Christmas At The Library has been rated one of the Top 100 Events in the US by the American Bus Association. Carriage rides, story time on the patio, live nativity and festive music make a visit to The Billy Graham Library at Christmas an excellent idea and a potentially fun outing with even little kids. There are lights everywhere. The live nativity had a camel which my kids thought was really neat. They also liked the building design and decorations.

A word of warning: The Tour of the Library takes an hour and a half and must be done at one time. The Library isn't set up in a way that allows visitors to do part of the tour, take a break and then finish the tour. Once you start the tour, you're on that path to the end. Some of the rooms utilize video screens. Doors close or volunteers block off entrance and exit points while the video segment plays.

If you're doing the tour, be sure to get Bessie's Brainteasers from the Information Desk for the kids. At the end of the tour, they get a prize for answering the multiple choice questions.

If you're going with small children and don't have a lot of time, consider skipping the tour in favor of a carriage ride (there is a small fee for this $5/adults and $2/kids under 12 when we were there) and story time on the patio. We ended up running out of time and had to skip the carriage ride and the story time. My sister and her children toured with us. We had 6 kids ranging in age from 3 to 11. The kids were wonderful on the tour but really couldn't relate to many of the exhibits.

Nativity animals can be petted from noon until 2 but Christmas activities don't start until 5pm. Visitors can eat at The Dairy Bar and shop in Ruth's Attic.

There's lots more than a corn maze to keep kids busy here. Activities include the corn cannon, cow train ride, and hay ride. There are swings, slides and games. Some things, like the corn cannon, require an activity ticket while others do not. For the best deal on the activity tickets, buy a combo. If you need more activity tickets, you can get them for .50/each.

Before you enter the maze, you're given a list of questions on a topic of your choice that will help you determine whether to turn right or left at numbered checkpoints. We chose Bible and ended up having to retrace our steps a couple times because we answered incorrectly. Other topic choices included movies, sports, and corn.

There are a number of port-a-potty units available for those who have need of them. There's a country store when visitors can purchase drinks and other items.

The Shelby Corn Maze opens mid-September and closes after Halloween. They're only open on Fridays, Saturday and Sundays. For kids and adults who like haunted attractions, there's a Haunted Corn Maze on Friday & Saturday nights in October.

The Rough Ridge Trail provides some truly amazing views but may not be a great option for young children. There are a number of areas where hikers can go out on large boulders. I was a little nervous having my children (11, 9 and 8) out there. That said, if your family likes to hike and your children generally do well following the rules you set for them, Rough Ridge Trail is an excellent choice for amazing long-range views.

The Rough Ridge Overlook & Parking Area is only a short distance from the Linn Cove Viaduct. The parking area is one of the access points to the Tanawha Trail which parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway for 13 miles. The Rough Ridge trail can also be accessed from the parking lot.

At the intersection with the Tanawa Trail, head toward Linn Cove. Cross the beautiful, arched bridge and start a brief strenuous climb to expansive views from the boardwalk.

In an effort to protect fragile vegetation on the rocky mountainside, boardwalks have been put in place by the National Park Service. The views from here are amazing and worth the steep climb. The boardwalks are designed to allow visitors the opportunity to step out on large boulders if they wish.

Those who wish to continue to the summit have another 1/2 mile ahead of them after the boardwalks. The narrow trail snakes its way through the vegetation upward and includes several stopping points for photos or just to drink in the views spread before you.

A rope near the top helps visitors reach the actual summit which is a total elevation gain of 480 feet from the parking area.

The popular trail was crowded when we visited on an Autumn day. You'll want fully charged batteries and plenty of available memory in your camera when you visit Rough Ridge.

While we enjoyed our time at Tweetsie, it seemed most of the things were geared toward children younger than my daughters (11, 9 and 8). In fact, I looked around at one point and realized there were only a handful of other kids who appeared to be in the same age range as my girls and they were all with younger siblings. We didn't spend much time waiting in line for any of the rides which was a plus. The park is beautiful and every employee I saw was smiling.

My husband expressed disappointment in regard to the train ambush. The show has changed since his childhood visits and he found the current version 'watered-down' and 'hokey.' Our girls were entertained by the show but when asked about Tweetsie, the first thing they mention is the other rides. "I wanna go back and ride the Tweetsie Twister, the chairlift and the Ferris Wheel again!"

If you have kids under age 8 and/or kids who love trains, Tweetsie is an excellent place to spend the day. The admission price made me wince; I don't plan to take my children back. Every ride at Tweetsie - with the possible exception of the chair lift - is available at other places with more to offer older children.

Overall, I'm glad we went and I do recommend a visit to Tweetsie.

Our family of 5 spent a long evening at the fair and kept our spending to a minimum. First, we used a printable coupon found on the fair's website. Second, we opted not to let our three daughters ride anything since all the rides were between $3 and $5 each. Armbands were available but at $18 each, they were too expensive for us. The fair does offer a discount on armbands one night but it's on a school night and we live an hour away so that doesn't work out very well for us.

The exhibits and shows kept us entertained and busy for a long evening and I know we didn't see all the exhibits. We started our visit off with a tour through the exhibit hall where we marveled at homemade quilts, clothes, paintings and complex models built from legos. There were flowers, food and displays put together by local schools.

At two of the three shows we attended, the children were encouraged to move forward and find a seat just in front of the performance stage so they could see clearly. I liked that my children didn't have to struggle to see. Doggies of the Wild West was fun for the kids but my husband and I found it slightly unimpressive. Star Family Circus featured some talented people including an acrobat, a juggler and a young clown who danced to Michael Jackson music but I'm pretty sure the family favorite was the boxing kangaroo. Josh Knotts put on a terrific show of illusions and extreme escapes. One of my daughters was selected to appear onstage for one of the illusions. That was the highlight of her night.

Between shows, we wandered through the livestock area where the girls exclaimed over various animals. The local high school FFA (Future Famers of America) group had a milking station where the girls milked a cow.

We walked through the ride area before leaving because the girls wanted to look around. There were a number of rides and games but nothing they begged to do.

The funnel cakes and cotton candy we bought on the way out were delicious.

Overall, the fairgrounds were clean and well laid out. The bathroom attendants did a nice job of keeping things tidy so we didn't begrudge them a tip.

If you're in the area when the Cleveland County Fair is happening, you should definitely consider going.