Bear Lake! When we planned this hike, we didn’t realize how far the drive was from our rental and how the timed entry at RMNP would affect it. So, our first day (we were staying 5 min away from one of the entrance of the parkway), we spoke to the park attendant and were informed that because we were entering at that entrance, we could arrive at the park 1 hour earlier than our time entry so we could make it to the Bear Lake timed entry point on time. It is about 1h45 min drive and your timed entrance is for a two hour window, so we did not…

We spent a week in Colorado the first week of June. This was our big vacation for the year (the second being our week at the beach at Thanksgiving) and we have a few smaller trips plans including an anniversary trip that I need to brainstorm about. For this trip, I had my 19 year old plan the whole vacation from plane tickets, lodging and activities. He did a great job! We had to make a few adjustments, but all in all we did most of what was on our list. After spending the afternoon in Manitou Springs the day of our arrival, we got ready the next day for…

Since I bought a family membership to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens this spring, I am hoping to visit once or twice every season. When we last came, we missed the tulips by a day, but I made sure to look up when the new exhibit was scheduled and planned our visit the first week after school ended. The new exhibit was fun and colorful and I found that I liked most of the pieces. Niki in the Garden is an exhibition of large sculpture by a French artist named Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) and was famous for her sculptures that expored themes of f”eminism, mythology, politics and personal trauma”.…

Last week, I shared the yellow plants and flowers I saw at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The other color I searched for was pink and it sure was there in abundance too. I hope you enjoy these beautiful pictures: while I love plants, I do not have a green thumb, so there are not often any to admire at home. That is one of the reasons I love the botanical gardens: someone else does the hard work and I get to enjoy the beauty! Of course, there were many gorgeous orchids in the pink and purple family since they were at their peek bloom. The gardens calls this time period…

A couple weeks ago, I took the boys to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in hopes of the tulips still being in bloom. However, they had just pulled them out and tilled the area where they had been, so we decided to focus our visit on a color search. Since I was participating in a color challenge with some friends, we look for two colors, yellow and pink! We renewed our membership to the gardens, so we will be back in a couple months when the new sculpture exhibit is installed. Searching for  blooms of a color is a fun way to make a visit to the gardens more interesting. We…

Earlier this year, my husband came across an advertisement for the Lost Sea Underground lake and caverns while on his phone. He mentioned it to me as a possible destination and after realizing it was only 2 hours from home, I decided it would be fun to visit during a school break. It is located 140 inside a mountain in East Tennessee and includes large caverns and an underground body of water known as the Lost Sea. It is listed in the World Guinness book of records as the largest US underground lake. During our tour we also learned of another cavern of an unknown size that is completely submerged…

One of the things on my bucket list for December was to take the boys to a Bethlehem Walk in Marietta. I had taken my two oldest years ago (maybe 10+ years) and had really enjoyed it. So we made time on our schedule and after trying to go the first night (it was too long of a line and wait), we went on the closing night which was a Monday. The drive is about 35 minutes from our house and the Bethlehem Walk takes place outdoor on the grounds of a Methodist church. Everyone is dressed in the time period of Christ, and you walk through the “city” stopping…

One of my favorite activities at the beach is to go on bike rides whether solo or as a family. It is always a little difficult as a family as my kids range from 8 years old to 19 which means we do have a younger one in tow who gets tired before everyone else. With that in mind, we still went on several bike rides ranging from 8 miles to 16 miles. Bike Ride to Topsail State Park This was a fun ride with the 3 older boys. We decided to go to one end of 30A (the closer end to where we stayed, which meant that the State…