Day 4

I was happy to wake up to a tent still standing after a sleep-filled night step out into a cool morning. I'd fallen asleep pretty fast but my camping momma bear instincts woke me up when I felt a real breeze and saw a flicker of light flash. I listened for thunder but only heard what sounded like planes far away on both sides of us. I was just about it dismiss it as something else when the tent walls popped in and out from the wind and I saw another flash. This was definitely a storm on the way!

I leapt out of the tent to grab the rain fly and heard Laney right behind me ready to help. I was looking around prioritizing the things that needed put away before the rain came while we were hooking the rain fly onto the tent. The wind was picking up quick so I decided first to secure the rain fly with stakes and check all the stakes already around the tent. Storms always seem worse inside a tent but this wind was going to be a real pain!

Next I rolled up and secured the bags on our cargo tray then packed up the camping chairs. Laney grabbed our swimming clothes off the clothesline and we tossed everything in the car. Lucky for us it hadn't started raining so I even had time to grab the kids' books and duck back into the tent. I pulled up the weather on my phone and saw were were minutes from the beginning of a monster thunderstorm. There wouldn't be much sleeping for awhile. My weather app said rain only until 1am so I was hopeful for it to be a quickly moving or quickly changing storm.

While the kids read I kept checking the weather and making sure the tent was ok. With each gust of wind the poles would try to flex in which would bring the walls in on Laney. I expected the thunder to jolt us but it seemed to move more around us and within a few minutes I was hearing it on the other side of us. I kept doing the Poltergeist counting to make sure the strong part of the storm was moving away from us and before long we were only left with rain. By 11:30 we were all back fast asleep to the rain on our tent and covered with sleeping bags because it was 75 degrees - yipee!!  And I don't thing I moved until I woke up at 6am.

Our tent looked great so after a trip to the bathroom and spooking about 23 deer, I took some time to write. Deer were eating breakfast and birds were flittering all around me the whole time. I was still hoping to see that little fox again. Grammie stopped by on her walk to tell me she'd seen a pig too!

Once my kids were finally awake we walked to the RV for some fresh biscuits. Camping with Grammie is like staying a resort! With full bellies we packed up our campsite and got on the road for a long drive across more of Texas. There wasn't much to do on this drive so we marked a Walmart stop to pick up a few things and to stretch our legs.
We were barely away from our campsite when the wineries started popping up. I'd noticed about 10 when I started counting them. I had no idea Texas had wine country! By the time we made it to Fredricksburg I'd counted 52 wineries in the span of about 20 miles. Time to plan an adult road trip I suppose!

It was another few hours before we showed up to Davis Mountain State Park. I had originally tried to stay at another park nearby with a natural spring but as we drove by I was very happy we hadn't. The place was packed! I guess that happens when it is over 100 degrees outside.

This place was nestled into the mountains and seemed full of life. There were storms all around us so we helped Grammie get set up first then once the big one seemed to go around us Brayden and I set up the tent. Dinner was already ready for us to dig in by the time we got back! We have been eating like royalty the last week for sure! Tonight was alfredo spinach mushroom ravioli casserole with salad - delicious!

We were all stuffed as we piled into the car to experience the scenic drive. I would have hiked it and had Grammie pick me up I just really wasn't sure what was happening with the weather. There were dark clouds in just about every direction with lightning - definitely not ideal hiking weather on a bare mountain!

The Interpretive Center seemed open so we peeked in to find we had just missed a program about the area's wildlife - bummer. We did stay for awhile checking out the local birds all around the viewing area they had set up. There were all kinds that I don't even know but I did spot a finch, a bunch of hummingbirds and a few pigeons.

Once we got to the top of the mountain we saw the magnitude of the storms. I'd left my camera and phone at the campsite so Laney let me use her phone.  I was a little nervous with all the lightning, but it was far enough away that we took a few minutes to watch the clouds roll around. The temperature had dropped around 20 degrees and the view was spectacular. We visited the summit as well as the CCC trail to two other lookout points. I could imagine on a clear day the sunrise or sunset would be absolutely beautiful.











I had Grammie check the weather on our way down to make sure we would be alright in the tent for the night. Amazingly, the storm was to go completely around us and the overnight temperature was to be 67 degrees. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited about actually getting IN my sleeping bag!

Once we got back it was bedtime so I took Laney and Brayden with me. We read for about 10 minutes until I had read the same sentence about 27 times and still didn't know what it said.  After lights out the three of us laid there relishing the cool breeze.

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!

Day 23

This morning began in a panic.  I was up around 2:30am reluctantly zipping up the tent windows because I was awoken by distant lightning flashes.  I quickly went back to sleep only to be awoken again at 5:30am by huge gusts of wind.  I checked my phone for the current weather conditions and saw the whole state of Kansas covered in heavy rain and it was just about to hit us.  Not game for being drenched and all covered in mud again, I started packing as quickly as possible.

Within a few minutes the kids woke up and sensing my urgency did exactly as I asked for a change!  The girls got dressed and hopped in the car and Brayden was my flashlight holder.  I do believe we reached a new record for packing up.  We were headed to the comfort station and on the road just before 6am.

After about an hour we stopped for breakfast and headed to Wonderscope Children's Museum in Kansas City.  We've been to a bunch of museums in our travels that usually have a lot of the same exhibits.  This one was very unique and engaging.  And of course the kids had a blast.  I'm not sure we have ever stayed at a smaller children's museum for almost 5 hours before!

We do need a doctor in the family.

We need a veterinarian too.  Laney is doing surgery here and her rates are outstanding!  For tail surgery and a 15 day stay at the hospital, she only charged me $3.  I tipped her heavily.

This was a show Laney the scuba diver did for me for about an hour.  I would classify it as modern dance with an eclectic, new age twist.  She's booking up fast, folks.

Legos are always a hit.

I think the room we ended up spending the most time in was the art room.  The kids had an enormous selection of materials to create whatever they wanted.  There was everything from your standard paint, paper, glue and crayons to velvet, stickers, felt, cardboard, and all kinds of embellishments.  By far the kids' favorite part of that room was the wall of mirrors with face paint crayons.  Check out their handiwork:

While at the museum I checked the weather and found out the storm was choosing to follow us so we all made the quick, unanimous decision to stay in a hotel for the night.  We had a little bit further to drive than the campground, but the distance and time was quickly dismissed by all in favor of a quiet, dry bed and an easy, free breakfast in the morning!  We also were very excited to see a couple more hours of Olympic coverage.

After long, hot baths for all the kids I closed the curtains on the sunshine and they all fell asleep within seconds.

Day 23: Worry, wonder and wonderful beds!