Stone Mountain Park usually has a designated homeschool day once a year. This year it was on Friday, October 3. We decided to go because we got free tickets from one of our wonderful friends. The boys were so excited because we haven’t been there in a long time.

We started the day with the Sky Hike because we’ve heard that the line gets longer as the day goes on. Colin had heard the advertising about it and was excited to try it out. Eamon was too little, so he and my husband sat out while Colin and I tested our skills. Since we had never experienced something like it before, we decided to go on the lowest course (there were two higher ones). I’m so glad we started there because I didn’t realize I had an acute fear of heights. By the end, after I realized the safety harness would indeed hold me up, I really enjoyed it. I would like to do a higher course some day.

Eamon’s top priority for the day was to ride the train, so we did that next. We thought it only fair since Colin picked the first thing we did. It was a nice ride around the mountain.

As soon as we got off the train, the boys wanted to play on the new mini golf course. My husband and I realized that playing with children is certainly not the competitive game we played pre-children. They really enjoyed playing and at the end, Eamon got the train to come out of the tunnel. He was very excited because he was the only one of the four of us that did it.

By that time we were all getting hungry, so we went to the van to get our lunch. We drove around to the bottom of the “walk up” trail, parked, packed our backpack, and headed up the mountain. The weather was great for a hike. When we got up to the top, we found a nice shade under a tree and had a picnic looking over the scenery below.

After lunch, we hiked back down the mountain, went back the van, and drove back around the mountain. We looked around in a few shops as we waited to watch a 4-D movie. The boys enjoyed the air blowing, water sprinkling, and smells that went along with the movie. The 3-D glasses were a fun addition to the mood, too.

We went into the barn to play with fake fruit for a while before we realized how much better we remember it from when it first opened. It seems to be pointless (pun intended) since they did away with keeping points for accomplishing tasks. The old days were better.

The last thing we did was drive over to the plantation and visited the petting zoo. Eamon was so funny petting animals. He didn’t want to be anywhere near their mouths, so he usually touched them on the back toward the tail.

I would definitely recommend Stone Mountain’s homeschool day to anyone thinking about going. The crowds weren’t bad and the price with the discount is a bargain (for those without free tickets). If you want more information about Stone Mountain Park, you can check out their website.