reclaimingwonders

30/08/2024

Want to simplify family travel? You need to know where to go in the South!

🌳🚙I found the perfect destination for your next family Georgia road trip. Great for travel with kids or roadschool or RV life.

Located in the beautiful Georgia countryside, is perfect for any adventure family and located only minutes from I-75 in Georgia.

✅Wanee Lake Campground has everything on site. No RV no problem - There’s a cabin to rent.

Workkampers. Long-term RV life.
Or just a weekend getaway.
👉You walk out your front door.
👉Get your golf cart to play a game of golf.
👉Cool off in the swimming pool.
👉Fish for Bass in the lake.
👉And play a game of tennis with the kids.

Everything you need for some simple family travel! It even has a Georgia cabin for rent.

❓So what are you waiting for?
Make sure you check out the other for more adventure travel with a variety of family activities.
Thanks Wanee Golf for hosting my family!

29/08/2024

Read all about our hosted stay at Wanee Lake Golf & RV Park a couple of weeks ago. With a family cabin for rental, it was the perfect weekend adventure that included a round of golf, swimming, and lots of relaxation in the Georgia countryside.

I'd love to answer any questions you have and point you to this next favorite Georgia getaway. It's only minutes from I-75 making it a great stop as you drive down to Florida from Georgia.

This is only one of four amazing Outdoor Adventure Retreats destinations scattered across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Check it out!

Wanee Lake RV and Golf is waiting for you in south Georgia for the perfect getaway. Play golf, swim, fish, and relax from your RV spot or cabin rental.

22/08/2024

Check out this new post all about Fort Pulaski National Monument only minutes from downtown historic Savannah and on the way to Tybee Island. Here's everything you need to know to add this Civil War fort to your Georgia road trip.

https://reclaimingwonders.com/fort-pulaski/

Visit Savannah Tybee Island Fort Pulaski National Monument

Headed to Savannah, Georgia? Here's everything you need to know to add Fort Pulaski to your Civil War history bucket list.

15/07/2024

New post: 10 Days in Scotland. Here's the super-detailed itinerary you need with all the details about our amazing trip through Scotland from several years ago. Info here about tickets, vacation rentals, and destination activities.

Is Scotland on your must-see list? I'd love to help you plan!

Head to the UK with this 10 day Scotland itinerary full of family-friendly activities. All you need to plan right here.

08/07/2024

I finally finished this way-too-detailed post about some off-the-crowd places to add to your Washington DC family trip plan. Check it out, and feel free to ask questions! I honestly didn't even plan for some of these, and they were our favorites.

Don't fight the crowds during your family road trip to Washington DC. Here are 10 lesser-known amazing DC places that your kids will want to explore during your DC vacation.

17/06/2024

Hey all! Bobbie here. 👏🏻 It’s been a while since I said “Hey”. Thanks for being here.

In the upcoming months, you’re going to see lots of international travel content.
But don’t let that scare you off!
🥳Come along on the journey.

Honestly, family travel accounts can make me feel like my small adventures don’t count or that my life is super boring.
Unrelatable? Unreachable? Unrealistic?
(Please tell me I’m not the only one…)

Where are the “normal” people?
👉👉That’s me!
(Hush. Maybe not normal. 🤪 )

Our time is still approximately:
🥱90% Georgia life, homeschooling, and family life together
🚙10% Road trips to see Texas family, roadschool family travel, and family vacation with Dad

Yes, we are wandering Europe for a month.
But it’s just a month.
No full-time travel or endless travel budgets here. ✅Keepin’ it real.

Hang here, and I’ll tell you how my travel family
✈️ Scored $5 airplane tickets and travel hack on points
💻 Planned and packed for an international family trip
🌎 Found amazing real-learning opportunities
✋ Wasted time at destinations that aren’t that great
🤯 Traveled with kids without strangling each other (still in process 🤣)

And since I’ll be posting not in real time, i’ll also be mixing in other stuff.
Because I also get easy distracted.
(Squirrel! 🐿️)

I’m here to encourage you to
🌟Be that awesome adult your kids want to be someday - learn, grow, challenge yourself
🌟Make your homeschool fun again, create a “learning life”, and quit stressing it
🌟Reclaim adventures. Near and far. It’s not so scary (or expensive!) when you have people to help.

I’m just Bobbie.
Georgia living, Texas born. Mom of four. Homeschooler. Road tripper. Outdoor explorer. And occasional world traveler.

👇👇Tell me what you want to see more of. Help me help you. 😉

Leave me a
1️⃣ for travel tips / destinations
2️⃣ for homeschool
3️⃣ for parent encouragement
4️⃣ for “I know you in real life so I have to…” 🤣
And thanks so much!❤️

17/05/2024

New post up about our adventure exploring Ashe County and West Jefferson, NC last month. Here's the 3-day itinerary you need to make this small mountain town your new favorite adventure base as you Visit North Carolina

Here are details you need to book your stay with 4creekscabinco or have a daytime adventure kayaking/ floating with RiverGirl Fishing Company or renting a UTV with Unseen Pass.

This is a small town of local restaurants, artists, shopping, and beauty. Check it out!

West Jefferson, North Carolina is small town of shopping, food, and adventure waiting for your next vacation! Here's a three days itinerary to help you plan.

11/05/2024

Head over to my updated post about some of our Oklahoma City favorite places including Myriad Botanical Gardens, Bricktown, and National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum from our trip last weekend.

Add Oklahoma City to your family road trip and make a weekend out of it. It has some great, unique places. Thanks Visit OKC for welcoming us to your city! (Let me know if you have any questions about these places. I'd love to help you on your trip.)

Don't just drive through Oklahoma City. Plan to stay a couple of days in OKC to visit this list of favorites and future places for me to check out.

22/04/2024

New blog post up just now about one of our favorite free places in Georgia! It's good, free family learning and a day trip from Atlanta. It's a small museum and great for introducing kids to beautiful art.

Have you been to the Georgia Museum of Art at UGA in Athens? Let me know!

Take the family to check out one of Georgia's best museums in Athens, GA at the Georgia Museum of Art at UGA. It's small and free! Perfect for your Atlanta day trip.

11/04/2024

Check out this ReTreet post. Might recognize the kids in this content. 😉

03/04/2024

Six years ago today, life changed.
And I admit it still hurts to think about it.

We moved.

🚐Houston area to Atlanta area.
🌴Ocean to trees and mountains.
🚧Concrete highways to dirt roads.
🦌Smashed subdivision to 3 acres.
😭An hour from family to 12 hours away.
🏡Dream house we built to new-to-us strange house.
😔Beloved neighbors to still-strangers next door.
👩🏼‍⚕️My first physician assistant job (10 years!) to full-time stay-at-home mom.

Change is hard.
Scratch that.
Change sucks.

⏮️Back story…

January of 2018, I hung up some final wall paintings in the house - after 8 years. Ridiculous.

I prayed as I did it. Humbly asking to feel at peace with living there, to accept and be grateful. ❤️

I hadn’t feel settled. I don’t know why I felt discontented, but I had been ready for more. Just too chicken to look for change.

❗️And then a week later, the husband called from a work conference with the bomb.
❗️To start thinking about a move.

And I still laugh about it.
Because God’s timing won.

So happy six year moving-out-of-our-house day to me. (I’ve been saying five years. Six! That’s still crazy to me!)

🍑Georgia people - I can’t imagine our lives without you.
🤠Texas people - We still miss you!

❓Just wondering. But how long does it take living in a different place before you quit telling people you’re from somewhere you left long ago?
“We’re from Georgia. But really displaced Texans…” 😀

23/03/2024

Bet you don’t know this! A story you (probably) don’t know.

International visitors come to this small Scottsboro, Alabama museum to learn about a legal battle that they are taught in their distant countries…
🛑Yet it isn’t taught here.
🤷‍♀️At least not to me.

❓Maybe because it’s graphic.
❓Maybe because it’s an ugly reminder.
👉Maybe because it’s easier to start with a bus boycott than a falsely accused trial that sounds like a story right out of a Grisham novel.

In 1931, a decade before the Civil Rights Movement started with that infamous refusal to move to the back of the bus…
Rosa Parks and her husband fought with the NAACP for truth and justice.
(The Communist Party even was involved. This made national headlines.)

This first civil rights case made US history when nine black teenagers were accused by white women (and men) of a crime that never happened.
🔻That couldn’t feasibly have happened.
🔻That rallied the local lynch mob.
🔻That the Supreme Court intervened in.
🛑Yet the innocent men served decades in prison…

{Learning American history with your kids is the best education… for both of you! Roadschooling at its finest.}

I know it’s difficult to teach hard things. And some people (old and young) aren’t ready for the yucky details. But what a great lesson to our kids about how ugliness, honesty, standing up for what’s right…
And that this isn’t just fiction.
This was the world of their (great-) grandparents less than 100 years ago.

📍Save this little museum in North Alabama for your southern US road trip.
Add some homeschooling to everyone’s day.

One hour.
It’ll stick with you.

👉👉Tell me your favorite history discoveries hike traveling. Y’all know I have a running list.

10/03/2024

Check out this latest post about the three days we spent exploring northeast Alabama a couple of weeks ago! It's a beautiful area that we will go back to explore.

Thanks for hosting us ReTreet and Explore Lake Guntersville. We had a great time at Cathedral Caverns State Park especially!

Let's head to northeast Alabama for three days exploring near Lake Guntersville. Staying at Retreet Resort? Let's plan your family trip!

01/03/2024

Hey, Soul Sister. Dropping some wisdom if you will. Let’s chat. 👋🎙️

(Yes, IG music came through and knows what I needed 🎶🎵🎧)

Stop listening to the wrong people in this space.
The well-meaning homeschool moms with all the busy boards and adorable worksheets and bins and dare I say —- curriculum. 😳

Because here’s what those moms of littles haven’t experienced.
❌Teenagers. Big kids.
❌Or even years of doing this home education life.

I have a little over two years left with my oldest in high school. This May will wrap up year 10 of my stay at home mom eta.

And I have regrets of how much I have let the “expected” creep in. We’ve lost the adventure and the fun of early years.

❤️Because when your kids are no longer little, you won’t look back and wish you did another worksheet. Or had another cute color sorting project. Or even read that other stack of library books.

📚You’ll wish you had ten favorite memorized books.
🤭And days of wandering and adventure and cooking and playing and giggling.
🛝And letting them be kids.

I would be so good at this if I could do it all again.

🌟My goal - hold me to it - is to reclaim that.
😉Reclaim wonders.

My youngest isn’t getting the beautiful life.
He’s getting a good one…. But it could be better.

Next year will be different. Just because it’s all good doesn’t mean it all has to be done.

Next week will be different. This mom needs to put her attention back where it matters.

Listen up. Put up the busy work.

👉And for crying out loud, go to the children’s museum like we would in Galveston. Spend the whole day. Nothing to “make up” afterward.
No agenda. Just time for kid play.
👉Save this. It’s the permission you think you need. Be wild and free, Mom!

19/02/2024

Presidents Day is February 18th… but I’m declaring President’s Week. Let’s go!

🇺🇸The first up is the President James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville, NC. Visit the land of his childhood home.

Just south of Charlotte, North Carolina it makes a great rest stop on your family road trip.
(We visited on our Virginia trip from Atlanta.)

❗️Did I mention it’s a free rest stop?
Bet you can’t tell me much about our 11th US President. Let’s fix that!

📽️Watch the film about President Polk’s childhood in North Carolina and presidency.
🏠Wander the historic outdoor buildings and cabins.
🫐Look at the vegetables and fruits in the kitchen garden.
🇺🇸Spend 30 minutes exploring history in the in-depth museum.

Don’t forget your picnic basket to head to the tables and enjoy a break from your North Carolina road trip.

❓Family tradition says the husband’s side is distantly related to James Polk.

Either way, stop off and learn about his role in the Mexican-American war.
Homeschoolers, go brush up on your American history on your next family trip with kids. Lots here!
📸 Sept 2020.

26/01/2024

New post up today in time for Black history month. Let's visit Dr. Martin Luther King's most important sites with a travel through history in Atlanta, Montgomery, and Memphis. Check it out!

Let's learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with history travel on a road trip through Atlanta, Montgomery, and Memphis. Roadschool, homeschool, family learning. Take it on the road.

26/01/2024

Somehow it happened. I have a 16 year old today.

The first years of her life are a blur.
She went preschool. I went full time clinic life.
But these last ten years?
We’ve spend most of every day together.
It was a pretty good life decision. ❤️

I still haven’t figured out how I have a 16 year old when I’m only 26 myself. 😉

I pretty much made a clone of myself.
But a happy one. A perky one.
A kid full of confidence.
And she’s pretty awesome.
Even if I’m biased.

👉Life lesson? Don’t wait.

Spend that time with the kids.
Put your busy life away.
Because my count down to college…
Is coming way too quickly!

📸Honduras mission trip. Fall 2023. Me and my kid. ❤️

13/01/2024

Unpopular opinion. Here’s a better Smoky Mountain option. ⛰️🌳🥾

🛑Don’t go to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge.
Especially not at fall foliage season.
When you get stuck in traffic.
It is not worth it.

Here’s where to go.
👉Dandridge, Tennessee
(Save it. Or don’t. I don’t want you to crowd it up. 😉)

A little town with cute stores and a coffee shop and it’s right on Douglas Lake for water fun.
It’s the quiet family vacation…
Unlike the tourist traps of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.

It’s close enough to the Smoky Mountains to go on a hike….
With a beautiful view over water looking toward the Tennessee mountains.
But far enough away to not be in the crazy crowds.

Take a day trip on your Tennessee family vacation from Dandridge
🌳40 minutes to Pigeon Forge.
🌳40 minute to the Great Smoky Mountains.
🌳30 minutes to Knoxville

Fun fact: Its named after Martha Dandridge Washington, our first president’s wife.

You’re welcome.

Remember next time you’re sitting in Gatlinburg’s Main Street watching people walk faster than you car…
I told ya so. 🤣
👉Tell me your favorite small town- they might just be my favorite. ❤️

📸July 2021
Thanks to for a photo. 😉

06/01/2024

New post up on the blog about middle school homeschool and high school homeschool through the program we use - Classical Conversations' Challenge program. Here's all the details you might need! Let me know if you have any questions.

Looking for information about Classical Conversations Challenge program? Here's what you need to know about this homeschool program for teenagers from a homeschool mom.

01/01/2024

I’m Bobbie. I can’t even finish my top ten for the year. That’s how dedicated at following plans I am. 😂

If I put a word-for-the-year on the Gram,
Then I’ll actually follow through? Right? 🤷‍♀️

Ready, here it is.
🤩STRENGTH

✅Not about weight, it’s about being healthy and strong.
✅Not about number of travel collabs, it’s about the strength and confidence to do more.
✅Not about quantity of books, it’s about strengthening my brain muscles on the best.
✅Not about x number of kid projects, it’s about prioritizing what’s most important… and doing our best. Our strongest.
✅Not about filling the schedule with busy, it’s about me being strong enough to say NO to too much good and prioritize the best.
✅Not about the number of miles traveled, it’s about being strong enough to go date to go outside the comfort zones.

🤩Not about fitting in, it’s about being strong enough to be full-out me and not about fitting in.

Here’s to true strength.
In the ways that really matter.
(Can you tell that “setting goals” isn’t my strength? 😂)

👉Tell me the best motivation book or podcast that keeps you going. Here’s to 💪
And thanks to for giving me this awesome hat I’ve worn in so many adventures this year. 👏🏻

27/12/2023

The secret to homeschooling…
Realizing there isn’t one! 📚✍️🚙

I couldn’t let my top ten for 2023 pass without taking a moment to remember that I’m a homeschool mom…
These small victories count even when I often feel it’s more a battle than a blessing.

👉Everyone’s homeschool life, child path, and learning victories are different! That’s the secret.

My 4th grader is now writing papers with mom, reading well on his own, and making new friends at a new homeschool group.
😕My baby isn’t a baby anymore!

My 6th grader has endured lots of friend shifts this last year and turned into a young woman overnight. She’s figuring herself out and okay with being different.
😕Being an 11-year-old girl is hard!

My 8th grader’s teachers love the parts of him that drive me crazy. He keeps his own schedule, has his own hobbies, went on his first backpacking trip with me
😕… and has learned some (hard) lessons along the way.

My 10th grader stubbornly doesn’t know how to not be 100% even when her teacher-mom (me!) tells her to stop. She leads groups unintentionally, volunteers for all, is perpetually “behind” in math, and
😕… is too close to adulthood.

👉So perhaps this is more a reminder for me to refocus this next year. This isn’t how I should define myself…

❤️But I can’t let all my other “jobs” overshadow this most important job… And blessing.
(And maybe I can make sure they’re doing their math. 😉)

❓Tell me your kid’s learning victory this year! You were a part of it too. 👏🏻👏🏻

20/12/2023

Check out my newest blog post highlighting our favorite Costa Rica hotel adventure! It should be on your Costa Rica family itinerary for sure.

Planning a family Costa Rica trip? Head to La Fortuna and find Finca Luna Nueva!

15/12/2023

Best gift for EVERY MOM. It’s simple. ❤️

📸Take a picture of her.
📸That’s all she needs.
(Yes, even if she tells you she’s too fat or no makeup or whatever junk…)

When she’s cuddling
When she’s reading
When she’s nursing
When she’s teaching
Or cooking or scolding
Or potty training or or or…

Because when she goes to look for pictures of her in future years, she’ll have very little proof that she existed.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of pictures of Dad…
Yes, I know he’s not a natural picture taker, but one can only ask sooo many times. 😉

👉Posting this for Dad’s yearly reminder.

If you IRL friends have pics of me from past years, feel free to send them. I’d love them.

Enjoy three of the few pictures I have of me with my littles. You have to. There aren’t many more.
And they’re cute. Me too. 😂

👉Share this with the people you need to step up to the phone camera… You can even blame me for telling you to do it.

(Bonus life points for giggling at my background theme song. 🧨⏱️🪂)

11/12/2023

know a city you’ve never explored! Oklahoma City… It’s so overlooked. 🌳🪷🌵

Oklahoma City’s Myriad Botanical Garden is a green space in the middle of downtown OKC. And it’s so different from any other city garden we’ve explore.

Downtown Oklahoma City’s favorite garden is enclosed in a giant glass Crystal Bridge Conservatory. The building alone is impressive. And don’t the waterfall and gardens outside. A lovely relaxing area. With ducks! 🦆

With a raised walking platform, you can look down at the garden from up top after seeing it from the levels below. This is a perfect garden for wandering and discovering.

And it’s right next door to the lovely Scissortail Park. So you’re getting two fun OKC destinations at one time. . 🛝 🥾🛴

🤩Bonus life points: If you have a AHS membership to another city botanical garden, you’ll get in free. Like me.

👉If you’re headed on an Oklahoma road trip, make sure you head to the blog to check out my updated post “7 Must-See Family Attractions to Love in Oklahoma City.”
(www.reclaimingwonders.com)

The kids and I explore Oklahoma City yearly when we visit their great-grandparents. Honestly, we never have enough time because there are so many attractions to explore.

😉It’s not just a city of “old people”. No matter what the rest of my family may say. You know who you are.

10/12/2023

I updated my Oklahoma City post and added two more amazing stops. Check it out - and tell me which places I still need to add. Don't overlook Oklahoma City!

Don't just drive through Oklahoma City. Plan to stay a couple of days in OKC to visit this list of favorites and future places for me to check out.

08/12/2023

(Re)Intro time! 👋 I’m Bobbie.
If you’re new here, welcome and thanks for being here.
If you’re not new, thanks for putting up with me. 😉

In this space, you’ll find:
🚙“Not-at-home” school
✈️Road trips and travel
🥾Nature adventures
🤔Rambling thoughts
🤷‍♀️All with a bit of snark.

I’ve had a bit of an identity crisis since putting-a-hold on my career to stay home.
👉Honestly, I’m still trying to figure me out, not defining myself by my “Job”.

I used to say:
I’m a physician assistant.

But I was also a Christian mom and wife and daughter and friend… but I didn’t have much time to do all that. Those first years of motherhood are a blur.
I was too busy. ⌛️😢

👉So I’m working on defining me as who I am… not what I do.
It’s a hard transition for sure.

This 2023 has been a year of firsts and lots of growth. And I need to celebrate them! 🥳

🎒Backpacking with ladies in the mountains.
🥾Taking our teen boys backing packing with
📸Working with tourism boards in Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas - including my hometown of
🏕️Collaborating with companies I know you’ll love!
🛶Kayaking trips with kids and friends
🩺Finding a volunteer clinic in town where I can love helping people without the stress of work

All that in addition to the homeschool-teaching, Awana-helping, book-club-attending, travel-planning, mission-tripping… on and on.

❤️Thanks for being here.
PS: I’d love for you to stick around.
{Make sure you’re following me . }
Bonus life points: Tell me who you thought you’d be by now. We can work on our own identity crises together. 😉