Teach Them Diligently

This weekend I attended my first ever homeschool convention and it was ... well, it was a lot of things. Chiefly, it was a LOT of input and it was a worthwhile trip. This Teach Them Diligently conference happens in four cities a year, so naturally we took advantage of the Nashville location here at Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Conference Center.

We even splurged on a room to stay onsite and called it a "staycation" of sorts. Josh and the kids did their thing around the resort and Opry Mills Mall.  I did the conference thing.

Time flew! My feet hurt! And my brain is swollen from all the thoughts and sessions and vendors and talks and curriculum and BOOKS!

View looking up from our first of many meals on the Delta island of the resort.

A moment among MANY inside the vendor hall. 

During one of two sessions Josh attended, the kids and I explored the resort some more 

and dined on frozen yogurt 

while we stared at the mesmerizing fountains again.

Then, I indulged my two monkeys who just wanted to ride the escalators.  They did this for about 15 mins. 

Can't help but grin at them enjoying the simplest of pleasures.  Why did we bother with DisneyWorld again?

Pretty spots on our trek back to our room.

Waterfalls in the Cascades area of the resort.

Just such a cool vibe in every spot!

The second night there, we let the kids stay up WAY past bedtime to see the lighted fountain show they put on every night.

We managed to snag a seat right on the balcony for a better view.  

The water shoots up with such force during different portions of the show, you can feel the wind from it.  Pretty neat!

This was a good first convention experience for me and I already have my sights set on what I hear is the convention to beat all homeschool conventions in Cincinnati next year - Great Homeschool Conventions.  We've had that city on our must-see list for awhile, so we'll work in a family trip there in conjunction with the conference and hit a lengthy list of field-trip and other sight-seeing stops while in the area.  I would go this year, in fact, if we weren't gonna be strapped to afford the beach trip we just booked.  Eeek!  Looking forward to that, too!