some days...

MOSt ALL days, we really belong here....in a fence full of wild animals!

just a short 45 minutes or so...away from the lake house is PINE Mt., Georgia and right there off the interstate is a wild animal park.  See what you think.  You can load onto a zebra bus or take a risk and drive through in your own car.....we rode on the zebra.  Next you can purchase your animal food to feed the wild animals who come right up into your car- we took 2....very neat experience!

Our big daddy is hiding behind Whitmore in the shadows or shade.  And NO it wasn't in the family plan for Daddyc to dress in red too but WAS in the plan for the boys to wear their sailboat shirts so we went with it.  

my monkey:  "daddy, i think we need our guns to hunt"

ME:  "yes, we do.   This is hunting mama can do too"

Daddy: "well buddy, you can only hunt in the areas......." blah blah blah i feel sure it was a good explanation of how we don't just shoot anything anywhere type thing.

ya think my little lamb had fun?

and pictured below is a ZONY...thats Pony with a Z.  This is Georgia folks, they have mixed a pony and a zebra....but i will be the first to admit its kinda cute! Now GA. lets stick to what we know and put the right animals together from now on please. 

once again, this is a LIGER. That a tiger bred with a lion.   It is pretty and behind a fence too.....Cats are sneaky!

But the TIGER is a smart one if i don't say so myself, i am a little partial to the Tiger, The Auburn Tiger.  Notice she gets the shaded house.  Score.

And while this angel was ALL smiles, he would rather NOT hand feed the animals, just hurl it as hard as he could into their face or side and he would really prefer them not get too far into his window.

and camels must be mean too, they were fenced off

this was mine and my middle angel's favorite, the BABe-BEE pigs...we wanted to steal one to take home, they were very very tiny and we were pretty sure we could clean him up.

Batman was very brave in case you were wondering

And my hornet held tight to his daddy for majority of the ride

And my ALL TIME FAVorITE was the texas longhorn...

and when we ran out of feed for the animals, we fed them cheese curls...

while other babies thought food is really NOT something to share

And i will end with the baby goat....so cute!  Thats all folks.  My week was full and so delightful if i don't say so.  Now back to the basics...Vacation Bible school is going well-  we have a class of 7 boys and a sprinkle of little sweet girls and oh my- there have been many a time when i had to remind myself "we are at CHURCH in Bible School"...  then i made a mental note... No spend the night company forEVER.  only kidding but our class is active no dout and FULL of wildness.  

Dear Director, 

is there any way POSSIBLE for our class to spend more time on the playground?  as our storytime is extremely short lived and caotic.  But not to worry i think they are soaking up the lessons well?????

See what you can do, 

Amy

if you haven't....

then YOU SHOULD 

for sure visit Catherine's Market, The spring House, the barn, the bike trails, Catherine's wine tasting, the discovery center....Am i missing anything from this location?  (all in ONE spot...Key when you have tired little ones who have played hard in the sun and water all day and get MAJOR carseat ITIs when you have to drive more than a mile.....)

Big Daddy and I loaded the boys up a couple times to travel to this WONDERFUL place....the boys were all in favor and as my monkey said "this is NOT a long car ride at all"

It takes us about 15 minutes from our lake house so with some suckers and juice we were able to hold them together. wink wink

Big Daddy and i share a LOVE of old whirl style...if you will or great architecture or old things made new again antiques or not, wood, the small details, the great outdoors.....Needless to say we could have stayed here forever and a day and Russell did NOT miss a single detail when designing any part of this....its a mere dream....the lamp post, the doors, the wood siding inside, the colors were amazing, the rock work, the wood work.... Yes readers, i loved it that much!

Catherine's pictured above is a little market with so much to offer.... Great refreshing drinks, some wonderful homemade dips to pick up when you may have some boats guest or happy hour on the boat (shhh! i am not sure that is an okay rule by the marine police (open drinks that is)?  i really should know the rules i guess??)

they also offer a huge wine selection and have a great wine "picker" who really knows his stuff 

the picture does NOTHING for the beams and rustic light fixtures, the steel windows were amazing too... And notice on the upper side, EVEN the storage area is detailed to the nines with great paint colors and wonderfully bleached pines....

does anyone know who picked the colors?  hats off to them.

Fresh Produce

a great cheese selection, fresh fish, and any kind of meat you feel like grilling.

Raise your hand if you are in LOVE with those pendants, they were just metal with a great looking rope to hang from.....

yes in deed, we took home some cupcakes, and lots of other treats for our week....i rate them all a 10

They make their own bread too.

And across this little cobblestone way was a cabin to rent bikes, canoes, start off on any of your choice of the trails (any of the 60 miles of trail they offer)

Dear Big Daddy,

Gosh, it appears i was NOT much help with the boys...

Next time....

As you can see we dress like the lake....sometimes we even wear our pjs after a long swim like my monkey and my little HORNET is adorned with his little brothers shirt but it only shows a peek at his little belly......I know i know....but remember we are at the LAKE!!

before heading to THE stables we enjoyed a nice lunch....minus the salt pour all over the table, the dropping of ones sandwich and spilling of ones sweet tea.  And i credit our peace with the picture below.... my hornet chose NOT to eat that day and head to a far away outdoor fireplace and play super heros.  And at that point... That was just fine with us!

and on our merry way we passed the Spring house...

we didn't dare brave to dine fancy with the boys.....but it was PACKEd so several lake goers did lean that way...

And a back view from the stables below

even the fencing was done with great style...Large cables pulled tight.

that little dot on the left is our monkey....he really should have more fear but i guess he wanted to instill it ALL is his middle brother who i carried the WHOLE time so he didn't break out into a panic.  Yes readers, He LOVES the outdoors and horses but is scared of a fly...i can't begin to explain this child so i WON'T... your welcome!

And this lamb's feet barely hit the ground for 10 straight days...

this baby is a big daddy's baby FOR SURE....

alas we arrive to heaven on earth or maybe a heaven of wood work rather

you will have to notice the details yourself...i am running late and must be on time today for vacation bible school...you understand!

we really considered once, twice, three times about leaving one or two boys in this room labeled JAIL

while some practiced their riding skill

others headed to the kitchen....

notice the seating....and it had beautiful cooper tops counters too!

big daddy and i are ready to host an event here for sure...

we were sold

and ready to book our trail ride for sure

and on fridays they host a wine tasting which was quite enjoyable

so that was one of great stops which we will attend all summer long.  stay tuned for the final weeks event  tomorrow... I know you are on the edge of your seat, ha!