Vacation Week: Part Two

Usually where there is a part one, a part two follows.  Sorry for the delay!  For the second half of our week we headed to north Georgia to Sky Valley.  It is almost in North Carolina.  We actually drive through North Carolina for a little while in order to reach Sky Valley.  Ben's aunt and uncle have a beautiful cabin (for sale if you are interested...) with perfect views.  I could live on their back porch.  We had a fun time hiking, exploring, eating wonderful food and spending time with family.  It also did not hurt that is was at least 10 - 15 degrees cooler in Sky Valley than in Huntsville.  It felt wonderful!  We did so many things that I am just going to have to explain picture by picture.  

Ma-Maw and GrandBob with the grandkids and great-grandson at the waterfall

Parker and GrandBob - so cute!

The Hikers (minus Mike and Uncle John)

This warning sign should have been a huge red flag for me...saying it wasn't easy is an understatement.    Going down into the gorge was not difficult.  It was the climbing out that was so painful.

This picture does not do it justice.  It was a straight drop!  And a long way down!

Once we made it down, it was beautiful.  The climb down was really fun.  We had to climb from rock to rock over the river, use a few ropes, and go on some swinging bridges so get down there.  It reminded me of hiking in Auburn's state park, Chewacla, but this was just more strenuous.  The hike down was easily my favorite part of the hike.

There was a natural rock slide at the bottom.  It was fun to watch the guys slide down.   

This is for the people from church who read this blog...your pastor  courageously went down the slide.  Please also note that he is wearing an Auburn shirt...people kept on saying War Eagle to him on the trail and he just smiled.  That is evidence of the love you have for your children for a Bama fan to wear an Auburn shirt.

Some of us just rested once we got to the bottom.  It was fun to watch everyone go down the slide.    There was a wide variety of people, and it was endlessly entertaining.  Brooke actually fell asleep!

Even though the rock slide looked fun, the prospect of climbing back up in wet clothes did not appeal to us.    It sure did feel good to stick our feet in the water though!

I regret not getting pictures of Uncle John and Joe, but they went exploring behind the "Do Not Enter" sign which was far away from my camera.  Of course that is where Joe went...They have a history of this behavior.

I wish this picture did justice to the steepness of of climb up.  I am currently in the worst shape of my life (started running to turn that around...ugh) so I had to stop several times to catch my breath.  It was like doing lunges up a mountain.  If you got too close to the person in front of you, you would get kicked in the face.  That. Is. Steep.

Back at the cabin it was time to rest.  This was the view from the back porch in the mornings.

And this was the view at night.

It was such a wonderful trip.  We are blessed to have so much family that we love spending time with.

Vacation Week: Part One

We were away on vacation all of last week.  For the first half of the week, we celebrated the 4th of July with my side of the family at the Barnsley Gardens in GA.  19 people in one house might sound crazy, but it was wonderful!  It was one of the nicest places I have ever been.  The homes were beautiful, the gardens were beautiful and there was no shortage of fun with the pool and lawn games.  Even more beautiful than the landscape was the reason we were there...to celebrate and thank my GiGi and Grandad for the many (countless) ways they have blessed us.  I love them both more than I can say.  

 

The Big 5-0

 My dad turned 50 in June, so we had a surprise party for him at our house.  I can't take credit for the idea...or the planning.  I just cleaned the house and opened the door for my sisters and mom to bring the food and the guests to arrive.  We actually pulled off the surprise (even though all the cars were parked in the church parking lot right in front of the house and I thought there was no way he would miss it!)  It was fun to celebrate with our family and friends, and I know it was special for my dad.

 No birthday is complete without a cookie cake!

You would think that all of these wonderful people would be looking at the birthday boy....

...but this little guy was the entertainment for the night.  He is turning into quite the performer.  Thankfully he did not pick up an ounce of his mother's shyness.

I am so thankful for my sweet Dad.  I already knew that he was a great father, husband, and friend but now we get to add being an awesome Pops to his resume!