Allatoona Falls

I do need to write the introduction to a paper this evening, but Blogger uploaded my pictures in the exact order I wanted them (instead of the exact opposite order, which is what usually happens) and so to reward the system for doing a good job, I will write a little bit about today.

Evidently we didn't communicate things very well and so weekend plans got a bit complicated. I think Grandpa texted us rather early in the week about weekend plans. Tuesday, if I believe, which is one of our busier days around here. I was already nagging around about it on Wednesday morning. And at some point he wrote to his dad and made a plan.

The plan was that...because Andrew had taken so long to write back to his dad...and then his dad had taken so long to write back to Andrew...that Rachel was busy babysitting on Friday night and then on Saturday night the girls planned a wild night of crocheting with their friends, so if the kids were going to squeeze in a sleepover at Grandpa's house it was going to have to be Sunday to Monday (because it's a long weekend). 

So they planned to go up on Sunday for dinner with some of Darla's kids and grandkids. And then they'd watch some movies (a kid movie before putting Zoë and Alexander to bed and then a scary movie with the big kids because Grandpa likes scary movies (he calls them "suspenseful")) and then sleep over. 

In the morning, we'd do a hike...and then return for lunch at Grandpa and Darla's and then go swimming. 

Boom—weekend planned.

Benjamin informed me at church that he'd forgotten his pyjamas. This was slightly problematic because in order to get to Grandpa and Darla's house in time for dinner, the kids had planned to leave directly from the church building. But, I mean, pyjamas aren't the end of the world, so I was like, "Well, deal with it."

It's not like we hadn't told the kids precisely what to pack—a change of clothes (with underwear! because Alexander forgot underwear the last time he slept over at Grandpa's house...but had arrived in his swimsuit...so he just wore his swimsuit all weekend), pyjamas, toothbrush, swimsuit. I mean, they were all bustling around packing things Sunday morning.

"Who is going to pack the toothpaste?" I heard Benjamin.

"I will!" Zoë volunteered.

"I'll pack the melatonin!" Alexander offered.

He got out a ziplock bag and counted out three doses of melatonin. One for Zoë (the most important dose) and then one for him and Benjamin...just in case.

They seemed to be doing well.

But it turns out they all forgot their pyjamas! 

And then Rachel and Miriam somehow didn't get the memo about bringing swimsuits!

And then, Andrew and I left the house en route to the trailhead, thinking that everyone else would be meeting us there. But they were blithely sitting around playing "Happy Salmon" (a card game), thinking that we were going to drive all the way to them before we all drove to the trail head together. But the park is between our house and Grandpa & Darla's house, so we had no intention of doing that.

Luckily I texted Rachel to tell her we were running a bit late but would be at the park in 5 minutes or so and she was like, "Wait...at the park??"

So they all scrambled to rush to the park (where the trailhead was) and we took our sweet time to get there (stopping at a gas station to fill the van and take Phoebe potty). We arrived within minutes of each other. 

I got out of the van—in my swimsuit—and the kids were all like, "Why are you in your swimsuit?!"

"There's a waterfall at the end of the hike," I said. "Remember...we talked about this..."

"We did not!" Rachel said. 

"Benjamin—we totally talked about this!" I said. "Because remember you wanted to do that other hike."

"You can't swim at that hike."

"I know! But that other hike was farther away for Grandpa and Darla, so we picked this one and you can swim at this hike. I showed you pictures. I told you to pack your swimsuits for the hike..."

"Oh, yeah..."

So, it was a morning filled with miscommunication, but in the end we made it and it was a beautiful day for hiking, given the season (which is still hot). 

Our first point of interest was this sand mine:

They send big boats up the river to dredge sand from the bottom, then send it through this contraption where things are filtered out of it. Big items—like pinecones, rocks, and shells—fall out of the square chute on the left, then sand pours out of the pipes on the bottom, and finally the water is sent back into a stream that eventually meets up with the river.

Here's inquisitive Grandpa taking Benjamin to ask about what they were doing (mining sand was the answer).

Here's Darla with her hiking buddy Alexander, with Grandpa brining up the rear:

Here's a lovely millipede:

Here we are almost at the end of the hike:

And here we are, having made it to Altoona Falls:

Alexander was going to roll up his pants and not get wet. I suggested he could just walk around in his boxer-style underclothes, but he didn't think that was a good idea. He was so careful, but of course he was the first one to slip into the water and get completely drenched.

Here he is with Zoë (pre-getting drenched):

I had brought her swimsuit for her because she couldn't find it while she was packing, so she packed a different one that she didn't really want to wear. And then I found this one while I was packing up towels this morning. So she changed into her swimsuit before we left for our hike.

And here's Phoebe and I in our swimsuits, ready for anything!

She didn't like being left "alone" for a picture.

Here's a shot Andrew took of almost everyone:

And here are a few shots of everyone...except for Andrew, who is taking the picture:

Before the kids were really sold on the idea of getting wet, they visited this little waterfall to dip their heads in:

Like Alexander, Benjamin was only going to wade in the water. But of course he ended up wet from his head to his toes.

Here's Zoë at the waterfall:

Here's Phoebe slipping and falling into the falls (Alexander had already done so several times—these rocks are slippery when wet):

The kids were hesitant about sliding down the final waterfall until some kids who were old-hat at this and come frequently to play in the falls showed them how it was done. Here's Zoë getting ready to slide down the rocks:

Here's Benjamin and Zoë trying to make their way back out again:

You can see that this is a very popular spot for kayakers to come. Little River is very calm (compared to the Chattahoochee, for example) and warm (again, compared to the Chattahoochee, which always sets us chattering) and not very deep, so as long as you can maneuver out of the way of the big mining boats, it seems like a pretty relaxing trip. The girls want to plan a youth activity out here someime.

The kids enjoyed the falls for a while...

You can see that some other kids joined in as well (we were taking turns and all that good stuff).

Even Phoebe took a turn, though she wasn't so sure about it (neither was I, honestly—I saw how slippery those rocks were and was half afraid I'd never get back out of the river).

It's starting to be autumn (no matter what the thermometer says) so the river was rather littered with leaves and other floaties. Here are the kids having a final rinse-off at the waterfall (where the water was a bit cleaner):

Eventually (though too soon for the kids, who are already planning a return trip—with bathing suits this time), it was time to start the hike back. Here's Phoebe catching a ride from her cute daddy—he hiked her in and out, which was quite a lot of work for him!

Through the trees you can spy the big, long dredging boat (it almost looks like a wall in the river, but that's just a boat in the middle of the river):

Rachel thought these pictures were funny. She said, "Wow! I was sure talking about something!"

I really appreciate these little wild spaces tucked away in this urban jungle that we call home. Here's half our group pausing before passing under the overpass carrying highway traffic above our trail:

And here's the other half of our group (Alexander is holding my hand and I'm taking the picture, so that's where we are):

We made it back to Grandpa and Darla's house for lunch and then headed to the pool to meet up with Caisa and her kids for some swimming time. Phoebe had so much fun diving for toys on the bottom of the pool. Perhaps she'll sleep well tonight.

Here she is giving Titus a hello hug: 

She was a little sad that she didn't get to sleep over at Grandpa and Darla's, but I reminded her that she needed to sleep through the night and stay dry at night in order to go with the big kids. She woke up last night around 1:00 or so and was up until 3:30 or so (luckily I have lots of reading to do so I can read about phenomenology while I remind her to lie down, lie down, lie down (that's the first step to sleeping, usually)). After she finally fell asleep, she did spend the rest of the night in her own bed and was so proud when she woke up in the morning.

"I slept in my own bed!" she said. 

"You did!" I agreed (even if it was a battle in the middle of the night). 

"Yippee!" she said. 

And then she ran back to her bedroom, which was strange behaviour for her. She usually wants to climb into my bed to snuggle. 

(Nope, I don't get up and start my day before she wakes up because, uh, see 1–3:30 am)

She came running back into our room a few minutes later, lugging a little backpack that she'd stuffed with pyjamas (because some of my children remember those are important for sleepovers) and a pull-up and some clothes and toys and books.

"I'm ready to sleep over!" she squealed with glee.

"Oh, sweetie...no...we're going to spend the day at Grandpa and Darla's house. We'll be coming back to our house to sleep."

This was a crushing blow to the Phoebe at the very start of the day, but she rallied herself and had a blast while we were out...and wore herself out in the process, which is always a bonus...and we'll keep working on staying dry and sleeping through the night.