Country Mom at Home: Family Vacation

I can't believe how blessed we are. We have just returned from our first family vacation. Larry delivers brand new hydro vac trucks all over the States and parts of Canada for a living and we were able to follow along his last trip to Nashville, TN.

We had an agenda of things we wanted to do and Nashville was the first on our list. We were there for their CMA Music Festival, so the town was alive. Rebekah really likes country music and she was super excited to be in Nashville. In fact we enjoyed it so much, we're hoping to go back for a longer stay next year.

Larry dropped off the truck in Nashville, then he was at the wheel in our van. Praise the Lord! I didn't mind driving on the highways, but the city was a little trickier.

From Nashville we headed to Lexington, KY. I thought this was the nicest part of our trip because it was the only place we stayed 2 nights and it was only a short drive from Nashville, so we had time to relax. But I have to tell you a story of God's goodness and provision. On the way to Lexington our alternator died, which in turn killed our battery. But the van was still going. It didn't get really bad until we were within a few miles of our hotel. Luckily, Larry was the one driving and he knew how to keep it going. (If I had been driving, I would have pulled over on the side of the road and turned it off. Then we would have been stuck) We had no battery power. We couldn't roll down the windows or anything and it was getting very hot in there! We just made it to our hotel and once we turned it off, it was dead. But, I am so grateful to be married to a man that knows how to work on cars. Larry got up early the next moring, took a taxi to Napa, bought an alternator and a wrench and had our van up and running in 10 minutes!

So we were able to stay on our schedule, which was heading to the Creation Science Museum. I must say, I loved looking back through history from a BIBLICAL perspective. It was really awesome. We spent the day there, then headed back to our hotel. After spending so much time in the hotel pools, Jacob was able to teach himself to swim. That was really exciting to watch.

The next morning, we drove down to Fort Boonesborough in Richmond, KY. This is something we wanted to do since we did the unit study on Daniel Boone. It was really interesting. It is a living history museum with re-enactors. They are so knowledgeable on their history and we learned a lot. The wood worker took a fancy to Rebekah and showed her how to turn the lathe and shape a table leg.

From Kentucky we headed over to Virginia City and Nevada City Montana. They are 2 ghost towns from the gold rush over 150 years ago. While we were there, we were able to explore the ghost town, take 2 train rides and pan for gold. We found 2 flecks of gold and a whole bunch of real garnets and amethysts and 1 sapphire.

After that we were Alberta bound for home. And isn't it nice to come home? We were so blessed by all we saw and are so grateful to finally enjoy a family vacation. Here are some pictures.

Here we are just starting out in Red Deer, Alberta. Jacob got the first turn driving with Larry in the truck.

Jacob and I at a cool rest area in Tennessee.

This is at the Riverfront Stage in Nashville for CMA Music Festival. They had all kinds of free concerts here, but we missed all of them.

The Ryman Auditorium. It was raining in Nashville that night, but it was so warm.

This is in front of the Grand Ole Opry. We had a tour inside as well. Totally cool!

While Larry and the boys were swimming in the outside pool while it was getting dark in Kentucky, they noticed glowing things flying around. They were fireflies! We have never seen these things before and I am so amazed by them. I think they are one of God's most amazing creations. Jacob and Larry caught 2 to show me in the hotel room.

While we were at the Creation Science Museum, the boys went for a camel ride.

This was a moving dinosaur at the Creation Museum that the boys thought was cool.

Here is Rebekah working on the lathe at Fort Boonesborough. The wood worker said she had a real knack for it. He was so interesting to listen to. Next time we go we will make sure we have more time to explore the whole state park there. It is so full of history.