Month: October 2016

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Katie Beth’s Halloween Costume

Katie Beth as Professor McGonagallKatie Beth and many of her classmates decided to dress as many of the Harry Potter characters.  Katie Beth wanted to be Professor McGonagall.  Her friends dressed as Hogwarts students such as Hermione Granger (Claire) and Moaning Myrtle (Maddy).

Karen set out to make this costume with the sewing machine.  After searching for a bit, Karen found a pattern that would work.  Then, she realized Professor McGonagall doesn’t wear a cape, but a robe.  Karen was able to complete redesign the costume into the needed robe.  She did a very good job if I say so.  Someone, at a party, made Katie Beth a clay snake that Karen wrapped around a chopstick and baked firm to be Professor McGonagall’s wand.

Katie Beth as Professor McGonagallKatie Beth had a blast with the costume, but she didn’t want to keep it on as usual.

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Natural Well Trail Hike

Natural WellWe went hiking this morning on the Natural Well trail in Monte Sano State Park.  The key feature of the trail is the Natural Well, which is a 191.5′ deep pit. I have never been in the pit, but I understand it features domes and a waterfall.

The weather was beautiful this morning with a light breeze and sunny so the light was dappling through the trees on fallen leaves. The fall colors were wonderful to see.

Katie Beth and Karen with Fall ColorWe hiked 1¾ miles to the pit opening. Along the way, we crossed a previous land slide, which was impressive to see the damage that can cause.  Karen spotted a large knocked down wasp nest and collected pieces for a art project. Katie Beth was collecting large leaves along the whole way.

You can see more photos here.  Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”.

 

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Rickwood Cavern State Park Camping

American Heritage Girls Rickwood Cavern CampingWe went camping with our daughter’s American Heritage Girls troop at Rickwood Cavern State Park.  We got an early start on camping as Katie Beth’s school let out at 1 o’clock on Friday since they were having parent-teacher conferences for the first terms report cards.  (By the way, Katie Beth got all A’s, hoot!) We had our campsite setup hours before everyone else started to arrive.

We should have packed more bedding as it got very cool at night.  One night was as low as 40°F.  But, the weather was great during the day for all of our activities.

The park has a nice playground, a pool with a high dive, a couple trials, and the cavern.  The cavern is small and they have tours 4 times a day.  The cave tour costs: $17.00 for age 13 to adult, $8.00 for age 5 to 12.  In the past, cave was setup as fall out shelter and still holds the remains of the supplies from the Civil Defense.  The park grounds are covered with many aquatic fossils as Alabama was historically a seabed.

Fossil Mountain Hiking TrailOn Friday evening, the campers played at the playground.  On Saturday, we did the cave tour and walked Fossil Mountain Hiking Trail.  Everyone enjoyed seeing all of the fossils in the rocks.  On Sunday, we broke camp.  We had to get back to town for a birthday party, but the rest of the group went to the Holy Door of Mercy at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.

We learned more about camping on this trip.  We need better cold weather sleeping gear.  Blankets take too much space so I see better sleep bags in our future.  A burn restriction prevented wood fires so the cooking plans had to be adjusted and people were expecting a large log fire to keep them warm in the evenings.

You can see more photos here.  Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”.

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Skipping School for Nashville Trip

Adventure Science MuseumWe took Katie Beth out of school today and we went to Nashville for the day.  Our main goal was the Adventure Science Museum.

First, Karen got to stop and check out possible new cars that she is looking to purchase.  She wishes she had more time with the car shopping on the trip.

Next up, we headed to the Adventure Science Museum in Nashville.  Our old Sci-Quest membership came in handy allowing us to get in free using the ASTC TRAVEL PASSPORT PROGRAM.

We had a blast climbing all over the museum.  The center of the museum is an climbing structure that takes you to the top of the building for a full 360° view of Nashville, which very cool.  We played games and pretended we were on the International Space Station.  I even picked a car with a lever and got the high score on food pyramid “Whack-A-Mole” style game.  The science display and activities covered health and body, underwater research, space, physics, and much more.

Rock Bottom Brewery RooftopFinally, we ended up on a roof top restaurant, Rock Bottom Brewery, and finished the day well with great appetizers, wonderful weather, and super view.

You can see more photos here. Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”.

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Fall Break Trip to Orange Beach

Playing in the Water at Orange Beach AlabamaWe had a wonderful trip to Orange Beach during Katie Beth’s Fall Break.  We met some nice families with child that Katie Beth truly enjoyed playing with for the whole trip.

We rented kayaks from Paddled by You and we paddled out to Gilchrist and Bird Islands.  Katie Beth enjoyed discovering all of the creatures on the island.  After the islands, we paddled over to Tacky Jacks for lunch, which was much appreciated.  Paddled by You was nice and you get a free chocolate bar after your rental, but they require cash.

We had great meals of Royal Red shrimp and lobster picked up at the local grocery stores.  By the end of the week, we were sharing meals with the families that we met on the trip.  These meals were so much fun with all of the adult time and the children playing.

You can see more of the photos here.  Remember, the username and password are “Friends” and “Photos”

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Sharing Childhood Memories

fishing with daughterAs a child, we would always come to the beach and a tradition was to sit on the dock and fish at night time. This trip is a special trip, because we went up to the same place Karen and I went when we were young but now with Katie Beth. 

We didn’t catch anything that we had lots of bites and fun.