Georgia

**I wrote this Blog Entry a MONTH ago. I finally just had time to attach the photos!!**

We ventured down to Georgia for Easter this year and spent the week of Alex and Evan's spring break there as well. We were in need of a break from our routine and were searching for some sushine and warmer temps since it is clearly still winter here in Michigan. We found them, that's for sure and let me tell you, it was hard to leave them and come back to cold and some light snow.

The weather was in the low 70's the whole time we were there with sunshine every day. Our first full day down there was Easter Sunday. It was a beautiful day. After Church, we came back to the house and spent most of the day outside. There was fishing, riding on the gator, coloring easter eggs, playing on the tire swing, basket hiding and an easter egg hunt. We even let Evan shoot a gun off for the first time since it is a McKay family tradition.

Monday, a small group of us headed to Stone Wall Falls and Bull Sluice. I didn't pack swim shorts because I didn't think we would need them. Boy, was I wrong! The kids got into the frigid water with no problems! It was piercing and even numbing after a few minutes, but they are kids and didn't seem to mind! I just let Evan go in with his Basketball shorts since they dried quickly. I wheeled Alex's chair right into the water at Stone Wall Falls and he enjoyed sitting in the sandy area at Bull Sluice. It was a long day, but a fun one for sure!

Tuesday the kids were ready for a down day and their cousins were over for the day, so Eric and I took advantage and made this our day out. We went to the Tallulah Falls Gorge and hiked down into it until we reached the suspension bridge. Once there we hiked back up and out because it is a really long walk if we kept going and there were other things we wanted to do and see. It was still a workout for us with over 600 steps!! From there we went to have lunch and then up to Black Rock Mountain. We have been there a few times but the view never gets old. It is one of my favorite spots to visit in Rabun County. Next we headed to the Highlands which is actually in North Carolina but it is only a 35 min drive. We walked around the town for a bit, grabbed an ice cream at Kilwins and then drove 10 minutes out of town to Bridal Veil Falls and Dry Falls. We have been  to both of these waterfalls before, but Dry Falls has to be my favorite waterfalls. You can actually walk right behind it! We passed a few people on our way down, but the whole time we were there, not one person was there. I got the best pictures!! It was getting late, so we headed home after this. It was a nice day out!

Wednesday the 4 of us went up to Greenville, SC for the day. I wanted to see what it was all about. We had never been there and it looked like a nice place to visit from the pictures I had seen. It was!! Right in the middle of the City is Falls Park on the Reedy (River). It's this beautiful waterfall on the river surrounded by a beautiful park. We spent the whole day there. (I wanted to see more of the city, but Alex wasn't feeling very good so we stayed in one spot) We had lunch at a little mexican restaurant called Gringo's. YUM! It didn't turn out the way I had hoped, but it is a place I would love to go back and visit again and explore more the next time.

Thursday, Eric had a Golf Outing with Tom (one of Matt and Tappy's Friends from Church) and the boys and I along with Tappy, Ethan and Brook went to the Atlanta Zoo. I love Zoos but I especially wanted to see the Panda's at this Zoo! We got to see the Mom but Dad wasn't out. We also got to see the Twin Girls as well!! They were so stinkin cute!! We even managed to get on the train right before it closed and I can tell you that this was the highlight of Alex's day!!

Friday we had plans to visit a nearby town Helen and take the boys to play Putt Putt and have lunch but the weather had other plans. It was raining there so we were gonna do plan B which was the Mall of Georgia but the boys wanted to be homebodies and stay at the house. Eric and I went to lunch and to a few stores before coming back to pack up since we would be heading out at 4am the next morning. It was good to get away and feel what spring should feel like but we are back home to the cold and snow (Still...on April 18th....Sigh).