#17: One for the Family Album

I wrote out an entire post about how we had the Christmas tree lighting event at the park, hiked up to Preachers Rock as a family, and checked out a nearby diamond in the rough. But I realized, upon proof reading it, that the events were best told in photos. So enjoy.

Around 200 people gathered at Vogel on Saturday for the annual Christmas Tree lighting event. It all went down at the ball field, less than 100 yards from our campsite which was wonderfully convenient.

Various tents gave away free baked treats, hot chocolates, and crafts for the kids.

Santa made an appearance. Assistant Park Manager Mikayla was much happier to visit with him than Junior was.

Live local music.

Junior had a blast puddle stomping.

The 30ft Christmas tree after the big lighting.

Junior stole the show with his adorably uncoordinated dancing and had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.

Sunday afternoon we took a hike up to Preachers Rock – it was much more fun as a family. Junior was quite mesmerized by the view and Chris was delighted that I insisted he ride his motorcycle to take advantage of the 20 miles of twisting and curving mountain roads.

Father and son against the world. Insert appropriate Lion King quote here.

Chris had a rare early day on Monday so we took the afternoon to explore a little spot up the road from us that we’ve been wanting to check out for weeks. Helton Creek Falls is a mile up the main road then 2 miles down a gravel road. It’s definitely a diamond in the rough.

It’s a beautiful spot that strikes a perfect balance between rugged wilderness and accessibility thanks to some minor man-made adaptations.

At the bottom of the first set of falls (a little over 30 feet). The swimming hole here looks like the perfect place to cool off in those scorching summer months.

The upper falls – about 60ft high. Also looks very inviting for summer swims.

We even found a Junior-sized waterfall (yes he got soaked but he had a BLAST).

We finished off the weekend with a great meal at Brother’s restaurant in Young Harris, GA.

Junior couldn’t believe they didn’t have breast milk on the menu. He wanted to complain to the manager but we convinced him to just go for grilled cheese and mashed potato instead.

Sharing his dinner with Papa. Great family weekend.