2011 Not losing our speed!

So far this year we have been to Desoto Caverns, Noccalula Falls, and Gatlinburg, TN. In Gatlinburg we visited many places but our top 2 were Cades Cove and Ripley's Aquarium.

Desoto Caverns is located in Childersburg, AL. It consisted of a cavern, rock wall, maze, and panning for gold. Desoto caverns is a cavern underground that is 12 stories tall and larger than a football field. It has an amazing light show based on the book of Genesis. It was a comfortable 70 degrees. It was lots of fun with friends. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.

We are not slowing down in 2011... We are planning another trip to TN and visiting many local attractions in Montgomery and Birmingham. We are anxious to visit several new places and of course we will share where we went and our pictures too!

We were able to see the Rod Run while in Gatlinburg. There were lots of cars in Pigeon Forge but the one that we had to have a photo made with was The Mystery Machine! This was a hit!

2010 Still on the move!

In 2010 we added several locations to our list. We had a lot of fun and clocked a lot of miles. We visited Fort Morgan, Fort Barrancas, Bateria de San Antonio, National Naval Aviation Museum, the Navy Base in Pensacola where Wes did OCS, and the Wild Animal Safari Park in GA.
AND OF COURSE ..... THE BEACH!


Fort Morgan was fun and HOT! It was constructed in 1819 to 1834. It is a brick fort built into the earth that played a major role in the Civil War. Enjoyed all of the different parts and reading the different plaques about it's history. Of course we hit the gift shop and Aubrey left with a Fort Morgan coffee mug that we use often!


Off to Pensacola, FL....Fort Barrancas was constructed in 1839 to 1844. It was one of four forts built to protect the Pensacola Navy Yard. It is located on the bluff overlooking the Pensacola Bay. The Bateria de San Antonio is located at it's base. It contains Spanish ornamentation, a rifle gallery, and connects to the famous water battery and to Fort Barrancas. Still going... Off to the National Naval Aviation Museum for some airplanes and A/C.. This is the world's largest aviation museum that contains more than 150 restored aircrafts. THERE WERE PLANES EVERYWHERE!!!

Wes went to OCS in Pensacola and was eager to share with us where he stayed and what he did. It was a fun experience. He showed us all over the base and let the girls see all of the important places on base. WOOOSH... We need some beach now!

Well, I cannot forget our trip to the Wild Animal Safari Park in GA. The park has over 500 acres of exotic animals. This was soooooo much fun. You get to ride along and feed the animals. We will definitely have to do this again!

Woops..I almost forgot, we also went to the Tallassee Armory to learn about the Civil War, the Georgia Aquarium, and the Loachapoka Winery to see how wine is made on-site...

2009 On the go!

In 2009 we visited Rickwood Caverns, Huntsville Botanical Gardens, Huntsville Space and Rocket Center, and Walt Disney World.

Rickwood Caverns is located in Warrior, Al. This is a set of caverns that have formations that are older than 260 million years old. It has an underground pool with blind cave fish. These caverns have active living formations. It is a little big longer than a mile. Our favorite part were the small bats hanging from the cavern ceiling.

The Huntsville Botanical Gardens was fun. We visited during the bug exhibit. There were huge bugs around the gardens. One exhibit had a train in the flowers that worked... Mabrey decided she needed a train! Our favorite part of the day was the indoor butterfly exhibit and the box turtles. We had lots of fun!

The Space and Rocket Center was out of this world! LOL Wes enjoyed the military vehicles and the space museum, Mabrey and Aubrey enjoyed the attractions and rides, and I enjoyed the gift shop. I think I enjoy anything when it comes to shopping... It was a lot of fun and the girls really smiled the entire time. We also had time to get in a trip to Old Time Pottery.

Walt Disney World is a job! Tons of walking. Aubrey was ready to go before we entered the park at the Magic Kingdom on the first day... She changed her tune when we got in... Both Mabrey and Aubrey were in heaven with all of the Disney stuff.. Everywhere you looked.. Princess and Disney .. We managed to see the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and park hoppers for water parks. The water parks were SUPER! We all got to swim with sharks and stingrays... WOW!

Our family blog

Welcome to our family blog. The girls are growing up so fast. I decided to create a blog to keep up with some of the memories we are making. We decided two years ago to start visiting as many sites in Alabama that we could so that the girls have an enriched understanding about the state they live in. We have visited many other places outside of Alabama and I will add those sites too but I really wanted to share how our family is growing and expose the girls to as much culture as possible. I hope you enjoy sharing our journey as much as we do.