oddly closed for the summer, so we headed out to the bottom of the canyon in the beautiful sunshine.  After making it through the first canyon and up the side of the next one, we stopped for a quick break and snack.  These guys are troopers!

The hike was over before we knew it and we were back at the picnic area of the park.  I was pretty confused as there wasn't much of a view the entire hike.  I was imagining seeing a small version of some canyons at some overlooks, but the only views we found were at the picnic areas:

The hike was still enjoyable and we would have never know this is what we were hiking up and over and down into:

No matter, we still received punches on our Canyon Climber cards and found another cache at the nearby Florence Marina State Park.  Upon getting back into the car however, Laney's eyes practically swelled shut. There is something growing right now that has her sneezing and itching her eyes like crazy!  I suppose we'll need to set up a doctor's appointment when we get back.  I've never had to deal with any kind of allergies, so not looking forward to that at all!  We stopped in Plains for another healthy serving of peanut butter ice cream before returning to the campsite.  We were greeted there by this little girl:

She really wants to come home with us and the kids desperately want to kitty-nap her, but she'll stay in Georgia.  It was 91 degrees today so we ended the night at the lake beach swimming again and read a few more chapters of "The Five Little Peppers".  We're headed home tomorrow!

Day 17

It's amazing to me my children can sleep in when we're camping admist the morning songs of birds, loud chatter of squirrels, and bustle of other campers!  We started this morning lazily with cheese grits and biscuits while we looked out over the lake next to our campsite.  This guy even came to greet us shortly before we left.

We headed to Plains, GA to see where Nana grew up.  We first stopped at the Visitors Center on the way in to get some tips for a good lunch spot and places to enjoy while there.  The lady working there talked with Nana for a few minutes as her dad was in Plains just around the same time.  I thought I was going to get into trouble when Nana found out I'd told the lady her age before she walked over!  Our next stop was the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, known to Nana as Plains High School where she attended 9th and 10th grade.  We really enjoyed looking through the old pictures and listening to stories of when Nana was there (let's just say a bunch of years ago) when Jimmy Carter was there.

Brayden couldn't resist sitting in the actual chair Jimmy Carter used in the Oval Office.  Pretty presidential looking kid, eh?

They had several rooms set up with original books and furniture and this one was obviously set up like one of the classrooms.  I believe Nana said this was her actual 10th grade classroom.  The kids enjoyed sitting in the desks and pretending to use the ink wells.

After walking through most of the exhibits (I could've stayed for another hour!) we headed to the auditorium where schoolmates assembled every morning to sing, pray, and get ready for the day.  There was also a movie about Jimmy Carter we enjoyed watching.  

Everyone was getting hungry so after stopping by the gift shop, we stopped by the recommended local southern food restaurant - Mimmie's.  On our way to the museum I'd glanced over at the parking lot of this place and it was absolutely packed!  I imagine this is the place everyone goes after church to visit and enjoy some delicious food.  Of course there wasn't all that much for the Clarke vegetarians, so we just opted for mac & cheese, green beans, and peach cobbler - yum!  

Once stuffed, we headed out to Jimmy Carter's boyhood home.  This was also a National Historic Site that was set up similar to Lincoln's home we visited last year.  We were greeted by a park ranger that had just finished boiling some peanuts - delicious!  

The kids enjoyed using the well for water, looking at the animals, and listening to the battery-powered radio similar to the one the family had.  We didn't make it out to the barn as there was a large storm approaching, but we did take a look at the outhouse before we left!  The kids are amazed by those!

We then stopped at the store that was once Jimmy Carter's peanut warehouse for some highly-recommended peanut butter ice cream and boy did they not disappoint!  Everyone ate their treat in record time while the thunderstorm drenched the afternoon.  By the time we were finished looking around, the storm was over and the day was noticeably cooler. 

Next stop, Nana's family cemetery plot.  It took us awhile to find the right road to get there, but we made it. This would be the kids' great-great grandfather, great-great grandmother, and some great-great aunts & uncles. I'd never even known all their names as they were mostly gone before I was born.  Brayden has been interested in tracing back his family history, so we made sure to get some good pictures of all the headstones.

As we were about to walk away, a curious little butterfly came up and wouldn't leave the girls alone.  He was almost thanking them for coming and asking them to stay a little longer.

We headed home ready for a splash in the lake to end the day.  The kids had a snack and were off to bed.  I honestly don't know how they eat so much - I'm still full from lunch!

Day 16

We started the morning a little different.  I'd packed up everything possible excluding the tent the night before and had breakfast-to-go ready in the cooler.  It was always easier to have a non-cooked or eat-out breakfast the morning we leave campgrounds as it would always take at least an extra hour to cook, eat, and clean up even the simplest thing.

Within a half hour from the kids waking up, we were leaving our spot and headed down to the lake for breakfast.  There we had our bagels and bananas and talked as we swung in the swing admiring the view. We wondered where the alligator was.  We watched the fisherman up early to find the day's catch.  We admired this guy as he landed in Laney's hair.  Ryan, the animal-whisperer just had to hold him.

This is the coveted log-rolling contraption at the playground.  Ever since having multiple kids I've been adamant about only purchasing one of a toy to encourage sharing, but this one I would definitely have to have 3 of.

After some time on the playground in the cooler morning air, we set off for a park I thought all the kids would enjoy, General Coffee State Park.  Not only would this be our 15th cache find (redeemable for a bronze coin for each of them), there was a heritage farm, several playgrounds, and a swamp to hike through.  We stopped first at the visitors center to grab a trail map and look over the items for sale as we are getting close to the end of the trip and the money Dave has given the kids is burning a hole in their pockets.  The park ranger there asked me if we liked cereal.  I'm completely sure this guy had no idea he was talking to the cereal consumer who at one point in time had 17 boxes of cereal in the pantry.  Of course since we've been trying to eliminate a lot of processed foods we rarely buy cereal anymore, but I answered yes and the kids' ears perked up.  He pointed to the side of the store and told us to grab a box as he had 150 cases of grape nuts to give away.  Hmmm....sounds like trail food to me!

The kids played on the playground for a few minutes while I prepared us for the hike.  It's interesting to me that all the state park playground equipment has been vastly different.  The kids enjoy exploring new structures every time we stop.  I'm hoping this doesn't make them playground snobs.

The cache we were going for this time was a multi-stage hunt that took us awhile to get going.  Once on the trail we found it pretty quickly.  This one was definitely uniquely hidden!

See it way up there?!

That is quite possibly the largest magnolia tree I've seen.  It was beautiful hidden away in the middle of the forest.  Ryan kept count of all the wildlife we saw - 1 lizard, 2 butterflies, 8 spiders (these guys were as big as my hand with giant webs), 1 egret, and 8 frogs.  On our way back to the car a quick, but soaking downpour started.  We made it back to the car drenched, but quick and cooled off.

We stopped by the heritage farm on the way out and saw all these guys.  

This pig followed us out to the parking lot!  While I've called Ryan the animal whisperer, she is definitely not a pig-whisperer.  She was underfoot the entire time he was behind us!

We opted for ice creams on the way out and hit the road to where we'd be staying.  It was a nice, backroad drive most of the way and we began our next audiobook, "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew".  This is an oldie so there is a lot of explaining to do during the reading, but we've read Little House before so they're familiar with some of the language and times.

We rolled into the park just at check in time and who did we find checking in, none other than Papa himself!  It was perfect timing for us to find camping spots together.  Brayden was excited to see all the tanks and planes on display next to the visitor's center - something we'll do in a cooler part of one of the days we're here.  The kids submitted their Junior Ranger books for a patch and nice pin.  The ranger told them they could keep going on to the next level if they wanted to get another pin.  I'm not sure we'll get to that before we leave, but with that motivation you never know!

 

After setting up, we had a quick dinner and headed to find the swimming beach while they made a trip to Walmart.  Still not like our beach, but in this hot weather with all the persistent gnats, it will definitely do.

Day 15

The girls were up early playing on scooters this morning while Brayden slept in.  It was definitely the early morning quiet before the storm.

During a large breakfast of pancakes and fruit, Ryan found some evidence that we had had a visitor in the middle of the night.  I'd given the kids each a couple ping pong balls to invent games with and up until now they have had fun little competitions with them.  A visitor surprised me as usually when I'm alone with the kids I wake up to the slightest noise so at first I dismissed it away as change in elevation.  Until I noticed the teeth marks.  Here is the untouched control group of ping pong balls.

And here are the ones Ryan found.  The two yellow ones in the back?  That is actually one ball that was bitten in half.

 

We took a few minutes to discuss wild tales of what could have come into our screen enclosure and tried to eat them.  Of course there was a bear, then a possum, an alligator, and a raccoon.  The kids decided they would take the balls down to the visitor's center and ask the park ranger.

But first we jumped in the car to visit another state park that was pretty close - Gordonia-Altamaha - for a hike and some time on the playground.  Playground time quicky turned sour so we headed for the trail.  This was a pretty short hike so we sat down for some family time after to talk about problem resolution.  

The kids decided to leave the park after that and have sandwiches in the car for lunch.  They were anxious to visit the splash pad - especially in this heat!  

 

After cooling off, the kids decided to find the cache in our park.  It was another short hike, but the gnats where out in full force so we only stayed for a short time.  Moods were quickly going downhill so we decided to have a quick dinner and head to the pool.  It's funny how water affects my kids - an instant mood changer.

By this time it was getting gray toward the dusk so we headed back to our site to call dad and head to the playground before getting ready for bed.  The kids finally got to show dad their magic tricks Grammie had bought for them in Helen.  It's hard to demonstrate to a computer, but overall they did pretty well.  They all miss him dearly and ask how many days until we get home at least 3 or 4 times a day.  They all are trying to figure out ways for him to come along the whole time on the next trip.

We headed to the playground for a little while and as the kids fought over whose turn it was on the coveted log roller, I headed to the lake to find the source of the chorus of animals and check out the view.  While I never found any frogs or crickets, I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the water.

Seeing something like this always makes me think about how the bickering and whining really don't matter in the big picture.  We're here to enjoy the beautiful places and wishing those moments away will undoubtedly make me miss these as well.  Within a few minutes I was joined by my crew and we sat silently enjoying the view.  Ryan and Laney spotted Blueberry and all his friends from our first trip who always joined us on our walks in Louisana.

We talked about swimming in the morning, playing on the playground, and having a picnic breakfast by the water.  And we talked about our visitor from the previous night.  Then I showed them this guy who'd been watching us the whole time.  (He's just a small blip in the sunset picture above)

 Although we were on a dock over the lake with multiple railings and protection, they all ran screaming down the walkway to the protection of land.  I couldn't convince them to go swimming in the morning anymore.

After 4 more chapters of "Because of Winn Dixie" and much giggling, we fell asleep.  Everyone is ready for the our next park where we'll meet up with mom's grandparents, Nana and Papa!

Day 14

This morning actually began about 2am with thunderstorm after thunderstorm.  Let me just say whoever invented rainflys should be resting comfortably on a pile of money.  We were dry as could be while the whole outside world was dripping wet.  Fortunately, I'd purchased a screen picnic area tent for this trip, so all our camping stuff was neatly tucked away and dry.  As soon as I got up, I grabbed the other load of laundry and set to work to roll out of the campground.  The kids helped off and on but mostly dug in the ground.  I loved this picture with the sun peeking through.

We had a little drive ahead of us so we opted for breakfast out this morning.  After packing up we stopped by this neat display in the original blacksmith shop from when the CCC built two group shelters here.  

Then we went for a hike in the park to find our 12th cache and were treated to viewings of these little guys.

We said goodbye to Hard Labor Creek Park and headed out to find some much needed breakfast, even if it was already 11am.  After some giant pancakes at Cracker Barrel, we headed south through thunderstorm after thunderstorm toward the next park and after a few stops rolled in to a beautiful southern-looking park with spanish moss hanging from practically every tree.  After setting up our area, we were soaked with sweat.  The heat and humidity has flipped the other way!  We quickly pulled on bathing suits and headed to the pool.  This one had a deep end which thrilled the kids so after cooling off, I got out and watched as they attempted to touch the bottom.  Our family flotation device, Ryan, made it to the bottom 4 times out of about 50!

After about an hour, we headed back to the tent for dinner and pajamas.  The kids ate quickly, so we headed to explore the playground by the lake.  After only about 15 minutes, 180 degrees of dark sky was moving our way so we raced home and ducked into the tent.  I'd looked at the forecast for the evening at the pool and we were supposed to have a big storm in about an hour, so we zipped up the tent and settled down to read our newest book, "Because of Winn Dixie".  We're already 9 chapters in as the kids beg and beg for another chapter at the end of each one.  I'm definitely okay with that. 

Day 13

Today began with breakfast in the car on the way back into Atlanta.  The forecast for the day was rain after rain after rain, so we headed to Grammie's surprise - The Georgia Aquarium!  We've been to Atlanta bunches of times but we've never made it there, until now.  The aquarium itself looks like a normal size big city building on the outside, but the way they've architected it on the inside is simply amazing!

After waiting in line for a little bit (popular place, even on a weekday!), we headed inside straight for the dolphin show to get a good seat.  We did have to stop by a couple beautiful aquariums on the way.

Unfortunately, no pictures or video were allowed during the dolphin show, but it was pretty awesome.  We've been to a bunch of those too, but this one was quite a large Disney-esque performance with a story line and cast.  There were behaviors I'd never seen a dolphin do.  It was really an awesome show.  Next we headed to all the exhibits - first up, Frogs!  I've been the "Frog Class" at school for the last 3 years so naturally the kids think I like frogs.  It's not my first choice of favorite animals, but I humor them.  Brayden enjoyed dissecting one! 

We also did the 3D Ocean show which was fun for the kids too.  They're all finally become brave enough to keep the glasses on the whole time.  This show also Disney-esque with the water and chair effects that made Ryan jump to my lap pretty quick.  The show had a great message though - what we do on land greatly affects the animals and environment in the water.  I think the kids got it.

We saw otters, penguins, seahorses, sea dragons, eels, jellyfish, oh my!  But the most impressive part of the live aquarium was definitely this one:

which opened up to this massive viewing area the size of an IMAX theater:

The kids must have sat there almost motionless for 30 minutes.  We were all in awe of the giant whale sharks and sting rays.

After a trip to the gift shop also thanks to Grammie, we headed to Centennial Park Playground for some play as the storms has passed.  They were running around doing karate moves and sending messages across the playground.
 

This guy was apparently hiding and I almost gave him away.

And as usual, Laney was serving me some kind of food.  She even hold her hand like she's carrying a tray full of food!

We headed back to the campground for dinner and preparation to pack up in the morning.  I started laundry right before dinner in hopes to have it finished by bedtime, but the first finished load had me walking up the road around 9pm.  I had a flashlight, but ended up spooking myself on the way back so I left the other load in the dryer until morning.  So that must be where my jumpy kids get that from!