Great fun for $3.00!

Today, we got up and headed out early so that we could start our wonderfully fun day! We loaded up and went to Red Top Mountain State Park. We hadn't ever been there even though it is only about 20 minutes from our house. We paid a whopping $3 as a parking fee and we had about 6 hours worth of amazing fun together! Talk about a deal!

We had looked at the weather and saw that it would be overcast and only about 77 degrees in the morning, so we decided to do some hiking first while it was cool. We enjoyed a lakeside trail and seeing some of the log cabins. Here the girls are on a huge tree trunk that was in the little log cabin town we visited.This is the blacksmith cabin. On Saturdays, they have these opened for tours. We just walked around and enjoyed the wonderful lake views!

We hiked down by the lake and stopped to skip some rocks. We all like skipping rocks and seeing who can get the most skips. Today was a bad day...our highest was 3! And if you look closely...you will see that I have pig tails like Anli! Yes, my hair is long enough now to sport not only 1 but 2 little pig tails! I was so very proud and enjoyed having my hair back out of my face.
Once the sun came out and the temperature starting rising, we headed over to the lake/beach area. This in on Lake Allatoona and is surrounded by hills and trees everywhere! It was a state park beach...so it's not Destin or anything...but we had a BLAST! We all swam enjoying games of tag, dunking games, diving off Daddy's shoulders, chasing fish, and just laughing together.

Once we were completely pruney, we got out and headed to the beach for some sand castles and...

FROGS! I caught this little fella my self for the girls. His name is Hopper...and he is still a state park frog thank goodness!Anli worked to make him a nice boar to ride in!

After some time on the beach the girls found some friends to help them catch fish. They worked very hard...but never caught one. But, they had a wonderful time trying!

Later, we enjoyed a nice picnic in the shade. We were joined by a few yellow jackets that were not invited...but we managed to get most of our lunch down before headed to climb some huge rocks. Then, we happened to find a nice cove with large rocks in the water where we spent about 2 hours. Jay and I found a place in the shade on the banks and the girls enjoyed playing in the water, climbing rocks, and jumping off them into the water below. The breeze was wonderful and we just sat and relaxed together as a family. It was such a calm and enjoyable day.

Days like these continue to convince me that being a mother is the most amazing ministry that God has ever given me. I think because I am traveling more this year and God has been expanding Desert Flower Ministries way beyond my comfort zone...I relish these moments with just the 4 of us so very much. The ministry of being a mom is my most favorite one yet! Nothing even is in the ballpark of being a mom.

We loved this trip to Red Mountain State Park...and loved even more that the whole day cost only $3.00! In this economy, that is a welcomed thing!