Summer Series: Fernbank~Brain, the Inside Story

Are your kiddos getting bored?  Running out of ideas to keep them busy? Let me tell you about one of our favorite places to spend the day exploring and learning.  

Earlier this month I took my son and his cousins to visit the new exhibit at Fernbank Museum of Natural History.  It's called Brain: The Inside Story and it was fascinating!

First, we watched the 9 minute movie at the beginning of the exhibit.  It was really informative and I'm glad we took the time to stop and see it.  Then we started exploring.  

There are some fun and interesting experiments and tests to try out.  The kids especially enjoyed the one where there was a list of colors side by side.  The first one had the colors printed in the same color as the name (orange in orange, blue in blue, etc) and the second had the colors mixed up.  The challenge? To say the second list but say the color by name, not by the color it was printed in!  It was tough to do - your brain wants to use the color it is printed in!

We learned about the brain and love, emotions, forming memories, and lots more.  Tons of hands on activities in this exhibit! Samantha said she liked learning about the advances in medical technology.  Brain: The Inside Story will be on display at Fernbank through August 23, 2015.

We also got to check out some old favorites at Fernbank!  Sensing Nature is a FUN room full of all kinds of optical illusions, hands on experiments for sound and sight, giant bubbles, a weather forecasting set and much more.  It's always a fun time when we visit this awesome room!

Jeremy enjoyed this hands-on Archaeology cart - lots of cool things to discover!

My kids & I have loved visiting Fernbank for years. We especially love Fernbank NatureQuest, which is an interactive play area with literally hundreds of hands on activities!  I even reviewed NatureQuest back in 2011 when it opened.  The huge clubhouse has several levels, there's a huge red oak tree to climb and explore.  You can follow a stream, explore a cave, and see live alligators and turtles!  Learn about the Georgia coast, and other regions too.  Plan to spend plenty of time in this fabulous permanent exhibit!

David and Jeremy checking out the baby alligators!

There is plenty more to see - the IMAX theater, the Star Gallery, Walk Through Time in Georgia, World of Shells, follow the  fossil floors throughout the museum, check out the Dinosaurs, Fernbank Forest, and much more.

Fernbank Forest

There is a nice cafe where you can have lunch, and a gift shop with great gifts and souvenirs.  We spent almost 5 hours at the museum and still didn't see everything this visit! It's a great family destination for days that are too hot, rainy, or when the kids say "Mom, I'm so bored"! (You can find out about upcoming activities and events here)   We had a wonderful time and look forward to going back again for the next traveling exhibit.   Don't forget, Brain, the Inside Story is only there until August 23.  I encourage you to check it out - it will be a great day of family fun, exploring and learning.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History
767 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30307

Get directions to Fernbank here.   You can purchase tickets at the museum or online.

Have you been to Fernbank Museum of Natural History? What is your favorite thing to see there? Leave a comment below and let us know!



Fernbank provided complimentary tickets to the museum so I could write this review - no other compensation was received, and all opinions are my own! 

Summer Series ~ Stone Mountain Park #Yurts and SMP giveaway!

If you live in or near Atlanta, you know that Stone Mountain Park is the ultimate summer family fun destination.  They have everything you could think of to enjoy a summer day (or two!)  There's golf, mini golf, the new Georgia Justice Wild West Train Show, a 4D movie theater, Geyser Towers, SkyHike, the Great Barn, plus great shopping.  Ride the Ducks, then visit The Antebellum Plantation & Farmyard for a glimpse back in time.  You can even climb the mountain for a great workout!  After all that fun, find a spot on the lawn or reserve your Terrace seating to enjoy the Lasershow Spectacular in Mountainvision for lights, flames, fireworks, and great music!   See what I mean about SMP being the perfect destination?  This summer, Stone Mountain Park has added something really unique that families will absolutely LOVE.....Yurts!!

I'm excited to share these unique campground accomodations with you.  There are three yurts available, and they are booking up quickly.  So if you like what you see here, you will want to reserve
yours now so you can enjoy a night or two at Stone Mountain Park this Fall.

Yurts are round dwellings with a latticework support system inside, providing strength and shelter against the elements.  Stone Mountain Park's yurts are a very nice alternative to tent camping and provide comforts of home at a very reasonable price!  They have electricity, air conditioning and heat, a ceiling fan, beautiful log furniture, and room for the entire family!

I can see my son and I setting up a game of Life or Scrabble on this table! This yurt is the perfect place for
 reconnecting with your family after a busy week!

There is a bunk bed with a futon underneath, plus a log bed for mom and dad. (You provide your own linens or sleeping bags).   These yurts sleep up to five people.

Blake, Madison & my David

Open the back door and you've got an amazing lake view, plus a gorgeous deck with a picnic table.

Each yurt has its own fire pit, charcoal grill, and water spigot.  Make a delicious grilled dinner, then enjoy s'mores around the fire pit at your new favorite home away from home!

The yurts are bright and airy during the day, with large windows and a sky light.

At night, open the screened window's covers so you can fall asleep with a cool breeze from the lake.

If you are like me, and camping in a tent is not your idea of fun, you'll enjoy camping/glamping in a yurt! It's so much nicer and you get some of those luxuries we're used to (like electricity for charging your phone and a comfy bed). You can see more pics and information about the Yurts on the Park's website here.

Book your stay in one of these fabulous new SMP Yurts by calling 1-800-385-9807.

Stone Mountain Park wants to give one of my readers 4 free passes to enjoy #summerattherock! (These passes are good through the end of the year, except on Holidays. Parking not included. Summer at the Rock events end August 2.)  You will have a blast and make great memories with your family!

Enter to win through the rafflecopter widget below.  Must live in or near Atlanta to be eligible to win. If you like the giveaways I offer, **please** share this and others with your friends and family so I can have more giveaways in the future!  My sponsors look at comments you make here, the number of subscribers, visitors to the blog and the number of followers on my social media accounts, so please share, share, share! :)

Thanks for learning about the new Yurts at Stone Mountain Park, and good luck!

Pollo Tropical #PolloTropiCulture Review

Last month we had the chance to visit Pollo Tropical and try out their delicious food.  We live in the farthest corner of Gwinnett county, and the closest Pollo Tropicals to us are either Lawrenceville or Cumming.  Both require a bit of a drive, but we found out it was well worth the trip to Lawrenceville. The decor is Caribbean, very light and sunny.  The service was great, too.  You place your order, then get a card for your table, and a server brings your food.  Ours checked back throughout the meal to refill drinks, bring napkins, etc.

Caribbean food is the specialty at Pollo Tropical. I've never really tried anything like that before but obviously, I've been missing out - it's delicious! We ordered the Family Meal on our first visit, which came with a whole grilled chicken, rolls, fried plantains and sides.  We chose Caribbean Corn Souffle - it was amazing! and Macaroni and Cheese (for the kiddo). You can also choose from beans, brown, white or yellow rice,  yuca and other dishes.

We also added two grilled boneless chicken breasts for my son and I.  Everything was so tasty!  The chicken is marinated in tropical fruit juices and spices and then grilled.  Really moist and delish.  The sides were great, and they had a variety of sauces and salsas to add to your meal.  My favorite is the pineapple rum, which was zesty and fresh.  David likes their curry mustard which definitely had some heat to it.  If you are counting calories, check out their Tropical Lite menu. There is something for everyone at Pollo Tropical!

The second time we visited, we used the drive through.  We had just spent the morning at the park and were hot and tired.  So we went a little out of our way so we could hit up PT on the way home. This time David got a kids meal (mac and cheese bowl with a drink and a guava bar) and I had the pineapple chicken wrap with a yummy sauce and grilled pineapple plus that delicious chicken.   Everything we've had there has been fresh and tasty!

The Lawrenceville location always seems crazy busy when we've passed by, and the two times we visited it was packed!  I was really excited to find out that we are getting a new Pollo Tropical location right here in North Gwinnett, by the Mall of Georgia! It opens later this summer.  It's hard to find fresh, healthy options when you are eating out, but you can't beat the grilled chicken at Pollo Tropical. We will definitely eat there once it opens. Next visit I will be trying their new Chicken Avocado Club Tropichop - yum!  They've just added fresh avocado to the menu since it is in season, and also Cheezy Yuca bites!

***I am so bummed that I can't use the pictures I took at Pollo Tropical of their tasty food. My phone's camera was acting up this Spring and many pictures I took were blurry and horrible.  So the pics included in this post are actually from the Pollo Tropical website.***

Time for another giveaway!! Pollo Tropical wants to give one my readers a fantastic swag bag full of PT swag and coupons for their amazing food!

It's easy to enter via the rafflecopter widget below.  (if you don't see it, click the read more link) Please enter only if you live in an area with Pollo Tropical locations.  (They are only in the South East - FL, GA, TX, TN) All entries will be verified.

Summer Series: White Water: the NEW #DiveBomber!

Hey y'all! How is your summer going? Ours is AWESOME so far! We've been to Alabama to visit family, we've been to the pool, lots of park visiting, plus Six Flags White Water and Stone Mountain - two of our favorite Atlanta destinations!

Today I am excited to share our day at White Water with you and tell you about their coolest new ride ever, Dive Bomber! It's a thrill ride like no other at the park! So, here's the scoop....

Earlier this month,  White Water invited us to visit and check out their brand new thrill ride, Dive Bomber.  I was so excited, as I practically lived at White Water during my high school summers. We lived in Marietta so it was really close and so much fun! I was a sunbather back in those days, so I preferred the Little Hooch, White Water's version of the lazy river. There was nothing better than floating down the river, soaking up the sunshine! No cares, no worries, nothing but sunshine and lots of cool, refreshing water lapping at your toes.

Yep, I spent many summer days there. Good times!  Then I grew up and moved to the other side of town.  I haven't been to White Water since my oldest was a preschooler. (She just got married last year, so you know it's been a while!) So it was way past time for a visit with my youngest.  That morning we met up with our good friends Renea & Blake and headed out early so we'd get there for the grand opening of Dive Bomber!

Once there, it felt like being home again.  Seriously! I remember so many fun days at White Water, and it looks very much the same.  They've added lots of new slides since then, though.

Our boys, getting ready to experience White Water for the first time!

Our first stop was the all new Dive Bomber ride! It is the tallest slide ever built at White Water.  It's approximately 100 feet tall, and you climb 144 stairs to get to the capsule on top!  Step inside, and check out a really great view of Marietta before you the floor literally drops out from under you....then you will fly at almost 90 degrees down the waterslide below.....wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Here's my kiddo, and in the upper left is #Dive Bomber. You can see the railing in front of the "capsule"
 that drops you down, and the slide underneath.

I didn't get the best video of the slide, but here you go!  Our boys were not quite ready to take on Dive Bomber that day, so we were content to watch people drop down the slide.  (Be careful where you stand at the bottom, because you can get seriously soaked down there!) Everyone we talked to who tried Dive Bomber absolutely loved it! What a great addition to White Water's slides - this is definitely a thrill ride you will want to try.

Here's a link to the Six Flags White Water park map, where you can see everything they have to offer! So many slides!

We stayed for most of the day and White Water treated us to delicious food and a fabulous cabana. Let me tell you, these mamas had the best time staying cool and shaded inside a cabana - they even have ceiling fans! Ours overlooked the wave pool, aka Atlanta Ocean and the Little Hooch Lazy River. Those were the places where our boys spent the majority of their time and we could keep an eye on them.  The cabanas are well worth the money if you want to splurge for the day! The boys came back often to cool down, enjoy a cold drink, funnel cakes or dippin' dots, then went back to the waves. The cabana  was a wonderful base camp for our families that day.

We enjoyed plenty of yummy food at White Water, too.  We tried the Buffalo Tenders and Loaded Fries - delish! They have lots of flavors of Dippin' Dots ice cream, the funnel cakes come in several varieties, and they have freshly popped popcorn.  Our boys sampled a little of everything that day!

Purchase a refillable 2015 Sports bottle (not pictured) and you get unlimited drink refills all season!  (They also offer a Deluxe Dining Pass for Season Pass Holders)

More about the park: 

There is plenty of seating, especially if you get there early in the day.

Some of the other places to play at White Water:  (full list of rides/attractions here)

The Tornado

Black River Falls, Photo from Six Flags White Water website

If you have little ones, there are several places for your kiddos to splash and play too! 

Buccaneer Bay (picture from SFWW website)

Captain Kid's Cove (picture from SFWW website)

Cabana Time:

Our cabana had a table and chairs for four, two lounge chairs, a storage locker, ceiling fan, plus food and beverage service.  It was great to have a private space to keep everything during the day.  So worth the splurge, and when the kiddos need to rest and cool down, they have a nice place to do so. Totally doing that again next time!

White Water offers Dive In Movies on Thursday nights in June and July; you can see the schedule here.   Great family fun night with the kids!


Six Flags White Water is located at
250 Cobb Parkway N #100
Marietta, GA 30062

APPROXIMATE TRAVEL TIME
Nashville/Chattanooga: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Birmingham: 2 hours
Montgomery/Huntsville: Less than 3 hours
Greenville-Spartanburg: Less than 3 hours Augusta: Less than 3 hours
Macon/Columbus: 1 hour, 30 minutes

You can win 4 passes to Six Flags White Water by entering my rafflecopter giveaway below!  (Only enter if you are close enough to Six Flags White Water Atlanta to visit this summer, location will be verified at the time of the drawing and out of area entries will be disqualified)  There are lots of ways to enter - Good Luck!