More Alabama Highlights

The first day in Alabama we went to the Logan Community Cemetery. It is a small cemetery in the country overlooking some farms and mountains.

This is Lennox and Mama next to Lennox's great great great grandfather's grave. His great great great grandmother, Alice Brooks Woodard is also buried here and Lennox's great great great great grandmother Harriet A. Brooks. And their cousins Arizona and Nevada :-)

Then we went to the Clarkson Covered Bridge. It was built the same year as our Mama Reese (Lennox's great great grandmother).  There is a nice park there and a little trail.

Lennox loved running up and down the bridge :-)

When we left the covered bridge we saw a sign for the Crooked River Civil War Museum. Lennox's cousin David is a Civil War buff so we took a trip there. The owner let the kids dress up in authentic Civil War hats and hold some antique guns for a picture.

Lennox and Holly on the porch of the museum.

In the evening we went to visit Uncle Harold. He lives in Hanceville on a farm. Holly helped Lennox work on his hula hooping skills.

And he checked out some cattle on the farm.

On Saturday we visited Vulcan.

Vulcan is on the top of Red Mountain. We told Lennox that it was Iron Man since he is the god of ironworks.  Lennox checked out the view from atop the mountain.

Then we climbed to the top of Vulcan.

Lennox loved the bare naked booty on Vulcan. He got such a good laugh at that.

That night there was some good hotel room wrestling between the boys.

One of the stops during the trip was to Werner's for cowboy boots. Everyone got a pair. Lennox got some cute brown and red ones. He loved them and kept them on for most of the day.

On Sunday we made on last stop at Oak Mountain State Park. Lennox enjoyed throwing sticks and rocks and pine cones into the water. We had a small picnic and played frisbee. Then we got into the car for the long drive home to Florida.

Overall a good trip. Lennox loved it. He said his favorite parts were swimming,  the covered bridge, and space camp. Now a few weeks at home resting until another trip to the mountains in August. 

U.S. Space and Rocket Center/Space Camp Adventure

Today we headed to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. This is also the home of Space Camp. Of course this is all Lennox has talked about since we got to Alabama and he found the brochure in the hotel room lobby. Huntsville is about an hour from Cullman. 

Lennox was amazed with the replica moon and the lunar module there. He was able to run around part of it, climbing over "moon rocks" and "craters." There were even footprints in it, just like the ones the astronauts left on the moon on their visits. I got some cute video of Lennox doing his astronaut impression as he walked across it.

Not a whole lot of rides for Lennox to ride, but he did get to go on this Mini Space Shot ride, like the one that mama and cousin David went on. Lennox loved it.

The museum was a lot of fun. Lennox got to see the plaster cast hands of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. He spent a lot of time repeating "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." and a lot of time saying "When I am an astronaut...." He could not contain his excitement.

He stopped in front of nearly every exhibit, model, etc and insisted on a picture next to it. So funny.

He checked out this manned unit. A little big now, but Lennox reminded me that he will grow into it.

Part of our admission was a 3-D Movie. Lennox picked "Fly Me to the Moon."  He grabbed at the images on the screen. It was the first time he wore the 3-D glasses for a full movie.

The Saturn V exhibit was amazing. Every piece of astronaut equipment we saw Lennox said he needed.

He played with his cousins in the Apollo cockpit simulator.

And at the end of the day after a trip to the gift shop for an Apollo movie, some Astronaut ice cream, and a toy rocket ship our little boy was tuckered out. Mama promised to bring him to Space Camp when he is old enough. I figure this gives me an excuse to spend some time in Alabama by myself while he is there. The plans are in the works, believe me :-) 

Independence Day 2009

Friday afternoon Mark, Lennox, and I went down to the lakehouse to celebrate the long holiday weekend. It was a weekend full of family time and we loved every minute of it. Here are some of the highlights of the weekend.

Playing in the sprinkler in the backyard.

Hanging on the dock before bed Friday night.

Lennox's first S'mores adventure.

More hanging out on the dock.

Cloud watching.

Boat ride with Opa on Lake Sampson.

Hanging out at the Slab (baithouse, tackle, bar) up the street. Playing in the teepee in the front.

We lit fireworks off the dock, watched movies, ate Jello, had snow cones, and went to the flea market. We were all worn out when we got home on Sunday. Daddy leaves for a business trip tomorrow and mama and Lennox are going to Alabama on Tuesday. Summer travel is in full swing and we are loving every minute of it. On another note Lennox's 2 new favorite phrases are "69" and "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."  He screams out "69" all the time. It is straight from the moon landing of course. Such a nut. Hoping to get some video of Lennox doing his astronaut routine soon so I can post it on here.

Space Buff