Camping in Hiawassee, GA for Father's Day

Cool built in trampolines. This one was built into the deck and others were built into the ground. It was a hit with the kids! (John, Scott and I had fun on them too)

Jan, Steph, Elisabeth and Ansley

Beautiful waterfall

BRRRRR!

Ron and Elisabeth

After hiking up to the 200 ft waterfall we were able to play in the water underneath it. The water was ice cold!
I just had to take a picture of this log. I thought it was so pretty.
Scott underneath the waterfall......he was freezing I can assure you.

Ron and Elisabeth going under the waterfall

Ducks that came to visit our campsite. The kids are feeding them bread.

Trout in the pond at the campground - if you throw bread in they go crazy and jump out of the water and all on top of each other.

Ansley feeding the trout some bread from her hand. They will bite......just ask me....

Ansley and her new friend, Happy. He was so cute....I could have taken him home.

The 400 ft waterfall that we hiked to. Couldn't get very close to this one.

Hiking through the river (well not exactly hiking....I was in flip flops. Not the best hiking shoe by the way but I made do.)

We stopped at Tallulah Gorge on the way home. This is where The Great Wallenda crossed the gorge on a tightrope in 1970. (on a tragic note: he fell do his death 8 years later in Puerto Rico)

Overlooking the gorge

Tallulah Gorge (It really bugs me that the power lines are in this picture but there was no avoiding them if you wanted a picture of the whole gorge area)

Closeup of the gorge

Ansley being silly

We went camping this past weekend in Hiawassee, GA (near Helen). We stayed at Enota campground and had a great time. The drive was a little long but worth it. Enota is in a valley and there are 2 waterfalls on the property. Mountain streams also run through the property. I love to hear the sound of the water.....it's very calming and peaceful. Each camp site has a built in deck which was really really nice. We parked our camper right next to the deck and it really made everything convenient and kept our shoes and feet from getting so dirty when walking in and out of the camper.

On Saturday morning we hiked to the 200 foot waterfall. The path was a little steep and the path down to the base of the waterfall was steep and muddy. But we all made it without falling and rolling down the hill. I thought we did pretty well! The water at the bottom of the waterfall is shallow so you can go swimming in it and can even go under the waterfall. The water was freezing!! We all played in the water but only Ron, Jan, Scott, Ansley and Elisabeth went under the waterfall and got soaked. I just couldn't do it......no need to get that wet and that cold. I was fine just having my feet numbed by the ice cold water I was walking in. Later that day we decided to tube the Chattahoochee (again). It was hot so the water felt pretty good. Tubing the hooch is always fun! The kids love it! All in all we had a great time and the kids didn't want to leave on Sunday. There was still a bit to explore at the campground......we'll have to go back someday and stay a little longer next time. Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's day!

VBS

This week is VBS at our church. Last night there were 400+ kids in attendance. WOW! This year's theme is Boomerang Express: It all comes back to Jesus. Elisabeth was old enough to meet in the sanctuary with the "big" kids this year instead of going to a class on the pre-school hall. She was excited and a little overwhelmed the first night. But she is loving it! Ansley's squad sits right behind Elisabeth so it's nice they are near each other. I didn't volunteer to help this year because I had some prior commitments that would make me miss several of the nights. I miss not being there with the kids though! It is exhausting each night but a lot of fun. And one of the great side benefits is the kids are so tired that they sleep late the next day! Can we do VBS all summer? :-) Right now it's 8:48 am and my kids are still asleep. This is unheard of........I'm enjoying my quiet time in the morning while it lasts.

On another note.....each Tuesday our local library does kids programs that are free of charge. We always try to attend during the summer. Yesterday was a little play called Cinderella -- A Twist. It was so good! We got there early enough to sit right at the front. Ansley got picked from the audience to go up and participate. She had to wear a wig on stage. It was pretty funny! But sad to say the only thing I could think of was.....oh my how many other kids have had that thing on their head.......did they have lice.......did they wash their hair recently? Bad I know but true. After having a recent lice scare near our household I can't help but think of it often. Anyway it was a good show and provided many laughs. Afterward we met some friends at Chick-fil-a and they were all able to run and play together. I tried the peach milkshake for the 1st time. YUMMY! I love a good milkshake with fruit in it. Not that the fruit really makes it any healthier but I just love fruit.

Not much else has been going on here. Just trying to keep up with housework, entertain the kids so I don't have to hear "I'm bored.....there's NOTHING to do" 90 times a day and do my work for John that takes a load off of him and helps keep him from having to work on the weekends. At the end of this week we are going camping in the GA mountains. Should be a nice relaxing Father's Day weekend. Of course I'll post pictures when we return.

A week in Savannah

Riding the waves

Tan feet in the sand

Knocked over by a wave

Catching toads at Nana and Grandaddy's house

Travis throwing Elisabeth in the air

Travis throwing Ansley and her friend Caroline

Ansley's and her friend Caroline that we met this week at the pool

We spent the 1st week of summer break in Savannah enjoying the pool and the beach. It was very hot there (thank goodness) and didn't rain! The girls had a blast (as usual) going to the pool everyday and just relaxing. We all had a great time playing in the waves and only got knocked over once. Those big waves really sneak up on you!

Taco Dip Recipe

I promised to put my taco dip recipe out here for a few people that asked (you know who you are). Enjoy!



Taco Dip Ingredients

1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp taco seasoning mix
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated cheddar cheese (I usually put more than this)

Optional toppings such as: diced tomatoes, thinly sliced green onions, sliced pitted ripe olives, snipped fresh cilantro or additional sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread refried beans over bottom of pan. In a bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning and garlic. Mix well.

2. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over beans. Grate cheddar cheese over the top. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

3. If desired, sprinkle tomato, onions, olives and cilantro over dip. Garnish with additional sour cream if desired.

Belated Gotcha Day celebration

(l-r) The Harmon Family, The Smith Family, The Smith Family and our family
Elisabeth, Jenny, Olivia and Katherine holding hands and jumping

Elisabeth and Olivia enjoying a popsicle

All the girls eating popsicles and cake

The beautiful cake Amanda made (thanks Amanda!!)

(top to bottom) Ansley, Elisabeth, Jenny, Katherine (you can't really see her), Olivia and Emily

(l-r) Olivia, Jenny, Elisabeth and Katherine

This afternoon we had a good time relaxing with our China travel group. We try to get together once or twice a year so the girls don't lose touch and because we enjoy each other's company. The weather was beautiful.....not too hot and not humid at all. The girls had fun playing together and as usual Elisabeth cut up in most pictures. It's hard to get a picture where she is sitting still and looking at the camera!

Field Day

Drip, Drip, Drop game (Duck duck goose except it's with water). Ansley got Elisabeth so Ansley had to chase her around the circle.
Bradley Bott squeezed water on Elisabeth's head and she had to chase him around the circle.
The goal was to squeeze the sponge full of water into the bottle to try and fill it up. Most of the water went on the person's head instead. It was so hot I don't think they cared!

Mrs. Wright played the game too but instead of just getting water from the sponge they came up behind her with the hose and gave her a surprise!

Pulling as hard as they can....

Elisabeth participating in the parachute activity

Eating popsicles to cool off

(Kayla, Ansley, Elisabeth and Sarah)

Sack race

Who knows......

Hockey relay with a potato

Noodle race

Yesterday was Field Day at Ansley's school. Elisabeth and I go every year and follow her class around and help where we can and of course take pictures. Yesterday was VERY HOT! We were outside non-stop for about 3 hours and it was exhausting. There wasn't any shade! There were 15 different stations/games that they had to rotate to and thank goodness for the water games and relays to cool them off. Elisabeth got to participate in a few of the activities but there's alot she can't do because she doesn't understand the rules and would get trampled by the other kids. Afterwards we came home and took naps (except Ansley). I was totally exhausted! It was a good day though and there are only 3 more days of school (including today). Today is their class party where we are bringing tacos and nachos and then are having ice cream sundaes afterwards. Yummy!