What a week!!

Ben is on "Block Leave" for two weeks and we are soaking up the time as best we can.  It's been a very busy week so the time has gone so fast.  Here's hoping that this next week slows down a bit!!

I decided to purchase a pool from a friend who's 2 boys have outgrown it's use.  It's harder to store than an inflatable but it's SO much tougher and seems to be a lot of fun for the boys.  I love that it came with a slide and is easy to drain, no lifting it full of water!  The boys squealed with delight when Ben unloaded it from the truck and washed it up. Lea, the neighbor girl, came over to see what the excitement was all about. They had asked to swim in it every day last week.

It seemed we had a lot of doctors appointments for every one last week that took up a lot of precious time but Ben and I were able to fit in a Tuesday night date where we enjoyed a nice dinner without the boys and a trip to Home Depot.  Ben spent Wednesday building us a small deck off the back of the house (I am sure it's against the "rules" but oh well, we love it!).  I'll post pictures next time I post.

After all that, we met some friends near Helen, GA for a weekend of camping in the Georgia Mountains.

We went tubing down the Chattahoochee River on Saturday.  It was a little longer than a 2 hour trip and we all had a great time.  Brent especially enjoyed the little bit of rapids we encountered.

Ben picked out a great campground where we spent a lot of time at the playground and even got in 9 holes of minigolf.  Ben was the coolest dad at the campground when he pushed the Merry Go Round faster than any big kid there.  All the kids kept asking him to PLEASE do it again.  Brent loved it.  Brody tolerated it.

Sunday we spent some time in Helen.  Helen is an old town that was recreated in the 60's to resemble an Alpine Village with many German influences.  We spent some time at a Model Railroad shop where the boys were so happy.  They talked about it all afternoon and begged to go back.

Per the recommendation of the Model Train owner, we ate lunch at Hofer's German Bakery & Cafe.  Ben & Mike took part in a German beer before we headed out on the town for the afternoon.

It was nearly 100 degrees this afternoon so when the rain began to fall, the boys were ecstatic to get wet.  They had so much fun that they slept nearly the entire ride home!

We enjoyed our weekend so much that we are already planning our camping escape for next weekend!