After stopping in Chattanooga we headed out to Hiawassee, GA to Lake Chatuge. My dear friend, Erin, has a family lake house and they invited us to come spend the 4th with them! This was the view from the cabin!
After the kids went to bed Nick and Franklin often took their chairs and some tunes by the water front and solved the worlds problems!
The view from the day time.
One day we rented jet ski's for the older boys and they LOVED IT!
All this little squirt wanted to do was fish, little did he know there was no hook or bait but he didnt care, I bet he threw 900 casts.
The kids loved the lake, which made me so happy. I have lots of fond memories on the lake from my childhood.
Grant and Ross
Sarah and Cole
One morning we went for a hike to the highest mountain in GA but I cant remember the name of it :(
Cole terrified of this blow up Smokey!
It was a long hike and straight up, but the kids were troopers.
The view from the top... it was breath taking.
This sweet little man is Howard. He is the next door neighbor and he is such a precious, spunky man. We all got really attached to him, esp little Cole.
On the 4th we had a HUGE cookout with tons of delicious food. Our plan was to watch the fireworks from Howards back yard because every year they shoot them from the Marina, which is in view of Howards dock. The kids were so excited, we had glow sticks, necklaces and balls and we all had our chairs out... it got to be 9, 930, and 10.. clearly pitch black and no fireworks. Come to find out, for the first time in years, they cancelled them :( The big kids were disappointed but they got over it.
The next day we got up and started cleaning up around the cabin some... all the kids worked hard picking up sticks and cleaning up the driveway!
Well... most of them, Cole fished off the steps!
After cleaning up, we loaded everyone up and rented a pontoon for an afternoon. This was my favorite part!
Look close and you can see a dragonfly on Sarah's head, she never knew it!
On our way home we stopped off and took a peak at the Ocoee, it was beautiful!
We are so thankful for the Perlick's having us and sharing their family home with us. Its also nice to be able to travel with friends without everyone fighting and getting tired of each other! Cant wait to do this again!
