way down yonder on the Chattahoochee...

This was a SUPER fun time of our 10 day adventure. We took an hour or so ride from Atlanta N to the cool German town of Helen, GA. It is SO quaint & VERY German! One of the best attractions there tubing down the Chattahoochee River.

 
I definitely think tubing in July is WAY under rated! The river may have been a little low but it was SO much fun! There was a bunch of us so each child had a "chaperone" which they LOVED!  

 

Good think Uncle Jim brought along his river sticks aka old golf club poles, to help steer us through the low parts of the river. ** NOTE ** if they sell sticks where you go tubing BUY THEM! They truly come in handy! ** I think the entire ride took us about 2 1/2 hours give or take. We even enjoyed a rainstorm in the middle which really helped cool us off because it was HOT out!! Here's some of the photos I took that day!

They had theses decorated trees. One named the tree of "lost soles"! I'm sure it was given it's name for every lost shoe they found floating down the river! {There was a TON!} LOL! 

And they had a tree decorated with of all things GUM! It was disgusting yet interesting all the same! Being able to get yourself over to this tree just to stick your ABC gum has to be a feat within itself. Take a look at that creation! =] I wonder how old the oldest piece of gum there actually is. YUCK!

Somehow we all lost each other that day so once I got to the end, second behind the hubby, I took pic's of everyone as they had it to the "finish line"! It was funny to see my scrawny children standing up on their tubes! Good thing the tubes had bottoms in them! =]

 

 

I will definitely make another trip up to Helen to go tubing...



way down yonder on the Chattahoochee...

Lake Toxaway adventure 2011...

We are SO lucky to have such WONDERFUL relatives that allowed us to invade their home over the summer. Invading is just what a tribe like ours does! My cousin Lori has a second home in Lake Toxaway, a beautiful place in the NC mountains. It's on a lake, so beautiful & most of all PEACEFUL! That is when the tribe behaved & didn't argue! LOL! I'm SO very blessed to get to spend any time with Lori away from our "normal" lives. It just meant a lot to get to visit in the first place! It truly was just what the Doctor ordered, away from the "rat race" & some peace & quiet! With all the drama that we have been dealing with back in FL this was pure Heaven! She took us out tubing on the lake, hiking in the woods & even took in a little shopping in downtown Brevard. LOVE LOVE LOVE that town! The tribe thoroughly enjoyed themselves as did our "helper" Caitlynn. This was her first time in NC. Her first time tubing on a lake, first time hiking to see a waterfall, heck it was just a week full of "firsts" for her! SO happy to be able to be there for that!

 

and that was our...

Lake Toxaway adventure 2011...

in their Sunday best...

This trip we visited Uncle Jim & Aunt Haidee's church for Sunday services. It was different & the tribe, ok Lindsey, did not want me to leave her. SO sad!! But I knew no matter how much she cried she/they would be fine! The church reminded me a lot of something out of Disney World, so much wood molding & white banisters! Such a beautiful church! Sadly when we decided to take their picture it was AFTER giving them a lollipop! LOL! Here they are...

in their Sunday best...

Stone Mountain....

One of our first stops on this "adventure" of ours was in Atlanta, GA. We have family there so visiting some of the attractions there made perfect sense! Lucky for us my brother, their Uncle Jim, took off from work on what I think was one of thee HOTTEST days of July to hit the trails of Stone Mountain. If you have never heard of or been there you really need to go. It is said that it's the largest piece of exposed granite in the world. The most interesting part is that we only get to see 1/3 of the "mountain" because the other 2/3 of it is underground! They say it continues almost 10 miles below! AMAZING!!

They have a little theme park going on there, most of which were for children older than the tribe however I would definitely go back one day for them to enjoy. Besides the theme park there are camp sites, a train, a sky ride to to the" top of the rock", a night time laser show that makes the carving come to life & much much more. This is one of my most favorite photos from our trip! & I have to say that I still think Uncle Jim sort of looks like a park ranger! Must be the hat! hahah!

** One unadvertised tidbit of info for those wishing to lug their family there you do NOT have to buy admission to the theme park if you just want to see "Stone Mountain" **. Yep the "mountain" is FREE, you do however have to pay for parking but that is a HUGE savings when all you want to do is see God's creation! You can hike to the top for FREE or pay to ride the sky way. Pretty much everything extra costs $ so if you live in the Atlanta area it just might pay to get a seasonal pass. That way you can visit & do whatever you want whenever you want!

So this mama of quads highly recommends that while in Atlanta you make sure you stop and visit...

Stone Mountain...

our special guest...

When it came time for us to go on "Road Trip 2011" I was trying to figure out if I should bring along a "special guest" or do it all by my lonesome. After mentioning this to a friend at work she mentioned that her ten year old daughter would love to come along. I really don't think she knew what she was truly in for, being in a car for over 9 hours with 4 four year old's and all. Anyhow before we could blink Miss Caitlynn joined us on our "adventure". She was a great help in trying to break up verbal disagreements amongst the tribe. They LOVE to argue! I will say that Miss Caitlynn was NOT a morning person so we did not see her till way after 10 am most mornings. Just having another body there was nice. Even though I've known her for years I really found out a lot about her on this trip, like how she has never driven out of the state of Florida before. She flew to NJ, PA & TX by plane but never left FL by car. Hmm... Isn't it usually the other way around?! We celebrated a lot of "firsts" with her on our "Road Trip". She even lost a tooth! I must say that we had fun & were glad that Miss Caitlynn was there to experience it with us! She was truly...

our special guest...

Just where in the world are the FOUR little FULTON's?!...

It's adventure time! In just under an hour myself, the tribe & our special guest will be taking off on an adventure. Nothing like hitting the pavement in double digit weather. Now just what will we do? Where will we go? Who will we see? That is the 1000 dollar question. I am going to attempt to take the 6 of us on this adventure for 1,000 dollars or less. If you want to follow our journey just check in here to see exactly how I manage it. Trust me I think this is going to be more of an "adventure" for me than them! So...


Just where in the world are the FOUR little FULTON's?!...