Friday, July 8, 2016

Stone Mountain

We had such a great day today.  When we lived in Georgia we would camp at Stone Mountain every once in awhile.  Always in tents.  Once a tornado came through while we were camping.  A tree fell right where our van had been.  Preston was a baby and trees were down everywhere.  They started cutting them away at 2 in the morning.  That was a long night.  No tornados today.  The weather was perfect, even though it is so hot!  We bought adventure passes that came with a food pass.  Best decision!  It was only five extra dollars to add it to our ticket, you just had to know about it and do it online.  Not only did we get food for a half way decent price but we got drinks.  They let you pick up your cups whenever you want and you can refill them anywhere in the park. I drank so much water!  It really helped with being outside all day.  We would have been miserable without those cups.

We took a bus to stone mountain from our campsite.  It is a free shuttle.  They used to have ferrys that would take you to the campsite. Mike purposely picked a site close to a ferry station.  Well, they stopped running those.  Our campsite was about as far from the shuttle stop as you could get.  Oh well.  The kids didn't complain.  We brought our chairs with us and set them up on the lawn for the laser show tonight.
Stone Mountain
After picking up our drinks, our first stop was the miniature golf course.  It is based around the General.  Too bad we won't have time to go to the museum in Kennesaw that has the General.  Stockton always liked this course.
 Preston
 Mike's hole in one
 Maysen and far away Jorja
 Jorja
 Stockton
 Jorja
If you get a hole in one on the last hole the train comes out and blows its whistle.  There is a super tiny hole that you can't quite see.
Maysen & Stockton
 Preston did it!  Hole in one!
 The train came out for him!
Our next stop was the Sky Hike.  You get hooked in harnesses and walk along different ropes/boards on three different levels.  The first time I took Jorja on this she crossed one board on the bottom level and then started screaming.  She just screamed and screamed and screamed. The workers had to come and help her back.  I'm glad she isn't as terrified at things as she once was.  No problem with her this time!

We all tried the rock climbing wall next.  It was super hard.  The things you grip on had been worn down and they were really slippery.  I don't think they had been replaced since we were here six years ago. Stockton made it the highest.
Stockton & Stephanie
 Stephanie
 Stockton
 Preston and Jorja played in the sand while we were climbing
We went to the 4D movie next.  Air conditioning!  They take everyone's picture as you are coming in.  We were told to act scared.  I had no intention of buying the picture until I saw Preston's face.  What an amazing scared face!  Haha!  Makes me laugh every time I look at it. The 4D movie is now a Yogi Bear movie.  It is better than the swamp movie that was there years ago.
Mike, Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Maysen, Stephanie
For several years a picture we took at the 4D theater in Stone Mountain was my banner for this blog. We tried to recreate it, but it was not nearly as cute as the first one.  Plus the wall we stood in front of us now boring.
Stephanie & Preston, Maysen, Stockton, Mike, Jorja
 Preston is not as easy to carry as he used to be
 Stockton, Mike, Preston, Maysen, Jorja
 Stockton, Stephanie, Preston, Maysen, Jorja
We took the tram to the top.  It's amazing how big this is.  Bigger than Mount Rushmore.  Two school busses could fit on the horses head. Crazy!
 Maysen, Mike, Preston, Stockton (and Jorja)
 Stockton & Jorja
Preston liked finding these holes that were perfect cup holders.  It was windy up here and it felt so good!
Preston
 Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Maysen, Stephanie
Atlanta is in the background, but we are blocking it
 Jorja, Stockton, Preston, Mike, Maysen
 Mike & Stephanie
 Preston & Mike
 Stockton, Mike, Preston, Maysen, Jorja
The kids were so happy to find the barn!  They spent many hours playing here when they were little. They still had fun, but the scoring system is gone.  Before they would wear wristbands and when a task was complete they would get points.  There was a high score board for everyone to see.  Stockton loved that!  This time you could still do the different things, but no point system.  Not as fun that way, but probably much easier to maintain.
Jorja and Stockton
 Jorja kept targeting this person for some reason
 Preston
 Stockton targeted 'orange shirt' guy.
He liked it and his mom thought it was hilarious.
 Jorja and Stockton shooting orange shirt guy
 Mike & Jorja
Preston was alone playing in here when all of a sudden lots of balls fell on him for a long time.  I couldn't get a good picture, but it was pretty funny.  A worker was raking balls that were caught onto Preston.
Preston
I bought some authentic Southern shirts.  I wanted to buy a Star Wars one for my dad.  I sent him a picture of it and asked if he would wear it. He wouldn't.  The shirts were buy three get one free, so I ended up getting the Star Wars one for Mike.  I'm going to make him wear it tomorrow.
Dad said he wouldn't wear this hat either.  That's okay.  I didn't want to get it for him if a dog was going to just eat it.
We had great seats for the laser show.  It was pretty cool.  They had some places where the rock fell away, I don't know how to describe that.  We were glad they still had The Devil Came Down to Georgia. Maysen and I danced the Electric Slide while we waited....wait, it wasn't that...I can't remember the name, but it was fun.  This is also where the kids downloaded the Pokemon Go app.  They loved it and I didn't have my phone for the rest of the trip.  I have a lot less pictures from the other days, maybe that's a good thing....?
Preston, Jorja, Maysen, Mike, Stockton
At least we got to see some fireworks since our 4th of July fireworks were a bust.
Not sure if this will work, it is only a few seconds....
It took a long time to take the shuttle back.  We waited in the shuttle for fifteen minutes before the driver even came.  Then we had a long walk. Everyone went to bed very easily today.  It was a great day.

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