Family Adventure Day

Eli thought the ketchup for his fries was soup. He ate it with a spoon!

The trail at Crowley's Ridge Nature Center

We had fine dining at Sam's!

We have had a busy summer! It seems like our weekends have been packed with activities or yard work, and we have not taken much time to have fun together as a family. I was ready for a change of pace, so earlier this week, I announced that Saturday would be Family Adventure Day (FAD for short).

Our FAD started before we even left the house. The lots (which are several acres each) across the dirt road from us have not been mowed in over a year. Someone came with a tractor to bush hog the "jungle" today, which was very exciting to the children. So, we spent some time watching the tractor do its job. It was pretty impressive to watch (especially if you are a one year old or his daddy!). We then loaded into our big blue bus. To make our adventure more exciting, our battery was dead. We all unloaded and watched the tractor some more while our hero (Mark) got it working again. Then, we were off!

Our first stop was Lake Charles State Park. This was not a planned stop, but Anna Grace had not heeded the advice to use the bathroom before we left. We were close to the middle of nowhere, so we pulled into the state park and visited the visitor's center. While we were there, we decided to drive around and check it out. It had two lakes, one for swimming and one for boating, and a campground. It was small, but very scenic.

We then drove on to the "big city" of Jonesboro. Compared to the last three cities we have lived, Jonesboro is small, but compared to our current town, it is huge! It usually takes a little over an hour to get there, but we took the scenic route, so it took about an hour and a half. The next stop on our adventure, was Fuji Japanese Restaurant. This may not seem very exciting, but it is a treat for us. There is not one in our town, and it is not cheap to take all seven of us there. My birthday is in a few weeks, so we celebrated early. Eli and Anna Grace did not like the fire during the cooking, but everyone enjoyed the food. Isaac took a bit and said, "Family Adventure Day is great so far!" It was very yummy! I was very proud of how the children branched out a bit and ate veggies that are outside their normal tastes.

After lunch, we headed to Crowley's Ridge Nature Center. The children and I have been there a couple of times, but it was Mark's first visit. The children were eager to show Daddy around. We watched a movie about how the ridge was formed, then we explored the nature center and took a short hike. It was hovering around 100 degrees, so our hike was very short! At one point, we were looking out the window at an area where they have a small fountain and food for the squirrels and birds. A raccoon appeared and started eating. It was the first time the children have seen a raccoon (not counting the dead ones on the road!).

The last stop on our adventure was Sam's club. The children love to go to Sam's and eat the samples. Saturdays are prime sampling days, so we had quite a meal! We did not buy much (which is very rare for us!), but the kids enjoyed it. It was a very full day, and everyone was ready to head for home!

Our very first Family Adventure Day was quite a hit! I hope there will be many more!

What was your favorite part of Family Adventure Day?

Isaac-- "All of it!"

Bailey-- "I liked all of it. I really liked the movie."

Olivia-- "I liked the Japanese food the best. My second favorite was the movie at the Nature Center."

Anna Grace-- "Going to the Nature Center."

Mark-- "I liked the Nature Center."

Kim-- "I loved making memories with my family! The food wasn't bad either!"