Every summer around the time of my Grandma’s birthday the women of the family choose a place in Ohio to spend a night or two together. My Grandma will be turning 87 any day now and us gals spent Thursday night in Cumberland. We were missing one of our cousins who always comes, but gained a friend, for a total of 13. This happens when the women are so wonderful 😉
This is us at the cabin in the wilds that we rented for the night. I always enjoy the girl-time and come home every year appreciating my family more. And I think most of us granddaughters (she has 10) know that we have the best possible Grandmother and we are blessed.
Now, on to THE WILDS! I cannot possibly recommend this place enough for any kind of family trip. It is located in SE Ohio, but you would never know it once you drive onto the 10,000+ acres of land that was gifted to this non-profit conservation group by the power company after it had been used in surface mining. This group has turned it into an amazing place for research and the public. We took a 2 1/2 safari yesterday on an open air bus. Have a look at a few of the many, many different animals we saw…
And yes, many animals came right up to the bus. I could add so many wonderful photos, but The Wilds is not just about the animals, it is equally about the land and living in harmony with nature and using land that is good for nothing else for something worthwhile.
There is one lodge on the premises, where we stayed that had 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and a private lake with boats and a canoe. They also have newer smaller places near the visitor center that sleep two.
If you are within a few hours drive (took me 2.5 from Cleveland) or are driving through on your way someplace else, you cannot go wrong with stopping here for a few hours. I had a fabulous time on my Ohio Safari! Visit the website here.
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How lucky you are to have such a terrific family tradition! Sounds like so much fun.
I think your Grandma is blessed to have such wonderful Grandaughters!
What a fabulous place! And that sounds like a wonderful time with your family! What a blessing it is to have that together!
Girl time with grandama is a wonderful concept. Truly a blessing for all of you.
The place looks so good.
Your girl time sounds fabulous! You are all so smart to enjoy each other while you can.
What a great tradition to look forward to each summer. Thanks for sharing.
I am dying to go to a Safari, may be someday. Love the pics.
I really love this tradition of yours. There is nothing more detressing than a bunch of your fav girls 🙂
Oh my gosh, how fun!! Thanks for sharing pics!
What a wonderful trip! Good for you for setting up and sticking with such a special tradition. In these days where families are so spread out it becomes harder and harder to get together. Three years ago we started a smaller version with my mom, my sister-in-law and my now 14-year-old niece. We call it Girl’s Night and we spend 24 hours in August at my mom’s house (no guys allowed!) doing whatever we want. We’ve had ice cream sundaes for dinner, watched movies, done jigsaw puzzles, colored my hair once, painted our nails, worked on scrapbooks… It’s mostly about being together. We’re also trying to get my brothers and their families to start spending a week together at a nearby lake like our family did as kids. Our children are growing up too fast so we really look forward to doing this. By the way, my grandmas are 91 and 90 and we are very lucky to have them both too!