Fall Break

This past weekend was fall break for the kids, so they had a 5 day vacation from school. We decided we would take a day trip to Helen Ga & visit all the fun shops & see what was there.



Helen was formerly a logging town that was in decline, the city resurrected itself by becoming a replica of the Bavarian alpine town, in the Appalachians instead of the Alps. This design is mandated through zoning, so that the classic south-German style is present on every building, even for the small number of national franchisees present(Such as the Super 8 shown below).

(taken from Google images)

It was fun to feel like you were in a completely different country while walking around the different shops. Ryan was the most excited about going but soon became a little less enthusiastic the more walking we did and began asking, "How many more stores?"



This was our favorite(Hansel & Gretel Candy Kitchen), and it smelled the BEST!



I began to have flashbacks of childhood and my mother as the day wore on. Growing up, as we traveled, we would stop for every scenic detour my mother deemed photo worthy. As a child it became the worst part of the trip, begging her to tell us, "How many more stops?" We would complain/whine and just wanted to go home(ex: picture below).



And, so goes it with my own family so many years later. We found a few shops on the way out of town that were fun stops(for mom & dad), so we decided to take a few more minutes to look around(amid all the moaning & groaning).



This is an old grain store that had a lot of great varieties of grains that they grind right there in the store by using water power from the Chattahoochee River that runs through the town, and actually runs from the Chattahoochee Spring in the Appalachian Mountains of northeastern Georgia, near the Carolinas, to Atlanta and through its suburbs.



We sampled and bought some yummy porridge that we came home & made for dinner.

MONDAY

Every year Casey works in the UGA Poultry booth at the State Fair. Cody has went with him the past several years to help out. They hand out baby chicks to several children that come with their schools to touch and look at the chicks. This year, since it landed on fall break, we decide to make it a family day. Kaitlyn & Cody would help Casey in the booth, while Ryan & I wandered around the fairgrounds. However, we woke up to pouring rain & Ryan coughing, so I decided to stay home with Ryan. He was not a happy boy, but we made a fun day out of it(spending birthday money & going to McDonalds), while Kaitlyn & Cody went on to help Casey.

Casey took a couple of pictures:




They enjoyed the day at the fair.

We had a great fall break and enjoyed taking some time out from everyone's busy schedules...I'm already looking forward to the holiday breaks:-)