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Seeing the circus at Callaway was great, but we also got to participate in circus activities. The performers themselves gave us a chance on several of their apparatuses. The kids went with their groups during camp, and the adults had a few times we could choose to try things out.

Cloud swing

The cloud swing is an apparatus where you can do a bunch of tricks. They get progressively harder, so you get to keep going until you fall off. Leah, Molly, Jen, and I all got to do it. First, you lay back and catch your feet around the ropes, leaving you upside down as you swing.

Then there’s the knee hang.

And then the dreaded heel hang, where you hang from the back of your foot.

The next part is really hard, you have to pull yourself up from the heel hang. I didn’t manage to do this last time, but I got it this time (though I dropped my hat in the process).

After that is the toe hang (hang from just your toes), but none of us managed to do that one. It’s tough.

Triple trapeze

They let the kids play on the triple trapeze, but they didn’t get to have 3 people on at the same time. Molly’s group could have 2 on together, while Leah’s group stuck to just one.

Trapeze

Adults and kids all got to play on the high trapeze. The kids just hang there for a bit, then let go and fall to the net. The adults hang for a bit, then swing and do a flip as they fall to the net.

They did lower the trapeze a bit for the younger kids in Leah’s group, which had to be nice as it is really hot up near the top of the tent.

Jump rope

The kids also got to use the acrobatic jump rope, though they weren’t doing flips in it.

Ladder swing

The kids also got to swing on a ladder.

Flying trapeze

The kids don’t get to do the flying trapeze, but the adults do. I decided not to partake this year, as it was high and I was already tired. Jen, however, went on it multiple times. For us non-circus performers, you don’t release and get caught by someone else (that’s way above our skill level). Instead, you swing and do a couple tricks before releasing and flipping down to the net.

Many things make Callaway unique, but one of the most obvious is its 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, Leah, and Emmie got to hang out all day with these circus performers. It’s really cool!

We went to two circus performances during the week - Sunday and Friday. Here are a bunch of pictures to give you an idea of some (but not all) of the performances.

Teeter board

Spanish web

The second one there is Molly’s counselor, Brooke.

Acrobatic jump rope

The acrobatic jump rope featured two of Leah and Emmie’s counselors - Jess and Bailey.

Triple trapeze

The one on the right is again, Molly’s counselor Brooke.

Quartette adagio

The girl flying through the air was also one of Leah and Emmie’s counselors - Ashley.

Bicycle built for five

Again, featuring Molly’s counselor Brooke.

Juggling

Russian Bar

Flying Trapeze

The last picture includes one of Leah and Emmie’s counselors flying through the air - Daniel.

Ring master

And don’t forget the ring master. Yes, that’s Molly’s counselor Brooke again. She did a lot in the show.

They really put on a great show.

Jen’s family went to Callaway for 10 years when she was a kid where they met up with several other families each year. Four of these families went back this summer, reuniting after a couple of decades. We got to hang out throughout the week and enjoy activities together.

When visiting her mom recently, Jen found a picture from 1987 with the kids that went to Callaway Gardens every summer. Top row: Michael, Jen, Jen (Batson, now Sellers). Middle row: Kristen, Danika, Michelle (Batson, now Long). Bottom row: Andrew, Jessica, Andrew, Jonathan.

And here’s another old Callaway picture we found in Jen’s collection (and seemingly taken by Jen). Possibly taken in 1992. This picture includes adults missing from the kid picture - Susan and Bob, Monty and Mara, and Howard and Chris. This was also one of the years that Jen’s Uncle Rick, Aunt Roxanne, and cousins Will and Sadie joined in the fun.

And now here’s many of those folks all grown up, plus their spouses.

And finally, the kids of those kids - the next generation of Callaway kids.

We hung out together at lots of activities throughout the week, but I’ll highlight one of them here. The pictures above were taken on the 4th of July, shortly before heading to the lake for evening festivities. The reunion families all found a spot together to watch the 4th of July Fireworks. Callaway was packed for the fireworks, but they roped off a section for those of us there for the SFA program, which was great.

Jen brought lots of glow bracelets for all, which were of course a big hit.

The fireworks show was excellent.

Happy 4th of July!

On Sunday night, Callaway Gardens holds a luau to welcome everyone to the Summer Family Adventure (SFA) program. Apparently all these kids need for fun is a checkered napkin.

Per tradition, the highlight of the evening was a hula hoop contest, and our three girls were ready.

Leah opted for the minimal technique - crossed arms and no extraneous movements.

Molly was a bit more of a show off.

Emmie had hula hoop skills as well. All 3 of them made it to the finals.

All but one of the finalists lost their hoop when they had to lift one foot in the air, leaving Leah as the champion. She was officially proclaimed the Super Duper Hula Hooper for the week.

The Super Duper Hula Hooper and her prize (a cup that gets free refills all week long), with her two finalist attendants on each side.

And the eight of us, ready for camp to get started.

Two years ago, we went to Callaway Gardens for their Summer Family Adventure program with Jen’s family. It was awesome, and we talked about going back every two years. So, we were very excited to get to go again this year. Sadly, G’Mom and Grampa couldn’t join us this time around, but they wanted us to go on without them.

It’s a long way away, and we drive so we can bring lots of stuff (including our bikes). We decided to break it into 2 days. And rather than stay in a hotel, North Carolina cousins were kind enough to host us. Thanks Ann, Steve, and everybody else who was there! We even found time to play a little Spoons.

As always on car trips through the south, we stopped at Zaxby’s for lunch.

We made it to Callaway Gardens with very little trouble by the middle of the afternoon on Saturday. We were very happy to get out of the car.

These cousins are looking forward to a week together.

After several years off, our small group from church restarted the tradition of holding Field Day. While the events previously involved only adults, now many of us have kids old enough to join in the fun.

Tom did an excellent job at adjusting the games such that adults and kids could all have fun together.

The three-legged race can make it tough to keep your balance.

Jen and I moved so quickly we were a blur for the camera.

The egg spoon relay returned to competition.

Make sure to take breaks and stay hydrated.

Molly jumped so fast in the sack race that her hat flew off her head.

Nice air, Leah.

There was a hula hoop chain.

It’s the kids from BF2K7 (well, the three quarters that do not live in Texas, making it difficult to attend Field Day). They’ve grown a bit in the past 10 years.

Dunk the sponge, pass it down, fill the bucket with water. Squeeze well to make sure you get every last drop out of the sponge.

Jen got a selfie with the official professional photographer.

Look out, some drops are getting away.

Here we all (minus the photographer) are as we transitioned from outdoors to indoors for the indoor games.

Tricycles again made an appearance for dizzy-bat tricycle. Observant readers may recognize the tricycle Leah is sitting on. Two of them were originally purchased for Field Day in 2009. When the day was over, we ended up hanging on to one since we had a toddler, and it became Molly’s tricycle. Then, it became Leah’s tricycle. Then, we handed it down/back to Tom (the original purchaser of the tricycle) since he then had a kid who could use it. And now it’s back at Field Day.

Field Day finished with a giant balloon war.

Thanks to the International Field Day Committee for putting on this awesome event. We hope that it can continue for many years to come.

Jen likes to take the girls strawberry picking each year. This year, it was a group effort.

Stacie and Zach were making grand plans for thier fresh strawberries, including a strawberry pie.

The girls filled their buckets, then added the strawberries to Mom’s box. The picking was much slower without Dad, G’mom and Grampa this year. Thank goodness we had friends to help out.

About 10 minutes after arriving, light rain started. Molly and Matilda found a unique way to cover up in the field.

Jen and the girls made a second stop at Woodbourne Creamery at Rock Hill Orchard. It is about 15 minutes from the strawberry field and the homemade ice cream was a perfect snack.

Clemson is only a couple hours away from Charlotte, so we thought we’d add some extra fun to the trip by stopping off at Carowinds amusement park for a day on our way home. Jen and I had actually been to Carowinds once before on our honeymoon. Sadly, this was before I took pictures of everything, so I don’t have pictures of us at the park.

We left Clemson early so we could get to the park relatively close to when it opened. We were fortunate to have perfect weather for the day.

Carowinds is on the boarder between South Carolina and North Carolina, so the girls made sure to spend some time in both.

We first headed to Planet Snoopy, the area of the park aimed at smaller kids. Our first ride was Snoopy's Flying Ace Aerial Chase, a fun little roller coaster for the whole family. Sadly, the restraints block you from seeing Leah next to me.

Snoopy was everywhere in the park.

Our second ride was Snoopy’s Flying Ace Balloon Race. Jen doesn’t handle these rides well, so I hopped on with the girls.

I volunteered to go backwards so the girls could face forwards. This turned out to be a bad decision, leaving me queasy. I guess I can’t handle these as well as I thought. Thankfully, Jen had extra Dramamine for me.

The girls then rode some rides by themselves while I recovered.

Snoopy vs. Red Baron

Woodstock Gliders

At that point I was ready to try again. We rode the Woodstock Express, a fun family-friendly wooden roller coaster (I love wooden coasters). It was great.

We got lunch at Chick-fil-A. Yes, they have Chick-fil-A in the park. We were very happy with that, despite the fact that the prices were jacked up like most food service inside amusement parks.

We did Boo Blasters on Boo Hill, in which you ride in slow cars with little toy guns and shoot ghosts, racking up points. We tried to do several other rides (e.g. Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare), but they were closed.

The girls both wanted to ride the Do-Si-Do, but were both too short to ride without a parent. So, Jen and I both got to ride it. Jen looks excited here before things got really going.

I think Molly liked this ride.

Jen even put her arms up for a bit (though that didn’t last long).

The Ricochet was a mouse coaster with four people per car - perfect for our family. And even better was that everyone was tall enough to ride it.

There were a lot of quick turns on this one.

Molly and I then road the Carolina Goldrusher, a mine train coaster which was fun. Leah could have handled it as well, but was not tall enough to ride. Sadly, that was the story for much of the park. Leah was too short for many rides (requiring at least 48 inches), and Molly was too short for a lot as well (requiring at least 54 inches). The Planet Snoopy area is aimed at little kids, but I was surprised how much of the rest of the park was inaccessible to our (admittedly short) 7 and 10 year olds.

Because of that, we then headed back to Planet Snoopy to ride Snoopy's Flying Ace Aerial Chase and the Woodstock Express again. They were our favorite rides from the kids area, and we enjoyed riding them again to finish our day.

The girls always want to buy a toy when we go places, and we usually refuse. We figured getting them a memento from the trip wouldn’t be awful, so they each got a Snoopy plush on our way out.

We then headed out to get some dinner and end at our hotel for some much needed rest before driving home the next day.

My paternal grandmother, Grammy, lives in two different places. When it’s warm, she lives in Highlands, NC. We’ve visited her there a couple of times. When it’s cooler, she lives in Clemson, SC. We’ve wanted to visit her there, but it can be really hard to find a good time to make that trip when the kids aren’t on summer vacation. This year we made it happen, making the trip during the girls’ spring break.

We drove down on Saturday, leaving first thing in the morning and arriving at bed time. We woke up the next morning and went to church on Palm Sunday with Grammy and her friend Caroline. After church, we had a lovely lunch at the dining room in her community.

After lunch, we headed back to Grammy’s place, where she was ready to entertain the girls. Grammy was a first grade teacher, and was ready with crafts for the girls on our visit. She blew out 18 eggs so they could decorate them for Easter. The drawing was done on the porch.

The egg dying station was in the kitchen. Grammy and Leah got it set up to dye.

Molly worked hard on her BB-8 egg.

That blue looks good.

The three of them spent an hour and a half intently working on their eggs.

Here are the eggs they made. Several of these have a Star Wars theme (BB-8, R2-D2, C-3PO, Rey, and Kylo’s light saber), while the rest had more traditional Easter themes.

After all the egg fun, we played some games (we brought Otrio and Telestrations with us). Then we went to Zaxby’s for dinner (we had to go to Zaxby’s while down south).

Monday morning, arts supplies came out. Grammy and the girls had lots of fun before even getting dressed.

We played some more games (we love games). We hit McAlister’s for lunch, then went to see Beauty and the Beast at the movie theater. For dinner, we headed down to College Avenue right next to Clemson’s campus to eat some delicious pasta at Brioso Fresh Pasta. We spent the night, then woke up early to head out to the next stop in our spring break adventure (more on that later).

Thanks for having us, Grammy!

It was no Mardi Gras parade, but we had a nice time exploring many newly reopened shops while hunting for masks and collecting beads during Mardi Gras on Main St. the Saturday before Mardi Gras. Sadly, the promise of beignets was a bust. :( Chocolate treats had to substitute.

You may have noticed Jen’s snazzy shirt. Jen may be a Marylander now, but she still hangs on to some of her Louisiana roots! She made a new shirt for Mardi Gras before baking four king cakes and making jambalaya.