Amicolola Falls

 We went one weekend with some wonderful friends up to Amicolola Falls.  We were so excited to see more of Georgia and explore.  We fell in love with the thick beautiful trees everywhere on our drive.

 We had a wonderful picnic full of yummy things to eat that everyone brought.

 We then proceeded up the stairs to the falls.  It was such a beautiful hike, although McKay was sure that he'd never make it. 

 Amicolola Falls was so beautiful, I took a million pictures of it.  

 This old car had somehow wrecked and gone down the mountain running into a tree.  The tree had started to grow around it.  

 We made it to the top and saw the most beautiful view! 

 My boys truly love Brother and Sister Coffey, they are such loving people.  

 This tree grew so crazy!

 At the end of the hike in the gift shop there were cases of bugs and snakes and the boys were in heaven.

 The forest service held a watermelon seed spitting contest in honor of it being Independence Day weekend, which we were happy to participate in.

 Spitting the first seed...

 We all did pretty well and got some little gorillas for our awards.  Such a fun adventure!

4th of July...in Georgia

 Our first holiday without our family...it was a hard one for me.  Usually we do a big celebration with a pancake breakfast, races and a bike parade.  Past years are here, here and here.  I was a bit depressed the week leading up to the 4th.  I woke up the morning of the 4th dreading the day.  I came down and immediately saw all of these decorations.  Josh had decorated and gotten stuff to do a special pancake breakfast.  He invited the Elders over and we had a great time!

 Luckily we had things left over from years past.

 I was impressed how he improvised with what we had in the decor department.

 We had a great time with the Elders talking about their traditions and memories with their families (maybe that wasn't a good idea...homesickness and everything). 

 After breakfast the Elders went to work and we did our races.

 Palmer and Lincoln put together the obstacle course this year and did an awesome job.

 McKay and I went against each other.  He totally beat me.

 ...even with his eyes closed...

 ...and enjoyed every second of it...

 The best race of all was the one where we would throw two tennis balls and the boys would race Sasha to get them.  Sasha didn't really understand the rules and would sometimes drop the ball she had and go for the one the boys were getting.  It kept us laughing, at one point she got BOTH tennis balls

 I love the reactions that the boys gave me when they were racing.  There were lots of smiles.

 Three-legged race.

Josh and McKay got a little crazy during their three-legged race.

 We have made some wonderful friends here.  They were so good to us on the 4th and took us boating with them.  We were so excited to have such a fun thing to do.

 The boys were pretty impressed with the boat storage.  You call them and say you want to use your boat and they put it in the water for you and then take it and put it away when you are done...we are nerds, but thought it was the coolest thing ever.

 We spent the funnest afternoon swimming around Lake Lanier.  It was the first time we had really seen

it and we loved it!  There are islands all over the lake covered in trees where people camp.  It reminds me of Neverland and the lost boys.

 

 The boys' loved us throwing a football and catching it off the boat.

 McKay was brave and got into the water a few times.  It scared him to death since he couldn't see the bottom.  I was proud of him that he did get in even though he was scared.

It was such a lovely day.

Town 4th

 We decided to go check out the town festivities for the 4th of July.  It was actually held on the 3rd, but ya know...it works.  We headed to the fairgrounds and checked out the local culture.  I think this is the first place I actually started hearing southern accents.  Up until then I was on the hunt and hadn't heard too many.  

 I am the nerdiest, I am seriously always looking for things that are "southern."  This Boiled Peanut sign thrilled me like you wouldn't believe.  I wish it hadn't had such a huge line...we still haven't tried them!

 Lincoln is my climber, it's always a good thing when he can climb something that is actually meant to be climbed and he won't get in trouble.  When we see climbing walls, we take advantage of them.  The boys all love them, but Lincoln is in HEAVEN.

 Our three climbers.

The turkey legs looked so good, but were so big I couldn't even begin to finish so Hunter took over for me.

 He enjoyed it...

 Yet another WAY too long line (can you tell I loathe lines), but this little stand was selling homemade ice cream and had this old fashion ice cream maker going.  I was pretty smitten with it. 

 We don't see sunsets too often because the trees are so thick around our house, but we could see this beautiful one from where we were sitting to watch the fireworks.  

 Josh played "I'm Proud to be an American," while we watched the fireworks.  I always love the 4th of July.