Father Daughter Retreat 2011- At Callaway Gardens - Part 3!

Ok, yea. I'm a little behind on my Father Daughter Retreat postings. :- | Well, I'm posting now; Aren't you happy!?! =:)  To catch up on what happened last time click HERE.  At the end of that post I said, "Coming up next...more sight seeing...the Cason memorial church...games on the lawn...and maybe, just maybe, a little more! :D..."  So I guess I should start there! :)  

After meandering our way around, looking at the many BEAUTIFUL flowers, we walked on... 

 A very green maple leaf and seed pod

 Robin Lake Beach...No we didn't get in the water- brrr!

 We didn't even get on the shore, but it was a very picturesque area!

 A leaf-strewn path- with Mr. Squirrel posing for a picture too!

 Everything was covered in pollen! I'm so glad I don't have allergies!!! :D

 Ahhhh....So green and colorful!  Winding roads, warm sun, flowers in bloom; what else could a person want!

 Well we moved on and daddy wanted to make sure we saw the Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel that he and Kimber had seen when they went. It is a memorial of what Callaway's foundation is made of- faith in Jesus Christ.  It is sad that we seem to forget our heritages and memorials, so I was glad to witness this memorial of faith and strength in Christ.

 The entrance sign- Ida Cason Callaway was the founder's name (or at least the one who it was made in honor of).

 More azaleas lined the path to the humble chapel.

 This lady saw daddy and myself with the camera and asked if we would like her to take a picture of us- we said yes and the results are as pictured above!

 Great stone architecture was leading towards the doors of the chapel and it was amazingly beautiful and awe-striking!

Inside of the chapel there were arched windows filled with stained glass- hosting a different pattern of nature on each one!

 At the front and center of the chapel there was this little monument that showed great faith in Christ.  When in the inside of this church a hush falls over you- the beauty, the colors, the faith that keeps us strong in Christ our savior..it is overpowering.

 These large lanterns enhanced the high ceilings creating a medieval look that was very entrancing.

 The back archway delicately filled in with stained glass as was seen to the left in the picture of daddy and I.

 I know this picture is very large but I wanted you to read it, take in it's deep meaning, and let it touch your heart.

A bible lying on "the Solid Rock" with a cross behind it.  This was at the front of the Chapel.

We crossed this little bridge to get to the Chapel.

This is a little sitting area they had on the other side of the bridge.  It had a mini waterfall running in front and to the side of it.

Just a picture of some bamboo.  I love bamboo- its looks so neat!

I kept on clicking the camera as we drove along- trying to capture all the beautiful scenery.  If you really want to enjoy it's full beauty though, you're going to have to go there yourself! ;)  This road ran alongside a pond- pictured below.

I did get out of the truck for these next couple- daddy was great, and kept on telling me- "Just tell me when you want to stop and I'll stop." and things like that.  He's so nice! : D

....speechless....

I was walking back across the road to get to the truck when I noticed some pretty flowers (there really isn't any shortage of those at Callaway, is there?)!  Of course I had to take at least 1 picture, and so I did.  After I got "the picture" I noticed this little guy sitting on a leaf- trying to hide from me, no doubt. Sometimes I'm scary. ;)  :)

"Ha, ha, ha- I found you!! Can't you take a bath or something?! I mean, you are, like, COVERED in pollen!! Does that not bother you?"

These men were fishing on another pond (I think) that we were passing.  We noticed a HUGE fish in the water on the opposite side from these men.  We told them that we saw it, and after I got some pictures we moved on.

He doesn't look very big in this picture but..he was big! We said that all the fish must just change sides whenever the fishermen move- they're just going in circles! :-) He, he!

 A gazebo that I think we might have visited sometime earlier.

Games on the Lawn

The Lawn. Huge. Beautiful. Lawn. Ahhh....

OK, shake it off Lexi- don't get too memorized!!!  Moving on...be prepared for a lot of words and little to no pictures. :)

We got to the field just on time if not a little early.  They had a loud-speaker and once everyone arrived and they got the technical difficulty fixed, the games begun!! Mr. Phillips led in prayer then explained our first "game".  The group of people was separated into 3 groups by the first letter of their last name.  In other letters A-H in one group, I-P in another group, Q-Z in another.  And then each group was told what song they got to sing.  Yup. You heard me-Singing!! I was excited- a singing contest!! I just hoped we got a good song!  One group got "The Lords Army."  You know, the "I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery...."  The next group got the "National Anthem". "Man, I wish we got the National Anthem.  I can sing that one pretty good," I thought. Then it was our turn. We got...."Amazing Grace!"  Yea! Another one I liked! Each group had to sing/act with the emotion the song had.  So, The "Lords Army" group had to act with...how did he put it..I'm not sure, but I'll use powerfully.  That is how they needed to sing.  The "National Anthem" group had to sing..uhhh...what was it!!? For their nation- I'll just use that word.  We had to sing with emotion. Yup. Hands in the air- but not fake, it had to be real -or at least real-looking.  From the heart.  Each group practiced with the couple minutes given to them (it was the same amount of time for everyone) until it was perfected in the way that they wanted it.  Time was up.  Who ever won got first dibs on dessert after the games and lunch.  Everyone OOOOOOOOed and AAAAHHHHHed at this news.   : Dessert!!  The "Lords Army" group started.  They were in battle straight and even rows, and sung powerfully.  Added with the moves- WAH-LAH!  I don't know what everyone else was thinking but I was thinking something like- "Sheesh...I hope we can beat them!"  Next came the "National Anthem" group.  They were positioned in the likeness of a star, and sung beautifully as well.  Both of the groups so far were doing great and I hoped we could match their singing.  It was our turn.  Amazing grace.  We weren't in any particular shape, just scattered.  The girls started with the first verse- some harmonized and some sang the main melody.  Then on the second verse the men went down on one knee and sang.  On the last verse the men stood up again and we sang together.  It was great.  I don't know about the sound of the singing- in my opinion it was good but just singing my heart out was great.  It was over.  Who would win first dibs on dessert!?  Mr. Phillips declared that it was a hard choice and that they couldn't choose.  It would just be normal order for dessert.  JUST KIDDING!! :)  He called his youngest daughter, Virginia, up to decide who would win.  She choose..........THE "LORDS ARMY" GROUP!!! Congrats group #1!!  I must admit, y'all did outstanding!  I guess 4 year-old Virginia could tell too!  They explained the next couple games and their positions on the field before sending us out to our first game!  The first game we did was an obstacle course.  The point of the game was to teach you to listen to your father's voice and instructions. I was blind-folded and positioned at the beginning of  the course.  From there I had to follow daddy's instructions till the end, where I picked up a pine-cone, walked a-ways and put it in the ending bucket.  I touched a few times, but over all...I guess I did pretty good!  The next game was the three legged race.  I think the point of the game was to show that you had to be in step with your father- he needs to be involved in your life.  You shouldn't hide anything from him- you both need to be on the same page all the time.  This game was difficult because daddy is approximately 6 feet tall and then I was only in the upper 4 to lower 5 feet.  My ankle got slightly fabric-burned. ;)  But I was fine.  Next was crochet.  It was full so daddy and I sat on the hill opposite, to wait it out.  Another man and his daughter came up to where we were, to join us in waiting. :)  Daddy got to talking with the man, whose name is Mr. Whalen.  I went off with his daughter Jessica who is 1-2 years younger than me.  I got to talking (not at all un-like me) to see if she would open-up or if she was more of a quiet one.  She opened right up and we had a great time making grass necklaces for our dads and trying to get our grass whistles to work (besides talking, that is).  It was a blast and we hit off right away.  Eventually the crowds wore off and it was just the 4 of us getting ready to play crochet.  I was horrible- I think I've always been! :)  Jessica beat me 2 times at least. :)  Daddy beat me too.  Yikes. : | Not playing that game again! :)  After that everyone was called with the loud speaker for "Lunch on the Lawn." Or was it dinner? I think it was lunch.

Ok, never-mind it being lunch, Hannah just informed me that it was DINNER, not lunch. :)  So after everyone was called for "DINNER on the lawn" we prayed and were told what order to proceed in.  After daddy and I got our food we sat down with Mr. Hulen and his twin daughters Marissa and Myrah that we know from Bread Beckers, and another father and daughter that I mentioned in my first Father Daughter Retreat post- Mr. Yerger and his daughter, Hannah.  Everyone was sitting on picnic blankets eating their dinner while having separate conversations.  About half-way through, daddy got up to (I thought) get some more food and after I was done I tried looking for him but I couldn't find him.  If you know me, you'll know what I did next- worried.  :)  I finally found him (or he found me- something like that) talking to a man whose name escapes me at the moment.  I wanted to find him for 2 reasons- just to know if he was safe and didn't leave me (yes, I'm like that :), and to ask him if I could run off and play with Jessica.  He said yes, and thought I was silly- "You were worried that I would leave you?"  "Yes," I answered.  "Why would I ever do that?" Well, I don't really know the answer to that myself, but I just get all concerned if my only relative in within 624 miles is missing, if you know what I mean.  Anyway, he said that I could go off and play with Jessica (some of her family friends were with her too) so we went frolicking down the hill and had running races and such, until it was time for dessert. :)  When it was time for dessert I looked for my tennis shoes (of course I had taken them off to run in the grass :) at the picnic blanket where I had left them, but I didn't see them.  I told daddy and when we searched again and didn't find them we just went inside for dessert- thinking maybe the Hulens (family friends we had eaten with) had picked them up since I had left to frolic in the grass.  It was quite odd walking into this rather-fancy Mountain Creek Inn Convention Center, barefoot.  But we eventually found the Hulens- and my shoes. :)  For dessert we had ice-cream and chocolate-chip cookies. It was pretty good- though I prefer softer cookies. ;) I couldn't eat all of it because it was so filling.  Daddy said it was filling too! :)  After that, here is the schedule:

7:00 p.m.Opening Session in the Convention Center

• Time of Welcome and Singing
• Introductory Comments
• Message 1

( The words above in blue were taken from HERE which contains the schedule of the 3 day event)

I don't remember exactly what we did after that, but I know I took a shower (daddy checked for any signs of a scorpion in the drain- thanks dad :) and got in bed.  Daddy, if I can remember correctly, took a shower after me, and we both drifted off to sleep (daddy checked my bed for creatures too, if you'd like to know ;) at some time or another that night.  :)

Tune in next time for the following day's events!

Joyfully His,
Alexis

Wednesday at the Beach

Wednesday was another great day at the beach!  I woke up early for a sunrise photo shoot with Mr. and Mrs. Etheredge (friends from church).  They got to stay for most of the day with us!  For breakfast we had a huge variety of stuff to eat! :)

Daddy made a huge variety of egg dishes and Paw-paw made different kinds of potato pancakes. :)

We had some great fruit at the beach!

Daddy making something "eggy." :)

Seth doing his Bible time before breakfast.

Eden, Josiah, Cadence and Justus, in the elevator. 

Justus would come up to me sometimes and say "Kimber, will you take me on the elevator?"  The little ones loved opening the doors and going for a ride up and down the floors.  (Some of the older cousins/brothers loved to pull the alarm and scare us all.  The alarm was louder than a fire alarm, no kidding.)  Loved might be an understatement...one time I was getting ready to take Justus in the elevator with me and soon a swarm of little cousins showed up hoping for a "ride".  That ride was very squished...like I had no room to move...but the little ones laughed and smiled like crazy! :)  [The next few rides I went on in the elevator I shut the door and pushed the button for what level I wanted...fast! :)]

After breakfast, my Aunt Steph and cousins, Erika, Allie, Claire, and Gracie arrived!  They made the already fun vacation even more fun!

Wednesday afternoon, we played 2 games of Mexican train.  It was a lot of fun! :)

Lexi , Collin, and Caleb swimming in the hot tub.

Dinner that night was some yummy chicken, Mae-Mae's AWESOME macaroni 'n cheese, greenbeans and rolls. :)

I don't have much else to add to this post...but the next post on Thursday will have lots of beach pictures!  I had edited the post before this one but somehow it didn't save my changes...but look for an updated "Tuesday at the Beach" post soon, too!   I also have to post about the 3 recent birthdays in our family:  Lexi, Caleb, and Judah.  

I know I haven't mentioned anything else about the cow since the post that we got her, so I'm going to update you!  We love milking Halle...sometimes we have a friendly fight over who gets to milk her. :)  She's a great cow.  The milk bucket has been "knocked" over twice but it was probably our fault for not moving the bucket fast enough when she was moving.  :)  Daddy gets up faithfully every morning around 5:30-6:30 A.M. to milk her for us (no one fights over the morning milking! :).  It's so neat driving by our field and seeing Halle...she looks huge compared to our chickens! :)  She really is a blessing!  Mama and Seth made a pint of butter from her cream last Saturday because in one week, we got 2 gallons of cream!

So there's a quick update on Halle.  Now off I go to edit more posts!  

Kimber :)

***Updated** Tuesday at the Beach

***I found some pictures from this day at the beach that I didn't post.  So, scroll down towards the end and you'll see some more pictures and info!***

My first full day at the beach consisted of getting up early (for me).  I wanted to see the sunrise but it was too cloudy, so I just sat on the top deck with Hannah, Lexi, Paw-Paw and Aunt Mae-Mae.  It was a little chilly and windy so Paw-paw kept us girls warm by putting his arms around all of us. :)

After a little while, we went inside and I pulled out my Bible and journal and sat down to do my devotions.  One thing I've found out at the beach, is that I have to do my devotions before my cousins are up because I won't get it otherwise! :)

Mama came up the stairs around 7:30 A.M.  She told me that Lydia was half-way under her bed and still fast asleep!  Mama said it was really cute so I went down with my camera and found Lydia like this:

She was sleeping beside Mom and Dad's bed but, obviously, she moves a lot when she sleeps! :)

As everyone started showing up and getting ready for breakfast, we saw big tractors on the beach in front of our house!

Some of us stayed inside to watch but the rest of us went down to the gazebo to get a closer look.

The tractors were bringing huge pipes and piling them right where you see the tractor in the picture.  It was neat to see them bringing the huge, rusty pipes.  (The OBX was going through dredging when we were there, so that is where all the pipes were from.)  The entire week we saw tractors going up and down the beach (right past us!) getting ready to dredge.  It was neat to watch!

As I was going down to the gazebo, camera in hand, I found Mama, Lydia, and Judah sitting on the second deck.

As you can see from Judah's hair it was very windy that day (and the rest of the week). 

 My cousin, Cadence, on the gazebo.

 3 of my cute cousins:  Justus, Asher, and Cadence (yes, they're brothers and sister!).

 Asher's too cute! :)

After we had our fill of watching the big machines move back and forth on the beach, we went inside for Paw-paw's de-licious breakfast!

 I had his awesome blueberry pancakes, some blueberries, sausage, and eggs.  I also had a Pop-Tart which is, obviously, not pictured. :)

I'm not sure what Lydia's doing right here (maybe cracking pistachios), but I like the reflection in the table. :)

Caleb, Collin, and Seth eating breakfast outside on the picnic table.

After breakfast we started the "morning beach routine."  Apply sun tan lotion, eat some candy, let lotion soak in, eat some more, and then go to the beach!  (Well, that was my routine! :)  We normally hang out at the beach until 11:30ish and then we go up to the pool and hot tub, swim a little, dry off/take a shower, and eat lunch.  (I don't have any beach pictures of this day...I'm always a little terrified of getting my camera ruined by the sand. Plus, I was going to be getting in the ocean, so I couldn't be taking pictures anyways! :)

Judah eating his lunch! :)

Na-naw rocking her two youngest grandbabies, Asher and Judah. :)

The afternoons at the beach consisted of going back to the beach, swimming some more, making dinner/dessert,shopping, or just doing whatever suited our fancy.

For dinner Tuesday night we had a family favorite:  Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots and rolls! :)

 Mama cooking dinner for us.

Aunt T.C. getting some food!

Cadence and Lydia waiting for their plates.

My plate of deliciousness! :)  And, trust me, it was scrumptious!

For dessert that night we had home made ice cream that Mason, our cousin, did a great job at cranking!

After dinner, some of us went on a walk down to the pier.

 Hannah, Asher, and Judah getting ready to go down to the beach!

The sunset that night was very pale yet beautiful.  I loved the pastel colors!

Playing with some of the pipes from the dredging. :)

Mama, Judah, and Na-naw.

 Eden and 'Siah jumping off a pipe! :)

Cadence walking in the tractor tracks. :)

The pier that night...I'm loving the purples and blues in this photo!

I think this was a yawn, but I like to think that Judah is gasping at something! :)

When we got back home, we cuddled up on the couch with our ice cream (and brownies) and watched something on Animal Planet. 

Meanwhile, my cousin, Collin, was secretly getting a haircut.

The finished look! :)
(This is what he looked like before, if you wanted to know. :)

Aunt T.C. (Collin's mom) was shocked when she saw Collin.  She hadn't seen Collin with that little hair in a long time!

I'm not sure what else we did that night.  We might have played a game, spent time out on the deck watching the water, watched a movie, read a book, etc.  I know that we (my sisters and I) were in bed by 11:30 because I was so tired from my early morning!

So, our second day at the beach ended.
Kimber :)