Category Archives: Fun Outings

Whitewater Rafting the Snake River…

Day two of our Westward journey. Rise and shine we started with breakfast at Bubba’s BBQ next to the hotel and then we hopped into the car to go for a drive.

Right outside of Jackson is The Grand Teton National Park. We stopped at the visitor center and then drove through the south end of the park ending at Lake Jackson. The drive was beautiful and we saw deer and bison.

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Our big adventure of the day was our whitewater rafting trip. Our bus driver drove us thirty-five minutes southwest outside of Jackson where we met our guide Tom and loaded in. Although it’s 80 degrees outside, the water was 52 so everyone was put in wetsuits. The water was cold, the canyon gorgeous, and the class 3’s were more fun than any other we’ve been on. We had 10-foot waves, it was crazy.

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For dinner we ate Mexican, and Matty and I wandered into the town square for some shopping, the street shootout, and some ice cream.

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Filed under Fun Outings, Jackson Hole/Yellowstone 2017, National Parks and Monuments, Project Life 2017, Vacations

January 4, 2014

Off to the circus we go.  It was Matty’s first time watching the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’, and we loved how excited he was over each performance.  Afterwards, on the way to the car we came across a line to go behind the scenes and tour the animals.  The boys loved it, we had a great time!  Big thanks to Ms. Ann and Mikey for inviting us.

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Filed under Fun Outings, Project Life 2014

March 29, 2013

Mom found a Groupon to Dade City Wild Things, so the boys and I met her there today to go on the walking tour.  There were monkeys, birds, panthers, tigers, lions, bears, deer, buffalo, otters…just about anything you would want to see.  I also think it was the closest that I have ever been to several of the animals.  It was a very neat thing to do with the boys.

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Filed under Fun Outings, Project Life 2013, Zoo

Snow Tubing On Hunter Mountain

8Day 4!  Today, the boys and I headed north to go snow tubing on Hunter Mountain, which is the second highest peak in the Catskill Mountains, NY.  The drive was a little less than two hours and super easy!  We kept checking the weather and there was a 30% chance of snow with the “feels like” temperature down in the teens.  When we pulled into the town there were flurries blowing everywhere, the boys rolled down their windows and stuck out their hands to try and catch them.  We arrived around 10:30 with the tubing lanes opening at 11.  The boys have been asking us for quite some time when they were going to get to see snow, so this was perfect.  It was $20 per person and the three of us tubed for a little over two hours.  The boys thought that it was most fun when we went down together.  Secretly, I know that it is because I am heavier therefore, we went faster and farther :).  We ate lunch at the snack bar and headed back around 1:30.

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Filed under Fun Outings, NJ and NY

Strawberry Festival 2013

This year mom and I took the kids on the 20$ all you can ride arm band day!  This was the best idea and Matty is now 42 inches so he can ride almost all of the rides.  🙂

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Filed under Fun Outings, Project Life 2013

Camping at Fort Wilderness

Matty had his second Berkeley interview this morning, so while we went to that Andy loaded up his car and drove Davy out to Fort Wilderness at Disney World to get our camp site set up.  The Cub scouts go on two camping trips a year and this is the second one.  Andy set up our tent next to Garrett and Caiden, let the fun begin!

Our first outing was to the fishing pond.  There was a competition for the boys and a prize for whoever caught the biggest fish, well our boys didn’t catch anything and quickly decided that the pool was where they wanted to be.

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This pool was perfect for the kids.  There was a larger pool with this large slide and then a smaller pool for the littler kids.  After the swim, the boys dried off and we went for a bike ride.  Our first stop was to the front of the campground to see the horses.  Matty loves the horses.  Next, we biked back over to the Meadows swimming pool.  Caiden was in an archery class, so the boys each got a Mickey ice-cream and posted up to watch him.  From the way their faces look, I’d say they liked them :).  From here we biked down to the marina.  Both boys wanted to go on a boat ride, so we hopped onto the shuttle for the Magic Kingdom and went for a ride. photo (4)photo (5)photo (8) photo (9)photo (10) photo (11)photo (13) photo (12)

 When we got back, the boys wanted to play at the playground, so I ran over to Crockett’s Tavern to grab Andy and I a beer. I picked for him one called Napa Smith, an organic IPA, and Andy said that he officially thinks that this is his new favorite beer.  For dinner back at the campground we had Jack Daniels BBQ pork sandwiches, baked beans, corn, apple sauce, and smore’s.

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After dinner we headed over to Chip and Dales Campout.  The boys got to meet Chip and Dale, sing-a-long with the show and afterwards watch Toy Story 2, the movie under the stars.  Right before it ended we walked back down to the marina to get ready to watch the fireworks.  An employee told us to take the dirt path to the right and wander down until the opening that the view of the fireworks was much better than from the dock, and he was right.  We had a perfect, clear view of them.  I loved this moment.  We took the purple bus back to the camp ground and called it a night around 10:30.  It was a perfect family day.  🙂

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Filed under Cub Scouts, Fun Outings, Project Life 2013

A Hike at Honeymoon Island

This weekend has been crazy with birthday parties, starting on Friday night, so we decided to take the boys out on this beautiful day for a little family time.  Andy thought it might be nice to take Molly to a dog park and that’s when he thought of Honeymoon Island.  It is a state park and dogs are allowed.  We had planned to hike around the tip of the island, but the mosquitos were out so we turned around and only went for one mile.  The dogs are supposed to remain leashed on the beach, but it really wasn’t that crowded, so for just a few minutes we let her run free.  We had a really nice time.  🙂

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Filed under Beach, Fun Outings

Burts Pumpkin Patch 2012

On our way home we decided to make a detour to Ellijay, Ga.  We were so close to the best pumpkin patch ever, that driving for a little bit longer really didn’t bother us too much.  Burt’s Pumpkin Patch is wonderful for families and the prices are so good.  We went on a two-mile hay ride, picked out several pumpkins to take home, and drank apple cider.  The boys had a great time.

 

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Filed under Fun Outings, Georgia, Vacations

Tubing on the Rainbow River

We were driving to church yesterday and brainstorming about what we wanted to do today, Monday Labor Day, and I had the thought, “Hey! Let’s go tubing!”  Andy thought that it was a great idea so a little before 8am this morning we loaded up in the car and headed north to Rainbow River in Dunellon, FL.

The drive took a little longer than an hour and a half.  We decided to go to Rainbow Springs State Park located at 10830 S. W. 180th Avenue Road Dunnellon, Florida 34432.  It was $10 per person and that included the tube and the tram ride.  The water was 72 degrees and the float trip was around 2 hours.

 

We weren’t even on the river for 15 minutes before we spotted an otter playing off to the side.  The kids saw lots of birds, fish, and Davy said he even saw a turtle.  What both boys loved the most were the dragonflies.  They were all over us and landed on our tubes, feet, arms, everywhere.  Along the way there were rope swings, tree jumping, and the water spray.

 

After we were done tubing, we drove the 7 miles over to the original State Park, Headsprings and had a picnic lunch.  At the base of the park grounds there was a large swimming hole.  It was crystal blue-green and the boys had a great time jumping into the river.  All in all today was a perfect day.  We are looking forward to heading back sometime soon… 🙂

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Filed under Fun Outings

Boating and Tubing on the Intercoastal

Sometimes there just aren’t enough words to be able to fully express the love and gratitude that one has for beautiful friends…

As I am currently unable to do much of anything, Kelly and Brian decided that they were not going to let this situation get everyone down.  Today, they packed up all the kids and took them out for a boat ride and lunch at Rotten Ralph’s .  They said that the weather was beautiful, the morning water was calm, and they even saw dolphins.  The boys had a wonderful time tubing and driving the boat.  We heard that Davy made the 25 mile an hour club and rode on the tube 5 or 6 times.  Love my brave boy. 

Thanks again Brian and Kelly… 🙂

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Filed under Anna Maria Vacation 2012, Carothers Family, Fun Outings, Vacations