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We also played tennis at Callaway. Leah, Molly, and I were excited to get to play while we were there, though squeezing it in amongst all the activities was tough. The kids didn’t play tennis as part of their camp activities, but it was offered as an after camp activity. After a very active day of camp Monday, Molly said she was too tired to play tennis. Leah, however, wasn’t going to let a little fatigue get in the way of hitting the court. Amazingly, she was the only kid to show up, so she got a private lesson.

We missed tennis Tuesday due to a scavenger hunt (details to come), but headed back on Wednesday.

Yet again, Leah was all alone for her tennis lesson.

Molly wasn’t too tired to play tennis this time. She had a different time for her age group, and was the only one to show up as well. Private lessons all around.

I played tennis too, though I didn’t take pictures of myself playing. I had hoped to play every day, but ended up missing 2 days due to other activities. Since none of the other adults in my family played, I befriended a bunch of other tennis playing folks. Throughout the week, I’d hear “Hi, Chad” most places we went, as I ran into tennis playing friends.

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end

Not only did we watch the circus, we got to try performing ourselves. Monday afternoon (after kayaking, tennis, arts & crafts, and lunch), Jen and I headed to the circus tent to learn some circus skills. First, we tried out the cloud swing.

Jen went first. Moments before this, she was sitting on the rope. Then she threw herself backward, catching herself with her feet while hanging upside down.

Next she tried a much harder trick - the heel hang. Hanging from your heels is tough, especially when you shoe starts to come off.

I did the Cloud Swing as well. I was worried my knee would cause me problems, but it was fine. My fear of heights was a bit more of a problem, but I got through it.

Here’s my heel hang, though I couldn’t hold it any longer than Jen.

Next, we headed over to the trapeze. I was still a little shaky from the height of the cloud swing, so I decided to skip the trapeze. Jen, however, was ready to try it. Here she is doing a flyaway.

On Thursday, we headed back over for some more circus skills, and Michelle and Jeremy joined us. This time, we were outside the tent for the flying trapeze. Since we aren’t actually trained in this, we don’t get to fly or grab onto other people as we swung, but we do get to swing and hold out our arms as if someone was going to grab us. Here’s Jen showing us how it’s done.

Michelle and Jeremy followed suit. I was going to sit this one out due to the height, but eventually decided to give it a try. I succeeded at climbing up and swinging, but failed miserably at the actual acrobatics. By the end I was happy to be back on solid ground.

The adults weren’t the only ones to try their hands at circus acrobatics. The kids all got to do them with their groups. Molly got to do circus stuff Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Sadly, I was never around to photograph her, but she did the same sort of stuff (and much more) that we adults did.

Leah and her cousins did circus skills that weren’t quite as extreme. Here’s Leah on the ladder swing moving way too fast for my camera to freeze her.

Leah got to do the cloud swing as well, though from a much lower altitude than the adults and big kids.

Hooray for the circus!

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end

A unique aspect of Callaway is its circus. Yes that’s right; it’s a resort with its own circus. The FSU Flying High Circus is one of only two collegiate circuses in the U.S.A. And every summer, they bring the circus to Callaway Gardens.

But they’re not just circus performers. They also serve as the camp counselors for the kids age 7-17. So, Molly could spend the day with her counselors doing lots of fun activities, then go see those same counselors doing acrobatics in the circus after camp. It’s really cool!

We first saw the circus on Sunday afternoon after riding bikes. We missed the Monday circus, but caught it again Thursday and Friday. Here are a taste of some of the acts. Note that this is an acrobatic circus only - you won’t see any elephants, lions, or clowns.

Here’s one of the performers climbing a ladder balanced on the slack rope.

Here’s the double trapeze - two people, one trapeze, talent, strength, practice, and lots of trust. The guy here, Connor, was one of Molly’s counselors.

These two girls were especially impressive on the lyra.

Here are the women hand balancers. Molly’s counselor, China, is on the bottom.

China was also a part of the acrobatic jump rope. Here she is doing an aerial over the rope.

Hana, another of Molly’s counselors, was a fantastic acrobat up high in the air. Here she is on the Spanish web. She also did the very impressive single trapeze.

After Friday’s final performance, Molly got some pictures with her counselors (Leah and Emmie joined in on some). Here she is with Hana and China.

And with Connor (and his double trapeze partner who was not Molly’s counselor).

Last but not least, here’s Molly’s counselor Thomas. Sadly we did not get to see him on any acts thanks to his broken foot. He normally does the flying trapeze and the tight wire. At least he was healed enough that the doctors let him take off his boot to swim with the kids.

The counselors/acrobats were awesome, but they weren’t the only ones showing off their circus skills. More on that next time.

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end

Bright and early Monday morning we brought the kids over for camp. Molly headed into the circus tent to join the 7-8 year olds, while the other three headed to the children’s center where the 3-6 year olds gathered. They’ve all got backpacks full of swimwear, sunscreen, and lunch to get them through the day.

After dropping the kids off at camp, all the adults headed over to the big lake to do some kayaking. Here are Jen and I out on the water.

We finished kayaking just in time for me to run over to the tennis courts (well, I rode my bike) and for Jen and Michelle to head to arts and crafts. More on those items in a future post.

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end

After visiting the butterfly center, we headed out for a big family bike ride. It’s pretty hilly, but the kids did surprisingly well with the hills.

We then headed over to the circus tent to see the circus (more on that in a future post). After the circus, we were all feeling the heat. When you’re hot, it’s nice to cool off with a Hawaiian Ice treat (or a giant bag of popcorn if you’re Jen).

That evening, Callaway hosted a dinner for us, but there was more than just food. There was a hula hoop contest, which Molly excelled at. Lots of people joined in the fun, but she managed to make it into the top 10.

Then it was back to the villa to get some sleep. We all had to be well rested to start camp first thing the next morning.

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end

Camp didn’t start till Monday, so we used Sunday to have some fun on our own around Callaway. First stop for these cousins was the Day Butterfly Center.

Uncle J and JJ watch as the butterflies dance around.

Emmie managed to coax this butterfly onto her finger. This is also a rare picture of me in the reflection.

Leah very much wanted a butterfly to land on her. She had worn a brightly colored skirt to attract them, but was having trouble getting one. I told her to try sitting on this bench and remain very still. She sat there for 15 minutes unmoving. The rest of our group was so hot they left for some air conditioning, but Leah would not budge. Eventually, she was lucky to have this one land on her hand and stay for a while. When it left, she was determined to get another one. However, after a few more minutes of dripping sweat, I told her it was time to go.

Outside the butterfly center was a perfect place for a family picture of everyone.

The little kids actually got to go back to the butterfly center with their group during camp later in the week. Leah of course wore bright colors again, and said she had a fun time. We love butterflies!

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end

The next part of our southern adventure was the longest. We went to Callaway Gardens for their Summer Family Adventure. Jen had come every year for 10 years as a kid, and her parents were eager to go back as soon as their grandkids were old enough. This year we finally made it happen.

The Summer Family Adventure is a family camp. You stay with your family at Callaway (usually in cottages, though we stayed in a big villa to hold all of us). In the morning, the kids go off to camp, with counselors in charge of groups by age. They enjoy lots of activities throughout the day. Parents are then free to do activities of their own, which there are a lot to choose from. At 3:00, you pick up your kids and spend the rest of the day together. There are lots of after camp activities as well, though some times you may want to relax a bit instead.

We arrived at Callaway Saturday afternoon, checked in, and unpacked. Camp didn’t start until Monday, which meant we had some time to ourselves. So, we took the kids to the pool near our villa to cool off.

In case you were wondering, Leah has an outstanding cannonball.

I love her face in this one.

Here’s what it looks like after she enters the water.

Emmie got this ring.

Molly’s reaching as far as she can for this ring.

Leah keeps getting better and better at swimming.

That wasn’t the only time we went swimming. On Wednesday, we decided to go to a bigger pool, but found that it was very crowded. So, we changed plans and went to the pool near our villa which was not crowded at all. Uncle J was happy to help Leah fly over the pool.

But this is only a preview of the Callaway fun. The real action is still to come.

Table of Contents for Callaway Gardens 2015

• Arrival at Callaway
• Butterfly center
• Camp Eve
• Camp begins
• I love the circus
• Circus skills
• Tennis at Callaway
• Arts and crafts
• Oh my stars
• Family fun
• Water skiing
• TreeTop
• TreeTop for kids
• Challenges on the water
• Fun at the villa
• Act Out
• Awards
• The end