We're in full blast summer mode. And it's wonderful! Except that when we got home from Knoxville on Sunday night, Drew had a fever of 102. I thought he'd just had too much fun boat tubing on the lake for the first time, not to mention our other adventures over the weekend! He had to miss his first two days of baseball camp, and I had one angry kid to deal with! Luckily he was able to go to camp today, and he LOVED it - so for all of you with little leaguers or future major leaguers, definitely check out D-BAT Atlanta Summer Baseball Camps! You can do a week, a day or more.
Jack graduated from Pre-K (take 1) last Friday. It's not easy having a late birthday! So this week he's off to big boy camp too for the first time, just for a little variety! He's having a blast at the Atlanta History Center Summer Camp - his first "big kid" camp adventure. This week's theme is "Adventures in History," and on Friday I'll get to go see what he learned. I only get so much information from a 4-year-old, so I'll have to report back next week on how everything went! I do know that he got to tour the Smith Family Farm, because he told me saw a VERY OLD kitchen. Good thing he packed his own sack lunch for the day!
Some interesting facts:
- One of the cave’s earliest visitors was a giant Pleistocene jaguar whose tracks have been found deep inside the cave.
- Nearly a mile from the entrance, in a room now known as “The Council Room,” a wide range of Indian artifacts including pottery, arrowheads, weapons, and jewelry have been found, testifying to the use of the cave by the Cherokee Indians.
- When the first white settlers arrived in the Tennessee Valley in the 1820’s they also discovered the cave and used it for storing potatoes and other vegetables. The constant 58° temperature provided an ideal refrigeration system for food.
- During the Civil War the Confederate Army mined the cave for saltpeter, a commodity necessary to the manufacture of gunpowder. I have to find out if "The Scoop on Poop" exhibit at Fernbank has any information on bat guano (aka bat poop) which was used to create saltpeter....
- The lake was discovered in 1905 by a 13-year-old boy named Ben Sands, who wiggled through a tiny, muddy opening 300 feet underground and found himself in a huge room half filled with water. However, no one believed him! It took more than 60 years before someone realized he'd been telling the truth, and the lake was 'revealed'.
- Walking through the cave, you'll see unusual and unique cave formations, and writings that date back to the Civil War.
- When you get to the "bottom" of the cave, you find the lake, and there you'll go on a glass-bottom boat ride. The lake is filled with rainbow trout - though they aren't natural to the cave. They sure are big though, and watch out or one may land in your boat during feeding time!
Anyway, my photos inside the caves did not come out well (too dark!). But we did have fun gem mining, eating ice cream and homemade fudge, and trying on crazy hats. If you ever find yourself near Sweetwater, TN, definitely check out The Lost Sea Adventure!
This weekend we're staying in town, and I've yet to choose which local attraction we'll be visiting but I'm sure we'll check one off of our list. The boys are anxious to get to White Water, so if it's hot and sunny, we may go and break in our season passes...
I'm still caffeine-free, and definitely feeling it. So I need to put this week's newsletter, and myself, to bed.
Congrats to Christina W, winner of the book,"The Constitution: The Essential User's Guide." And Kenisha S, winner of tickets to The Little Pirate Mermaid. And you have until Friday morning to enter the Gavin DeGraw/ Colbie Caillat ticket giveaway (Chastain Park June 13th). That contest was added after the edition published, so if you missed it last week, you still have a little time to enter!
Have a great weekend! And SAVE THE DATE for MACARONI KID DAY at Imagine It! The Children's Museum of Atlanta, Sunday, June 24th. Read the PLAN AHEAD section for details!
Michelle
