A Great Day

I'm sitting here at 6:54 AM on July 4th typing a blog post. Today would have been my 9th Peachtree. I love running the Peachtree. It is such an awesome energy. This year, though, I decided not to run it 6 months pregnant and out of shape.

Instead, I'm enjoying a few quiet moments by myself with my cup of coffee before the day gets going. Not sure what is in store for us today. We stretched Charlotte's limits yesterday, so I'm not sure if we'll make it to fireworks tonight or not. I hope all of you have a wonderful day.

Yesterday was a fantastic day for us. Judd and I woke up wanting to "do something". The forecast was awesome, and we knew it would be a great day to be outside. We ended up deciding to pack up and head to Anna Ruby Falls and Helen, GA - we would see where the day took us.

On the way up we stopped at Jaemor Farms to pick up some peaches and blackberries. Judd and I drooled over the peach ice cream, but it was only 10:30 AM and I didn't want Charlotte's system to have that much sugar yet. So, we got back in the car and kept going.

The traffic into Helen was pretty bad, but we ended up getting to Anna Ruby Falls around lunch time. We had a picnic by the stream, cleaned up, and went to the base of the trail. Charlotte rode on Judd's shoulders the half mile up to the falls. When we got to the top I said, "You OK?" (directed at Judd) and Charlotte replied, "I OK, I not tired." There was something about the fact that Judd carried one child while I carried the other that made me so happy at that moment. It's like the baby was already there with us somehow.









After hiking back down (Charlotte actually walked the whole way by herself), we drove over to the beach at Unicoi State Park. Charlotte and I changed into our bathing suits and we all played at the lake's beach for an hour or so. It was about 3 pm at this time and Charlotte hadn't even thought about a nap. It didn't seem to phase her, though, she was in a great mood.

15 minutes into the car ride home, she got really quiet in the back seat. We looked back there and she was completely out.



As Judd and I got closer and closer to Jaemor Farms, we talked about quickly stopping for a peach ice cream cone. The decision was made, we were going to go for it while she was asleep. I crept out of the car and ran in to get us each an ice cream cone. I just knew she was going to be awake by the time I got back to the car - but she wasn't! Judd and I ate our cones (they were awesome!) as we drove. We kept giggling about it - that we were eating these ice cream cones, and Char would be SO upset if she knew about it. I told him that if she woke up we had to quickly throw them out the window. He mentioned that she'll probably wake up and sniff the air and say, "wait a minute, it smells like ice cream in here!" It just made us wonder about how many times our parents did stuff like that - or maybe they wouldn't do something that mean?

We got back to the house, rested for a while, then went to a friend's house for a outdoor movie night. It was a good time, but the movie didn't start until it was dark enough - around 8:30 pm. For Charlotte, this was getting late when she didn't have a good nap earlier in the day. Needless to say, a complete meltdown ensued when we told her it was time to go home. She stayed close to that meltdown state until she finally passed out around 9:15 pm.

So, we probably pushed her limits a little far yesterday. But, the day was SO much fun. I loved taking a day trip with our little family. I love the memories that we made and how happy we were together. Charlotte is to a point where these days are possible - sure there was a meltdown at the end of the day, but I think even she would agree that it was worth it to have the freedom from a schedule for a day.