We got up and enjoyed a nice breakfast while packing up and getting ready to leave. We were so super close to South Carolina that we decided to drive through so that we could say that we had a four state trip.
Shannon was a happy camper!
John? Not so much! (I see his teenager face here)
Here's where we could have gone white water rafting . . . but the kids were too young and small. One day!
Then we drove over the S.C. state line . . .
And drove right back!
Beautiful scenery to accompany us to our next destination of Stone Mountain.
Then we stopped at this super sketchy place for lunch and could tell immediately that we were in the wrong part of town. Ate quickly and back in the car and on our way before too long. The one silver lining was there was a lovely employee of the place where we ate that got us a high chair and napkins and ketchup and asked us many times if she could be of more help. Only reason I didn't leave running to the car right away!
Just a short drive later and we were there! Stone Mountain!
And it was HOT. Like so so so hot that I started the day in flip flops but quickly had to change because my feet were burning from the heat coming from the cement. The kids were thrilled to be there, can you tell?! ;)
Then we made a bad decision. We saw a cool, dark theater promising air conditioning and we went in. It was a 4-D movie "experience". I don't really care for the 3-D things myself. I steer clear at Disney or anywhere else, but I thought for the kids I'd give it a try. Well then they warned us that this was a 4-D thing so there would be "fun surprises" throughout the movie. Red flag!! Still we tried. The thing is, John isn't really into "fun surprises". At all. So after the first "fun surprise" we quickly exited the building and found a place to calm down and regroup.
Waiting in line for the movie.
Shannon sporting the 3-D glasses.
Ready? Maybe not!
Next up was something that we KNEW John would love, mini-golf! While Jeff and John did that Shannon and I went on a run to the car. The mini-golf course is on the other side of train tracks of a train that takes you on a tour through the park and around the mountain.
Jeff and John finished their game and we were off to the "Barn" for some more fun!
I'd like to take this moment to point out that Jeff, being the planner that he is, pre-purchased family passes for us weeks before getting there. He did it online and I really should have known he would have done something special. Check out the photo and where the arrow is pointing. That's right DOCTOR Sponseller?! Ok, sure!
So back to the Barn. It's an indoor play ground that has the theme of harvesting crops. The crops are balls, you have to find these balls and then "deposit" them in special places around the Barn. These places are actually vaccum shoots that make the balls fall somewhere else. All this to say, John is typically not a fan of loud noises, so we were worried . . . he LOVED this place! We literally have to drag him out!
Next we planned on taking the sky ride to the top of the mountain. Thankfully Jeff took over pushing the stroller here! Straight up!
Looking back . . .
The top of the look out.
Our happy Family!
Check out the Mountain!
Here's the sky ride . . .
As we were walking to the ride, it was shut down because there was lightning in the area. Major bummer!! But we decided to go on the train ride instead! It was great! We got a full history lesson on the mountain. I know someone carved a bunch of historical figures on the mountain, I think I missing some details but hey, it was a fun ride!
Back of the mountain
Silly boy!
Could not get over the scenary!!
Here's the lawn that every one sits on for the night laser light show.
So then we decided to head back to the hotel, check in and take a rest before coming back for the laser show. In the parking lot there was a lovely photo op!
He climbed up there all by himself!
Back at night for the laser light show. The ground was soaked because it had rained most of the afternoon, but this was a fun memory for Jeff growing up so we decided that we were staying no matter what. Bob and Bern who had gone somewhere else that day, met up with us that night.
It was chilly that night!
Waiting for the show
John took this one!
The show!
John snuggled with me, it was lovely!
We got back to the hotel late. The kids happy to be in bed and so were we! And woah that was one long day!
Day 8
Another early morning. John and Shannon don't know the meaning of sleeping in! We ate at the hotel, packed up and got on the road towards Warner Robins Air Force Base Museum.
Since we were on the road a lot, we got used to seeing the typical travelers, RV's, 18-wheelers, minivans, etc. But then we saw this thing ahead of us. I have no idea what it is, but it looked . . . important?
Then we drove next to a train, John thought this was so cool!
So then GPS brought us to the Air Force Base and not the Air Force Base MUSEUM. An armed guard nicely told us to turn around. Jeff thought a picture was "inappropriate" at that time. ;)
Finally we found it!
The museum was split up into four different buildings and an outside area where actual planes were. All John wanted to see was the "shark plane" that he had seen on one of Jeff's history shows. Sure enough . . . one of the first things we saw!
The museum was really great with hands on opportunities for the kids. Jeff and John really loved this place! Shannon and I were enjoying ourselves, but it was clear this was a "guy" thing! ;)
There were planes and helicopters set up inside as well. These things are HUGE! It really is amazing to stand next to them and understand the actual size of things!
On our way outside we saw that they had a flight simulator ride. We weren't sure if John would be interested, he was at first then decided against it. So we went outside to check out the bigger planes. Again they were HUGE!!!!
I think this is the type of plane that Bob spent time on.
John needed a few minutes alone ;)
Check out how small I am compared to the plane.
Then John decided that he wanted to go on the simulator! He was so excited!
Shannon and I waited, they had plane seats of course!
I asked John what he thought of his ride, do you think he liked it?
One last building to check out.
Then it was time to hit the road again! Our next destination was Valdosta! The kids napped along the way.
And then were up.
We found a very nice hotel somewhere along the way. We definitely needed time out of the car! We called in a pizza and enjoyed watching TV and being lazy!
Hi!
Fun hotel times!
Kids were a bit stir crazy . . .
But it was all good!
We kept the kids up late that night in hopes of a slightly later start the next day. Our time outside of Florida was almost over and then next big part of our trip about to begin!
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