Festival of Nations at Dollywood!

We decided to attend Dollywood's Festival of Nations.  We had been several years ago and wanted to go back.  I'm glad we did.  We had a wonderful time with MeeMee!

The first evening in Pigeon Forge, MeeMee surprised the kids with tickets to The Dixie Stampede.  This is always a supper fun treat!

The next morning we got up early and headed to Dollywood.  We had a full schedule of show we wanted to see.  We love that Dollywood does The Festival of Nations.  It is a great way to expose the children to different cultures.

We loved Atahualpa!  The band is from Central America and they are very talented.  They played traditional music and then did How Great Thou Art and Amazing Grace.  It is wonderful that Dollywood embraces Christian life and doesn't hide it!

Celtic Coast was from Nova Scotia, Canada.  They are outstanding.  Of course, Scottish and Irish descendants abound in Appalachia.  We love this part of our ancestry and naturally gravitate towards it. 

Egee was excited about the Ukulele Orchestra.  She has taught herself to play the ukulele and couldn't wait to hear them.  The group was quite entertaining!

Mother Africa was full of action.  Dancing, acrobatic feats, drums, etc.  It definitely kept Little Man's attention!

Via Romen gave us a nice introduction to Eastern European music and style.  We enjoyed listening to them.

Enjoying the music!

Los Pampas Gauchos was a hit!  Fast pace, drums, dancing, comedy, etc.  They were wonderful! We all loved this show! 

I think we will be renewing our Dollywood Passes just to be able to go to Festival of Nations again next year!

Myrtle Beach Dance Competition

Egee had her second dance competition of the year.  So, off we traveled to Myrtle Beach for the Platinum Dance Competition. 

Our trip started out well.  We made good time on the road and decided to swing by Schuler's BBQ.  We love watching The Profit and had seen the episode with Schuler's BBQ.  It wasn't really out of our way and we are glad we stopped.  Their food is great and reasonable. 

After eating, we headed on into Myrtle Beach.  I had made reservations by phone a month previous at The Mermaid Inn.  We were excited to be oceanfront and have two rooms.  That quickly changed when we arrived and were told they had no record of our reservation.  I had a confirmation number and they told me it would do no good.  Needless to say, I was not happy.  There was a car show, dance competition and something else going on that weekend.  Hotels were packed and no vacancy signs were rampant.  Luckily, we were able to get a room at the Marriot Courtyard and make the best of it.  Not ocean front, not two rooms, but it was a decent place to sleep.

The weather had been wonderful all week and of course when we were to be at the beach, a cold front decided to blow in!   We did make our way to the beach at Cherry Grove and walk around before the dance competition.  We were still making lemonade from lemons. 

Egee's dance team did wonderful and scored Platinum.  Of course, this is all that mattered!  Their hard work paid off. 

Until next year, good bye Myrtle Beach!

A Fun Day with Friends

We love our homeschool friends!  Especially when we get together to and do fun things!  We met up and took the kids to Paint It Up for a ceramic class.  They picked out different Easter bunny and baskets to paint.  They enjoy each other's company as they work on their painting. 

Afterwards, we grabbed lunch and headed to Cowpens Battlefield to have a picnic.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

Once we finished our lunch, we decided to hike the 2 mile nature loop.  This is an easy hike and very diverse.  We all enjoyed it. 

First Campout of the Camping Season

We went camping over Easter Weekend.  The weather has been pleasant and we couldn't wait to begin the 2016 Camping Season.  I had cleaned and organized the rv and counted down the days.  My parents joined us in their motorhome for a weekend getaway to Orchard Lakes.

Fishing with MeeMee

MeeMee's big catch, a salamander!

He just had to get on the water!

Saturday, the weather decided to take a turn to cooler and wetter conditions.  That was okay, we were just thrilled to be camping.  We had plenty of firewood, jackets and warmer clothes.  It forced us to just relax and take things easy.

Helping cook breakfast.

Staying warm around the campfire.

Enjoying a game of pool with Granddad.

Dying Easter Eggs

Little Man meet a friend and they had a great time at the game room.  There was an Easter Egg Hunt for the twelve and under kids.  Of course, Little Man had a blast!  Egee didn't seem to bummed about not being able to hunt eggs.  It's just part of growing up. 

Overall, we had a wonderful Easter weekend and can't wait to camp again!

Spring Nature Study

One of the greatest perks of home schooling is the flexibility it offers.  Beautiful spring days beckon us to the outside world and we follow.  Hands on learning and free exploration are the best types of learning.  It is especially wonderful to be able to share these experiences with friends.

They discovered a variety of minnows, crawdads, spiders, moss, and other interesting things.

Spring Has Sprung!

We had a frost/freeze warning last night, but I believe we escaped mostly untouched. The garden seedlings were fine when I checked this morning.  The sky was a brilliant blue and the cherry blossoms have exploded.  Loving this weather and change of seasons.