Last weekend, we enjoyed our 7th annual family retreat. We have definitely come to enjoy this little getaway every year because it is so relaxing, and we get time to look back on the year, plan ahead for the next year, and just spend time together. This year, we stayed in a barrel cottage at Unicoi State Park, just outside of beautiful Helen, GA.
On Friday night, after we had settled in at the cottage, we headed to nearby Smith Gall Woods State Park for their Winter Solstice Celebration. We enjoyed a candlelit hike around the lake, hot chocolate, sending twinkle boats into the lake and a campfire.
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| Hot chocolate at the Winter Solstice Celebration. |
On Saturday, the rain came in....and boy, did it rain, rain, rain! It rained continuously from Saturday morning until sometime Sunday night. Despite the soggy weather, we had a great time. Cliff and Laura took a hike around the lake (with umbrellas), I scrapbooked, the kids played, Cliff worked on personal goals, and we read and relaxed. On Saturday evening, we went to the Unicoi Lodge for their Deck the Halls event.
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| Decorating cookies at Deck the Halls. |
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| Having a pretty serious conversation with the Big Guy at Deck the Halls. |
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| He was a little star struck! |
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| Roasting marshmallows at Deck the Halls. |
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| Back at the cottage....hard core game of War. |
On Sunday, we spent more time relaxing at the cottage until it was time to go into town for dinner out at a German café.
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| Cliff helps Laura write some goals for her bicycling this year. |
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| I got a lot of scrapbook work done. It was very therapeutic! |
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| Pretty view from our cottage, despite the cloudy, wet weather. |
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| Out to dinner....that's quite a mug of hot chocolate! |
On Monday, the sky finally dried up in time for us to check out of the cottage and spend some time in town. We were able to walk around, do a little Christmas shopping and play mini golf. Laura was especially excited about this; the last time we were in Helen, she earned a free game off a hole-in-one, and she was happy to finally cash in her prize.
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| Our little barrel cottage. |
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| Taking a break from loading up the van outside the cottage. |
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| Beautiful German-inspired Helen. |
We had a chance to tour the Festhalle in Helen, and I found this poster. We had an old polka album at home growing up, and my sister and I always laughed at this song. The guy showing us around the hall seemed so tickled at how much this poster amused me that he gave me a beer stein with the Schnitzelbank song on it!
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| Ist das nicht eine Schnitzel Bank? Ja das ist eine Schnitzel Bank! |
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| Cliff gives Nathan some pointers at Alpine Golf. |
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| Mini golf with a view. A nice way to end the trip! |
Gina
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