Happy Halloween 2019!

 Happy Halloween! 

Fall Break Day 2 - The Aquarium

We spent all of day two at the Georgia Aquarium. Seeing the whale shark was awesome and a great start to our day. But, that was just the beginning. We were able to go on a behind the scenes tour to see and learn about all the inner workings of the Aquarium. We caught the right time tour to see the whale shark feeding from above the tank. 

Fall Break 2019 Day 1

With only a three day weekend, we chose a fall break location within a few hours travel with lots to do in a concentrated area: Atlanta, Georgia. The boys hadn’t been to Georgia yet, so we added another state to the list. 

On our first day in Atlanta, we started with breakfast at the hotel and a drizzly walk to the CNN building. After we broke a world record by riding on the world’s longest freestanding escalator, we toured the studios. Kai was really interested and asked lots of questions including, “how much do anchors get paid,” and, “how do you get a job at CNN?” He said he might want to do that someday.  He was especially interested in the behind the scenes roles and said he wants to be the boss. 

On our way to our next stop, we found ourselves in the middle of a Walking Dead convention. I’m a huge fan of The Walking Dead and have seen every episode of all 10 seasons so far. On the escalator in the CNN building, one of the actors was literally right behind us! My curiosity was piqued and I asked how much it was to attend since we were already there. It was not that much to go in the convention hall, so we went. I got to see lots and meet a couple of the big stars of the show including Carl, Neagen, the girl who played Sophia, and lots more!!  The boys were good sports while we waited for a glimpse of Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Sage said the name of the convention, Walker Stalker, was a good fit because I was casually stalking my favorites. 😀

When the boys were ready for lunch and something more fun for them, we headed over to the World of Coca Cola where we spent a few hours learning the history of the company. It was pretty interesting. The boys’ favorite part was the tasting room where there were over 100 flavors of Coca-Cola products from around the world. We tried them all! It was fun even though we had tummy aches and a hard time sleeping after all that sugar and caffeine. We discovered that the original Coca-Cola is our favorite. 

After all that sugar, we needed to burn off some energy, so we headed over to the College Football Hall of Fame. We had way more fun than we expected there because we’re not really huge football fans. But, they had lots of interactive activities for the kids and the boys tried nearly all of them. They ran plays, caught footballs, practiced throwing, attempted to kick a field goal, pretended to be sportscasters, tested their athletic abilities, and more. We learned some history along the way too. We might’ve even created a couple new football fans!

We ended the day with a soggy walk in the pouring rain to pick up pizza and take it back to our hotel. We put on dry clothes and enjoyed our pizza while we reflected on our awesome first day!!

CEO Kelly

Sage had his 5th grade field trip to Biz Town on Friday. He was the CEO of AT&T.  He had a great day and learned lots about what it takes to be a working citizen. 

Our Rockstar!!

We are incredibly proud of Kai! He rocked his end of season show tonight at The Firebird. His 90s Hip Hop and R&B group was the headlining act and they did not disappoint. It takes a lot of courage to perform on stage in front of a sold out crowd especially as the youngest in the group. 

L

Brag on the Boys

It’s one of those days where I just have to brag on my boys. Kai’s teacher stopped me after school and said she had to brag on him for being a great leader today. She said he had an awesome day and she was proud of his leadership. 🥰

Then, this afternoon, I noticed a poster hanging in the hall that Sage had made to promote the can food drive. It made me smile because of the “for every can donated, your heart will grow 2x,” quickly followed by, “your heart won’t explode.” 😂 And, later we discovered Sage’s artwork was the one selected to represent 5th grade in the front office. 

So proud of my boys!

Sage also started a movement at school by creating quotes on signs and hanging them in the hallways.  He was the first, but many other students followed. Love, love, love their leadership! 

Go Cards!

We spent the day at the ball park cheering for the Cardinals. Even though we didn’t bring home a winner, we had fun cheering on our team. The boys also enjoyed eating all the snacks. 

Michigan Vacation 2019

Back in July, we crossed another state off our list with an amazing trip to Michigan. 

Day 1: We traveled to Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan for some dune and beach fun. 

Day 2 - 4: Traverse City, MI

Traverse City was beautiful! We loved everything about the cute, clean, and friendly town. We kayaked the bay and were amazed that we could see all the way to the bottom of the lake as far out as we were! We enjoyed sailing Lake Michigan on The Schooner Manitou, climbing Sleeping Bear Dunes, visiting the National Cherry Festival, swimming at the beaches, and camping at TC state Park. 

Day 5-6: Mackinaw City, MI

From TC, we drove to Mackinaw City for some more fun. We stayed in a water park hotel and enjoyed a local playground. The first night in Mackinaw City, we discovered nearby Headlands National Dark Sky Park.  We loved viewing the moon, Saturn with its’ rings, and all the other stars and planets in dark sky. We learned tons from the onsite astronomers who even shared their professional telescopes! It was awesome!  

The next day, we ferried over to Mackinaw Island for a day of biking and exploring. The boys loved the island! We spent about eight hours biking the outside and inside of the island trying to find all the playgrounds. Our favorite was Turtle Park right in the middle of the island next to Fort Holmes. The boys also enjoyed learning the history of the fort from volunteer actors. 

Day 7: Indiana Dunes National Park

On our way home, we made one last stop to spend the day at Indiana Dunes National Park in Indiana. We biked from the visitor center to the start of the 3 Dune Challenge. Honestly, it wasn’t much of a challenge compared to the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. But, it was fun anyway! Then, we biked to the beach which was actually closed because of dangerous waves. The boys were allowed to go just close enough to be splashed and cool off from our hiking and biking. 

Michigan was gorgeous and fun! It’s definitely a place to return to soon.