Fun Fall Family Day! :)

On Saturday, October 22nd, we had a day off together. It's so nice having Paul on a regular shift job, and having every other weekend off. He's been working there for a couple of months but this was actually the first weekend that we had no prior plans and we could do something fun together. We had such a great time. 

Our first stop was SECCA, which is an art museum in Winston Salem. Gracie and her fellow fourth graders have been working with local artist Diana Greene and had their special project showcased at SECCA. They had an opening show scheduled for Friday, Oct. 14th, which happened to be the day that Gracie came down with strep throat. We were so sad that we couldn't attend and see her artwork. It was to be on display for the next week (until the 24th), so we promised her that we would go and check it out! 

So, we went on Saturday, and could not find it ANYWHERE!! We were able to see all of the other kids, except for a handful...and they did such an excellent job! However, we were still sad that we couldn't find Gracie's and the receptionist was no help at all in figuring out where it could possibly have gone. So, I made some phone calls to teachers/parents, still no luck! :(

We walked around and checked out some of the art there. Some artists were in the gallery putting together a show, so there were only a few pieces around. The ones we did see were really awesome though. I had no been to SECCA since my college days. It was neat to go back after all of these years, with my kiddos. 

This show was so awesome. These things were made out of vinyl! 

and the good 'ol Art-o-Mat Machine. Love them! 

After some emails, and inquiries about her project this week, I found out that a volunteer had taken 10 of them down a couple of days before the show was over, to get a head start on moving them back to school.  Yuck! But, the good news is that they are supposed to be hung at school and I will get some shots of it then. I'm really proud of it and can't wait to show it. It's hard to believe those little artists are only in 4th grade!! 

Onto our next stop, Kersey Valley! We had purchased a groupon a couple of weeks ago that included a trip for a family of four! It was a perfect day for it! 

First, we did the corn maze. We stuck to the kiddie one. I'm not a HUGE fan of corn mazes and Paul doesn't have much patience for them either. But, the kids were excited! We were in there for about 25 min. or so and did not find ONE CLUE! They had a mystery game where you were supposed to find clues, etc. Yeah, we had no luck, so we finally found the entrance and made it an exit! :)

(these are the zip line towers that they had throughout the park)

HELP!!

Gracie loved the big jumping pillow. The last time we were here, Gracie did not like this at all. I think she was 5 or 6. Jai opted to sit out on this one. 

He was showing daddy all of the clues that we missed...oops!

I took him over to the dino dig while we waited on Gracie. They were using these little brooms to uncover the dino fossil. He liked it but didn't like getting dirty in the sand. Haha. What can I say, he is definitely my kid! :)

I think he was the only kid to actually hang up his broom back on the wall. So considerate! 

We jumped on the tram for a little tour of the grounds...

I think it would be cool to do these ziplines, but they are SO expensive. I think I saw a groupon once, where they were ONLY 44$ each. Pfffft! Must be nice to have money to blow like that...haha. 

It was cool to watch them 'flying' around above us, even though some of them were yelling like crazo's. It was awkward to hear them at times. haha.

We passed by the Spooky Wood's entrance. Eeeek!

This was a (new) cute little cow ride that the kids loved. Paul even jumped on it (he used Jai as an excuse) haha.

A shot of the very bare pumpkin patch!

Gracie jumped on the big pillow once more, and we goofed around with some pictures. 

Time to go!

...and I bought a really cute souvenir. :)