Hiking
We brought sandwiches and had a picnic!
Indoor pool time!
Anna Ruby Falls
Our hike back from the waterfall at Anna Ruby Falls!
Note the sign Mario is pointing to that says "tired husbands bench"!
Stella wasn't to sure about them. The people that owned the store would pull on some chain behind the register and their arm would wave.
Gris mill where they grind corn.
Stella wanted to go too!
Mario and Aubrey tubing down the river. The whole "ride" takes about 21/2 hours.
Walking around downtown Helen.
We had so much fun going to an old gold mine! This is where the gold rush first started and there are a bunch of mines you can tour or mine in the area. You can buy either a bucket of precious gems or gold and mine/pan for gems/gold! We chose precious gems this day and all got into the action. It was SO fun and we got some really cool rocks and crystals!
We walked around the little town named Dalonega by where we went mining at. We also had lunch at a place called The Smith House. Mario had been there as a kid and wanted to go back. They seat you at big tables with other people and serve everyone traditional southern food family style. We were SO full afterwards!
Every morning Stella would feed the ducks on our patio. Right across the river is where people got out after tubing. She loved to watch everyone and first thing when she got up in the morning she would run towards the sliding glass door yelling "people"!
We spent some pool/sun time also!
The Falls
The 2nd waterfall we hiked to. This one was a moderate hike and 1.2 miles each way with a pretty steep incline. We don't have a backpack to carry Stella in so we traded off between Mario and I carrying her and her walking the easy parts. It was beautiful but afterwards Aubrey and I went tubing were you have to paddle a lot and by the evening my arms were SORE! Mario and I hit up the jacuzzi that night!!!
I took my turn tubing. Although the river was VERY low, or so we heard, so you would get stuck on rock clusters and have to get up and unlodge to tube. I was stuck on an incline once and stood up, held the tube behind me and proceeded to try to jump backwards onto the tube. The tube went flying and so did I! When I came up out of the water from my flip there was a man laughing hysterically and Aubrey was too! It was hilarious!
My sister, brother and I had some of the first Cabbage Patch Kids when we were little. For some reason we loved those things and each had like 3. My mom still has all of them and their clothes. Next time I go home I may have to bring them back with me for Stella. So when I heard Babyland General was very close to where we were we had to go take a peek. I am still recovering and the nightmares have not subsided yet. Just kidding...kinda. There are "babies" everywhere and you can pluck any of them out of a cabbage to adopt. They go for anywhere from $12. to $400. Crazy. They had them staged in all different sorts of areas, the nursery, a school etc. The main attraction was the "Tree". Not sure what they call it but a nurse comes out and actually does a live cabbage patch birth. I am debating uploading the video Mario took. Although it may disturb some. Stella couldn't look away. When I played the video earlier today, she wanted to watch it "again" and "again" so there must be some draw for the littles. All in all it was worth seeing and we were really only there for about an hour no harm done and Stella had a blast!
Babyland General Hospital
There were Cabbage Patch Kids everywhere!
I think she may be getting a baby buggy for her birthday...she ran this one all around!
Stella got her very own baby named Lilllian Janessa from Babyland General!
Stella loooves her baby Lily!
Mario's mom and step dad were nice enough to let us use their time share in Helen, Georgia which is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We had the BEST time! A million thank you's to them!!! Usually when we plan vacations they are chock full of go go go and you come home feeling more tired when you left. We wanted to come home feeling rested and relaxed and we succeeded!!! The funny thing is though is that we did SO many things within the week we were there and still came home feeling rested and relaxed!!!
Took a carraige ride around town...SO FUN!!!
View from patio
View from patio
Anna Ruby Falls
Our hike back from the waterfall at Anna Ruby Falls!
Note the sign Mario is pointing to that says "tired husbands bench"!
Stella wasn't to sure about them. The people that owned the store would pull on some chain behind the register and their arm would wave.
Gris mill where they grind corn.
Stella wanted to go too!
Mario and Aubrey tubing down the river. The whole "ride" takes about 21/2 hours.
Walking around downtown Helen.
We had so much fun going to an old gold mine! This is where the gold rush first started and there are a bunch of mines you can tour or mine in the area. You can buy either a bucket of precious gems or gold and mine/pan for gems/gold! We chose precious gems this day and all got into the action. It was SO fun and we got some really cool rocks and crystals!
We walked around the little town named Dalonega by where we went mining at. We also had lunch at a place called The Smith House. Mario had been there as a kid and wanted to go back. They seat you at big tables with other people and serve everyone traditional southern food family style. We were SO full afterwards!
Every morning Stella would feed the ducks on our patio. Right across the river is where people got out after tubing. She loved to watch everyone and first thing when she got up in the morning she would run towards the sliding glass door yelling "people"!
We spent some pool/sun time also!
The Falls
The 2nd waterfall we hiked to. This one was a moderate hike and 1.2 miles each way with a pretty steep incline. We don't have a backpack to carry Stella in so we traded off between Mario and I carrying her and her walking the easy parts. It was beautiful but afterwards Aubrey and I went tubing were you have to paddle a lot and by the evening my arms were SORE! Mario and I hit up the jacuzzi that night!!!
I took my turn tubing. Although the river was VERY low, or so we heard, so you would get stuck on rock clusters and have to get up and unlodge to tube. I was stuck on an incline once and stood up, held the tube behind me and proceeded to try to jump backwards onto the tube. The tube went flying and so did I! When I came up out of the water from my flip there was a man laughing hysterically and Aubrey was too! It was hilarious!
My sister, brother and I had some of the first Cabbage Patch Kids when we were little. For some reason we loved those things and each had like 3. My mom still has all of them and their clothes. Next time I go home I may have to bring them back with me for Stella. So when I heard Babyland General was very close to where we were we had to go take a peek. I am still recovering and the nightmares have not subsided yet. Just kidding...kinda. There are "babies" everywhere and you can pluck any of them out of a cabbage to adopt. They go for anywhere from $12. to $400. Crazy. They had them staged in all different sorts of areas, the nursery, a school etc. The main attraction was the "Tree". Not sure what they call it but a nurse comes out and actually does a live cabbage patch birth. I am debating uploading the video Mario took. Although it may disturb some. Stella couldn't look away. When I played the video earlier today, she wanted to watch it "again" and "again" so there must be some draw for the littles. All in all it was worth seeing and we were really only there for about an hour no harm done and Stella had a blast!
Babyland General Hospital
There were Cabbage Patch Kids everywhere!I think she may be getting a baby buggy for her birthday...she ran this one all around!Stella got her very own baby named Lilllian Janessa from Babyland General!
Stella loooves her baby Lily!Mario's mom and step dad were nice enough to let us use their time share in Helen, Georgia which is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We had the BEST time! A million thank you's to them!!! Usually when we plan vacations they are chock full of go go go and you come home feeling more tired when you left. We wanted to come home feeling rested and relaxed and we succeeded!!! The funny thing is though is that we did SO many things within the week we were there and still came home feeling rested and relaxed!!!
We had a 2 bedroom condo which worked out great. The girls shared a bedroom and we had a kitchen so we had planned out meals and ate in mostly, which I preferred. It was also a nice change to go up to the mountains and have such different scenery. There are such a variety of things to do up there. Helen is kind of like Leavenworth for those of you from the West coast. Times 10. Instead of just a main drag the whole town is Bavarian style.
We relaxed on the back patio, we did 2 hikes, we spent some sun/pool time, we went on a carriage ride, we walked around town and shopped, we ate ice cream, we went gold/gem mining, we drove to two neighboring towns and walked around, we toured Babyland General where Cabbage Patch kids are born, we tubed down the river, we went to some parks, we ate out,
we visited a few local attractions and much more. I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. All in all it was such a good time and such GREAT memories!!! :)
we visited a few local attractions and much more. I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. All in all it was such a good time and such GREAT memories!!! :)
They had Curious George at the local jumpy place Saturday. We took Stella to meet him and she had a blast. She was so curious about him but then when we got right up there she wasn't so sure. She had a BLAST doing all the other things though. She loved jumping and riding the little rides and playing games with Daddy. Overall a success!!! :)
Vroom Vroom
Stella's friend Maddie had a birthday party on the 4th!
I think it's safe to say that Stella had a great time!
Watching worms
On the 4th of July we went over to Mario's dads for a yummy brisket dinner. Stella's baby cousin Jakob was there that we finally got to meet. It was a really fun time with family. After that we went to Stella's friend Maddie birthday party. She had so much fun running around with the other kids. When we got home Mario lit of 2 big fireworks. By this time Stella was wiped out from her exciting day so she just layed her head on my shoulder and hung on to my neck. I thought she was a little scared but didn't cry. Since then every day she has said "Boom Booms" at LEAST once a day. I guess she wasn't quite as scared as I thought!
Hmmm, what should I get into next???
