Day trip

Stephen took Friday off, and we all headed up to north GA for some adventures!  We made the almost 2 hour trip and our first stop was Unicoi State Park right outside of Helen.  The four of us hiked (while Parker strolled) up to Anna Ruby Falls, a beautiful pair of waterfalls nestled in the colorful autumn trees.  

After the hike back down, we stopped at the park's playground to play for a bit.

Then, we headed into the town of Helen, and first stopped for lunch.  We hit up a local sandwich shop, which didn't disappoint (though we had worked up an appetite, so anything would've been good!).  We walked around town for an hour or two, looking in the little shops and enjoying the scenery.

When we left Helen, we drove to the neighboring town of Cleveland.  There was...  my childhood fantasy.  Babyland General!  The birthplace of Cabbage Patch Kids.  They have completely upgraded the place since I last went in probably 1988.  It looked like a mansion from the road, and inside was a paradise for all three of my kids... dolls you can play with!  Toys galore!  School buses, trucks, firetrucks, police cars, and other wheeled-objects!  They had a blast.

Scary CPK!

We then headed to nearby Gainesville, where my sister and her family live.  My brother-in-law is the head football coach at a high school there, and they conveniently had a home game that night.  We hung out at my sister's house, went to dinner with her and some of her friends, and then surprised my BIL at the game!  

Giving "Uncle Mashoo" a lucky penny!

They did a little parade during halftime.

All the kids got free icees!

We stayed there until about 9:30 and the kids were pretty much done.  Heck, so was I.  It was a long, but really fun, day.  The kids crashed in the car on the way home, and we finally made it back around 10:30.  It was a great family day!

Stone Mountain

A couple of Fridays ago, Stephen was out of town and the construction guys were at our house.  Parker and I needed to leave!  (Parker around guys with tool belts is never a good thing... for the guys).  We decided to head to Stone Mountain and spend a couple of hours there.  It didn't disappoint (even with not paying for admission... we did the free stuff!)

Firetrucks!!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to see one of Parker's favorite things... a firetruck.  The local fire department came to Sydney and Taylor's school to teach fire safety, so Parker and I decided to make a visit.  What I thought would be a bunch of classes visiting at the same time turned out to surprisingly be just one class at a time.  The kids got to learn in an intimate group about all the different parts of the firetruck and their functions.  Then, they got to go inside a little RV that was set up as a house.  In there, the firemen taught about in-the-home safety (smoke detectors, not to go close to the fireplace or stove, etc.)  Then, they got to learn how to stop, drop, and roll and actually roll on the mats.  Parker joined in with Taylor's class and looked like he fit in (he was even bigger than a couple of pre-Kers!).

Learning to crawl out of the "house". (that's Parker in blue!)

Learning to stop, drop, and roll!

Conveniently, we know that fireman from church!

Giving five to the decked-out fireman.

Pumpkin Patch

Parker's school held a Pumpkin Patch, and his class got to go on a "field trip" (a.k.a. a walk through the parking lot) to go see it.  It was very cute- they got to take a hayride around the parking lot, they had a little hay bale maze, a pile of hay they got to sort through to find a prize, they got to ride a pony, and then pick out a pumpkin to take home at the end!  Inside, they got their face painted and had a special Halloween snack.  Stephen got to tag along, and we all had a great time.

On the hay ride.

The best attempt at a class picture.

Whoa!  This is huge, y'all.

And this is even more huge! Who is this child, riding on a pony?!