Helen

The theme for this summer has been rain, rain, rain.  And cool, cool, cool.  Now don't get me wrong, this weather would be great... if it was November!  But c'mon, for real?!  It's mid-August for crying out loud!!  I bet I could count on one hand how many times this summer it hit 90 degrees.  And we only slip 'n slided maybe four times.  This past weekend, AUG 17th and 18th, not Nov, not March, but August the high was 70.  That set a record low high.  We turned the air off on Friday and opened the windows and the temperature in the house dropped several degrees.  Fall weather is great, I just wish we could have had summer first!  Alrighty, alrighty, off my soap box now.  maybe.

So on Saturday we had a family adventure day.  We decided on Helen since that's been on my bucket list of sorts for awhile now.  [It's not really a bucket list per say, I just have a list of nearby places I'd love to go or things I'd love to do.  Like the UGA game we went to in April.]  Coleson and I used to love Helen, and we went there a million times pre kids.  And even once when Ryan was little and spent a weekend with my parents.  Believe it or not though, the kids had never been.  We ate a picnic lunch and then went to Anna Ruby Falls.  Now keep in mind three or four weeks ago I picked a hike for us.  It was a long drive, a long hike, and we got rained on.  Pouring rain.  Fortunately we were able to squish into a rock wall and really didn't get that wet.  But we did have to turn around before we got to the waterfall.  It really was a great adventure though; I had a wonderful time.  Ryan however has asked to not go hiking in the rain again.  Thus I was a little afraid of how announcing another hike would go over.  Anna Ruby Falls seemed safe enough.  And fortunately the kids seemed to have forgotten about hiking in the rain and were very excited.  It's a super short trail and therefore we actually made it to the waterfall this time.  The kids all did great and loved it.  They did seem a little confused by the paved sidewalk, and Ryan asked to keep going when we got to the waterfall so quickly.  I love that my kids know what real hiking is!  The waterfall was beautiful and it was a fun little hike.

After our hike, we headed into Helen.  The car said 64 degrees.  It was chilly!  I hiked in jeans and a sweatshirt, in addition to the bodyheat of wearing Chloe.  And it was drizzling a little.  But we still had fun wandering, and hey, Ryan enjoyed wearing his raincoat.  He also loved watching the handful of crazies that were tubing the river.  You couldn't have paid me money to get in that water when it was 64 and drizzling.  We stopped for fudge and ants on a stick pretzels.  Unfortunately the rain was getting heavier, so we snapped a quick picture of the kids for proof of our visit, and then we ran to the car.  We had thought about staying through dinner, but just didn't have it in us to hang around in the rain.  So we drove a ways before dining at El Rio in downtown Dawsonville.  Love that place!  I used to eat there when I worked at the bank, and that's where the fajita nachos that we all know and love originated.  Always a fun stop if we can work it in; it's not exactly convenient these days. 

While the weather wasn't ideal, it was still a great day.  With our busy schedules and kindergarten, we love our Saturdays!  I really don't care what we do, as long as we do it together [cheesy! but true!].  The crazier the day, the better the memories :)