We have a favorite RV park in Birmingham that is a favorite of ours. It has the coolest working farm, playgrounds, hiking trail and even a BMX bike course that is open to the public! Slideshow: We had to get some cheddar honey biscuits from Jim 'N Nicks! We have the sweetest friend, that is part of our oil family here in Birmingham, and we got to hang out and do dinner and a class with all her amazing friends. It was a lovely time! :) We got to have some fun with the kids too...... A field trip to the McWane Science Center! This museum didn't quit.....cool science experiments, hands on tables, racetrack and displays. We also got to see a cool IMAX movie on the ocean that made us feel like we were swimming! And the kids rode the SKYCOASTER bike, made a weather report and had hours of fun...... :) The next day was Halloween, and our Fall family movie and snack night, so we grabbed some amazing goodies from Trader Joe's before we headed home for the night. During school the next day, sweet Avery slipped up to me and asked what I had planned for their school fall party. Ummm, just a moment please. WHAT?! I had no idea they were expecting anything more than our evening party, so I dug all around the fridge and the house and came up with a 4 Oaks Academy Minute to Win It fall party for after school. Check out our events: Let the fun begin! Our events included: Orange Poopy Party - Orange had to make it all the way to the bucket, as you ran with it in between your knees, and had to land IN the bucket to count. First one to get 4 in the bucket, WINS! Apple Stacker - Race to the fence, and carefully stack 3 apples, unstack and race back to your partner for their turn. A timed event. Bite Me Bag - Race down the hill, grab the loaded back with your teeth. Take it back up to your partner, they must run it down, drop it off and get their own bag. First team done, wins the event! Pumpkin Toss - Pumpkin corn candy toss into a solo cup. Team with the most pumpkins, wins. Tosser and cup holder switch every other shot. Mummy TP Race - Best Mummy with the most used TP wins! Slideshow: We had so much fun! In the end, the girls won. :) The next day, we pulled out for Branson, Missouri! More on that next.....
Hugs, T
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As we wrapped up our time Ohio, the temperatures got lower and lower. Thank goodness for indoor pools and hot tubs to warm up in! :) Before we hit the road again, we met some doTERRA friends of ours at the greatest barn restaurant. The pizza was divine! I got a picture of the barn, and pretty much didn't pick up my phone again. Oops pics would've been nice! We left early the next morning, in order to make our 5 hour drive day as easy as possible...... We got stuck in a bit of a traffic jam, and Dale needed a potty break. He asked if I could slide in for a minute. Ummm, ok??????? This thing is HUGE but I can hold the break like nobody's business......... I was supposed to just idle, but soon after he left, the traffic jam let up and all the cars moved way ahead of us. OF COURSE THEY DID! I hit the gas and off we drove. I hear Dale in the bathroom yell, "WHAT IN THE WORLD?" Things were going great, all 5 seconds I went forward, then a car darted in front of me, so I braked...... Ummm, turns out these brakes are waaaaaaaay touchier than the old ones, and the slown down was a *bit* abrupt. The kids screamed. What? I stopped us in time didn't I? Traffic went back to a standstill and my family rejoiced when daddy took the drivers seat again. ;)🤣 ;) As we made our route to Alabama and booked RV parks along the way, Dale mentioned we were going to be close to some friends of ours in Kentucky. We got WAY back, like 20 years, before Dale and I were married. They were our first grown up, married friends! ;) We hung out, BBQ'd burgers and then went to church and lunch with them the next day. Even though SO much time has passed since we then, we literally picked up where we left off, as if no time had passed at all. ..... Love how God brings His children together to support each other in this journey called LIFE! :) We changed out of our church clothes and headed down to Alabama. Paxton was hanging around up front and asked for my camera. He said he had a good shot from above and he did. Photog in the making? I am much happier in the passenger seat with my reading buddy, then I was driving even for a minute!!! :) We arrived at our new RV park right at dusk.....we could already tell we were going to LOVE this one! We got all set up, and after a quick supper, we tucked everyone in for a good night's sleep. Check out these views! Slideshow: Monday morning dawned like THIS................... It was so beautiful we did school OUTSIDE! We don't mind quiet home days, so we laid low a few days to regroup before a busy class schedule. We made Sophie a new bandana, hung out by the fire, went fishing, the kids played up on some HUGE rocks on the hillside. The photo you see in the slideshow below of Ty and Destiny holding hands is what we call a "Get Along Walk". Let's just say Dale had had enough of the bickering. ;) Rosie's Mexican restaurant has taken the NUMBER ONE SPOT for the best Mexican in all of our travels. We ate there twice and would've gone 2 more times, had time allowed. The chips, the salsa, the sizzling mexican butter..... DROOL WORTHY! Slideshow: The next night, we made chili cheese dogs over the fire and watched the sun go down. Avery begged us to tell not so spooky stories by the fire! I don't like scary or gory, so we found this website of suspenseful but funny stories. This one, was by FAR, the favorite of the evening! "Years ago, a man inherited a house from his great uncle who died in the war. The house sat on a hill outside of town in the next state and rumors were told that it was haunted. The man traveled to the town to inspect the house and found that it was a wonderful old mansion in great condition, but very, very old. So, he decided to move in and enjoy his inheritance. A couple weeks after he moved in, late at night, the phone rang. When he answered it, a voice said, "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 weeks!" and then it hung up before he could say anything. This really shook the man. The next day, he searched the Internet under 'snakes' for 'vinder viper' but found nothing. A week past with no concerns and again, late one night, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 1 week!" and hung up. This made the man quite nervous, not knowing what a vinder viper was. He asked around the town, and no one had ever heard of any such viper. Four days later, late at night, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 days!" The man is getting much more concerned now. The next night, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there tomorrow!" Needless to say, the man is just plain scared now. The next evening, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 1 hour!" The man tries to leave, but his car battery is dead. Nearly an hour later, the phone rang. "I am the Vinder Viper. I will be there in 2 minutes!" The man runs around locking all the windows and doors and calls 911. The police are on their way. Soon, there was a knock at the door. The man opened the door a crack and asked, "Is that the police?" 'No, I am the vinder viper. I come every month to vash and vipe your vindows,' said the little German man." 🤣 Day 2 dawned like this. Sigh. These views make me happy! "You can walk in a dream while you are awake: Just walk in the misty morning....."💕 We had 3 different classes at the most darling happy coffee shop you ever did see..... Angel's Island Coffee We have 2 new builders here, Caroline and Angel, and several other local members of Team Dorothy. It was SUCH a fun week of classes and getting to see everyone. If you are in the Huntsville area, go check out Angel's coffee shop, she makes her own chai and it's AMAAZING! And, she holds essential oil classes there once a month or so. Slideshow: We got to hang out with them one afternoon and ate some AMAZING Fijian lamb. Darren and Angel both originate from there..... We had such a lovely time! We had a free day after a morning class, and it was so sunny and lovely out, the kids BEGGED to go swimming in the lake...... Um, children? It's October. Can we rent kayaks instead?! Good plan! We rented two, 2 person, kayaks and Destiny insisted on a petal (paddle?) boat. You know, the kind with petals like a bike. Dale and I ended up with, the majority of the time, due to its extreme bulkiness and difficult manueverability. Haha, gotta love it! We had a great time! Row row row your kayak..... Slideshow: Before we left, Angel recommended a local donut shop that started in an airstream trailer, but once they got featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, they had to get a store front. We ate hot off the press donuts TWICE in one day...once for breakfast and then once for snack. TERRIBLE I know, but if you had tasted them, you would've done the same I bet. ;) Round one we tried honey cinnamon sugar, and funnel cakes. Round two, cinnamon bun, andes mint and apple cider. They were all lovely and the hottest tiny little donuts, that ABSOLUTELY melted in your mouth. Our Alabama adventure, continues in Birmingham! We have class here on Monday and hope to explore the area for a bit before moving on to Missouri next month...... Hugs, T
So we have been THROUGH Alabama about a million times to and from Florida, but we have never stayed. WHY?! I don't even know. It was SO amazing!
We had two classes in the area, and needed to be close by, so once again we found ourselves with no RV parks locally that we fit at, except another State Park! I love state parks and wish we could use them more, but this summer it's apparently THE place to stay! And for whatever reason, we fit at these, must be a southern thing compared to the coasts where we cannot fit at all!? ANYHOOO, this state park was AMAZING, and I feel like we are parked at Old McDonald's Farm RV Park..... ????????? You could feed and pet the animals and everything!
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Oh and apparently? Sophie HATES goats! Check out video, LOL!
Sophie goes head to head with Billy.....?? Sophie vs the Goat from Tonya Ferguson on Vimeo.
In addition to the farmstead you could walk through, they had the most beautiful lake there!
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We grabbed some BBQ before class at the infamous Jim 'N Nick's. We LOVED the cheese biscuits with honey butter especially. Oh and the fresh lemonade!
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We had planned a week in the Smoky Mountains, but felt very lead to head down south to our Florida family and try to move towards a decision of whether or not to buy my dad's "farm" down there.
Praying for wisdom as we drive!! Hugs, T |
Tonya Ferguson
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