Sunday 28th was another beautiful day with the temperature rising from zero up to twenty degrees by mid afternoon. Jonathan enjoyed a 50 mile bike ride with the local club and Kerstin had a great afternoon selling girl scout cookies with her troop. The girls also visited an impressive local playground (only 13 minutes drive!) that has just re-opened after renovation. After another busy week of urban living it was time to attempt to get out into nature again and this weekend's destination was Panola Mountain State Park, about 40 minutes drive south east from us. The weather was perfect and the park was almost deserted. First stop was the excellent playground and picnic area, followed by a walk. The cookie selling season continued this weekend with Kerstin's troop setting up a cookie booth outside the local hardware store. Kerstin, along with two other girls (and Susan volunteering as the parent supervisor) did a two hour shift selling on Saturday afternoon. It was surprisingly fun; the locals were very friendly and supportive and we made around 300 dollars in sales/donations!
January and February are Girl Scout Cookie months in the USA. The entire population can't wait to buy their favourite cookies each year, well, at least that's what we've been told! The whole idea of selling vast quantities of cookies didn't seem right to me. However, the girls were very excited about setting up their cookie businesses and in early January, we bravely and apologetically knocked on our neighbours' doors asking if they would like to buy and we got an incredible response! Yesterday, our cookie orders arrived and today the girls spent a happy day, sorting, labelling and delivering the cookies to the very generous and kind residents of our street. On Sunday 14th, we visited Georgia Aquarium which is Atlanta's top visitor attraction. It is located downtown next to the Centennial Olympic Park and near most of the other big attractions and venues. The aquarium is the second largest in the world and it was an incredible place to visit. On Saturday afternoon we visited the Delta Flight Museum which is located in Delta's original 1940's-era aircraft hangars at the airport. The museum explores the history of aviation and the story of Delta airlines. It was interesting to learn about the significance of Delta as one of the factors in Atlanta's growth during the 20th century.
Friday 12th February was the first day of our mid-term break and, in our ongoing efforts to keep the girls active, we managed to navigate our way to another new park. This is one of the top rated playgrounds in Atlanta, and it's only 15 minutes drive away.
On Friday evening we had a new experience when we went to watch the Atlanta Hawks basketball team beat the Indiana Pacers at their home stadium, the Philips Arena, in downtown. Kerstin was very excited to be singing with the school chorus on the court before the match (which is an annual chorus event) so the tickets were organised through school. At the weekend we went to look at outdoor furniture in the shops and the salespeople were busy telling us that there is plenty of time to order before the 'outdoor season' begins in a few months... Well, we decided to beat the rush and get a bargain, and suddenly our new outdoor furniture arrived... just in time for the unseasonal 20 degrees and sunshine on Tuesday! The girls enjoyed doing their homework and eating dinner on the balcony. |
AuthorsSusan, Jonathan, Kerstin & Claudia Archives
September 2017
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