Only in the South

Only in the South would they find a way to make snow on the side of a hill and then charge people thirty (yes, I said thirty) dollars to go sledding.  I had seen an advertisement for Stone Mountain's "Snow Mountain" several weeks ago and I thought I would take the kids and make some memories.  Abby and Maddie were too young in Ohio and they don't remember going sledding.   Then I got on the website and looked at the price of tickets, remembered how much I don't like the cold, how much Maddie hates being wet, realized that since we have moved South my kids don't even know how to zip up their jackets let alone put on all of the clothes for sledding and I decided that this was not the year that we would be going sledding.

However, Abby was asked by a classmate to accompany her family who had an extra ticket and so we graciously thanked them and accepted.  The adventure started the night before when I began laying out her clothing to wear.  The predicted temperature was in the teens and so I had several layers laid out on the bed for her.  She decided that it would be easier to wear it all to school rather than change after school.  After several tearful minutes, she finally accepted my Northern mom wisdom about not wearing a pair of tights, a pair of insulated underwear and fleece pants along with her ducky rainboots (the only waterproof footwear she owns) to school.  

She had a great time though and I am thankful that she had a chance to go especially since I didn't have to pay for it.  What made the evening even better was Maddie's babysitter offered to watch Maddie and Destiny that night which meant that Bud and I got to go see a movie in the THEATRE instead of the Gamblin living room.   Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, couldn't ask for anything better.

All the kids who went sledding

Only Abby could manage to not have any real winter wear and still end up color coordinated and perfectly matched

A view of the sledding area.  Jackson, Lee and Davis looking over the scene (small history lesson below)


The largest bas relief sculpture in the world, the Confederate Memorial Carving depicts three Confederate leaders of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The entire carved surface measures three acres, about the size of three football fields. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lee's elbow, which is 12 feet to the mountain's surface.