We are definitely slowing down on the hiking front as the weather is getting warmer and more humid: not fun to go out there with 4 kids when everyone is sweating bullets! This particular hike a couple weeks ago was really fun because it was short (as promised to my boys) and because we actually had never walked it. It follows the lakeshore for a while offering some pretty views. While a short 1 mile hike does not offer as much exercise as a longer hike, it offers opportunities for taking one’s time to observe nature. See the frog? My 9 year old noticed it as we walked by. This…

This post will not be wordy. I am letting the pictures speak for themselves and sharing my sons’ sunset poems. We have been blessed these past months with great weather, outside time and the opportunity to spend a weekend at the lake. These pictures were taken one evening at the lake courtesy of my son. The sun sets as the moon rises, bringing upon us an era anew with surprises. As dusk is brought upon by the coming of night, the stars start twinkling shedding their light. M (13) In summer, sunsets are late And you have to stay awake. In winter, you can just look up And see the…

“The Silver Comet Trail is 61.5 miles long, and starts at the Mavell Road Trailhead in Smyrna, Georgia. It ends at the Georgia/Alabama state line, near Cedartown and The Esom Hill Trailhead. At the Georgia/Alabama state line, the Silver Comet connects to the 33-mile long Chief Ladiga Trail. Both the Silver Comet Trail and Chief Ladiga are fully paved rail-trails built on abandoned railroad lines. The combined Silver Comet and Chief Ladiga trail length is estimated to be 94.5 paved miles from Smyrna, Georgia to Anniston, Alabama. ” (from the Silver Comet Trail Official Website) For the past year or so, I have been wanting to walk or ride part of the Silver…

This is my third and last installment of my series dedicated on the beauty found in nature. This quarantine time came at the perfect time as far as weather goes in Georgia: we have had the most wonderful weather: cool and warm most days, the highest temperature we have had so far has been in the mid 80s and not much humidity to speak of. Usually by this time, we are about to suffer from heat stroke. We have 3 places within 15 minutes drives from our house where we can enjoy hikes. Thankfully, the boys have really enjoyed this outdoor adventures as much as I have and they are…

Welcome to my 2nd post sharing the beauty our family has found in nature in the past week or so. We returned to the same Indian Mounds and state park last week. This time I really enjoyed taking it all in and let my oldest take care of taking pictures. I am going to look at websites to help him work on his photography and allow him to use my camera. He seems to have a great eye for photo composition. First off though, I wanted to share this picture of one of the blooms from my mother in law’s jasmine honeysuckle. These usually attract hummingbirds and the blooms are…

We may not be able to fly anywhere right now nor plan any vacations but we can savor the little things. This is the first of 3 posts sharing some of the beauty in nature that my kids and I have encountered on our walks and adventures. One of the things that I have really enjoyed these past couple of weeks is nature and how beautiful the area I live in is. Wildflowers, grass, trees, blue skies: they make my heart sing. I am so grateful right now for the beauty in God’s creation. So today I am sharing some pictures my son and I took last week on our…

One of my favorite part of blogging is sharing our trips and some of the tips that help make traveling with children easier. Some of our trips have been abroad but I also enjoy sharing our roadtrips and small vacations nearby. Of course, my top traveling post is one from our trip last summer to Spain and France. I had a hard time traveling which was my favorite as this was a really fun trip with many opportunities for beautiful pictures. Saving for traveling is one of my big priorities and while plane tickets were not affordable this year, I am not too disappointed since we had traveled abroad 3…

The main activity on our Chattanooga trip was visiting the Tennessee aquarium. We had not been in at least 10 years but my oldest had been on a field trip in 5th grade and all of the boys have been asking to go for the past year. The year membership for a family is $175 and we went ahead and purchased it since it was only $26 than the cost of admission for our family, I wore a comfortable outfit since I knew we would be on our feet all day. It was a beautiful day outdoors and I wish that I didn’t have to carry everyone’s layers once we…