Helen, Part 1

We just got back from the BEST impromptu vacation! A few weeks ago I got an email from the cabin rental company that we always use when we go to Helen, GA. They were having a great Memorial Day special, so I went ahead and booked a cabin without even telling Brad. That's a first. But I figured that Emma and I both outnumbered him, so he'd have to come with us. ;) He was actually very excited, so I wasn't in trouble.

We spent 3 nights and took well over 300 pictures, so I have lots to share. Figured it made more sense to break it up into days, so here's how day 1 went.

We got up and had a leisurely morning at home because check-in time was 3:00 and Helen is only a little over an hour from home. Brad had packed most of the car the night before, so he finished packing and we left. We dropped by my parents' house to drop Lucy off. The cabins are pet-friendly, but we figured it was a bit ambitious to have 2 babies to take care of on our first vacation ever, so she stayed with Bailey and he puppy-sat.

We hit the road running and only stopped once - at Jaemor's Apple Orchard. It's actually more of a country store/farmer's market than just an orchard, but they have that too. It's not apple season, so we got a pint of fresh strawberries that were grown right there. They were SO good! We also got some boiled peanuts that were fabulous too. Emma was fawned over by everyone in the place. She's gotten into waving at strangers, so she made lots of friends!

We got to the cabin around 4:00 and it was awesome. Huge screened in porch with a jacuzzi and a gas grill, nice living room with hardwood floors. It's funny, when you have a baby, the first thing you do when you walk in the door is push the coffee table out of the way! We brought a big quilt, so we put that down for Emma to play on. We unpacked while she played with her toys. She then took a NICE nap in her pack n play. I was amazed - the last time she was in it, she was up every single hour in Carrollton. After she woke up from nap, Brad grilled out some hotdogs. They were nitrate free (from Oscar Mayer's, surprisingly) so Emma had some for dinner too. She LOVED them!


After dinner we headed to Helen to go to Betty's Country Store. It's literally the ONLY store in about 10 miles that sells groceries of any sort. We had to get paper towels (we go THROUGH them with Emma!) and had to get some of Betty's world famous "boiled" cookies. They're not really boiled, but they are REALLY good. We drove around a bit on the way home, being adventurous. Turned out all we saw were cows, fields, and mountains. Very pretty scenery.



After we got back, Emma had her very first bath in a jacuzzi tub. Let's just say, the girl's spoiled. She loved it! After we put her to bed we got in the hot tub to relax. I wish we had one - it was fabulous.

Emma slept really well. She woke up twice, but that had been her norm at home too. We had a great first day!