Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls

Today C3 visited Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaquenna Falls! The tunnel was pretty cool and we learned some interesting South Carolina history.

Construction of the tunnel started in 1856. The tunnel was going to cut through the mountains in order to complete a new rail road that would span from South Carolina to Tennessee. By 1859 the state of South Carolina had spent over 1 million dollars on the tunnel project and refused to spend a dollar more. The tunnel was never finished; it only goes part way through the mountain.

The tunnel sat empty for many years. In 1950 Clemson University bought the land because the tunnel was a perfect location to make and store blue cheese. The tunnel stays a consistent 50 degrees. In 1970 the cheese was no longer made or stored in the tunnel, Clemson University recreated an air conditioned room that duplicated the conditions of the tunnel.

Now the tunnel is open to people like us to explore! It was cool, however we forgot our flash light. We only walked about half way in before deciding to head back. It was getting too dark to see and we were the only people in the tunnel.... as far as we could tell.

Within walking distance to the tunnel is Issaqueena Falls. The path to the falls only goes down a bit, so i don't feel there is a good spot to really see the falls. Plus the path was right next to a rather steep ledge, so Colton had to sit on Casey's shoulders. There is no way i would have let him run free around the Waterfall.

We had a good Saturday afternoon visiting the tunnel and falls. Tomorrow it is due to rain all day, so we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful winter weather today.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

I'm a fan of cooler weather, however it is freezing outside! It has been in the teens at night and the 40's during the day...burr!

In the cooler weather there are a few things i can not go without.

- My jacket and scarf!

- Hot Coffee

- Chap Stick!

I'm entering another giveaway! Fashion Meets Food is giving away this winter collection of Soft Lips chap stick! I didn't win the nail polish :( , but I'm going to enter for this. The Sugar and Spice looks like it would be my favorite!

What can you not live without in the cooler months?

C3's Christmas List

My friend over at Ashley to Ashes has created a Christmas Check List.

I have decided that C3 is going to join her for the Holidays and see how much we can get checked off the list too. Tis' the season!

Below is the list. You can check out my progress on my Christmas Check List page above.

Decorate a Christmas tree
Put up lights
Bake cookies
Sit on Santa's Lap
Wrap presents
Send Christmas cards
Make a snow angel
Build a snowman
Watch Elf
Write a letter to Santa
Build a gingerbread house
Drink eggnog
Drive around for Christmas lights
Read The Night Before Christmas
Sit by a fire place
Attend (or throw) a Christmas party
Wear a Santa hat
Go sledding
Wear red and green
Drink Hot Chocolate
Watch Christmas Vacation
Go to a Christmas parade
Volunteer
Go on a sleigh ride
Visit family
Watch It's a Wonderful Life
Wear a holiday socks
Buy a Toys for Tots gift
Send gifts
Watch Love Actually
Drink a holiday coffee
Sing carols
Go to church
Dress pet in holiday attire
Roast chestnuts
Open 1 gift on Christmas Eve
Hang Christmas cards
Eat a candy cane
Leave cookies out for Santa
Watch A Christmas Story
Kiss under the mistletoe
Have a Family photo taken
Hang stockings
Make a gingerbread house
See a Christmas show or play
Have a snowball fight
Decorate home
Participate in day after Christmas sales
String popcorn

No Camera, No Problem

Casey was out of town this weekend visiting his brothers in Savannah, GA. So Colton and I met up with some friends and visited Campbell's Covered Bridge. This bridge was pretty neat and only a 30 minute drive from our house. We did not stat too long, it was cold and raining while we were there. We realized that there was not a memory card in the camera, so all pictures were taken with my cell phone.

Campbell Covered Bridge- Built in 1909- Travelers Rest, SC

While Casey visited his brothers in Savannah, he also got a chance to visit Skidaway Island State Park. He was going to take pictures of his long boards. He forgot his camera. However he did take a picture of the sign as prof he was there- We can check one more Georgia State Park off the list.

He said the park was OK, not sure if we will actually go back to camp. The campgrounds were not as neat as some others we have stayed at and he said there did not seem like much to do other than hike. No historical sites to see.

Skidaway Island State Park

Thanksgiving with Nene and Papa!

C3 drove 8 hours to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with my parents (Nene and Papa). We had a wonderful time and wish that we could make the driver more often. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. While in Mississippi we had some great family fun.

- Dominoes playing (boys vs girls)

- Black Friday sales

- Great Thanksgiving food

- Playground playing

- Duck and geese feedings

- Nature walk walking

- Bonsai tree looking

- photo shoot at Collierville Train Station

- Thomas the train watching

C3 had a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving!

Thank you Nene and Papa for all you do! Love you!

Christmas Time!

Christmas is right around the corner and C3 is so excited this year.

We have many reasons to be excited this Christmas season.

- 11 days off of work!
- Christmas and New Years in South Florida
- Visiting with friends and Family
- This will be the first year that Colton is starting to understand what Christmas, Santa, and Presents are all about.

Over the last week we have started to see Coltons excitement for Christmas.

This last weekend we stopped at the grocery store to buy pull-ups for Colton. Santa happened to be there, Colton was excited to sit on Santa's lap. When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas's, Colton said "TOYS"!

(this year;2010)

(See Colton's 2007, 2008, and 2009 Santa Pictures here) - He was not thrilled about sitting on Santa's lap in 2009!

On Monday this week Colton was asking for a Christmas tree. Since we will be in Florida for Christmas, we have not done any decorating. Casey found a small Christmas in the garage to put out for Colton. Colton loved it and was very excited when we plugged it in. After the excitement had died down I went into the kitchen to finish making dinner. Colton is very quite in the living room(quite and Colton are not normal, unless he is doing something he should not be doing). When i went to check on him, i saw the CUTEST thing EVER. He was putting "ornaments" on the tree.

If you can't tell from the picture, there is a rabbit, dinosaur key chain, Mr. Potato Head Hat, wooden blocks, magnetic letters, a Santa, and a Halloween necklace.

I guess he figured it needed more than just lights! So cute and smart!

Fashion Meets Food

One of the blogs that i follow- Fashion Meets Food- is having an OPI nail polish giveaway. I don't typically enter to win giveaways because I don't feel like I have a chance at winning. However I'm going to give this one a try.

She is giving away the entire OPI Nail Polish collection that was inspired by the new Burlesque movie. There are some great colors and I love OPI Nail Polish. ( I also love Christina Aguilera). So i thought this would be a good first giveaway to try and win. Fingers crossed, and I'll keep you posted.

I know i only have 11 followers, but what are some of your favorite blogs to visit?

Trader Joe's- Greenville, SC

Is is possible to be in love with a grocery store? If so, i may be in love with Trader Joes! Publix will always hold a special place in my heart, however Trader Joes has taken over. You should check to see if you have one near by. Sorry Florida friends, i didn't see any in florida :(

Greenville, SC recently got TJ's and in the last two weeks i have been about 5 times now. TJ's has low prices and healthy food.

Example, I bought organic carrots at TJ's for less than $1, at Publix organic carrots are closer to $3-$4.

Now, I still go to Publix on a weekly basis to use my coupons and take advantage of the weekly sale. However I now have a weekly shopping list at TJ's too!

One of my favorites:

Multiseed Rice Crackers with Soy Sauce!
So Yummy!

(Only had my cell phone with me this shopping trip, had to get a quick picture of myself before anyone saw me taking a picture of myself outside the grocery store)

Richard B Russell State Park

C3 spent the weekend camping at Richard B Russell State Park. We had a great time, and the weather was just perfect for camping and being outdoors. This was our first tent camping trip! Friends of ours would be joining us on Saturday night, so we decided to borrow a tent so that we could share a campsite. On our first night, we stayed at campsite #2 and it was way too small for our family of 3. The view was decent of the lake, and the walk to the restrooms was pretty far. Our friends were joining us Saturday night and i was worried how we were going to fit another family of 3 with their tent too! Luckily on Saturday morning we realized that the campers at site #6 had left! This site was a large pull through site right on the water! There is no way that both of our tents would have fit at site #2. Plus #6 was a bit closer to the restrooms. The restrooms were cleanish, and had a very small shower. The yummy coffee peculator we got! I'm not sure what it is about camping, but everything seems to taste better when camping. It must be all the fresh air we are getting. Our friends, Kayla, Jonathon and Jud! Jud is just a few months younger that Colton. The two boys had a fun time playing and fishing together. Colton caught his first fish!!!!!!
Colton also rode on a skate board for the first time, and of course,
it's a Harvest Long Board!

My boys! I love this picture!

We had some interesting neighbors.

Colton loved walking by these campers and looking at the spiders.

We had a great time camping at Richard B Russell State Park. It was about an hour and a half drive from our hours. The campsites were on a loop around the lake, so there were really only campers to the left and right of you. We did not feel like other campers were right on top of us. I can say that this campsite was QUIET! Meaning, i think we were the loudest ones there. There seemed be more retired couples camping than younger families with kids. We had fun and would go back again.