Seriously, this park was so beautiful. It is about 35 miles northwest of Atlanta in the town of Cartersville.
Sadly, we did not get to explore the park as much as we would have loved to. We had something planned for every day leaving little time at the park. We should have stayed two weeks!
Having never been to the park before, we were unsure about how our trailer would maneuver through the park so we opted for the pull through sites up front (which have their own issues). Well, it turned out to be another time where we would have what we call "campsite envy", wishing we had picked another spot. There were some amazing campsites up on cliffs overlooking the water. We probably could have moved but parking the trailer and moving about the campgrounds is always so stressful that once we get in somewhere I hate the idea of moving again. So we stayed put. Nonetheless, it was still a nice spot. It was wooded and I loved the view out the windows.
I was amazed at the amount of pollen everywhere. The ground was yellow! It was unbelievable! Jordan took JUST A FEW STEPS with her clean black shoes through some of the pine needles and this is what her shoes looked like:
I thought for sure that we would all be suffering tremendously from our allergies but it didn't happen. Jacob, Greg and I were already on our allergy medicine and Jordan just doesn't seem to be bothered by it.
This is a picture of Allatoona Lake from the day use area. They had miniature golf, picnic tables and two playscapes.
One evening, we made it out for a bike ride on the Iron Hill Trail. There was access from our campsite and it made a 6-mile loop.
There were some great views of the lake.
Another cool thing we saw was a Momma fox and her cubs that were playing around the den but neither camera would zoom well enough.
I just thought this was a cool area. The soil was so red!
And check out this long earthworm we found!
As I said, we had a number of things planned for this week. But first, I had to go to Target! I have not been in a Target since we were in Destin and this was only my second time since we left Austin 3 months ago! Wal-Mart is no substitute!!
So after that was out of the way, we headed to the park office where Jacob presented his activity book to earn his Level II badge in the Georgia state park Junior Ranger program. We are so proud of his work and what he is learning from participating in these programs.
Then we were off to the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville. It was a great museum and we got in free with our museum pass. We did pay $2 each to watch a planet movie in the planetarium theater but the kids were a little young and did not enjoy it.
The grounds were very pretty and they had an observatory and offered programs periodically.
The grounds were very pretty and they had an observatory and offered programs periodically.
There was a dinosaur exhibit.
transportation exhibit,
(In 1903, this was the most affordable car. It went $20 miles per hour and cost $425. For an extra $22, you could have a roof put on.)
And here is what the kids enjoyed most: fossil digging (they each got to take home one real fossil-they chose shark teeth)
And panning for gems. Here, they could take all that they found.
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Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield was next. Jacob and Jordan finished their Junior Ranger written work at the museum and the required hike, thereby earning their 4th National Park Junior Ranger badge.
Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch. While it looks gorgeous outside, it was really only in the low 50s!
From there, we drove to the Cheatham Hill Battlefield. There were some cannons,
and the Texas monument,
and the Illinois monument.
The kids were mostly interested in the stones that marked the locations of fallen soldiers. We read all of the signs and markers and took the trail to the grave of the unknown soldier.
The earthworks where the soldiers hid are still visible.
This area is called Dead Angle. Here, Union troops charged up this hill towards where the Illinois monument is behind me. The Confederate soldiers were positioned in the earthworks and fired upon the Union soldiers resulting in hundreds of casualties. It's beautiful now. It's hard to imagine the battle that happened so many years ago.
This is what Greg and the kids would have looked like in the Dinosaur Age ;)
The permanent exhibit halls had exhibits on development of life on Earth as well as landscapes of Georgia today, but they also had a great temporary exhibit on Whales. This is a real whale skeleton. It was so huge!
And this is a life-sized model of the whale's heart that the kids can crawl around in. Maybe one day I will see a whale because it is still hard to imaging something so big!
And, there was a children's area called Nature Quest. It had a lot of hands on fun for the kids.
The kids moved around this place non-stop.
It was a fun afternoon, their daughter is 7 and their son is 2 and they are beautiful kids. Jordan and Vangie connected quickly and she led Jordan through the zoo like a caring big sister; making sure she could see everything and that she stayed with the group. (It was kind of a nice break for Mommy! :)
The kids all seemed to have a good time together and the zoo was nice. They had a wide variety of animals there.
I don't know what the rest of these are but they were just beautiful.
My kids were sad to part the other two kids but got excited again when we told them we would see them again for dinner the following evening.
The next day was spent at the Georgia Aquarium. Field trips + Good Friday = very busy aquarium! It was so crowded! It was a great aquarium but a little hard to enjoy with so many people there. I felt like I was in the middle of a herd of cattle.
See all of the little worm-like things poking out of the sand? Those are actually eels. I don't think I have ever seen them before.
The large aquarium walls made for some great views.
A whale shark swam right overhead!
It's things like this that really make me fearful of swimming in anything but a pool; wondering what is lurking below.
And of course, the kids' favorite was touching the rays.
So from there, we headed over to Frank and Cynthia's house for dinner. It was a great evening. The kids really enjoyed playing and we enjoyed the conversation with old friends. And, I must add that the lasagna was to die for!
Our last stop was Six Flags Over Georgia. We have a Season Pass from Fiesta, TX and the kids have been looking forward to it for a long time. It was AWESOME! Mainly, because it was Easter weekend and a little misty and so no one was there. We hardly had to wait in any lines at all! Jordan rode her first big roller coaster, but she quickly decided that was not her thing :). Jacob rode a roller coaster that flipped upside down but did not like that! He rode everything else in the park as long as he could stay upright.
I think we rode these cars a million times! The kids had so much fun in them!
And a couple of times, while Greg and I sat in back, we gave the kids a little taste of their own medicine. We whined, we fought, we asked "How much longer?" in the whiniest voice possible, and we yelled. If only I had remembered to kick the seat a few times! Ha Ha!
The cutest part of the day was when Jordan saw all of the Looney Tunes characters. She got so excited and ran up to hug, high-five and get her picture taken with them. I think we have pictures with all but one of them!
And if you couldn't tell, Tweety was her favorite.
It was a very fun way to end our stay in the Atlanta area!
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