Tuesday
Jun212005
Day At The Lake
Tuesday, June 21, 2005 at 10:34PM
Daddy was up and out early this morning for a big presentation at work. I tried to let the kids sleep in, since they've been up later and later every night, which leads to more meltdowns during the day when they are so tired, because they usually don't sleep in any later--a bad summer trend.
We had to get going fairly early today, to get the house ready to show (again!), and we had planned to go to a program at the library, which started at 10:30am. We didn't quite make it out in time, so we altered the plan. Drastically!
Haleigh suggested a Road Trip Adventure, which sounded great--to get out of the city for the day! We were going to take Shaney (our 12-year-old lab/shepherd/collie mix) with us, but we couldn't get the back seat to fold down in the Tahoe, so she ended up staying home in the backyard, which is fine. Shaney is so old, deaf, and crippled with arthritis in her hips, she has a hard time. She always thinks she wants to go "bye bye" in the car, until I get her in the car (have to help her in and out)--and then she's ready to be home again! Which makes it very easy to make Shaney's day, and get her thinking she went somewhere, without ever leaving the garage...
We packed up the car with the Swim Bag, the drink cooler and snack bag, and we headed out without deciding exactly where we were going--all part of the adventure! We went north on I85, toward Lake Lanier, which is a huge Army Corps of Engineers dam project that resulted in a very large recreation area about 45 minutes north of metro Atlanta. There are dozens of campgrounds and lake access points all around the lake, as well as private facilities and cabins, houses and subdivisions. It would take several hours to drive all the way around Lake Lanier--very large.
We got up to Buford, Georgia, and stopped in at a Publix for some picnic supplies (bread, peanut butter, jelly, and a plastic utensil set). We also spent about $20 on toys for the lake: two inflated innertubes, two plastic balls, two mesh nets (bug or fish catchers), a new pair of sunglasses for Haleigh, plastic cups (very important, as we've learned!)(See CAMP MOMMY: The Perfect Toy For Summer 2005).
We were running without a map, which isn't such a great thing, but we managed to find one of the Day Use areas by following signs. We paid our $4 Access Fee, got a new map of all the recreation points on the lake (for next time). We were at a facility with a nice picnic area, playground, swimming area, beach, even a bathroom!
We had a great afternoon at the lake. The kids played in the water the whole time, coming out only for our picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches, chips, fruit, yogurt and gummies--no french fries, no soda! There were other people, and plenty of kids, but not overcrowded. You couldn't even say crowded, really. It was wonderful.
We stayed for a couple of hours. I knew it was time to leave when Tiger popped his innertube, and then decided to hijack, or at least attempt to stowaway, on Haleigh's. When the screaming starts, it's time to go! About that time, the clouds had rolled in, and it started to rain a little bit, so it was a good time to go. We drove home through a rainstorm that had rocked Atlanta all day and was heading north. Fortunately the traffic at that time of day is also all headed north (we were southbound), so we made it home without getting slowed down too much. We are all ready for bed early tonight!
Day 22 Total = $25
(Lake toys & Access Fee)
We had to get going fairly early today, to get the house ready to show (again!), and we had planned to go to a program at the library, which started at 10:30am. We didn't quite make it out in time, so we altered the plan. Drastically!
Haleigh suggested a Road Trip Adventure, which sounded great--to get out of the city for the day! We were going to take Shaney (our 12-year-old lab/shepherd/collie mix) with us, but we couldn't get the back seat to fold down in the Tahoe, so she ended up staying home in the backyard, which is fine. Shaney is so old, deaf, and crippled with arthritis in her hips, she has a hard time. She always thinks she wants to go "bye bye" in the car, until I get her in the car (have to help her in and out)--and then she's ready to be home again! Which makes it very easy to make Shaney's day, and get her thinking she went somewhere, without ever leaving the garage...
We packed up the car with the Swim Bag, the drink cooler and snack bag, and we headed out without deciding exactly where we were going--all part of the adventure! We went north on I85, toward Lake Lanier, which is a huge Army Corps of Engineers dam project that resulted in a very large recreation area about 45 minutes north of metro Atlanta. There are dozens of campgrounds and lake access points all around the lake, as well as private facilities and cabins, houses and subdivisions. It would take several hours to drive all the way around Lake Lanier--very large.
We got up to Buford, Georgia, and stopped in at a Publix for some picnic supplies (bread, peanut butter, jelly, and a plastic utensil set). We also spent about $20 on toys for the lake: two inflated innertubes, two plastic balls, two mesh nets (bug or fish catchers), a new pair of sunglasses for Haleigh, plastic cups (very important, as we've learned!)(See CAMP MOMMY: The Perfect Toy For Summer 2005).
We were running without a map, which isn't such a great thing, but we managed to find one of the Day Use areas by following signs. We paid our $4 Access Fee, got a new map of all the recreation points on the lake (for next time). We were at a facility with a nice picnic area, playground, swimming area, beach, even a bathroom!
We had a great afternoon at the lake. The kids played in the water the whole time, coming out only for our picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches, chips, fruit, yogurt and gummies--no french fries, no soda! There were other people, and plenty of kids, but not overcrowded. You couldn't even say crowded, really. It was wonderful.
We stayed for a couple of hours. I knew it was time to leave when Tiger popped his innertube, and then decided to hijack, or at least attempt to stowaway, on Haleigh's. When the screaming starts, it's time to go! About that time, the clouds had rolled in, and it started to rain a little bit, so it was a good time to go. We drove home through a rainstorm that had rocked Atlanta all day and was heading north. Fortunately the traffic at that time of day is also all headed north (we were southbound), so we made it home without getting slowed down too much. We are all ready for bed early tonight!
Day 22 Total = $25
(Lake toys & Access Fee)
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