Last minute trip

It is now beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Georgia!  We actually had a bit of snow this past weekend, but nothing that stuck around too long (maybe next time).  So before the weather changed to below freezing, the hubby and I decided to take the kids on a last minute trip to Helen, GA.

For those of you not familiar with Helen, GA, it is a little town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains that recreates an alpine village.  You can shop, camp, visit the local parks, stay in a mountain cabin, fish, golf, go tubing (during the summertime), eat at restaurants, etc. The scenery alone is beautiful!  Everything there has little influences of European culture, and since my mom is from Germany (and I lived in Germany most of my life) I find myself wanting to visit there quite often.

We made it to downtown Helen just in time for their yearly choir concerts done by one of the local churches.  It was a beautiful recital, and they had church members walking around passing out candy canes and programs to everyone.  The smell in the air was pinecones and chocolate cinnamon candies and nuts.  Though it was cold, it was not windy, so it was a bearable coldness.

In the middle of downtown they have this great water fountain feature that is memorable to me and my hubby. We visited Helen when I was three months pregnant with our firstborn, so it was special to see the water fountain again, but this time with two kids in tow!  My does time change quickly!

Here is a close up of the decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the village.  It was a very loud and colorful tree, and much bigger there in the village than my phone camera could accurately display.  All we needed was a cup of hot chocolate or apple cider to make our holiday experience complete!

There were even carriage rides, if you wanted one.  Though I think there is something special about riding in a carriage, these horses just looked plain tired.  They were absolutely beautiful, but my heart went out to them, thinking about how they had to pull people around all day.  I'm not an animal activist or anything, I just felt compassion toward them.

Of course I couldn't get away without showing off the two handsome men in my life (ok, one man, one boy).  It was a long day for all of us, but my hubby still drove us both to and from Helen even though he does a lot of driving for his job.  It was a sweet sacrifice, though you know I would not have minded to take some of the load off!  

My son just had a ball in Helen!  He is one of those joyful children that seems to have a ball no matter where we take him just as long as he is spending time with us!  I found this out one rainy day when we stayed in the house ALL DAY, and I was bored to tears so I just knew he was.  When I asked him before bedtime if he had a good day he smiled real big and said "Oh yes mommy!"  I said "Why, honey?  You stayed in the house all day and we really didn't do much."  He told me "But I was with you!"  Aww, out of the mouth of my son!

Christmas tree--DAY

I leave you with my son's favorite Christmas tree, the one with the blue lights.  We had an awesome day in Helen, and enjoyed the best homemade powdered sugar funnel cakes before heading home for the evening.  When we left, it was already starting to snow!  On our way out we took in all the pretty lights display, but if I showed them to you then this post would be much too long!

Christmas tree--NIGHT

Happy holidays to everyone!

Stay sew-filled!