Callaway Gardens

This morning was our final morning of the series, 'Game On,' which I can honestly say was too short. Everyone was really enjoying it, and there was a huge mission accomplished with getting families together this series over a board game.  We did that ourselves, and with our upcoming vacation planning, there'll be some time spent with board games again soon enough.

We finished the series with a bang though, covering the board game, "Jumanji."  We talked about the movie, of course, and showed several clips from the movie as well to help illustrate the points.  It flowed wonderfully, and Madison enjoyed it quite a bit.  

And after church, it was time to escape!  Yes, we had everything packed and we were ready to go, go, go!  

We drove down to Callaway Gardens, but took a wrong turn before getting there.  That's okay, because it didn't cost us too much time - and as a bonus we got to see Warm Springs and FDR State Park, which had a beautiful view from the top of a mountain there.  Yes, there are mountains in South Georgia.  We had NO idea.  

But we did get to Callaway, and it was a nice evening.  We certainly like the light show there better than the one at our closer Lake Lanier Islands.

Madison loved the fairies and flowers, and the winter wonderland area as well.  Along with the lights, there were sound effects for elves hammering, and there were musical bits as well, accompanying the "Twelve Days of Christmas" or "Winter Wonderland" or "Santa's Workshop."

It was chilly outside, just right for this sort of thing - but it was also really quiet tonight.  There were people here, but not so many yet.  It was perfect.  

We saw the Nativity Story done with Christmas lights, each character lighting up as a Bible passage was read.  We sat on the grass there, watching it all unfold with smiles on our faces.  Outside of the lights, there isn't so much to do yet, but it was still a nice diversion for the night.  We are staying at the Mountain Creek Inn, and you can actually hear some of the music from the light show when you open the door to the hotel room. 

Before bed, we watched the rest of "The Wizard of Oz" on TBS, featuring some age-inappropriate commercials, but it was all over Madison's head.  Besides, she was quite tired from the full day.  We all were!  She really liked what she saw tonight, but so did we.  It's quite a bit out of the way, but we're glad we came.