Bowers Blog: Pre Halloween October 2019

I have made several attempts at updating this blog over the last month. Blogger has deleted my posts, moved pictures around, and absolutely driven me crazy. This post is from the beginning of October and includes all of our fall break adventures. I will attempt the Halloween and post Halloween post this weekend. It was so many pictures to try and combine it all that I decided to keep it split up and leave this post as I originally started it... over 1 MONTH AGO!

Despite my technical difficulties with Blogger, we have had tons of fun this fall thus far!

I won a fast past parking spot in a raffle that the PTO held at school. For the remainder of the semester, I get to pull up to this spot in the afternoon and the kids are brought out to me as soon as the dismissal bell rings. I am BEYOND thrilled not to have to shed hours of my life in the carpool line even if it is only for a couple fo months.

Ellie's volleyball team is doing great this season. They are #2 in the league so far!! Playoffs to come!

It's a great group of precious girls this year.

Fall Break was a BIG adventure this year. We filled 4 days full of activities. First up, was a trip to Helen, GA. This was our cute cabin.

This is the bear that was at the bottom of the very steep driveway to our cabin. The kids wanted their picture with it.

Our driveway to the cabin was a little scary. I'm just glad there was no snow and ice.

We made it to the top! I didn't get any pictures from the observatory building, because Mack got in trouble for running at one point by one of the park rangers working there. I was completely watching him, and it was more like skipping back and forth between Worth and I as we were reading the informational plaques. Mack was in no danger, and was completely contained, but apparently, he was annoying the park ranger. We had to to a quick zoom around the museum and head back down the mountain, because I honestly thought we would make the ranger have a heart attack. I kept asking myself, "have they never seen children before?"

There were some great photo ops hiking down Brasstown Bald

Another good Brasstown Bald pic

In true Ellie fashion, we had to make a stop at the gift shop at the bottom of Brasstown Bald and Ellie instead on purchasing herself a new stuffed animal, a black bear.

After leaving Brasstown Bald, we headed into downtown Helen for lunch. After lunch, we decided to go panning for gems.

It would have been much more fun if the kids would have gone a little bit slower. But due to their competitive nature, they blew through a huge bucket of sand and stones in less than 10 minutes.

They did get some fun, real gems that can be used to make jewelry or whatever they wish at any point.

Mack was proud of his work.

And in case y'all didn't know, he's a gem expert now.

Loot.

After panning for gems, we decided to play a little mountain putt putt.

We tried to make it a competition, but due to some cheating by individuals I will not name, we called of the competition half way through and just played for fun to finish out.

We finished out the putt putt game then headed to The Georgia Mountain Rollercoaster. There were no bags allowed, and I didn't have a secure enough pocket to keep my phone on me, so there are no pictures. It was so fun! You controlled the speed of your car individually. Ellie was old enough and tall enough to ride in a car by herself, and the look on her face was priceless as she came down the coaster. She was so scared! She did great though and slowed it down when she needed to just like they had instructed her.

We ended our day by heading back to our cabin and relaxing in the hot tub.

After a delicious steak dinner, Worth lit up the fire pit and we made s'mores.

The kids kept saying they were scared of bears. They didn't last long by the fire. I'm not sure if it was the cold or their fear of a bear coming out of the woods, but they preferred playing inside after about 10 minutes of s'mores time.

Sweet sisters enjoying chocolate and marshmallows.

These were the final step counts of all 3 kids after day 1.

Our first stop on day 2 of Fall Break was a hike up Anna Ruby Falls.

Anna Ruby Falls was probably one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've ever been.

Emma got a picture of her Mama and Daddy.

A nice man offered to take our family picture after he saw Worth and I struggling to take a selfie that included the falls and all 5 of us.

There were so many cool stops along the hike that you could just listen to the water and look at the fish swimming in the clear water.

There is something about running water that is so relaxing.

After our hike, we walked Smith Creek at the bottom of the falls and scoped out a place to settle for a picnic lunch.

We found a spot! That little picnic table to the left was perfect!

The kids immediately took off shoes and got in the creek. (you were allowed to get in the creek in this area)

Emma was obviously loving it.

A rock skipping contest ensued.

After our relaxing hike and picnic, we headed to Lake Unicoi for a GPS hike/scavenger hunt that turned sour when our GPS tracker didn't work properly and we missed our first stop. It mainly turned into a beautiful 45 minute or so hike around the lake. The weather and views were unbelievable, so it wasn't a complete wash. After the failed scavenger hunt, we went to an adventure course and completed a ropes adventure as a family.

Mack suprised us with his skill and lack of fear.

I had a blast. I'll admit that it was a little nerve racking, not for me, but because I had Emma in front of me, and Mack behind me. I was so worried about them. I shouldn't have been. They nailed the course.

The course ended with a zip line. These are the videos of the munchkins zip lining across. They were so excited about this part of the course.

no caption needed.

We finished the busy day with ice cream before heading back to the cabin for dinner and hot tub time.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Athens to watch the Dawgs play!

We ran into som Valdosta friends, Taylor and her little sister Marley tailgated with us briefly.

Mack and Bo were inseparable, even walking to the game.

So excited to be in Athens.

We ran into more friends near our seats in the game. Anna Beth Barry was there with her dad and 2 of her 3 sisters.

After an embarrassing Dawg loss to South Carolina, we spent the night with the Berryman's. On Sunday, we ALL went to lunch together before Hardy's 2nd birthday party.

We made it to the Tift's after lunch for a celebration of Hardy and his 2nd birthday. He was being a shy little guy for most of the time, but it didn't stop him from being the cutest 2 year old there!