Georgia Park Adventures 1 & 2

the kids on a hike at Watson Mill Bridge State Park

We have started a new family activity: to visit and explore as many Georgia parks as we can. We started (accidentally) on Memorial Day. Our first adventure led us to Hard Labor Creek Park just to do something different (so did everyone else in Ga). (This park is only about 30 minutes from our house.) So, after skipping the beach due to excessive people, we had a picnic, went on a really fun hike and played on the playground. This hike was so much fun because they had trail maps at the head of the trail with markers and explanations for what each marker was designated for. Rachel had a blast leading us on the trail and also reading what each marker was. There were 20 markers along the 1 mile hike and they ranged from a specific type of tree to a special rock. We all hung in there for the hike and Trent only had to be held a couple of times. Bradley loved the hike too and enjoyed looking for markers along the way. (I forgot my camera, so no pictures from this excursion.)
**Kid's favorite part: the hike
* Parent's favorite part: the hike






On Sunday, June 12th, after a loooooooooooong week of VBS, we decided to have a family day and explore our second park. This time, we went to Watson Mill Bridge Park. (This park is only about 1 hour from our house.) This park has the longest covered bridge in the state of Georgia (229 feet across the South Fork River) and has shoals that lots of people get in to cool off from the heat. So, this time we played on the playground, had a picnic, went on a short hike (where we saw an old water mill/reservoir system) and then really enjoyed cooling off in the shoals! There was a short waterfall that ran the length of the bridge and then lots of wading pools, sliding rocks and shallow areas to explore. The water felt so good and we all enjoyed cooling off in it. There were quite a few people there but not so many that we couldn't enjoy ourselves. We had a blast at this park and the kids expecially enjoyed getting wet! Again, I didn't bring my camera, but Nick did take one picture of the kids on our hike.
**Kid's favorite part: playing in the shoals
*Parent's favorite part: the family time




We are now planning our 3rd park adventure...date and destination TBA!